The Best and Worst of the 2023 Innings Festival in Tempe

Another Innings Festival is in the books. On February 25 and 26, thousands gathered at Tempe Beach Park for a weekend dedicated to music and baseball, including sets by Eddie Vedder, Green Day, and Weezer, and appearances by MLB players including past Diamondbacks Matt Williams and Randy Johnson.

But, like any big event, there were highs and lows. Here's the best and worst of Innings Festival 2023.

Best: Sense of Familiarity

There’s a reason that people go back to some fests year after year. And it’s not just because it’s a really good excuse to get drunk on a weekend. No, it’s the community that these fests foster for people who love music and the arts. (And, in the case of Innings, are also big baseball nuts.) It’s that connection we all share, and gathering here every year is a way to reaffirm that and also expand it thanks to new people and another generation of devotees. And Innings does that across the board: whether it’s a similar layout, a lot of the same food options and other vendors, and/or just a generally freewheeling, totally open vibe, it feels like coming home every year. Sure, that home is a corporate fest generally concerned with making money, but it doesn’t change the fact that you know what to expect from Innings, and they mostly deliver with every new edition. People come here because we’re building an unofficial community of fans — it certainly can’t be for the $15 beers, right? Christopher Coplan

Worst: The Sound Issues

Complaining about sound issues at a festival is like being mad about $20 nachos. But there was enough of it to be noticeable. Whether it was the minor issues at Annie DiRusso, extended volume problems at Weezer, and/or wonky mics at Paris Jackson, a lot of tiny issues do manage to build up over the weekend. It’s ultimately not a big problem for enjoying a set, per se — even if it’s a tad annoying — but it did generate some complaints among the crowd, and that’s the thing that’s often a bigger headache than all the hiss and feedback in the world. Sure, folks will complain about anything, but when it’s about something seemingly valid (and not, like, a vendor having a different brand of ketchup), it just drives home the issue even more. Luckily, the issues were kept to a minimum, but there’s no denying they still colored some key moments and kept people complaining. CC

Best: The Distance

I’ve talked about this with nearly every fest I’ve covered, but you’ve got to have the proper layout. More specifically, you want stages far apart enough so that there’s minimal sound bleed. And Innings takes that to the nth degree, as the distance between Home Plate and Right Field feels like a veritable country mile (especially in bright, 70-degree weather on Saturday). But it’s ultimately worth it, as the two stages may as well be on different planets, and you don’t have to worry about hearing pesky soundchecks or other noise pollution. More than that, all that walking has some other benefits, too, like exposing you to more vendors, getting in your daily steps, and generally making folks engage with more parts and people across the event as a whole. Who would’ve thought that walking in the Arizona sun could be a good thing? CC

Worst: Allergies

Where’s the grass? Especially near the Home Plate stage, the surface at Tempe Beach Park was made of mulchy dust and dead blades of grass. That, combined with the weekend’s ceaseless wind, had my sinuses going full Blair Witch Project. Benadryl quickly became a necessary addition to the bag as seasonal allergies made some sets tough to enjoy. ZONA had mud. Innings had dust. Here’s to hoping next week’s M3F comes with a nice green lawn and still skies. Gannon Hanevold

Best: Synergy of Music and Sports

Walk-up songs, school alma maters, “Take Me Out To The Ball Game.” Music is a necessary contributor to the fan experience at a live sporting event. Innings is special because it flips that axiom on its head. In one moment at Innings, you can enjoy indie and blues rock, and in the next, you can hit the batting cages. The fusion of baseball and rock 'n' roll is quintessential and, in the case of this festival, logistically viable. The baseball-centric Left Field area featured baseball icons like Randy Johnson and Dontrelle Willis, and mini games for fans of all ages. It was a legitimate attraction that helped alleviate some of the festival’s frustrating crowding issues. Former MLB pitcher Jake Peavy was an entertaining watch, too, as he jammed out with local rockers on the Left Field stage. Injecting spring training into a music festival helps diversify the fan demographic and ultimately puts arts in the spotlight. It also makes for playful, harmonious moments, like when Billie Joe Armstrong asked the crowd whether or not any A’s fans were in attendance. “Good luck with that,” he joked. Thanks, Billie. Signed, a fan of '90s punk rock and Oakland baseball. GH

Worst: Litter

With thousands of people in one place and dozens of vendors, it’s a given that a music festival will never be squeaky clean. But walking out of Innings on Saturday was disappointing. The ground was covered in cardboard cartons, cans of Liquid Death and — most of all — shame. Innings had no shortage of suitable trash and recycling receptacles. I suppose that alternately, I could put the Innings custodial staff on the “Best” list, because the ground was spotless once again when fans arrived on Sunday afternoon. But for now, I’ll get on my soapbox and remind festival attendees to pick up their mess. GH

Best: Gen X Fans

A lot gets said about young fans at fests. Like, how their mere presence makes things feel so thrilling. Or, how more entertaining it is to expose new generations to great art. But just as many good things can be said about having a Gen X audience, which was a component of having a lot of legacy acts amid this year’s lineup. They’re still young enough to still really enjoy the acts, and there was something semi-exciting about some of them reliving their glory days with Green Day or Eddie Vedder. But they’re also old enough to be quiet and reserved, even as some of them were clearly here to cut loose. The people you share these weekends with matters a great deal, and a Gen X-heavy audience was a great mix of both fun and lameness — a crowd that set a tone of mostly family-friendly fun that feels perfectly suited for Innings and what it represents. Even if there were maybe one too many stories about Green Day shows from 1992. CC

Worst: The Undercard

Your average fan will happily slap down a couple hundred bucks for even just a couple juicy headliners. But that doesn’t change the fact that it can be the undercard that will make or break the festival itself. And in the case of this year’s offerings, Innings felt a little light. That’s not to minimize the hard work of a lot of really great bands/artists, but there were some issues that likely affected the overall flow of the fest. Saturday, for instance, seemed to have a pretty big gap in star power from the afternoon and evening, and that meant everyone showed up en masse for the bigger names. Sunday, meanwhile, featured a great mix of varied bands but it also made for a slightly uneven experience (especially with less rock and more folk or jam band offerings). The stars may be the big money draws, but a diminished undercard, especially when compared to some previous years, just harms the feel of a huge cultural attraction. CC

Best: Hydration Stations

With a lineup full of rockers from years past, it’s worth commending the Innings organizers for being forward-thinking in terms of sustainability. The TURN incentivized cup recycling system is a nice touch, and the hydration stations are a necessary staple for any festival experience. With Innings allowing fans to bring in reusable water bottles, it not only minimized the festival’s footprint, but it also eased the strain on the pockets of festivalgoers. With temperatures as high as 76 degrees on Saturday, not having to fork out double-digit dollars for a single-use water bottle is a win. Gannon Hanevold

Worst: Too Many Green Day Shirts

Here’s where someone has to play Mr. Buzzkill. We get that heaps of people were jazzed to see Green Day; they’re also a headliner and it sort of feels like a given before the doors ever opened. And so seeing literally herds of people in their shirts wasn’t exactly exciting, but a reminder of some of the hegemony and popularism that often defines fests like Innings. Maybe that sounds a bit like some nasty gatekeeping, but it’s maybe more about wanting to open these spaces beyond the biggest acts, or to highlight something that isn’t just about bands who’ve been famous forever and don’t need the seemingly subliminal advertising. At the end of the day, they’re just harmless shirts, but when you walk around the grounds enough, it sort of felt like a Green Day concert and not a dynamic celebration of arts and culture in general. To paraphrase the film PCU, don’t ever be the guy who wears the band shirt to their show. CC