Well, a monumental week has come and gone for the lot of us. As punks the world over have been nursing their wounds and lamenting the emptiness of their once full candy buckets, I have been sifting through a mountain of awful pictures I took to document the carnage that was FEST 10. That first-week-back-after-summer feeling still lingers, and one can only wish that last weekend didn’t go by so effing fast. There just weren’t enough hours in the day to really spend time with the billions of homies that I encountered at and between shows, or to stuff my face with infinite Tater Dawgs from Gator Dawgs (which, by the way, is closing its doors on Sunday). I WISH IT COULD LAST FOREVER. Not really, but a few more days would have meant the world. Even so, I am so grateful to have had the chance to partake in FEST 10 -the best one yet!
So you know how this goes – this is my experience of this past weekend in photo form. I would say that of the 400 pictures I took (with a borrowed, very fancy camera), about 6 came out well. This has taught me the important lesson to never trust a camera that I can’t fit into my pocket. I just lack the mental capacity. So, here are some of the highlights. But honestly, the highest of the highlights aren’t even included, because so many sets were just too off the chain to be fiddling with a Babylon soul-stealer. With that in mind, these pictures are generally representative of the stuff that was really sick, but not quite the sickest.
THURSDAY – no camera until I met up with my main man and fellow West Chester-ite Corey. Suffice it to say that my flight from San Francisco to Tampa was crappy and uneventful. I didn’t sleep the night before so that I would sleep on this red-eye flight. I got no such sleep on the red-eye. By the time I landed in Tampa I hadn’t slept in over48 hours and felt as though I was dying from within. I arrived extra early before any other homies had arrived. Just as the sun was rising, I found a grassy knoll behind an abandoned gas station to sleep for a few hours. Feeling somewhat rested after some amazing shut-eye, I was pleasantly surprised to find a really sick mini-ramp at a nearby skatepark that was right on the bay (DeSoto Beach skate park for anyone who cares). Spent the rest of the day prepping myself for the Skatepark of Tampa, where the pre-Fest show was to go down.
I eventually got my first round of Taco Bus for the day, inhaling some tempeh steak tacos before heading over to the Hold Tight house for the first official show of the weekend. After sharing many embraces with many homies from both West Chester, PA and the UK, I settled in and checked out the bands. I walked in during CAVES – a band from the UK who I keep confusing with other bands. They were really great actually. I say “actually” because I am surprised I hadn’t checked them out earlier considering we share so many common friends. But yeah, they were awesome. Still no camera.
Next I saw the band for whom I drummed only until a few weeks ago. NONA is a band made up of a few of my best friends and this would be the second time seeing them since Pat from SPRAYNARD replaced me on drums. They sounded no less than a thousand times better with someone who knows how to actually play the instrument, which in retrospect shouldn’t have surprised me at all. During this set I took a mental inventory of things that I think I am good at but might actually not be good at. Sick set, new songs rule, what else is there to say? OH YEAH WEST CHESTER ROCK CITY.
GREAT CYNICS closed the show. This would be my first time seeing my good friend Giles’ project in a full band state. It was sick! I met and had seen Giles in the UK two years earlier (wow, crazy that it had been that long since SPRAYNARD’s tour there). The full-band thing was just awesome though. People say it sounds like AGAINST ME!, but I don’t like that band so I’m not sure how accurate that comparison is. Do check them out though – it is super British sounding for the better (my American brain automatically stereotype this stuff as sounding like BILLY BRAGG). Was so rad to see all of the Brits again. Seriously, I was psyched. PAVEY from THE STEAL/PACER fame was even there and I wasn’t even expecting it! YES.
Taco Bus round II, this time with the rest of the crew. Got more tempeh steak tacos. It’s almost sad to think about in hindsight, that my naive self was totally unaware of the ticking time bomb that I was building in my digestive system. No matter, I was full as we headed to the Skatepark of Tampa for the big pre-Fest extravaganza.
I had been waiting for this specific show for weeks, ever since Dos told me where this was going to go down. I had seen this park in tons of skate videos growing up but never got to skate it. Of course it was even gnarlier than I had expected, and was the first wooden park that I had skated in years. No one cares about this crap though. But honestly I was as excited about skating as I was all of the cool bands that were playing. I spent the day bouncing back and forth from the park to the venue in back (which, by the way, is awesome). All told, I chatted with endless homies and saw some awesome bands. I have a camera now!
THE ARTERIES at Tampa pre-Fest. This band is awesome. Have also seen them before in the UK, but it had been a long time. Super impressed.
BIG EYES.
THE FLATLINERS. These guys are super young but totally on their A-game. Killed it.
ALGERNON CADWALLADER. It is always cool and weird seeing people flip their lids for Philly bands so far away from Philly. Joe later reported to me that the total cost of his outfit was $2.75. Get the look for less! I noticed during their set that I like their new songs a lot. Less weird and more listener friendly than their other stuff. NICE.
Bob from GREAT CYNICS and myself outside of the space in Tampa.
Mimi (NONA) and Giles (GREAT CYNICS).
See above plus Bob (GREAT CYNICS) and Mark (SPRAYNARD).
The contentious topic of guitar/vocal jumps came up, and Mark showed off a pretty solid version of the BONES BRIGADE – certainly one of the more advanced jumps. Way to go Mark!
Witt (THE WILD) demonstrates the STUNG OUT/NO MOTIV/butt rock. Who would have thought that a dude who has seen PHISH so many times would have so much punk rock flare?
Pat (SPRAYNARD) showing off the BLINK-182, a classic standby that redefined guitar jumps forever.
I demonstrate the SCOTT FREEMAN while accidentally kicking an innocent bystander in the solar-plexus. She was ok.
PAUL BAREUHBOO (spelling?).
TACO BUS!!! Just looking at these pictures brings both joy and terror to my stomach and bowels. This would be my third and final stop to the famed taqueria, and unbeknownst to me, the one that would seal my fate the following day.
FRIDAY:
The line of 1,000 bummers. Literally, this picture doesn’t come close to capturing the insane magnitude of this serpentine shit storm. I honestly believe that, stretched in a straight line, this would have been at least 3/4 of a mile long. See, I wouldn’t know exactly because Pat just walked up to me with a guest pass and I just chilled hard after that. Oops!
Pool party was too much for me this year. Maybe I was just tired. We high-tailed it out of there and engaged in face stuffage.
Candid shot of Philly’s own DENNIS.
Richmond straight vibing in line. Awwww.
Joe’s (ALGERNON CADWALLDER) reported outfit total: $3.20.
THE WILD + SPRAYNARD. Pat is in way too many of these pictures.
THE WILD getting their Karma Cream on.
SAMIAM. It was at this point that the multiple meals at Taco Bus from the previous day caught up to me. KID DYNAMITE was to play after this, and I could already tell that my digestive processes were gearing up to teach me a lesson in taqueria abuse once and for all. I made it through KD’s set without a hitch, but had to leave just before THE BOUNCING SOULS – one of the bands I was most excited to see that weekend. Rather than being front and center, I spent their set weeping in a bathroom. Maybe next year.
TONE BONE.
WAVELETS.
TIMESHARES. This was at one of the only “unofficial” Fest shows I heard about happening this weekend. But shit, it was awesome. This was taken at a lazer tag bar at about 3:00am on Friday. SPRAYNARD also played this show. No pictures, too sick.
TIMESHARES have a new record out and I like it a lot. Sounds like old LOVED ONES.
SATURDAY:
Corey on his best behavior.
KICKBALL! A non-show highlight of Fest 10. Homies from all over came together and it ruled.
Steve kicks one out of the park! Way to go buddy!
Great hustle!
Punk celebs – they’re just like us!
So many factions being represented. THE WILD + SPRAYNARD + DEFIANCE, OHIO + BOMB THE MUSIC INDUSTRY! + MAX LEVINE ENSEMBLE + RVIVR + endless more homies. The sickest.
Line to get into ARMALITE was a bummer.
A sighting of our buddy Tom from the UK made for a perfect budge opportunity. I’m sorry!
ARMALITE. Band was amazing, venue was stinky.
PAUL BEARIBEUX (spelling?).
A common sight outside of the perpetually capped-out 1982.
THE WILD. This band is amazing.
WILD + HOLD TIGHT + SPRAYNARD. Please get out of my pictures, Pat.
GREAT CYNICS.
NONE MORE BLACK.
Ed from Wyoming got his tooth chipped during PAINT IT BLACK. I will say that PIB’s set was for sure one of the nuttier times I have seen them, and our friend Ed here paid the price.
SUNDAY: Can’t describe how tired and lazy this day was.
A hippy hanging apples from a tree at Occupy Gainesville. Perhaps it was a trap to lure more hippies…
Pavey (THE STEAL, PACER) just “making some calls.” Cool bro, we get it, you’re famous.
Corey is still on his best behavior! So impressed!
LEMURIA
SCREAMING FEMALES.
SUNDIALS in the haus!
TIMESHARES w/ Fugazi bell.
HOLD TIGHT!
That’s it. That’s the ultimate Fest 10 recap 2011. Was real cool, and I’m still real sick from all of this.
