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Firefly 2017: Interviews Live From The Woodlands

By Michael Cerio

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- Ninety-thousand invaded Dover, Delaware, this weekend for the sixth edition of Firefly Music Festival.

While a majority of the action took place on stage, buried back between the trees was a whole other event. Golf carts shuttled staff with supplies from festival end to end, bands exchanged cheers and conversation in the village known as the "artist compound," and a network of press gathered in a tent on the outskirts to talk to performers in-between sets.

For us, it was chance to catch up with friends old and new at Firefly. Bands like Cold Roses from Philadelphia, who in a few short years have gone from playing the South Street Festival to opening Saturday morning on a Firefly stage and awaiting their debut album which is released next month.

There was also ROZES, the Montco native who scored big with the song she penned and sang with The Chainsmokers and who continues to carve out an impressive career. Firefly was her first festival where she was the feature performer, and she made the most of it on the Backyard stage Sunday. She was also as blown away by Twenty One Pilots as everyone else who saw them Friday night.

 

You might remember Josh Ostrander from his days in Philadelphia's Eastern Conference Champions. You might not. However, you've definitely heard "Shine," the single from Josh's latest incarnation as Mondo Cozmo. The song has hit number one and put him on a national stage, but it started in his guest bedroom in-between landscaping jobs.

"I named the band after my dog, it was just something to write down on a CD," Ostrander explained at Firefly. "And then 'Shine' came out, and it went to number one. And then we booked every festival known to man."

We talk with Mondo Cozmo about growing up in Philadelphia, Van Halen at the Spectrum, and even stealing cars.

 

Finally, there's Bishop Briggs. The 24-year-old has become somewhat of an accidental world traveler having lived in London, Hong Kong, and Los Angeles. It all adds up to a unique sound and style that's yielded the anthem "River" – a shout-a-long stomper that wowed the crowd on Saturday. She was all smiles as she stalked the main stage, something she told us she just can't help.

"Truthfully, I just kind of blackout," explained Briggs. "I just feel the music, and I'm just in the moment, and it's just like the one time in my life that I really feel free."

 

Firefly Music Festival returns to Dover next year on June 14 through June 17. Click here to read our review of this year's festival.

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