Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Cream Calendar Road Trip to Gainesville: The Fest 8, Oct. 30
Posted by CreamMaster on Wed, Oct 21, 2009 at 2:29 PM
Editorial intern Lance Conzett took a well-deserved break from transcribing Gold's interviews to contribute this entry.
Halloween was a lot cooler when you were 6 years old and you spent the night hustling candy out of your neighbors. I mean, realistically, what are your plans this year? Seeing Rocky Horror at midnight for the 90th time? (Suggestion: If you're hitting the Belcourt at midnight that weekend, opt for Scream Blacula Scream at 11:30 p.m. instead.) Sound Tribe Sector 9 at War Memorial? (Sorry, hippies, it's sold out.) Getting plastered and puking on a stranger's couch while "ironically" wearing a SpongeBob SquarePants costume?
There's a better option. You just have to drive nine hours to get to it.
The Fest in Gainesville, Fla., is the most legitimate punk festival in the country, which basically means that it's not Warped Tour. Now in its eighth iteration, The Fest brings together over 300 punk bands from around the nation (with a couple from Canada and the U.K. as well) while taking over a dozen venues for three days of northern Florida debauchery.
It's like CMJ with a mohawk.
I don't claim to be a punk expert, but I'd be stoked to go to this. Highlights include: 7 Seconds, Samiam, Dillinger Four, Less Than Jake, This Bike Is a Pipe Bomb, Andrew Jackson Jihad, a Small Brown Bike reunion show, Strike Anywhere, Defiance Ohio, Russian Circles, Youth Brigade, Bomb the Music Industry, O Pioneers, Joey Cape of Lagwagon. The list goes on and on.
Since this isn't the Warped Tour, it means that they are missing some of the big names like NOFX and Bad Religion, but it also means that they're not languishing in the pop-punk sewer that Fueled by Ramen has been profiting off for the past 10 years.
Another noticeable omission is Middle Tennessee. Out of 300 bands, you'd think an Infinity Cat band or two might drop in. Best as I can figure, Nashville is being repped solely by Blacklist Royals, who you may remember from that mutated spawn of rock festivals Next Warped Nashville. But in all likelihood, you don't--because they played at 5:15 p.m. and it was at RCKTWN.
The Fest 8 passes cost $60 in advance, or you could risk it and pay cover at every show. Like any respectable festival, they're offering hotel deals too, or you could just sleep in your car on the side of the road. Whatever. The Fest starts at 5:30 p.m. on Friday Oct. 30 and keeps going all weekend long.
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Hi! We dig the blog and thanks for the SCREAM BLACULA SCREAM drop. We'd only like to point at that it screens at 11:30pm, not midnight (Rocky Horror is at midnight though). Oh, and Pam Grier is the goods.
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