The Extra Innings Festival was a massive hit, attracting thousands of attendees. Headliners included The Lumineers, Kings of Leon and Kasey Musgraves. Festival goers enjoyed three stages, each with their own food and beverage options. From tacos to pretzels, and Dole Whip to agua frescas, attendees had many options to satisfy heat-induced hunger.
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Day One
Red Leather opened day one of the festival on Right Field at noon, attracting a modest crowd. Then, Jason Scott and the High Heat performed on Home Plate, the main stage of the festival.
Scott and his fellow musical counterparts hail from Oklahoma City. Their sophomore album, “American Grin” is set to release on March 28. The band named “Natalie” and “High Country” as songs best for long drives — something they’re familiar with during their time on tour. The latter was a crowd favorite, with many attendees singing the lyrics along with Scott’s clear croon.
Jason Scott and the High Heat’s performance was followed by Evan Honer, an Arizona native, representing his hometown in a Diamondbacks jersey.
“I definitely was nervous,” Honer said. “That was the most amount of people I’ve ever played in front of. This was a big step for me.”
Wyatt Flores performed next, who had a large fanbase in the Home Plate pit crowd. Flores, with more than three million Spotify followers, performed his hit “Please Don’t Go.”
Megan Moroney took the stage at 6:50 p.m. sharp, singing country pop and power ballads such as “Tennessee Orange” and “Am I Okay?” Her stage presence was magnetic, drawing in the festival’s Home Plate audience. Her merchandise was especially popular at the festival, with many young women sporting cobalt blue hoodies.
Moroney’s set at Home Plate was abandoned almost immediately after she finished her performance in favor of the Red Clay Strays, who performed an hour-long set at Right Field. “Wondering Why” — the band’s most popular song — was the peak of their set.
Attendees then ran back to Home Plate to catch the last and most well-known act of the night: The Lumineers. Performing hits such as “Ophelia” and “Ho Hey”, the band amassed a large crowd and closed out the first day of 2025’s Extra Innings Festival.
Day Two
Day two of Extra Innings hit the ground running with an opening performance from Wheelwright, a local Phoenix artist. Wheelwright was among several other Arizona artists at the festival. He released a six-song EP “Keep Me Going” on Friday before taking the stage on Saturday.
As the day went on, the crowd continued to roll in, growing larger and larger as the evening neared. Artists like Maggie Antone and Sam Barber kept early festival goers happy as people waited for the bigger acts such as Kings of Leon and Kacey Musgraves.
Extra Innings Fest highlighted more country-leaning artists but there was still a variety of music present at the festival. Andrew Bailey, a student at Arizona State University, came to both days of Extra Innings. Bailey was most excited about the Red Clay Strays on Friday but had different hopes for the Saturday performances.
“I’m not a huge country music fan, but I do know Kings of Leon super well and it’ll be cool to listen to their songs live,” Bailey said.
Musical performances weren’t the only highlights of the weekend though. As Saturday went on the lines for the batting cages lengthened. People of all ages stepped up to the plate and tried their hand at baseball. Batters were given five chances to hit the baseball — a task that proved harder than it looked for many.
“It’s a nice touch to have some of these activities to keep the festival on the baseball theme,” Bailey said.
As people enjoyed the batting cages, they had the opportunity to listen to Ryan Dempster, the host of the “Off the Mound” baseball podcast. Dempster hosted a live version of his podcast throughout the festival with two sessions each day of the festival.
Near Left Field stage and the batting cages, Zia Records found its temporary home on the festival grounds with merchandise available and records.
Just after 6:30 p.m., Kings of Leon went on at the Home Plate stage. The band’s setlists included as newer songs from the band’s most recent album “Can We Please Have Fun” and older hits like “Use Somebody.”
Marren Morris took the next performance slot at the Right Field stage. After the Kings of Leon performance, almost all of the crowd participated in a mass exodus to catch her show. Morris’s set had slower songs and others that had people grabbing their concert partners and spinning them around.
Once Morris finished, it was time for the last show of the day — Kacey Musgraves. Musgraves was recently on tour for her “Deeper Well” album and has several shows scattered throughout the remainder of the year. The crowd was by far the largest of the day as she sang songs stretching across her whole discography including “Neon Moon” — her song with Brooks & Dunns.
