The 7th Annual Shadow Ridge Music Festival!

Story and Photos: Spencer Fleming

First off, I want to thank Shadow Ridge Music Festival for their support of this site. Instead of having pop-ups and ads left and right, Shadow Ridge has kindly sponsored us which will help keep the dream alive! Here's to another year of shows, Cheers!

If you weren't at Shadow Ridge Music Festival Friday night (9.5.25), you missed one epic party! Once again the festival managed to top the previous years and brought a killer lineup of 90s and 2000s acts to rock West Omaha. This year's festivities were blessed with gorgeous weather. Not a rain drop in sight, the night was perfect for an outdoor show. With the temperature at 64 for the 5:20 start time things were looking awesome.

I started the day by getting some pics of all the beautiful fans as they were coming in. So many different walks of life came out to enjoy some music and eat all kinds of tasty food. From super young kids to Gen-Xers and Millennials, thousands of music fans came to party!

As the clock struck 5:20 it was time for the first band Fuel to take the stage. I was really looking forward to Fuel's set. I had never seen Fuel in their prime (late 90s), so I was excited to hear all these songs I had become so familiar with over the years. People typically remember their biggest hit "Hemorrhage (In My Hands)", but they had so many other hits! The band had great energy coming out of the gate. The fans were on their feet singing along and having the best time. Lead singer Aaron Scott spoke to the crowd about how stoked he was to be playing with Fuel. "I'm straight from the crowd just like you. I had been a huge fan of this band and now I get to play with them. It's a dream come true". Such a cool thing to watch. Fuel of course closed with "Hemorrhage" as everyone lifted their phones for that perfect TikTok clip. I hope to catch Fuel again, it was an awesome time!

Next up was Shadow Ridge two-timers Lit. For a band going on 40 years they still bring the energy with every show. The two Popoff brothers (guitar and lead vocals) are still intact along with bass player Kevin Baldes, pretty impressive! Lit hit mainstream success in the late 90s with their album A Place In The Sun, but they've had a few more hits along the way. I was really stoked to see Jay Popoff and his stage jumps. He got the crowd moving with all of his antics. If he wasn't running around on stage he was going back to back with his brother Jeremy giving his best air guitar. It's funny, I was thinking "Jay looks a lot like Jason Spicoli from GoodLife Records". Has anyone ever seen Spicoli and Jay in the same room together??

In addition to all the hits Lit played a brand-new song, "Sick Of Me Too". They kept it light though with Jay jokingly saying "We try to stick to the hits. I hate it when bands play all new stuff". I mean I think we all like some new stuff, but we all know everyone was there to hear "My Own Worst Enemy". That iconic guitar riff started and the energy cranked up to 11! We were all transported back to 1998, cruising in the summer sun. No phones or internet, just good vibes. Lit thanked Shadow Ridge for having them back and told the crowd to have fun on this most spectacular evening. I ran into Lit's drummer a little later on and he thanked me for taking photos, a rare moment in today's industry!

I took some time to check out all the awesome food vendors. There were tons of good options from Dante Pizza, Chic-Fil-A, Javi's Tacos, High Voltage BBQ, Johnny Rico's Brooklyn Pizza, Greek To Me, and Sweets on the Streets. I saw all types of food making it's way around the grounds, but by far I think the most popular pick was pizza. Everywhere I looked someone was devouring a tasty slice. As the air started to cool that coal-fired smell permeated the whole place. I wasn't too busy to grab a slice of Margherita, really good stuff!

After some pizza and people watching it was time for The Fray. There were a ton of Fray shirts walking around so I could tell this one of the most anticipated sets of the night. The Fray had quite a few hits in the 2000s so they can still pull in a great crowd. Around 2019 original lead singer Isaac Slade left the band, but The Fray member Joe King stepped in for vocals. Honestly I'm not sure if anyone in attendance really noticed. Joe and the band did an awesome job belting out their tried and true radio hits. Joe's voice may be a little different than Isaac's but the band still sounded really tight. They brought the hits but they also gave the crowd a few treats in covers of The Cranberries and Simple Minds. Their first cover "Dreams" went over really well. Towards the end of the set The Fray hit the crowd with the unforgettable synth notes of "Don't Forget About Me" and the crowd went wild! Being that there were a ton of Gen-X fans I'm sure this brought them back to their high school, maybe college years? I don't know, I was in diapers when The Breakfast Club came out. Still, I remember watching the movie when I was a little older and "Don't You Forget About Me" truly is iconic. The Fray did the song justice and brought the house down. It was easily my favorite part of the set.

After The Fray, the crew from 89.7 The River came out to bring on Bush and thank all the Shadow Ridge sponsors.

Soon the legendary English rockers Bush graced the Shadow Ridge stage. With thunderous applause, the crowd was ready to rock! Gavin Rossdale and crew opened the set with "Scars", the first track from their new album I Beat Loneliness. This song saw Gavin coming to the front of the catwalk without his guitar, only a mic in hand. It felt awesome being so close to such a rock legend and getting to capture his swagger.

Bush continued to electrify with one of their biggest hits "Machinehead". Even my kids were stoked on this song because they've played it on guitar hero. The unmistakably crunchy opening riff had the crowd losing their minds! Gavin stuck to the main stage and shredded his guitar while crooning "breathe in, breathe out". The song has to be one of the biggest of the 90s for sure.

Gavin didn't say much between songs, but you could tell the band was having a blast up there. While the bass player and guitarist traded riffs with Gavin, everyone was laughing and smiling.

The night air had cooled down but the party was still raging with fire. Bush dished out so many hits over the next hour and a half. My personal favorites were "The Chemicals Between Us", "Swallowed", and "Everything Zen".

Much like Lit, Bush threw in some new songs from their latest album I Beat Loneliness including "The Land of Milk and Honey"and "60 Ways to Forget People". No offense to Lit, but I think the crowd was cool with hearing current radio singles. It's amazing that Bush is still churning out chart-topping hits after all these years. They sounded incredibly tight on stage, as they should, they're seasoned pros! I posted a quick clip to TikTok after I got home from the show and got a lot of comments on how enjoyable the festival was. Bush was such an awesome choice for Shadow Ridge's 7th headliner.

I can't wait to see who Shadow Ridge brings next year!

Shout out to Sweets on the Streets for the post-show ice cream! My kids and I tried the "Tiger King" and "Red, White, and Blue" cones, which were fantastic. If you see their truck around town it's definitely worth breaking for.

Again, a huge thanks to Shadow Ridge for partnering with Stories From The Crowd. We cover tons of shows every year but this event is truly special to us. It's something I personally look forward to every year. We hope to continue this tradition for many years to come!