It was the best of times, it was the Fest of times. Recently, I was fortunate enough to actually fly down to Florida and attend the 10th annual Fest. This was my first time and I don't think it cold have been a more memorable experience. Chuck Ragan reunited with Hot Water Music and Kid Dynamite, Paint it Black, and Dillinger Four made some special appearances for how rarely they play shows. I found a lot of new bands, met a lot of really great people and saw a lot of my favorite bands which unfortunately, would end up being the last time that I'd end up seeing a few of them live as they played their farewells (RIP The Riot Before, Monikers, The Measure(sa). I also drank a lot more PBR than I had probably hoped to but for my first on-the-fly trip that I had ever taken it could not have gone more smoothly or been kinder to my wallet. Big ups to United Airlines.
I don't think there was one time during the three day course of the Fest where I could actually sit down and take a break. Once one band I wanted to see was done playing, the next one was about to start. I feel like its just gonna be that much harder to get tickets for next year because of all the first-timers (like me) who found out about this golden nugget in Gainesville, Fl in addition to all the people who have continued to make this an annual thing. I really don't think its possible to pack more punk-inspired bands with such different styles of music into three days without making it too hard to actually see all the bands you want to. I guess I'll just have to wait until next year to find out.
I don't think there was one time during the three day course of the Fest where I could actually sit down and take a break. Once one band I wanted to see was done playing, the next one was about to start. I feel like its just gonna be that much harder to get tickets for next year because of all the first-timers (like me) who found out about this golden nugget in Gainesville, Fl in addition to all the people who have continued to make this an annual thing. I really don't think its possible to pack more punk-inspired bands with such different styles of music into three days without making it too hard to actually see all the bands you want to. I guess I'll just have to wait until next year to find out.