Innings Festival 2026: Recaps of the biggest sets

Innings Festival, the annual baseball and music extravaganza that takes over Tempe Beach Park each February, is one of the biggest music festivals of the year.

Over three days, fans will see the likes of Sublime, Twenty One Pilots, Mumford & Sons, Blink-182 and many more.

Here’s the scene at Innings Festival 2026.

Friday, Feb. 20

Mumford & Sons, 9 p.m., Home Plate Stage

I heard someone say that Mumford & Sons wasn’t a great choice for a first-night Innings headlining set. “They’re not exciting enough,” he said.

What show was he watching?

There have been louder, angrier bands that closed out the first night of Innings Festival. But Mumford & Sons delivered a stirring set that blended their modern classics with a smattering of tunes from their new album, “Prizefighter,” which debuted that day.

Innings Festival is now three days instead of two, making the event a marathon, not a sprint. Mumford & Sons tugged at the heartstrings and thrilled the soul — if the bridge of “I Will Wait” sung by Marcus Mumford and 20,000 fans doesn’t give you the chills, I don’t know what to tell you — ending the evening on an emotional high and setting up the crowd for two more days of great music.

Myles Smith, 7:55 p.m., Right Field Stage

It’s always a treat when you discover a new favorite at a music festival. I’m late to the boat on Myles Smith, the British-born up-and-comer who closed out the Right Field Stage on Friday night, but I’m on board now.

Smith, dressed in a Diamondbacks jersey, delivered a powerful and heartfelt set, full of songs that managed to be both emotionally poignant and delightfully danceable. Hits like “Nice to Meet You” (mid-set) and “Stargazing” (the closer) amped up an already energetic crowd, as did an unexpected cover of Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep.”

The only people having more fun than the crowd were Smith’s backup musicians, who scampered around the stage, laughed and joked with each other and played with huge grins on their faces. Their joy was infectious.

Goo Goo Dolls, 6:35 p.m., Home Plate Stage

By the time I got into the festival, grabbed a bite (Island Boyz Jerk Spot’s jerk fries for the win) and settled in, ’90s mainstays Goo Goo Dolls were just about to hit the stage.

Innings Festival’s lineups lean heavily into millennial nostalgia, and the band delivered perfectly: “Slide,” “Black Balloon,” “Here Is Gone,” “Name” … folks who swayed to these tunes at school dances now swayed to them under the lights of the Home Plate Stage and the glow of the setting sun.

The Goos still look and sound great; frontman John Rzeznik, braving the cold in cropped pants, sounded every bit as crisp and dynamic as he did 30 years ago.

I had already made my way to the Right Field Stage for Myles Smith when Goo Goo Dolls closed their set with “Iris,” but I could hear Rzeznik’s yearning voice across the park. It sounded exquisite.