Andra Day, Leon Bridges & More Reveal Their All-Time Most Memorable Festival Moments — From Wardrobe Malfunctions to Partying With Joaquin Phoenix

Andra Day

Before hitting the stage at Bonnaroo’s 15th anniversary in rural Tennessee last month, five of the weekend’s buzziest acts shared their all-time most memorable festival moments while modeling this season’s bohemian-inspired looks. Amid the tie-dye and body paint smattered across the dusty fields in Manchester, Tenn., where fans have camped out at the Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival for the past 15 years, Andra Day stands with a glamorously knotted head scarf in the 92-degree heat without so much as breaking a sweat. She's a foil to the festival-girl archetype. "I'm very particular but very thrifty at the same time," says Day, 31, of her rockabilly-meets-Billie Holiday style.

Marni floral print crepe maxi dress, $1,870; netaporter.com; Sigerson Morrison Marita sandal, $475; sigersonmorrison.com; Pat Areias sterling silver belt buckle, $720, leather belt, $120; patareias.com; Pendleton Los Ojos blanket, $399; pendleton-usa.com

Leon Bridges

"This right here. This is what I love most about festivals," declares Leon Bridges before cracking a wry grin. Outside of the tent where the 27-year-old singer with an old-school sound and moves to match sits, a row of portable toilets is being refreshed without warning (Bonnaroo has only 200 flushable ones on-site for its nearly 80,000 attendees). "At first I thought it was some weird dish," he jokes, reaching for the red bandana that's always tucked in his back pocket to help combat sweat and, in this case, stench. But in between the blur of last night's show in St. Louis — one among an exhaustive year of touring he has done in support of his 2015 debut, Coming Home (Columbia) — the Texas native must have forgotten it.

On Bridges: Coach 1941 plaid polo collar henley, $250, and workwear leather jacket, $1,400; coach.com; David Yurman Petrvs gold lion signet ring, $1,000, and Petrvs gold horse signet ring, $1,200; davidyurman.com

BØrns

In the three years since Garrett Borns, known as Børns, was shacked up in a Los Angeles treehouse where he penned the songs that would land him a record deal with Interscope, he has nabbed a Twitter endorsement from Taylor Swift, been embraced by Gucci creative director Alessandro Michele and built a fan base that he says "throws silk shirts, love poems, crystals and essential oils onto the stage for me." He also has hit the festival circuit, hard. At Coachella he overheard people saying they wanted to catch his set ("I was half naked backstage changing and they didn't know who I was, which was a trip"), and at Down the Rabbit Hole in Holland, he ate smoked trout that had been fished out of a lake right before his eyes ("The artist catering was unreal").

Gucci button-embroidered velvet corduroy jacket, $7,580, silk crepe shirt with scarf, $880, and superbleached washed denim pants, $630; gucci.com; Christian Louboutin black leather Roadie flat boots, $1,195; christianlouboutin.com; Morgenthal Frederics acetate Amelia sunglasses, $435; morgenthalfrederics.com

Lucius

After two-and-a-half years on the road following the success of its 2013 debut, folk-pop five-piece Lucius uncorked all of the tensions and struggles that arose from its newly minted life of nomadism and poured them into its sophomore full-length, Good Grief (Mom + Pop). Released in March, the album concludes with co-lead singers Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig, who met at Berklee College of Music, harmonizing that "dusty trails can lead you to a golden road." Among the many gilded ones they’ve landed on while touring: singing with Mavis Staples and collaborating with Jeff Tweedy, David Byrne and My Morning Jacket’s Jim James. 

On Lalish (from left): Bruta embroidered shirt, $144; bruta.eu; Giuseppe Zanotti Design boots, $1,175; giuseppezanottidesign.com; On Molad: Dolce & Gabbana embroidered shirt, $1,495; dolcegabbana.it; Christian Louboutin Brian flat boots, $1,195; christianlouboutin.com. On Laessig: Valentino lace gown, $12,500, and volcano inlay jacket, $26,000; valentino.com; Giuseppe Zanotti Design fringe boots, $1,150; giuseppezanottidesign.com, Effy Jewelry diamond and gold rings, from $1,913; effyjewelry.com. On Wolfe: Alice & Olivia embroidered Merill gown, $1,298; shopbop.com; Mignonne Gavigan Madeline earrings, $225; mignonnegavigan.com; Kismet by Milka rose gold and diamond rings, from $1,100; On Burri: Givenchy chain-trimmed shirt, $690; mrporter.com; Frame L’Homme skinny jeans, $199; bergdorfgoodman.com; Jimmy Choo Pablo boots, $1,075; jimmychoo.com; Eugenia Kim velour felt Emmanuelle hat, $415; eugeniakim.com.

Purity Ring

Before vocalist Megan James and instrumentalist Corin Roddick, who make up Canadian electronic group Purity Ring, landed on festival bills, they scoured them. "You really looked at the schedule and made sure you were going to be able to catch every band you wanted to see because you might never get the chance to see them again," says Roddick, 25. "I think there's a wall of mysticism at festivals," adds James, 28. "I remember seeing Patrick Wolf walking around at a festival 10 years ago and I remember this feeling of awe that existed because of the space between the ground and the stage."

On Roddick (left) Saint Laurent distressed denim shirt, $690; mrporter.com; Public School twill pants, $450; barneys.com. On James: Vivsim Sublig T-shirt, $360; featurelv.com; Issey Miyake Homme Plisse pleated trousers, $345; fwrd.com; Satya Twena indigo fedora, $488; satyatwena.com; Pamela Love Tribal Spike earring, $248, pamelalove.com.

Leon Bridges?

Leon Bridges, who was busing tables and washing dishes at two restaurants to help support his mother not too long ago, never had camped out at a music festival, let alone heard of them, before playing South by Southwest in 2015. And for him, the most inspiring of all the variables has proved to be the weather. "The coolest one we've ever done was Sasquatch [in George, Wash.]. The show was canceled because of heavy winds," he recalls. "So I took my acoustic guitar and backup singer and we went out to the lawn where all the fans were — we just posted up and played a couple of songs. It was definitely more impactful than the amplified set would have been, and by far one of my favorite moments."

Lucius

Lucius' most epic festival memory was the 2015 Newport Folk Festival. “[Holly and I] were asked to sing with Roger Waters,” says Wolfe, 31, who is married to percussionist Dan Molad. “It was one of those things where you imagine this person for your whole entire life and you imagine them as this hero, and all of a sudden you’re a part of their experience and they’re a part of yours.” "I was backstage [at Newport] drinking beers with Joaquin Phoenix, and it was so much fun," says guitarist Andrew Burri, 32. "That guy knows how to slam them down."

On Laessig (left): Christina Economou camo brocade Brigitta dress, $662; christina-economou.com. Lulu Frost Patti convertible necklace, $375; lulufrost.com; Alain Mikli matte sunglasses, $375; iloristyle.com. On Wolfe: Christina Economou camo brocade open-back top, $302; christina-economou.com; Mignonne Gavigan hand-beaded fringe Ansley necklace, $725; mignonnegavigan.com; Alain Mikli matte sunglasses, $375; iloristyle.com

Andra Day

While running through a track from her 2015 debut, Cheers to the Fall (Warner Bros.), Andra Day suddenly found herself overexposed. "I went into a squatting position while I was singing at the Sasquatch Festival [in George, Wash.], and in literally one rip my denim jumpsuit busted open from my knee up across my crotch and then up across my stomach. All of a sudden it was like, 'Whoa!' " she recalls with a laugh. "Eventually my keyboard player, who was looking around like, 'What do I do?,' handed me his jacket and I tied it across myself. Fortunately it stayed on for the rest of the show."

Purity Ring?

"We played a festival in Champaign, Illinois, and [Run the Jewels] went on after us," recalls Megan James of Purity Ring, who also designs and sews the pair's onstage looks. "Our bus was parked behind the stage and I told everyone that I was going to invite Killer Mike and El-P onto the bus to hang out. Killer Mike was like, 'I'm too tired. I'm going home,' but El-P came on the bus… except everyone left. There was literally no one on it. (Laughs.) He comes on the bus and I'm like, 'Well, this is the bus. Do you want some water or something?' "

BØrns

BØRNS once crashed a festival as a fan in his Michigan home state. "It was midnight when my friend and I decided to get in my Volvo station wagon and drive out to it. We didn't have tickets so we had to crawl beneath some fences, hop some barbed wire and all of a sudden it was like… a total jamboree," the 24-year-old says with a smile. "There was an abandoned barn where people were dancing and hippies were running around, and we stayed up until 5 a.m. drinking wine. Eventually I passed out on the side of the road in my Volvo while my friend slept in a field under a tree. We drove home in the pouring rain the next morning and thought, 'Did we just hallucinate?' It felt like a lucid dream, like we had been dropped into a psychedelic tea party."