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Treefort Music Fest 2025 Review

For the 13th year in a row (as long as we agree to memory hole 2020), Treefort Music Fest 3/26-3/30 2025), organized by Boise concert promoters Duck Club have pulled off the seemingly impossible. Seriously, take a look at the 2025 lineup poster (420+ artists) and try to imagine how they can fit all of that (and so much more) into a 5 day festival. They do, with a professionalism I have seen at other festivals, but not on this scale. From the incredible amount of free events, to discounted tickets for Boise residents and fans under 21, to every show I saw starting on time (a feat in and of itself), to the incredible amount of non-music programming. Boise is truly blessed to have such an incredible team that have such a passion for music of all genres and a love of the city they call home.

Treefort Music Fest Lineup 2025

I really do have so much respect for Treefort for committing to music discovery and supporting independent artists from not just Boise and beyond, but all over the world. Ever since I started attending festivals, I've always been the type of fan to get excited about all the names I didn't yet know and would immediately dive in. From my Warped Tour days of posting on the message boards obsessively all summer to my college and beyond days of the Bonnaroo lineup drop basically being Christmas Day, an opportunity to listen to countless new bands curated by the teams that put festivals on has always been a highlight for me. With that being said, Treefort makes that task seem gargantuan. By the time the 3rd phase of bands drops, it's almost overwhelming to try to check every single act out before the festival, and I'll admit, I wasn't able to. One of my good friends and a fellow attendee though, did so props to him! This same friend is the reason "denim-psych" 7-piece Doom Gong attended. He saw this Louisville based act in Columbus, OH and told them they should absolutely apply to play. Well, they did, and they took the 28 hour journey to rock out on the free Cyclops stage in Downtown Boise. They even had a fan there that had bought their vinyl online and brought it to the show with them to get signed by all7 members. You could tell the band was surprised but excited to have such a big fan nearly 2,000 miles away. This is truly a music lover's festival at every level and I was so happy to see so many Inhailer Radio favorites on the lineup.


Here's the full list of artists I saw, in order (favorite acts are in bold):


  • John Francis Flynn (Ireland)

  • Ora Cogan (Vancouver)

  • The Wood Brothers (NYC)

  • Jessica Pratt (San Francisco)

  • Sir Woman (Austin)

  • EMEL (Tunisia/NYC)

  • Girl and Girl (Australia)

  • Shakey Graves (Austin)

  • Múm (Iceland)

  • Jesus Christ Taxi Driver (Denver)

  • Worn-Tin With Freak Nature Puppets (Santa Monica)

  • Gelli Haha (Los Angeles)

  • Big Sis (Los Angeles)

  • Be Your Own Pet (Nashville)

  • Cab Ellis (NYC)

  • Reyna Tropical (Los Angeles)

  • Remi Wolf (Los Angeles)

  • Free Creatures (Oregon)

  • Gelli Haha B2B De Lux (DJ Set) (Los Angeles)

  • Frog (NYC)

  • Pawpaw Rod (Los Angeles)

  • Joshua Ray Walker (Dallas)

  • Amyl and the Sniffers (Australia)

  • Dogs on Shady Lane (Rhode Island)

  • Horse Bitch (Denver)

  • Sofi Tukker (DJ Set) (NYC)

  • Youth Lagoon (Boise)

  • Sheer Mag (Philly)

  • Dummy (Los Angeles)

  • Confidence Man (Australia)

  • Hinds (Spain)

  • Deep Sea Diver (Seattle)

  • Bright Eyes (Omaha)

  • CAPYAC (Los Angeles/Berlin)

  • The Bug Club (UK)

  • Rubblebucket (NYC)



I also attended a couple non-music events, with plans to attend more but as you can see, seeing 37 bands in 5 days took precedent. I went solo to see the 1928 silent film "The Wind" with a new original score composed by Idaho composer Dylan Champagne and performed by him and music students of Boise State. Even though I did fall asleep for part of it, it was a nice break in the AC and comfy seats. I am a huge movie fan but I've noticed I've briefly fallen asleep during every black & white movie I've seen recently. It's not that I'm bored, I just get so cozy from the aesthetic and at this point I'm pavloved into it happening. It was an incredible piece of psychological horror from the 1920's though, and had me feeling very wary of the very windy day when I left the theater.


I also attended an incredible panel discussion from Rob Dennler (Music Director and Music Supervisor), Andy Hamm (Music Supervisor, founding member of Local Natives), Michelle Feghali (Radio Promotions and A&R for Sub Pop Records), Nina Corcoran (Staff Writer at Pitchfork), and Tommy Alexander (Music Agent at Wasserman) called Navigating the Modern Music Landscape. These industry professionals laid it bare how the industry looks for them in 2025, how to get there and answered audience questions with sincerity and honesty.


There are countless experiences and events I missed. In music festival fashion, you have to make some tough decisions about who you want to see, and if you are going to cut a set short or arrive to a set late. Luckily, getting around Boise is a breeze. Especially if you take advantage of this pro-tip and pre-pay for Lime Pass at the start of the festival. What seems like every single Lime scooter in Idaho converge at the entrance of Julia Davis Park for the fest, and I wouldn't have been able to see the amount of bands I saw without them. With Lime Pass, I not only saved money and time, I saved precious energy. I barely made it to 2 AM every night with them, I would have been home in bed by 10 every night if I was walking to every single venue. I used the scooters so much that I got a notification at the expiration of my pass that I saved almost $100 by pre-purchasing minutes. (This is not an ad, I promise!) But, even without the scooters, Treefort teamed up with Valley Regional Transit to offer the Treeline, a free shuttle that not only provides transport around all areas of the fest, but also live music on the shuttle every day so you never miss a second of entertainment.


Overall, Treefort Music Fest are masters of their craft and I only see them improving from here. What started as a genius plan to take advantage of the thousands of artists in the region for SXSW in Austin, TX around the same time has turned into something that can and does hold up on its own. According to our research, there were only 14 acts that overlapped from the two festivals in 2025. What I saw all week was: incredible music (with only a few sound hiccups), killer fashion (from both attendees and bands), respectful and attentive crowds, an incredibly clean festival, a swath of varied non-music programming offerings, a marketing team that GETS IT (their social media presence really sells the festival), a city that fully embraces the spirit of Treefort, and a festival that is beyond proud to call Boise home.


If you are an Inhailer Radio listener, this is the festival for you. Mark your calendars now:


TREEFORT 2026: MARCH 25-29



 
 
 

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