Anyone who has attended Firefly Music Festival at The Woodlands in Dover knows the golden rule: it's all about pacing yourself. Too much alcohol, too much partying, and going 110 miles per hour from the jump? Not a good idea.
And while it's actually more sound advice than hard and fast rule than a law, Wilmington's own Teen Men was happy to indulge a crowd of 500 zombies that seemed eager to ease into day two of the fifth annual festival. Taking the Backyard Stage under blue skies Friday, Teen Men were the benefactor of great weather, after rain had completely passed through the Kent County area Thursday night.
Frontman Nick Krill, with his jet black locks of hair blowing in the light afternoon breeze, opened the foursome's 12:45 p.m. set with a somewhat sedated greeting, saying, "Hey, Firefly. Does it feel real yet? We're a rock band."
The quartet, including Joe Hobson on lead guitar, Albert Birney on synthesizer, and Catharine Maloney on percussion, whipped through an airy, pop-laden set of nine songs from their 2015 , self-titled album. The group even teased the crowd, which included some local fans shouting, "Yeah, Delaware!" to a bonus track, titled, "Chase Your Destruction," from their upcoming album.
As part of this year's lone Delaware-based band chosen to play Firefly, Krill was thrilled to have the opportunity to introduce potential new fans to the band's sound. "It was a fun crowd and we seemed to engage some new fans and get some new eardrums," the vocalist said after Teen Men's set.
"It was just a lot of fun playing in front of, like, a blue sky and lots of trees," Birney said. "It may seem kinda silly, but that's a rarity for us; we're used to playing clubs and a lot of dirty basements."
There was plenty of dirt to go around at Firefly too, as the outdoor festival takes place on nearly 400 acres of fields adjacent to Dover Downs. But the light rain earlier in the week, coupled with increased efforts to keep the walkways around The Woodlands dust-free, created a very comfortable environment.
Back on stage, Krill chatted with the crowd between each song, at one point asking, "What's your spirit animal?" One member of the crowd of mostly millenials, never missing a chance at a snarky response, yelled out "Sloth!" Hobson responded, saying, "I like your style."
Hobson donned a black baseball cap that simply read "movies" on the front, while Krill and Birney wore your average shirt-and-jeans ensembles. However, Maloney was the cat's pajamas - almost literally - wearing a flowing, purple dress with cat figures sewn along the skirt.
"I bought this at a flea market in San Antonio about 10 years ago, and have been wearing it at our performances," Maloney said. "It's odd, because I rarely get compliments on what I wear in my everyday life, but people seem to love it; it's my show dress!"
Halfway through the set, Teen Men played "Adventure Kids," one of the more popular tracks from their album. One of the band's most infectious pop ditties, the song is accompanied by a great little video of girls popping balloons and smashing piñatas.
Krill and company, who incorporate a lot of video at their live shows, had planned on more of the same Friday. Unfortunately, despite having two large video screens on either side of the stage, they were not able to employ video for the performance.
"Unfortunately, we just found out in the last two days we wouldn't be able to project on their video screen," Krill said. "Sadly, we just had to let that one go."
Regardless of the lack of video, Krill, Birney and Hobson, who attended Firefly with Spinto Band in 2013, agreed that having a Delaware band play the festival each year is a good thing. After all, it's "Delaware's festival," as Birney put it.
"We talk about infusing the economy in Dover and around the state, but the bands are a part of that, so it's cool to involve them," Birney said. Krill took it a step further, saying, "It's probably good P.R. on their part, but on a cooler level, it promote the arts, which is special."
Teen Men planned to spend the rest of their day wandering The Woodlands, with rock band Tame Impala at the top of their must-see list. The foursome plan on hitting the studio in July and August, with an autumn target for their next album.