Firefly Music Festival’s fourth annual gathering took place in Dover, DE this past weekend, with a sold out crowd of 90,000 attendees and four days of headliners including Paul McCartney, The Killers, Morrissey, Snoop Dogg, Foster the People, Modest Mouse, Zedd and more.

Severe thunderstorms Saturday night caused cancellations of sets including Kings of Leon, late night Lettuce, Steve Aoki, and The Chainsmokers while cutting short Sublime and Kid Cudi performances. Although fans left disappointed during the evacuation that night, they were happy with the announcement of Steve Aoki and The Chainsmokers’ rescheduled sets Sunday, and with the music and festivities overall!

Here are some highlights from the weekend:

1. The Killers Brighten Up Kings of Leon Fans

Sunday night on the main stage The Killers honored their festival co-headliners Kings of Leon with two cover songs. Kings of Leon’s Saturday night set was canceled due to torrential rainfall and an evacuation of the festival grounds, but fans were happy to hear The Killers pay respect with a full rendition of “The Bucket” and a sing-along, acoustic tease of “Use Somebody”.

 

2. Paul McCartney’s Birthday

Headliner Paul McCartney opened up his two and a half hour long set Friday with “Birthday,” making note of his 73rd birthday the day before. McCartney’s liveliness held strong past midnight as he played several Beatles tunes supported by the crowd and tributes to John Lennon and the recent tragedy in Charleston, SC. McCartney surprised a fan by granting her poster’s request to sign a tattoo she had of his face shortly before finishing out the set with a grand finale of fireworks.

 

3. The Crowd’s Embracement of the Mud

The combination of 90,000 people and heavy rainstorms throughout the weekend left the festival grounds of the woodlands with quicksand-like soil. The ankle-deep, and sometimes knee-deep, mud surely didn’t stop festival goers from raging all day and running from one performer to the next. Several attendees abandoned their shoes and danced barefoot throughout the weekend.

4. Matt and Kim’s Twerk Surfing

Matt and Kim win the award for the wildest set of the weekend as they belted out every ounce of energy they could into a fully reciprocating crowd. The duo jumped around the stage shouting, and Kim even dived into the crowd to twerk surf before returning back on stage to dry hump her drum set. “Let’s make this the best show of our lives!” shouted from both of them.

 

5. Late Night Chillwave Sets

Finishing up Thursday and Friday nights were two late night sets by Tycho and How to Dress Well, which served as perfect lullabies before sending the crowds off to bed. Both on the Pavillion Stage, the downtempo electropop sets combined with dreamy visuals left attendees in a trance after running around all day in the sun.

HTDW’s set was in particularly intimate as few festival-goers had the zest after Paul McCartney’s high energy performance to make it across the grounds to the show. Lead singer Tom Krell took liking to this cozy setting as he passionately serenaded the crowd and gave background stories of the songs. Krell even surprised the crowd with a Taylor Swift cover.

 

6. The Guy Who Stole the Show at Snoop Dogg

Sunday night during Snoop Dogg, a crowd member scaled a speaker tower for a few songs before Snoop performed his Akon collaboration, “I Wanna Love You”, with shoutout lyrics of “I see you winding and grinding up on that pole.” Eventually beer bottles were thrown at the attendee who finally came down to be handled by security and Dover police officers.

7. Steve Aoki Takes the Cake

House DJ Steve Aoki, originally scheduled for a midnight set Saturday night, treated his rescheduled Sunday afternoon performance like any other late night set with his tradition of cake throwing and head banging. Eager crowds flooded to the Backyard Stage with signs begging to be thrown a cake. Aoki threw out at least ten cakes along with a plethora of champagne.

Photo via Ilya Savenok//Getty Images

8. Glass Animals Covers Kanye West

English indie-rock band Glass Animals brought a packed crowd to the Forest Stage Friday evening with several hits off of their award winning album ZABA and a set closer of Kanye West’s “Love Lockdown.” Dave Bayley on vocals walked his microphone into the crowd to provide a very smooth and slowed down anthem of the top hit.