By Sam McDonald
A two-day bash featuring more than a dozen of the region’s most creative live musicians, YES Fest is — once again — ready to spread positive vibrations at Old Dominion University.
It all happens April 25-26.
The eclectic music festival — a collaboration between concert promoter LAVA Presents and Arts@ — delivers a carefully curated set of artists known for original sounds and dynamic live performances. Tickets are priced to be affordable for college students — and anyone on a budget.
This festival features a bold mix of genres. Sounds will stretch from the melodic indie rock of Illiterate Light to the incisive jazz-tinged rap of McKinley Dixon, and all the way to the menacing metal of Por Vida.
"YES Fest has become a staple in our local music scene — helping to bring live music to the campus of and showcase some of the best bands in the 757 and beyond,” said Josh Coplon of LAVA Presents and Norfolk live music venue The Annex. “This event spans many genres and there is quite literally, something for everyone! Whether you are an student experiencing new music or a regular concertgoer seeing the fantastic art and performance spaces at for the first time, welcome to YES Fest!”
An early-bird special on two-day passes gives access to the event’s entire suite of 15+ performances for $25. For Old Dominion students, the same pass is $12. Early single-day tickets for students are $7, and $15 for the public.
Cullen Strawn, Old Dominion’s Executive Director for the Arts, hopes the community will reengage with regional live music through YES Fest. “In the age of AI, we’re showcasing living, breathing artists who create meaningful moments on stage,” Strawn said. “It’s an energizing reminder of how the arts enrich lives.”
As with previous editions of YES Fest, shows will take place in the Gordon Art Galleries and the Goode Theatre, next to each other along Monarch Way. It’s easy for attendees to flow between the two venues. Art vendors including students and other creatives will display wares as part of the festival. If weather cooperates, vending will spill onto the sidewalk.
Here’s a closer look at the festival’s lineup:
McKinley Dixon (rap) • Illiterate Light (eclectic indie rock) • Por Vida (metal) • Deau Eyes (singer songwriter) • Strawberry Moon (melodic punk) • SHANN (modern R&B) • Artel Carter (rap) • GULL (experimental) • No Agenda (blues rock) • Hippie Love Party (alternative rock) • House of Wills (low-fi acoustic) • Kelo & Friends (rap) • NIIASII (R&B) • Shower Cry (shoegaze rock) • The Fuzz Band (jazz/R&B/funk)
Headliner McKinley Dixon — set to embark on a European tour later this year — is known for thoughtful hip-hop lyricism. In a four-star review of Dixon’s 2023 album “Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!?,” a critic for the Guardian noted that the album’s title name checks three of writer Toni Morrison’s most celebrated books.
A feature on RollingStone.com described his music as a “full of soul-baring eternalization of an artist’s life and times.”
Illiterate Light, who will perform an acoustic set at YES Fest, isn’t bound by genre labels. The group’s 2024 album “Arches” was described by one reviewer as drawing on dance, punk, folk, psychedelia and more.
“‘Arches,’ is a gratifying listen from start to finish,” wrote John Moore for glidemagazine.com. “Illiterate Light could have made a punk album, a dance album or a psychedelic folk album,” he wrote. “Instead, they decided to make all of ’em.”
Hampton’s own Fuzz Band specializes in musical melding. Trumpet-playing band leader Duane Smith and friends fuse funk, jazz and R&B grooves into a sound topped by powerhouse vocals from Nakia Madry Smith and others.
YES Fest will provide a homecoming for at least one artist.
SHANN — a pop-leaning R&B singer known off stage as Shannon Benton — is a 2020 graduate of Old Dominion University.
“It’s going to be a full-circle moment for me,” she said. “I’m super excited to come back and perform for all my Monarchs.”
SHANN’s career is on the rise. The Hampton-based artist was recently interviewed on air by WNVZ-FM, Z-104, personality Shaggy. Last fall, she scored a prime spot opening for Grammy-nominated singer Kehlani at the Portsmouth amphitheater.
Late April 2025 will be a particularly busy period for SHANN, who cites Janet Jackson as her musical hero.
“We’re going to hit this full-fledge,” she promised. “I’ve got a jam-packed weekend, man, and we’re kicking it off at my alma mater.”
Tickets are on sale now through with both one-day and two-day discounted passes available for students, faculty and staff.
Tickets for the public are available from .