WRITTEN BY DEL HENDRICK
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Photo by @elitedaily
Daisy chains evoke saccharine memories like those bathed in nostalgia and sunlight, small hands weaving daisy stems together and passing them around in a circle. This is an early example, for many children, of connection— sitting together and literally connecting flowers into something greater. It’s also something I find interwoven with girlhood as a whole.
On August 29, Olivia Rodrigo instilled this sentiment into the debut of her women’s music festival, paying homage to Sarah McLachlan’s Lilith Fair. With artists such as herself, Stevie Nicks, Mitski, Doechii, Chappell Roan, Garbage and more, this ambitious project cultivated a crowd of 45,000 in Irvine, California’s Great Park. Additionally, Daisy Chain Fields sold out within 30 minutes and to an extremely wide variety of people. As a California native, I was pleasantly thrilled to stumble across some who had traveled from Florida and Tennessee, not to mention as far as Canada, England and Australia.
Though the incredible lineup Rodrigo brought together creates more than enough allure to pull in a crowd, she went the extra mile toward her cause— charities skewed toward the well-being of women and girls— and established Daisy Chain Reaction, an interactive exhibition that tied into the festival’s volunteer initiatives and helped Rodrigo raise $20 million. She announced during her set, the grand finale of the day, that all of this money would be given to the nonprofits that she had partnered with for the festival.
She wasn’t the only one happy to show up for nonprofits (including Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Center for Reproductive Rights, and Planned Parenthood). Brands such as Depop, Etsy, LEGO, Verizon, Taco Bell and Athleta showed up as well, with interactive stalls and added features for festival goers. Verizon in particular saved the day for many, lending out portable chargers in different locations for prime access.
I have attended my fair share of concerts, festivals and shows of all sorts, and even in record-breaking humidity and 90-plus-degree weather, I can say for certain that Daisy Chain was by far the most welcoming, safe, well-organized and altogether beautiful event I have ever been to.
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A cause that connects rather than alienates is essential for communities to thrive today. While I wasn’t able to spend all of my time at every single set, the moment I spent with Bikini Kill will stick with me for a long time.
I had managed to get a snack and some coffee from Cathy’s Cookies and Marigold Coffee Collective, both women-owned businesses, and was settling in a rare shady spot beside the Marigold stage. The chatter around me was mild and though there were so many people present it was easier to spot a pair of shoes than a patch of grass, I was not shoved or touched or coerced out of anyone’s way.
The portable fan around my neck weakly sputtered cooler air up to my face in the heat of the sun. Looking around, I saw mothers with their daughters, groups of rambunctious twenty-somethings laughing and then, when the nonprofits and bands took the stage, falling into enraptured silence. I saw women old enough to be my mother who wore evidence of long-time punk memorabilia with pride. A festival founded by a 23-year-old, only a year past my age, had drawn in an immense, diverse and multi-generational crowd. What Daisy Chain has done, I realized in the moment, is foster a unique space that is explicitly surrounded by all things female. Other events can say that they cherish women, but Daisy Chain does this without having to claim anything it can’t back up.
Surrounded by handmade flowers and art installations by Yoko Ono, Jenny Holzer and others, I listened as Bikini Kill’s Kathleen Hanna took the stage. She stared into the crowd with a sense of pride and joy, and though it would be impossible for her to look individually at everyone, the weight of her eyes made it feel like she was seeing all of us. She then spoke about the importance of spaces like Daisy Chain, where a woman or an all-women band weren’t there just to check a box, but because they’re deserving of the exact same success as any mediocre male band.
Lilith Fair sprang out in 1997, when it was radical to even play two women’s songs back to back on the radio, and was met with no small amount of backlash. Almost 30 years later, I came across my fair share of undue judgement and a lack of faith for Daisy Chain.
All of which, I can proudly say, was utterly unfounded.
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Beyond Bikini Kill’s set were the jampacked performances of Mitski and Doechii. Though the general vibe of both of their music is virtually opposite, what both of these remarkable women brought to the Daisy stage was their enthusiasm, their love for the craft and sheer, magnificent talent.
I could not help but be consumed by these two artists in particular. Mitski, whom I have been listening to for around eight years, and Doechii, for whom I swiftly gained an appreciation when she performed at a show on my college campus in 2022.
Mitski brought a melodic sweetness to the stage, smiling in spite of the vulnerable nature of her lyrics. As part of her performance, she danced and swayed as she crooned, bringing out a tenderness in her audience. While there were sets for jumping up and down and screaming, this one wasn’t it, but it maintained an equal, if merely redirected energy. We stood in relentless heat and seemed to simultaneously agree that it didn’t matter. Our discomfort, our sweat and plausible dehydration had taken a backseat to just pause for a moment and let Mitski transport us into her world. Between songs, she discussed how awed she was to be invited to Daisy Chain Fields and wished the audience enjoyment and safety at such a crowded event. Her care, furthermore, her love was evident.
Toward the end of her set, I recall my growing need to give my legs a break. But even this I was able to push past, especially when she played the beginning piano of “My Love Mine All Mine,” a song that I clung to at my lowest when it first came out. A full circle moment for me but more broadly, everyone in that tight audience, hip to hip and shoulder to shoulder.
If Mitski’s set built the sturdy, reliable foundations of a house and Olivia Rodrigo filled it with people, Doechii’s set brought it to life. While Mitski was fluid as she walked every bit of the stage, making sure no audience member’s view was compromised, Doechii was downright explosive. Every movement sharp and precise, she and her backup dancers brought such a ferocious energy I could feel it from the very back of the Daisy Stage viewing area.
With a history of absolutely flourishing, breakthrough performances that speak of the artist’s creativity, Doechii did not disappoint when she emerged for Daisy Chain. She and her backup dancers came with enough energy and character to revive all of our energy. Heat exhaustion had no hope of bringing the crowd down when they had Doechii’s flawless, perfectly enunciated lyricism and intensity.
Dynamic in voice and body, she brought out some of my personal favorites in her discography. “Balloon,” “Alter Ego,” “girl, get up.,” “NISSAN ALTIMA” and a cover of Beyoncé’s “AMERICA HAS A PROBLEM.” Not only was this the performance of a lifetime that left me completely staggering, but it unfurled a statement of its own. Doechii took to heart the essence of Daisy Chain. Her songs outlined the feminism the festival was founded on while also delivering nuance to her sexuality and ethnicity.
This event was intended as a celebration of all women, no matter your identity or background. Black women, gay women. All were welcome at Daisy Chain and not merely tolerated. I had never had the experience of feeling completely represented both by the artist, the music and the production. A true testament to the ways in which music can bring about empowerment.
Photo by Pooneh Ghana/Rolling Stone
Lastly, after Chappell Roan and Not For Radio concluded their extraordinary sets, Rodrigo took the stage both as the founder of the festival and the musician riding the release of her newest album, you look pretty sad for a girl so in love.
With guests Sarah McLachlan, Stevie Nicks, and Alanis Morissette, Rodrigo took us through her favorite songs with a voice that may actually be more impressive live. With impeccable clarity and passion, Rodrigo debuted her newest single “serena joy,” a song named after the character from The Handmaid’s Tale. In case the activism that formed Daisy Chain Fields was not clear before, the pop and post-punk refrain “if they do it to them, they'll do it to you,” that makes up “serena joy”’s chorus solidifies that without room for argument.
Rodrigo went on to deliver heartfelt performances of “drop dead,” “my way” and “maggots for brains,” among others off of her new album, the lyrics of which the audience already had memorized despite their recent release months ago in June. Caught in the middle of the crowd, I was thoroughly surrounded at all angles, closed in by the buoyant energy of the audience’s vocals and Rodrigo’s. Because the sun had set, Rodrigo had the best part of the night in that at last, we had all discovered our energy returning after hours in the heat. The night progressed with the impossible and effortless sound of her voice, so powerful and resonant for someone so early in her career. Surprising nobody, Rodrigo proves her absolutely unreal level of talent.
After a brief detour down memory lane, she treated us to the songs that started it all— “drivers license” and “deja vu.” I had been hearing these on and off in the years since they came out, but nothing does justice to hearing them sung aloud with a mature and more powerful voice by a woman who has finally made it.
Olivia Rodrigo, and this entire festival, proves that you can do it too. Her tireless endeavour of love, unity and liberation has already paved the way for lesser-known female artists to emerge.
