I have never really liked anyone I met who was from Florida. Everytime I have gone there for a swim meet or for family vacation, the situation has always seemed totally fucked in some way.
But this past Halloween weekend, I decided to give Florida another chance and attend The Fest 7. HOLY SHIT THIS WAS THE BEST WEEKEND OF MY LIFE!!!!
I was totally amped on Thursday night; I couldn't sleep. I woke up at 4:15AM and was unable to fall back asleep. I had to go into work at 8:15 b/c we had four wisdom teeth to take out on one guy. I had difficulty focusing during the entire procedure, and it seemed to drag on forever. And these teeth were not wanting to come out. The roots were curved and they were really clinging on tight!
But we finally got them out and I ran outta there and took the orange to midway. Southwest is great. I slept the whole way to Jacksonville and missed the drink cart, so I was way thirsty when the plane landed.
I went to Enterprise and got a nice Kia Spectra that my sister reserved for me with her employee discount, picked up a road map, and headed to Gainesville. The drive was a little long, but traffic wasn't bad. Florida is incredibly flat.
I rolled into town and had no problem finding the hotel; there were people everywhere. The line for registration was down the hall, down the stairs, snaked through the lobby, and out the door. So I waited. Took a little less than an hour to get my pass and booklet. The time was about 8:00pm and I decided to forgo getting food or drink and hit up some shows.
I walked toward 1982 and went on in just as (1) former humans were finishing up. (2)A.N.S. was on next, and I was anxious to see them. I ran into my former roommate Ron, who I had to double take b/c he was incognito in his halloween glasses, fake nose, and moustache. I was slightly disappointed with the A.N.S. set. The vocals weren't strong in the mix, and the riffs were rough, but the place went nuts and the pit was brutal. People were up on stage, the guitarist was surfing and playing at the same time (so the rough riffs are forgiven!), the lighting rig was knocked down, total chaos. Good show!
I said goodbye to Ron and walked to Kickstand. Holy shit was a fucking awesome place that was! It was a large barn-like structure with a huge gravel lot in the back with all kinds of buses and vans parked, and the inside was a DIY bike shop with a stage in the corner and lights strung up and around a chandelier made of old bike tires and spokes. I saw lots of people at Kickstand, including Jay Insult, Nato, Danny, and Mikey Erg, and was able to get there in time to see (3)Cheeky's entire set. Holy shit! I think they are my new favorite. Their set was phenomenal. I loved the songs; those little girls can fucking play!
(4)Screaming Females played next. I was really looking forward to their set, and it was good, but the other two times I saw them this past summer were much better performances. The little girl on guitars and vocals was a bit off on this night perhaps. But still good stuff. I like that all three times I've seen them recently, they had a different setlist.
By this time in the night, I had not eaten all day, and I was quite dehydrated. I got in touch with Nate X to see about meeting up with him to get a key to the hotel room I was supposed to sleep in with eight other people. He was at another venue, so I went there and caught the last half of (5)Less Than Jake. The venue was called The Venue, and its cap was listed as 1700. It was huge inside, and people were going freaking nuts! One fester even climbed atop the speakers and jumped! I met up with Nate and decided to pass on Bouncing Souls, even though their set was supposed to be only the songs from the first two albums, which would have been so awesome. I got the room key and headed toward the hotel. I passed Ron and Josh, who was incredibly intoxicated, out on the street. My head was throbbing and I was nauseous with a migraine from lack of food and cold sweats from low blood sugar. Three Hare Krishna women were out in the street with vegan meals they were anxious to serve up for free to festers, so I had two plates and felt better within a half hour! Those meals were the only thing I ate all day and were incredibly satisfying and nutritious. All kinds of people passing by on the street were getting down on it.
Woke up on Saturday and went to the No Idea BBQ. They were serving up BBQ Tempeh and rice and beans. I passed on the merch b/c I'm not a collector and don't buy a lot of records or shirts. After I had my fill of BBQ, I went back to the hotel and sunned myself by the pool. The sky was a gorgeous blue, cloudless, slight breeze. A lot of people were socializing on the deck. Most of the boys who got into the pool didn't have trunks, just underwear, and since I am somewhat of a pervert, I enjoyed watching them saunter over, dip their toe in, and then CAAAAAANONBALL!!!!!! Joe Bruiser came out and was so cute with his little swim trunks and he did a little belly flop into the deep end.
The first show I went to on Saturday was (6)The Measure at common ground. I thought they were excellent. Fid is entertaining to watch perform and he commands his guitar well. I really like Lauren's vocals, and people seemed to be into their set. I headed to kickstand next to see (7)The New Funerals, who were three awesomely fun girls who played really fun catchy songs really well. (8)Delay was up next, and I was very much looking forward to their set! I thought their set was perfect. I know they felt it started off a little rough, but they began with Say Ave, then Watertowers, Everything You Hate. Then a new song!! Then I heard the opening riff to Lightning Storm and I fucking love that song!! I was so glad they played it! Then of course Jumpstart My Heart. There were a lot of people for their set and lots of dancing and singing along and sweating.
After Delay I high-tailed it to the Atlantic b/c I really wanted to see (9)No Trigger. Cloak/Dagger was right before them, and I had hoped to catch at least half of their set, but the Atlantic was running ahead of schedule apparently. Luckily, No Trigger had not started yet. There was not a lot of people there for them, which kind of surprised me. I was slightly worried, too, b/c I know they haven't played a show in six months and are busy doing other stuff with other bands. They opened with Tundra Kids, and it was performed at about half the tempo of the released version, which was a bit off-putting. But after that, they fell into place nicely and even played a new song. The mosh was good and friendly. I hung back a little bit, singing along to all the songs and dancing in my space until they played More To Offer. Then I charged through all those boys right up to the front and I GOT THAT MIC!!!
After No Trigger, I was ready for a break. I went across the street to a restaurant called The Top, which was recommend in the Fest handbook. It was a nice, quite, sit down place that was very soothing from the loud clubs I had been inside of all afternoon. I got a very satisfying black bean burger and sweet potato fries. I decided to treat myself to a piece of delicious vegan chocolate cake as well. I ate half of it and took the other half back to the hotel. I met Nate back in the room and relaxed for about half hour before heading out to the nightime shows.
Saturday night started off the (10) None More Black at the venue. That place was incredibly crowded and I was in the back only able to hear and not see the stage. But the songs were tight. From there I went to 1982 and saw (11) Antlers. I actually liked them. Their set was entirely instrumental, and their appearance and draw was somewhat more hippy-ish than I usually prefer, but I enjoyed their performance. It was heavy and loud. (12)Watson played next. I thought they would be better, especially from the write up in the guidebook. I think what bothered me the most of their set was the mix. The vocals were too low, and sometimes the singer didn't even put his mouth up to the mic. A lot of people flooded in for (13) Queerwolf, and their write up in the book was very promising. The club was running about ten minutes ahead of schedule, and after they had played ten minutes, I wanted them to be finished, but they continuted to play for another twenty. And they were ridiculously drunk and the on-stage banter didn't flow and was not funny. I didn't care for their sound, but people watching were all about it, moshing and singing. I just didn't get it, I guess.
Chris talked me into drinking a beer, so I indulged! I was really not sure what to expect from (14) Dear Landlord, who were up next and the reason I was at the club in the first place, b/c I know they hadn't played any shows in a while and I didn't know how tight the songs were going to be. But they delivered! People were going crazy for their set, too! The mosh was intense but fun. Their set was loud, fast, tight, and to the point.
After Dear Landlord, we rushed over to Market Street Pub, where the line stretched down the block. We waited and waited and luckily got in to see the end of (15) Polar Bear Club and (16) Flatliners. I drank another beer at Market Street Pub on the recommendation of Chris, who has that power over people, it seems! We sat up on the second level on some huge couches. Ran into Brett and Funberg, who was still dressed in his sexy nurse Halloween costume. He went all out for it...red legging, stethoscope, white fro wig, and nurse hat. He let me feel him in under his skirt as well! HA!!
Nate, Chris, and I staked about spots on the floor for (17) Copyrights. Holy shit what a set that was!! The whole place went nuts! The mosh was hard but fun. I was so sweaty! Jumping around with Nate as well as east coast people, singing along to all the songs until I was hoarse. Funberg played in just the red stockings, and Fletcher took his shirt off as well. They opened with 57 North, then played Holidays, Kids of the Black Hole, Charlie Birger Time, Thinking with the Lights On, Headcount, Four Eyes, She Turns It Up, Shit's Fucked, Planet Earth 1994, and closed with Weapons of Math Destruction. I wanted it to last longer. It was really good. Chris and I left together, and were SO AMPED when we got out to the street. We ran into Aaron Rushmore and Kate, who had gone to see Pretty Boy Thorson. Aaron looked like he had been hit by a truck and Kate had a black eye. We loitered around on the corner while Aaron fixed his glasses and tried to find a house party. Ended up going back to the hotel and crashing. I was exhausted! Saturday was fun!
On Sunday, I went to The Atlantic b/c I wanted to see Used Kids, Dan Padilla, and Vena Cava. A little nazi with un-ironic badly teased 80s hair and cystic acne said he couldn't let me in without a red fest wristband even though I had 13 other club bands on my wrist. I told him that my red fest wrist band was somewhere on the floor at Market Street Pub, which was true. He told me to go to No Idea HQ and get a new one.
So I walked to No Idea HQ. Toys That Kill were chilling out in the shade under a tree in their van. I said hello and knocked on the HQ door. Cam came out and was very polite and pleasant and sent me back to the hotel to get another band. (Apparently a lot of people had this problem and were told to go to HQ before being directed back to the hotel). Saw Dan Yemin in the elevator foyer while waiting for the new wrist band. I have had a serious crush on him for a seriously long time. The dude is just perfect. And intense.
Got another band, but had missed Used Kids and Dan Padilla, so I decided to go to common ground, were a BBQ was being hosted in the parking lot. I got a tempeh sandwich and decided to duck into 1982 to see (18) The Unloveables. Their set was way poppy and way fun. The crowd seemed to like them, but not a lot of dancing or singing along. Mainly just bopping. I was amazed at how muscular Frank's arms were. And apparently he had been poolside earlier in the day. I regret passing on sunning myself that morning. HAHA!
After the Unloves I went to The Venue to see (19) The Arrivals. The bass was turned up way too loud and not enough guitars. They seemed to be just getting through the songs, and people in the front were singing along, but not a lot of action. Next was (20) Off With Their Heads. I had been looking forward to their set. And they delivered. I personally find Ryan hilarious. They were loud and tight. Banter was good. They kept everyone on their toes by mixing up the guitar solos and some of the breakdowns. The mosh was brutal. I was fighting the whole time I was singing along.
(21)Toys That Kill are one of my favorite bands, and I was very much excited to see them. I thought they sounded great! No too much movement up front. I was surprised more people weren't in to them, especially since they haven't put anything out in a while so its not like there wasn't opportunity to know the songs. But I sang along, and I saw others singing as well.
After Toys That Kill, I staked out a spot front row center and waited.(22-23)THE ERGS! were up next. OH MY GOD!! They played a double set, 40 minutes each. Holy shit! The place went nuts. People were pressing so hard, I actually ended up sitting on the stage with my knees wedged into some girl's twat next to me. Dives left and right, the bouncers were busy pulling people away, a gator was flying around the pit. I sang all the songs best I could in that awkward position, and it was so much fun. They played Introducing Morrissey, Every Romance Language, Stinking of Whisky Blues, Jazz Is Like the New Coke, Bike Shoppe and Girls of the Market Square (I was glad Jeff sang, too), Blue, Kinda Like Smitten, Your Cheated Heart, The Clocks The Clocks, See Him Again, Things I Could Never Find A Way To Say (I think), and I'm not too sure what else. They closed with Books About Miles Davis, and Mikey stayed out at the mic, and Lemuria took the drum kit, and Paddy came out as well and gave Mikey a hug.
For the second set, they played Dork Rock in its entirety. It was amazing. I decided to go get some water and ended up standing on some steps halfway to the back, which was a nice break. I could still see over everyone and sang along and danced on the spot with people around me. The place went nuts again. They closed with Descendents covers.
I passed on Leatherface and bought a limited edition final Ergs' vinyl "That's it...bye!" from Jay and Fid who were monitoring the merch table. Chris and I went to Common Ground for Drag the River but ended up leaving before that set started to get some pizza and then a liquor store that hadn't sold out of Sparks!
I flew back to Chicago on Monday. I haven't cut off my wristbands yet b/c I am not ready to give up Florida. This weekend was the most fun I've had in a long time. 2008 has been a good year for me; I've gone on a lot of fun trips and seen a lot of good bands and caught up with old friends and made new ones. I am still totally sore and I have bruises everywhere, but it was all totally worth it. Now I understand when people say The Fest is "Everyone's Favorite Holiday!"
nostalgic 
sore