High Water Fest will return for its seventh year in Charleston with their best lineup yet featuring Arcade Fire, Lord Huron, and more.
High Water Fest, an indie-folk music festival based in Charleston North Carolina features one of its best lineups for 2025. The bill is stacked with indie favorites such as Flipturn, The Backseat Lovers and Mt. Joy with starstricking headliners, Lord Huron and Arcade Fire. Heres all you need to know about these artists!
Lord Huron (Day 1)
Day one’s headliner, folk rock band Lord Huron embodies every band on the bill perfectly. Their strong indie influences combined with folk instrumentation and hints of pop-rock allows audiences to enjoy what they offer. Quickly recognized for its feature in season one of 13 Reason Why, the heart wrenching melody of “The Night We Met” by Lord Huron gained attention fast – subsequently becoming certified platinum in the United States.
Mt. Joy (Day 1)
Mt. Joy, known for their indie sounds and mountain mantras, is set to play day one at High Water. This Philly band’s music is best listened to while hiking up a mountain with friends (trust me I’ve tried it) but I think seeing them live would have that beat. Their long hair and acoustic guitars compliment their granola folk spirits with the sprinkled jazzy pop spurts. The band’s most well-known hit “Silver Lining” feels like warm sunlight on your back, they are the epitome of a feel good band. Lead singer Matt Quinns verve through his folk rich voice feels so freeing, like hanging your head out the window at dusk with cool air flowing through your hair.
The Backseat Lovers (Day 1)
About a year after their Waiting To Spill tour, The Backseat Lovers went into hiding until now. The band has been posting teasers with no captions on instagram hinting at their return. Breaking the hiatus of performing, they announced their set appearance at the fest, making fans speculate new music and a potential tour. Lead singer Joshua Harmon recently announced his solo project under the name of ‘deeper sleeper’.
A thirteen track album showing Harmons full potential with his playful experimentation along with his unorthodox ballads. Their introspective lyricism digs deep and feels personal. The poetic writing is universal yet feels like it was written for the listener. Their powerful orchestration leaves you in a high state of bliss thinking, “how did they come up with this?” Seeing The Backseat Lovers live was one of the most life changing nights of my life.
Arcade Fire (Day 2)
Canadian indie rock band Arcade Fire, known for their anthemic pensive ambiance, is set to headline day two of High Water fest. Their chantable hymns make them fit to headline given their lively theatrical performance, highlighting each of the nine members. Lead singer Win Butler, Native to Texas created Arcade Fire with his now wife Régine Chassagne who plays Drums, accordion, keyboard, hurdy gurdy (had to look this one up) and vocals. Arcade Fire’s idiosyncratic soundscape can be taken from bits of pop undertones as well as heavy orchestral instrumentation mixed with synth beats drowned by intonate male chants and accented angelic female harmonies.
Flipturn (Day 2)
The youthful old souls of Flipturn prepare for their biggest tour yet amidst experiencing burnout, hints their newest upcoming album, Burnout Days. Their electric raw passion for playing live overcomes the draining feeling of touring and creating music. Flipturns’ coming of age rhythms are transient, compassionate to the familiar feeling of something relatable. Their song ‘August’ made its way to Tik Tok earlier this year gaining recognition for its soul crushing reminiscent lyricism and powerful composition shadowed by the repetitive angelic acoustic.
An experience so personal to the band feels painfully relatable regardless of the listeners current state, you can look back on a moment and be overcome with memories from the evocative writing. The energy the five of them bring to the stage is like no other. Everyone jumps around and echo back the words, bringing everyone together as one is a reason they power through.
I am a Dallas-based photographer. I am social media manager and photographer for indie-rock band Laredo Two as well as writer and photographer for Prosper's online newspaper, Eagle Nation Online. I have always had a passion for anything music from playing shows myself (I play bass and guitar) to music photography. When I am not taking pictures or at a concert, I run a small jewelry business and work at a local guitar shop!
