Between Sept. 26 and 27, 42 bands played across five stages in the relatively secluded West Potomac Park along the banks of the Potomac River. Ten percent of the event’s proceeds benefited the Trust for the National Mall, the nonprofit set up to preserve and restore the federal land called America’s front lawn. With more than $750 million in backlogged repair work needed — and 39 years since the park’s last major renovation — the National Mall could use the help.

But the festival didn’t escape criticism in the lead-up to last weekend: a Washington Post article raised questions about whether public land should be given over to a private commercial event, particularly one with VIP tickets in the thousands of dollars. Not that the controversy appeared to dampen the spirits of 20-somethings who forked over their wages to see headliner Drake and the fireworks he brought with him Saturday night. (The Canadian emcee was one act Bandwidth didn’t get a chance to photograph; he only approved a handful of media outlets. See images at the Post or Fuse.)

Those with plebeian-level tickets (from $105 to $175) experienced a smoothly running festival — notable for any major concert’s inaugural year — with bands running largely on schedule both days. Attendees wandered freely between the stages to catch their favorite acts, with conflicts seemingly kept to a minimum, with only two or three bands playing at any given time.

But the vending operation was another matter. If Landmark returns for another year, it will need to get its food and beverage service in line. Food stands from local restaurants offered tasty variety, and there was plenty of beer to go around — but lines became unbearable Saturday as the day went on. Other reviews mention difficult parking, scarce toilet paper and sound bleed between stages.

Below, what Bandwidth spotted at Landmark Music Festival — in alphabetical order, and without the long lines.

All photos by Matt Condon

Ace Cosgrove

Albert Hammond Jr.

alt-J

Avers

Ben Howard

Chromeo

Chvrches

Empresarios

Ex Hex

Hiss Golden Messenger

Manchester Orchestra

Miguel

Rhiannon Giddens

The Joy Formidable

The London Souls

The Strokes

The War On Drugs

Twin Shadow

U.S. Royalty

Vandaveer

Wale

A woman dressed in what appears to be a cross between a (literal) cat suit and a Mexican wrestling outfit fending off creatures that look like something out of Jim Henson’s craziest Dark Crystal imaginings? Check. Large-breasted dogs in American flag jumpsuits, being coaxed in a boxing match by Abraham Lincoln in a Spider-Man suit? Yup, they’ve got that. Oh yeah, and there’s a band playing, too.

All of this and more took place at the Flying Dog Brewery in Frederick, Maryland, Saturday night, as the psychedelic rockers from Athens, Georgia, took to the lawn stage for the brewery’s final summer show of 2015, the ensemble’s second time there (they also closed out the 2013 season). Frontman Kevin Barnes led the group — this time a four-piece consisting of Barnes on vocals and guitar, Jojo Glidewell on keyboards, Bob Parins on bass and Clayton Rychlik on drums — through a 17-song set, much of which was drawn from the band’s latest album, Aureate Gloom, and from 2007’s Hissing Fauna, Are You the Destroyer?

As is typical for an Of Montreal show, an ensemble of costumed performers — which added a surreal element to the performance — frequently joined the band onstage.

Most of the performance was lit only by images from a projector stationed at the sound booth. This proved to be one of the few flaws of the show; the projections were often dark, making it tough to see what was happening onstage, and they competed with, rather than complimented, the action.

Fellow Athenian indie rockers Mothers and Frederick, Maryland, garage rockers Old Indian opened the show.

All photos by Matt Condon

Old Indian

Mothers

Of Montreal

Part of his “Hit and Run” tour — in which show dates are announced only days in advance — Prince performed both gigs backed by his band, 3rdEyeGirl, plumped up by auxiliary players like a horn section.

The early show started a half hour late, with Prince taking the stage at 8:30 p.m. But when he did arrive — after a short intro made up of snippets of new songs “Funknroll” and “Plectrumelectrum,” the only recent material of the night — he started slugging, opening with the bluesy Reloaded version of one of his biggest hits, “Let’s Go Crazy.” From there he charged into a medley of mostly untweaked tracks — “Take Me With U,” “Raspberry Beret,” “U Got the Look” and “Shake!,” ending the first set on a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Don’t Stop ‘Til You Get Enough” (“We’re goin’ old school!” Prince declared).

“How many hits do we got?” the Minnesotan asked as the band started the second set with “When Doves Cry.” The answer, of course, is many — though it’s been some time since he’s cracked the Top 40, there was a time in the 1980s when he ruled the charts.

Plus, Prince knows what his audience wants to hear. Other than the title track from 1991’s Diamonds and Pearls and one song performed by his guest Judith Hill, the entire setlist consisted of those songs. He squeezed in excerpts of as many tried-and-true tunes as he could in medley form. “We’re back to the ’80s in here!” he cried, more than once.

“I got a whole lot of people in D.C. sayin’ ain’t nobody do it like Prince do!” Prince crowed after an extended guitar solo during “Little Red Corvette.” Few in the audience would have disagreed with him. Even on the rare occasion that he wandered away from the popular tracks — like when he played a solo piano version of “How Come U Don’t Call Me Anymore?” (the B-side to his “1999” single) — the audience, who clearly knew his catalog well, went right along with him.

All photos by Karrah Kobus/NPG Records

Of course, it could only be a partial reunion: Original guitarist Bob Stinson died in 1995, and his replacement when he left the band in 1987, Slim Dunlap, has been ill since suffering a major stroke in 2012 (in fact, the original impetus for the band reuniting was the recording of a benefit EP, Songs for Slim). Drummer Chris Mars, after a short string of solo albums, left music to take up painting. So it was up to frontman Paul Westerberg and bassist Tommy Stinson to assume the mantle, joined by touring members Dave Minehan on guitars and Josh Freese on drums.

This was the band that led the audience through a raucous 28-song set. Opening with the track that introduced the band to much of the world, “Takin’ a Ride” from its 1981 debut album Sorry Ma, Forgot to Take Out the Trash, the band played songs from all seven Replacements albums. In a different (better?) world, tracks singles like “I Will Dare,” “Can’t Hardly Wait” and “Alex Chilton” would have all been hits; in this one, only 1989’s “I’ll Be You” cracked the charts at all. But to the audience at the Echostage, this didn’t matter — for two hours, at least, through these songs and more, The Replacements were the most important band in the world.

The Replacements:

J Roddy Walston & The Business:

After what may have seemed like an endless three-month wait, the album appeared and confirmed that the combo of Corin Tucker, Carrie Brownstein and Janet Weiss (along with additional touring member Katie Harkin) were still a musical force to be reckoned with.

Tuesday night, D.C. got its turn to celebrate the band’s resurrection with the first of two sold-out shows at the 9:30 Club.

From the opening guitar line of “Price Tag,” the capacity crowd probably knew it was in for something special. The band played nearly nonstop for an hour and a half. The 23-song setlist drew heavily from the new album, covering eight of its 10 tracks, but touched on older favorites like “Start Together,” “Dig Me Out” and “Little Babies.”

The band chanted “We’re not here ’cause we want to entertain” (“Entertain”), it was clear from the audience’s raucous response that the fourpiece had done just that.

Minneapolis hip-hop artist Lizzo opened the show, and her energetic performance — backed by DJ Sophia Eris and drummer Ryan McMahon — warmed the crowd to a slow simmer.

Missed the show? You can stream the whole thing at NPR.org.

Sleater-Kinney

Lizzo

Performing for nearly two hours both times, the band played 26 songs per night, though they varied their setlists enough to satisfy those who came two nights in a row. Even when the band wandered deeper into their albums, the audience followed along.

New York indie-poppers The Pains of Being Pure at Heart opened both nights, with frontman Kip Berman trading back and forth on vocals with his cousin, singer Elspeth Vance, for sets that pulled mostly from the group’s latest record, Days of Abandon. Live, The Pains bring a different experience than their albums do, dialing back the pop and bumping up the energy with frantic guitars up front.

Here’s what I saw during Saturday night’s show.

New Pornographers:

The Pains of Being Pure at Heart:

While singer Martin Courtney quipped that the brewery was the most industrial setting the band had ever played, the stage setup on the brewery’s lawn felt like a natural environment for Real Estate’s tuneful wanderings.

Frederick-based indie rockers Heavy Lights opened the show, playing songs from their recently released album, Mad Minds.

Real Estate:

Last night Taylor returned to DC9 with a full band, a lineup that included Mountain Man member Alexandra Sauser-Monnig, who also opened the show. Here’s what Bandwidth saw through its lens.

Alexandra Saser-Monnig:

Hiss Golden Messenger: