Firefly Music Festival 2018: Eight Must Catch Acts

With festival season in full effect, Dover International Speedway prepares for this year’s massive 4-day extravaganza known as Firefly Music Festival. Set to take place in Delaware in a quickly upcoming two weeks, June 14, 15, 16, 17, 2018 will house a huge artist lineup. With hundreds of artists spread across 4 full days of music, The Nocturnal Times is here to help you catch at least eight live acts you won’t want to miss that weekend!

The Nocturnal Times Eight Must-Catch Acts at Firefly 2018

• Chromeo

Canadian electro-funk duo will be making their way to sunny Delaware for the Firefly Music Festival kick-off on Day 1, Thursday. With a scheduled release of their fifth album, Head Over Heels set for June 15, 2018, we can expect to hear a killer set with new tracks. Since joining together to form Chromeo, Dave 1, David Mackovitch; and P-Thugg, Patrick Gemayel, have given us four, almost five albums, along with a number of award nominated tracks. With a unique sound combining blue-eyed soul, dance music, rock, synth-pop, disco, and funk there’s no doubt this will be a fun set you won’t want to miss the chance to dance to.

Photo: Jade Park

• Arctic Monkeys

Forming back in 2002, this English Rock band will be making an appearance at Firefly Music Festival on Day 2. With six successful studio albums, festival attendees will have a set full of tracks to sing along and jam to. Most recent album released just about a month ago, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino is sure to be heard booming through the festival grounds. Closing out Friday at the Firefly stage, you’ll want to make sure you make your way over for their set.

• Big Gigantic

Rowdytown VIII is making a stop at Firefly this year and we can’t be happier. A Big Gigantic family will come together for this instrumental electronic, hip-hop, and jazz duo on Friday night. No strangers to large-scale music festivals, we will be in for a treat. Having played at Coachella, Lollapalooza, Ultra Music Festival, Electric Forest, and many, many others these festival veterans are sure to get you grooving. Blending the sounds of a live saxophone, drums and electronic beats together, the duo has produced eight studio albums along with a number of singles we all know and love. Collaborating with other big artist such as Griz, and supergroup jam band the Disco Biscuits, this set will be filled with Big G originals, Big Grizmatik sounds and just the perfect closing set for the Backyard stage on Friday night.

• Eminem

Known and loved by everyone, we’ve all grown up with the Rap God’s lyrics playing at one point or another. Known by many names, Marshal Mathers, Slim Shady, or Rap God, many already know where this is taking us. Eminem will be making an appearance at the 4-day fest quickly coming up. Closing out the Firefly stage on day 3 of Firefly an hour and a half will be all eyes on Eminem. The real Slim Shady will be spitting both new and old music, among some of those classic hits that many of us have jammed to at full volume on multiple occasions. Don’t miss this, we sure wouldn’t want to!

• The Killers

Still killing it 17 years later, American rock bad, The Killers will be making an appearance on Saturday of Firefly this year. Having released five consecutive chart-topping studio albums, with the most recent Wonderful Wonderful, just last year The Killers are seen as one of the biggest and successful rock bands of the 21st century to ever emerge from Nevada. Having played their various genres all around the world their sounds of alternative rock, indie rock, pop-punk revival, new wave, heartland rock, and pop rock have even been heard even at the White House in 2010 for a second annual “Salute to the Military.” If you’re “Human” you’ll want to come out for this must-catch act Saturday night.

• Martin Garrix

Probably one of very few celebrities to have become this successful at such an early age, Martin Garrix is no stranger to pumping up the crowd. The 22-year-old Dutch DJ, record producer and musician has already been ranked number 1 on DJ Mag’s Top 100 DJs list both in 2016 and 2017. Since founding the STMPD RCRDS label in 2016, the young DJ has been announced a resident DJ at Hï Ibiza, closed out the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeonchang, released yet another collaboration with David Guetta in February 2018, as well as several other singles. Closing out the Backyard stage on Saturday be sure to catch both new and old tracks recognized by everyone in the upcoming Firefly weekend.

• Portugal, the Man

Another band on the list of acts you can’t miss is American rock band Portugal, The Man originating from Wasilla, Alaska. Earlier this year the band was announced to win “Best Pop Duo/Group Performance” at the 60th Annual Grammy Awards for their song “Feel It Still.” With a name based on the idea of the late David Bowie’s “bigger than life” fame, the band has been releasing hit after hit that everyone has learned to love. Producing 7 albums between the years of 2006 and 2017, the Firefly family will be singing along as Portugal, The Man closes out the Tree House stage late Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday morning.

• Odesza

Last but not least, the last act you wouldn’t want to miss of the whole weekend is an American electronic music band known as Odesza. Forming the duo back in 2012, several albums and a self-operated and funded record label, Foreign Family Collective, Odesza will be sure to put on an unforgettable set. Billboard named the electronic music band as #10 on their 2018 ranking of dance musicians, the Billboard Dance 100. With a huge collection of singles, remixes, and albums, the set will be sure to sport some better-known tracks such as the forever loved “Faded” with Zhu, “Big Girls Cry” featuring Sia among many other tracks that may be new to us. Saving the best for last, make sure to stop at the Backyard stage for the last and final set of Firefly Music Festival. We’ll be there, will you?