Updated: Sept. 13, 2014 at 12:08 a.m.
After co-founding the music blog All Things Go and months of planning, alumnus Zack Friendly is helping to bring an indie pop festival to the District this weekend.
Tove Lo and Future Islands will headline the All Things Go Fall Classic on Saturday at Union Market, where HAERTS, Bear Hands and Young Summer will also take the stage. Attendees can also grab some personalized eats by Toki Underground, Takorean and Dolcezza, among others.
The presale and Early Bird tickets have been sold out for weeks, and 5,000 to 7,000 people are expected to flock to the space, a goal Friendly and his co-founders set after their first meeting.
“It’s been sort of like playing fantasy football. You get to pick all these performers that you love, and then you get to see them. But you have to pay them, which isn’t fun,” Friendly said.
The Fall Classic has been a dream for Friendly since 2006, when All Things Go first took off as a Blogspot page where the four long-time friends posted concert reviews and track recommendations.
Friendly, who transferred to GW as a junior in 2009, remembers writing album reviews for the blog between term papers at the Mount Vernon Campus’ Eckles Library, a “quadruple shot” of espresso in hand.
“When I transferred to GW, [All Things Go] really kick-started,” Friendly said. “I would say that GW does a really, really awesome job of opening doors in the city. The open campus feel, the fact that we’re downtown, you go out and explore D.C. and you see new venues.”
And the festival’s D.C.-area lineup is partly a nod to the District origins of All Things Go, and All Things Go’s Will Suter said Union Market is a perfect “microcosm” for the emerging cultural vibrance of the city.
Jen Nolan, Union Market’s marketing manager, said she hopes the festival will help the venue break into and expand D.C.’s music scene.
Traditionally known as a marketplace, Union Market recently branched out to music, hosting its first concert last November.
“I think the concert will bring a new crowd of people, not only from D.C. but from other places as well,” Nolan said. “I have tons of friends coming down from New York for the weekend, so it’s not just a local event. I think it has a really high-quality national appeal.”
With the festival just a day away, the All Things Go team has been busy finalizing every detail, from perfecting graphics to crafting a signature cocktail. But then, it’s onto the next event.
“We’ll probably start thinking about ideas for [next year’s] headliner or another artist the next day after we get through this one,” Suter said.
The All Things Go Fall Classic will be held Saturday, Sept. 13 at Union Market (1309 5th St. NE) from noon to 12 p.m. Tickets: $50 in advance, $60 at the door.
This post was updated to reflect the following correction:
The Hatchet incorrectly spelled the name of one of the bands that will play in the Fall Classic. It is HAERTS, not HEARTS. We regret this error.
