Written by Lorenzo dela Cruz | June 24, 2025

photos taken from the crowd

My journey listening to Wisp has been a brief but eventful one. In fact, finding Wisp was my gateway drug into the shoegaze genre—and more hardcore and rock genres. I remember late last year, scrolling on Instagram Reels and seeing a bunch of posts from Camp Flog Gnaw. There was one set that stood out to me: a small-statured girl wielding a Hello Kitty electric guitar, draped in a dark, flowing dress. Truthfully, this probably isn’t a unique discovery experience, as this was about the time she began to blow up on social media.

I wouldn’t describe myself as having the most diverse or curated music taste, usually listening to what’s mainstream for your stereotypical SoCal/NorCal Asian male. But this was my first time encountering a sound like this—a sound so ethereal, yet gritty and full of emotion. As she sang “Your Face,” while a small mosh formed in front of her, I was hooked. Her sound, visuals, and style came at a perfect time for me, during a strenuous time in my life. Unfortunately, my discovery came just barely too late, as she had just performed in Austin a few weeks prior. I was shattered—the timing was so close, yet so far. I was determined to see her live.

Fast forward to May. Wisp had been the Number 1 artist on my Apple Music Recap twice, and had a constant presence in my top five most-listened-to artists throughout 2025. I needed to see her live. Unfortunately, she only made cameos at various music festivals, and I was definitely not splashing the bag on Coachella. My next option was Kilby Block Party, but that opportunity closed as I had to go to Colorado to shoot photos for a different festival. The fates did not favor me. But I was determined.

Bonnaroo.

It was 4 a.m. at a hotel I had just checked into for a music festival shoot in Colorado Springs. We had just completed a grueling 13-hour drive straight from San Antonio. I opened up my laptop and went straight to Google Flights.

San Antonio - Nashville Flights, June 12–13
Bonnaroo.com – Thursday Single-Day Tickets + Parking
Avis.com – Nashville Intl Airport Car Rentals

Buy. Buy. Buy. Caleb Hammer would be screaming at me, but I had been monitoring flight prices for a while and saved up just for this. This was my rising action—me saying fck the fates, I’m gonna fly into Nashville on a random Thursday morning, rent a car, drive to Manchester, attend Bonnaroo, and fly home the next morning just in time for work.

Just to see Wisp.

Fast forward to Wednesday, June 11, the day before the festival. I had shot a wedding the entire day and was driving home at midnight. That night marked the beginning of heavy rains and thunderstorms in the area, causing flooding on highways and waterways. The power had even gone out at my house. Somebody up there didn’t want this to happen. My flight was at 5 a.m., and I had decided to stay up in my flashlight-lit room to monitor any flight delays. Surprisingly, there were none. The weather would not be my enemy today. This would (almost) come back to bite me later.

Sleep-deprived and nervous about what lay ahead, I made my way to the airport unscathed. Again, to my surprise, there were barely any delays, and everything was running as usual. Perfect. Two flights and two naps later, I found myself on the road to Manchester, McDonald’s nuggets in hand to fuel myself throughout the day. An hour later, I arrived at the world-famous Bonnaroo Farm.

As soon as I got in, I grabbed some food and made my way to the artist merch line. It was packed like sardines. Begrudgingly, I queued in line and struggled to see what was on sale through the sea of festivalgoers. “There’s no way they don’t have it,” I thought to myself. I pulled out my phone and quickly Googled Wisp merch.

“Angel Wings. Got it,” I said. Around me, strangers discussed various bands and groups they were excited for during the four-day festival. I hadn’t heard of any of them. I was out of my element. I was simply here for Wisp.

My turn in line finally came, and I asked the attendant, “Do y’all have merch for Wisp? W-I-S-P,” I spelled out. She hesitated for a moment, glanced at the sea of shirts behind her, and began scrolling through the inventory on her iPad. She flipped it around and presented me with the “Angel Wings” shirt. “I’ll have a large!” I exclaimed. I tagged my wristband and collected my loot, stuffing it messily into my shoulder bag.

It was extremely hot and humid at the farm. This was my third festival ever—the first being Head in the Clouds 2022, the second being Austin City Limits in 2024. I attended both solo, and what I learned is that I’m not really the social type in a festival setting. I tend to just roam around, get some food, and listen to the artists I came for, then go home. Today was no different. It was around 2 p.m., and I was running on barely any sleep. Wisp’s set was at 7 p.m., and I had made my rounds around The Farm, watched a few sets beforehand, and was content. I made my way to a shaded area and sat down. I set an alarm on my phone and proceeded to take a nap.

I woke up around an hour later and made my way to the stage where Wisp would perform. There were still two sets before hers, but I knew I had to go early and get a spot at the barrier beforehand to make sure I had a good view. I didn’t come all this way to watch from the back.

Two sets and hours passed, and I had established my spot at the barrier. The older, stereotypical country/indie rock crowd dispersed, and a younger crowd gathered at the stage. We were here for Wisp. The fates were aligned. This was it. As the stagehands set up for her set, the iconic Hello Kitty guitar was placed on a stand center stage. It was showtime. I plucked out my Sony RX100VII point-and-shoot and dialed in my settings. I was ready.

The clock struck 7:45 p.m. when Wisp finally made her way onto the “That” Stage, and the riff for “Enough For You” began to ring through the speakers. Wisp made her way carefully onto stage and donned her guitar. Propped up on a raised platform, her stature was small—but her presence was palpable. Each and every soul at that barrier knew what was going to happen: headbanging. “Enough For You” and “Pandora” rang out in succession, with me singing the lyrics, eyes closed, body swaying back and forth. The waves of reverb, floating guitar, and vocals were absolutely euphoric. Me and the girl to my left were eating it all up. “I came here just for her!” I exclaimed to her mid-set. Each time Wisp began the intro to a song, I would let out an audible, “Oh sh*t!” and fumble my camera, ready to record.

One of the songs performed was “Save Me Now,” a new single released the week prior. Truthfully, I enjoyed “Sword” more out of the recent new releases, but hearing the song live absolutely changed my mind. Wisp’s delicate vocals paired with the hard-hitting instrumentals hammered that home for me. She also teased an unreleased song titled “Darcy” that would be part of a new album she was about to release (which was actually announced yesterday). The set felt like one of those “meet your idols” moments—not in a fanatic sort of way, but more in a “this is f*cking awesome, this is exactly what I thought it was going to be and more” sort of way.

The set passed like a breeze, but my favorites were “I Remember How Your Hand Felt on Mine,” “Sword,” and obviously, the finale, “Your Face.”

In the middle of the set, Wisp made her way to the barrier and interacted with fans on the right side of the stage. Fans around me looked on exasperated, like neglected children watching the favorite get all the attention. Oh, how foolish we were.

As soon as she completed her set, she made her way back to the barriers—this time to the left, our side—and began signing fans’ clothes, arms, etc. Frantically, I thought, “What do I have for her to sign???” I whipped out the shirt stuffed into my bag, unwrapped it, and started waving it around. “Please sign my shirt!” Her manager, who was escorting her, turned toward me, saw the shirt, gave me the thumbs up, and instantly led her toward me. Wild. Unexpected. Insane. That was it. The clip of her signing my shirt made it to a few fan pages on TikTok. I don’t think I’ve ever had a “fangirl” moment in my life. That changed right then and there. The group I was standing with were ecstatic and discussed what had just occurred while we waited for the upcoming 2hollis set.

I won’t discuss much of that here, but it’s 2hollis—what do you expect?

Afterwards, I made my way to the parking lot and barely managed to find my car in the darkness. I stopped by a Gold’s Gym to take a shower, and made my way back to the airport. I dropped off my rental and took a nap while waiting for my flight—and during both of my flights. I got home to a sunny San Antonio, went home, and began my work day at 9:30 a.m., editing an event recap video, as if the day before hadn’t happened. Such is the grind of the 20-something-year-old trying to balance work and living life.

Later in the day, I got a text from people I had met: “BONNAROO IS CANCELLED,” they said. I checked Instagram—and they weren’t wrong. The festival was off. I made it out of the battlefield just in time before the chaos. In a weird way, I had attended the entirety of the festival. Fate was finally on my side.

All in all, the day was such a rollercoaster, and only thinking and writing about it a week removed makes me realize how crazy it was from a third-person view. Definitely a core memory for me. I highly encourage Wisp fans to see her live. The energy of a live crowd, combined with the emotionally charged nature of shoegaze—but more specifically, Wisp’s recipe of shoegaze, crafted for Gen Z audiences like myself—is life-changing. With her new album releasing in the beginning of August, I suspect her rising fame will bring her on tour near you.

You’ll see me there, that’s for sure.