Although LouFest this year was filled with high energy sets from the bands as disparate as Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue and Grouplove, the budding festival that is beginning to fully come into it’s own pulled it off. There was something to please everyone, and if you didn’t like the music, it was hard not to like the huge selection of local food or thelaidback atmosphere that characterized the festival. Here are four of our writer’s favorite shows from the weekend, proving that LouFest is nothing if not about solid live music in a beautiful setting.

Mary Richardson | Student Life

Kim Schifino of Matt and Kim performs onstage at LouFest. Matt and Kim played in Forest Park Sunday evening as part of this year’s festival.

Moon Taxi

Just call Moon Taxi the hidden gem of LouFest. This late Sunday afternoon show from a relatively small band somehow became one of the best of the weekend. Part of this can be chalked up to the location. The Shade Stage, tucked into the corner of Central Field down a small tree-shaded slope was serendipitously perfect for Moon Taxi’s set: minutes after Portugal. The Man had ended on the larger Bud Light stage, a huge portion of that crowd flocked towards the Shade Stage for some much needed respite from Sunday’s heat, and soon there was no portion of the shade left untouched. While there may have only been a small group of dedicated fans pressed up against the barriers of the stage, the whole slope in front of the stage was blanketed with festival-goers sipping on Schlafly by the end of their set.

And what a set it was. The Nashville based-band combined breezy prog-rock riffs with ethereal synths and catchy hooks that never seemed cookie-cutter. The lush, almost tropical funk-rock was powered throughout by a strong vocal showing from lead singer Trevor Terndrup, who managed to complement a strong clarity of tone with just enough grit. Songs like “River Water,” and “Suspicious” had just enough groove to get the audience moving without dying of heat exhaustion. Even those reclining in the shade couldn’t help but shake a little. Moon Taxi provided their audience with the perfect way to destress before gearing up for the second half of the day, and the band had without a doubt converted a crowd who may have just been looking for a place to sit.

The best part about LouFest is discovering the great lesser known bands that the festival consistently brings in, and Moon Taxi is the perfect example. Their hour-long set embodied the laid back vibes of late summer, and invariably proved that the bigger stages aren’t always better. – Kayla Hollenbaugh

Matt + Kim

What if I told you that I saw a concert at Loufest that included twerking, tits jokes, and a cover of R. Kelly, would you guess that I saw Miley Cyrus? If so, then you’re wrong, but in a good way. Because Matt + Kim’s set was all of the raunchy party vibe that follows Miley without any of the moral qualms. The eclectic Brooklyn duo twerked their way through technical difficulties, climbed anything and everything, and covered almost every song imaginable in what became the perfect pregame for OutKast.

Immediately after opening with a cover of “All I Do is Win,” Matt joked about Kim’s some good-natured banter, the two rolled right into some of their new discography, sending the crowd into a frenzy as Kim stood on her drumset for the first time of the night. A cover of R. Kelly’s “Ignition Remix” segued seamlessly into the band’s own hit “Let’s Go” after a brief intermission to fix the spotty sound system. All music aside, the highlight of the concert was Kim standing on the hands of the crowd ala Cage the Elephant at Bonaroo. Kim took it a step further than her alt-rock counterparts by proceeding to twerk while Matt did a handstand on his keyboard.

After teasing “Daylight” earlier in their set, the duo finally played their massive hit on the show’s penultimate song sending the crowd into absolute mayhem. Despite all of the technical difficulties, Matt + Kim managed to pull off the unbelievable by outperforming OutKast just an hour before the headliner played. – Wesley Jenkins

Cherub

“Before we do these last two songs, I want all of y’all to wave to that drone up there” came the call from Cherub vocalist Jordan Kelley after the last few chords of “XOXO.” Immediately, a sea of middle fingers were raised to the sky for the little helicopter drone to capture what was one of the most energetic concerts of LouFest. “Now this song is gonna be a cover,” percussionist Jason Huber explained as the first few bars of Calvin Harris’s “Feel So Close” began to play, “so I need y’all to put your hands in the air and just go crazy.”

It was this point that the concert that had primarily been a grindfest to Cherub’s smooth ethereal jams transformed into a five minute mosh pit as the duo put their own vibe on Harris’s song, proving that Cherub could master more than just their own material.

As the song died down, Huber wandered to the edge of the stage to high-five fans and proceeded to start the chorus of their most popular song, “Doses and Mimosas.” The already frenzied crowd erupted with a roar and song along to all the lyrics for the first time in their set, as the duo sailed off on arguably the strongest three song ending of any set at LouFest. – Wesley Jenkins

OutKast

I had been standing nearly motionless for the past hour. My back hurt. My knees hurt. My stomach growled. I wondered, as sunblock periodically stung my eyes, if it would all be worth it, if I could stave off exhaustion for ninety more minutes and bask in the glow of what I hoped would be a revelatory cap to a mediocre festival.

And then the heavens opened as “B.O.B.”s twinkling synths announced the arrival of Big Boi and Andre 3000. “One, two, one-two-three,” and they were off, hurtling at intergalactic speeds towards some distant planet where hip-hop, funk, rock and R&B come together in perfect harmony.

Contrary to earlier reports, the duo played fast and loose, pairing elastic, lightning-quick rhymes with what appeared to be a genuine enthusiasm for their long-awaited reunion tour. In the process, they demonstrated the remarkable depths of their catalog, touching on each of their albums–aside from the underrated “Idlewild”—while leaving another full set’s worth of gems (“Bowtie” and “Royal Flush” being particularly painful omissions) on the bench. I hope this isn’t the last we hear from Outkast, but if it is, they couldn’t have planned a better victory lap. – Mark Matousek