Photo of Josette Maskin of MUNA live at Hinterland 2026 by Michael O’Connor
Day 2 felt cinematic, and as Saint Avangeline opened, I was taken back to a medieval period. Her harpy-style, seamless screams collided with an angelic upper register, creating a sound that was both violent and holy. She leaned fully into this eerie, medieval-Lana aesthetic and sang with a presence that seemed conjured. During her second-to-last track, she blindfolded herself. It was impossible to look away; the moment seemed like a siren’s song, hypnotic in its delivery.
Wisp followed with a contrast of breathy vocals layered over heavy, grungy guitar. One guitarist had “FUCK ICE” taped boldly across their instrument, a flash of punk ethos in the sunlight. Lead singer Natalie Lu joked, seeming almost bummed that it’s always raining when she performs. In a cosmic timing, the sky began to sprinkle. It was such a wild coincidence, but the sprinkle paired perfectly with her sound.
Sofia Isella delivered one of the most poetic sets of the day. She smeared dirt across her body, turning herself into a living symbol of the themes she attacks in her lyricism, specifically the societal pressure for women to perform in a realm of hypersexuality. Her crowd work was fearless, and she ran down to the audience at the rail on multiple occasions. Midway through her set, she crowd-surfed in the audience while still singing. Isella is so authentic, and the audience rallied with complete support.
Known for building slow, swelling arcs in her shows, Paris Paloma started soft, almost whispering into the microphone, and ended in a belted release. Her standout moment came at the end, when she brought Sofia Isella back onstage for the final song, merging their sound into a powerful closing statement.
The field turned into a rave. Snow Strippers radiated party vibes, and their transitions across tracks were so fluid that the crowd barely had time to register one song ending before the next wave hit. The duo’s relentless momentum was contagious, a perfect mid-festival jolt.
Neon red soaked Hinterland’s mega stage as MUNA stepped into the light. Main singer Katie Gavin’s vocals locked in from the start, soaring across the entire festival ground. The stage was drenched in crimson hues, and 80s-coded synths to match the atmospheric glow. As always, Gavin leaned heavily into crowd connection, speaking directly to fans in a way that made the massive stage feel intimate and personal.
All bow down before Lorde. Her performance was unlike anything else all weekend. Under another light sprinkle of rain, she shifted through outfit changes and set transformations with theatrical precision. At one point she used her own body as a projector screen, letting visuals wash across her skin like living art. Later in her set, she wore a jacket embedded with lasers that scattered across the stage in sharp, luminous beams. “Green Light” brought tears to the crowd, and in one of the weekend’s most unforgettable moments, she performed “Girl, so confusing” and brought out MUNA to sing Charli XCX’s part. The venue erupted with joy.
Artists pushed boundaries and turned the Hinterland stage into a movie set. Each artist turned the stage into their own scene: medieval mysticism, dirt-smeared feminist poetry, or rave-ready chaos; the personalities of each musician really came out, and generated a truly unforgettable Day 2. | Michael O’Connor
