Third Year, 30 bands: Evolution Festival Returns

The 2025 Evolution Festival is the Biggest Yet

Forest Park’s Langenberg Field will once again play host to St. Louis’ Evolution Festival on September 27-28, 2025. In its third year, there was no doubt that this year’s festival had to be one-upped to outdo 2024’s festival—and we’re here to tell you, mission accomplished.

You want some high-profile names? OK. It doesn’t get much bigger than Rock ‘n’ Roll hall of famer, Lenny Kravitz. And, since this festival is in St. Louis, and STL loves their mid-to-late ’90s alternative, they plugged in Sublime to headline the first night of the festival. The band re-formed in 2023 with original lead singer Bradley Nowell’s son, Jakob Nowell, on lead vocals, alongside original members Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson.

Leaning into the rap and hip-hop world—as the festival has done the previous two years—Evolution tapped influential duo Public Enemy and early ’90s south-central hip-hop sensations, The Pharcyde—don’t let their set pass you by.

In our eyes, the mark of any good, worth-the-money festivals must hit homeruns with bands who play during the daytime. And man, the folks at Evolution did not disappoint. Let’s start with Father John Misty, a.k.a. Josh Tillman. A former member of Seattle indie-rock band Fleet Foxes, FJM hasn’t played in St. Louis in eight years; he just sold out the Uptown Theater in Kansas City, which holds 2,400. The U.K.’s Sam Fender is riding high off his third album, People Watching, and armed with hits from previous albums, Hypersonic Missiles and Seventeen Going Under, he’ll have younger concert goers riding high—this might be the closest thing Evolution gets to the crazed, screaming, younger-concert-goer experience.

As you will read later in this festival preview, the days of indie sleaze/DIY/garage rock has been all but forgotten by mainstream media. But, just in case you aren’t familiar with this magazine… we bask in the glory of indie rock, and it doesn’t get much better than The Hives, The Kills and His Lordship.

When the Swedish start-ups The Hives took over alt-rock and indie rock in the mid-’90s, lead singer Pelle Almqvist was drawing comparison to Mick Jagger. The Hives are appearing in St. Louis for the first time since 2010—and this being one of their 12 U.S. dates—to say this is a treat is an understatement, and we don’t hate to say we told you so.

We won’t spend much time here on The Kills and His Lordship since we’ve featured them elsewhere in this issue—but to say they are can’t-misses is an obvious notion.

Other artists making an appearance include iconic 1990’s girl group TLC, minus the L, of course. Existing members Tionne “T-Boz” Watkins and Rozonda “Chilli” Thomas honor their groupmate, who passed away in 2002, by piping in Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes’s vocals and incorporating images of her throughout the set. On the festival circuit this past summer they performed their most famous singles, including “No Scrubs,” “Creep” and “Waterfalls,” to name a few. Former St. Louisan turned national phenomenon Pokey LaFarge will bring his banjo-infused country style to Evolution. His latest album Rhumba Country came out last year on New West Records.

Marcus King is a guitarist and vocalist whose artistry has broadened the horizons of contemporary blues, southern rock and soul. You will not want to miss his heartfelt songs and legendary skills on the guitar. Singer-songwriter Cut Worms, a.k.a. Max Clarke, will bring his blend of melody, lyric and atmosphere to the party as well.

Don’t Skip the Lesser-Known Bands, a.k.a. The Hidden Gems

If you’re someone who says, “I’ve never heard of half the bands in this festival,” now’s the time to embrace change and be the one in your friend group or your family dropping knowledge and spreading the good word. One place we’ve discovered some of the musicians we now have on regular rotation on our playlists was the stage at the halfway point of the festival, aptly located next to the Midway Beverage Garden. This was truly a highlight of last year’s festival. We’re predicting a similar in-your-face amazement at this stage this year with people asking, “Who in the hell are these guys?!”

We’ve done the work on some of the bands slated to play the Midway stage that you’ll be talking about after the festival has closed its gates—check out our features on The Velveteers and The Courettes. Goldford and Dagger Polyester are a couple others that we are psyched to see on this stage.

But wait, there’s more! Don’t miss our writeups on Low Cut Connie and Gus Baldwin—two more must-sees at Evolution.

Get to know some of the unsung heroes of the festival on the next few pages, and we’ll see you at Evolution Festival. Grab your tickets here.

Beyond the Music

Any good festival will have an impressive lineup of vendors and experiences that reach beyond the music. Evolution is no exception and will feature a wide selection of 30+ vendors with food and drink pleasing to most palates; tents with bespoke merchandise; plus artwork and other items for sale. With certain types of passes, festival goers will have access to cocktail and culinary demonstrations presented by local chefs and restaurateurs. 

Related: Checkout last year’s coverage