Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink was the theme for the first day of this year’s All Points West Festival. The god of rain was in attendance (as were the stands selling water), making for a muddy Friday, but free drinkable water was hard to come by, as was substance in many of the acts. However, despite the unseasonable weather, neither the performers nor the audience were willing to budge from their original intention. The show went on.

Seasick Steve gave the most guttural and sincerely moving performance of the day, wailing a painful story with roadside rawness during an early slot on the main stage. In contrast with the performers that would fill the same stage later in the day, Seasick Steve was able to bring more meaning and substance with a guitar, his voice and a bottle of whiskey than the small, gilded armies that would follow. Jay-Z brought this case to point, delivering a performance that physically filled the stage, blowing out the sound with a professional personal orchestra backing him and a stage presence that cannot be denied, yet there is hollowness beneath the pomp and circumstance of his well-crafted words. The audience was eager to stand in a sea of mud, bowing to the icon while screaming back cheers of “Brooklyn,” but this is more a testament to the drug-like trance of hype and Jay-Z’s ability to deliver it than any trademarks of meaning.

Shearwater gave a solid performance on the Second Stage, utilizing a wide variety of instruments to create their indie sound. One of the high points was a duet on the xylophone that brought the song in and carried it out with a haunting grace and delicacy. Then there was the Third Stage, which was tented and a good place to be in a torrential downpour, but a bad place to be during Carolina Liar’s set. Getting into this music on your own was not an option in the eyes of the band’s lead singer, who incessantly told to the audience when to cheer, clap, and get excited. The band’s sound and performance improved greatly once this joker left the stage, leaving the guitar, bass and drums to jam, which were handled by very competent musicians who played a tight ending jam.

At Liberty State Park, All Points West is situated in an ideal location with some breathtaking views of Manhattan in the east and wide sweeping space to roam and listen in the unkempt Jersey park. It will probably be a couple more years before this festival finds the footing that Goldenvoice scored with Coachella in the Indio Valley of California, but if audiences are willing to rough it in the mud, as they were this year, then time shouldn’t be an issue. - C. Jefferson Thom

Mr. Thom lives in New York City and walks dogs, writes plays, and loves dissecting pop culture.