The very first Innings Festival launched at Tempe Beach Park, Arizona in March 2018 as a spring training celebration timed just days before the start of the official MLB season.
The goal was to mix the laid-back casualness of pre-season baseball with a chill outdoor music festival. The musical performances spread across three stages. In between and all around were fun activities like batting cages, a home run derby, and speed-pitch challenges.
There were also appearances by retired baseball players and culinary demonstrations by Chef Beau MacMillan.
More than 33,000 attendees came through the gates over three days, and they didn’t just come to meet Jake Peavy.
The rock was provided by Chris Stapleton, Queens of the Stone Age and The Avett Brothers, and also featured Counting Crows, Young the Giant, Cold War Kids, Lord Huron, Local Natives, Mt. Joy, The Decemberists and others.
Although there were many standouts, the Eagles of Death Metal set, in retrospect, may have been the most notable because when Josh Homme came out to do “Speaking in Tongues,” it was the last time he has played with them.
read more at: Setlist.fm
