I SURVIVED FEST 8 (part one)

And all I got was Fest AIDS.

It has been a week since my third annual pilgrimage to Gainesville, Florida for the Fest. I took a week to recount the whole last weekend. Not that I was severally hung over or anything, I just needed a week to think over everything. Friday started off fine. For awhile I thought I would be driving up to Gainesville all by myself, but my good friend Stephen ended up joining me for the weekend. After a short detour to Apopka, we made great time arriving in Gainesville in about two and a half hours. Knowing that registration was going to be crazy, I wanted to get to Gainesville early. The line was crazy, but not too crazy. There was plenty of Double Bubble scattered across the Holiday Inn parking lot, so that was nice of the blow horn wielding hotel guests. Eventually we made our way up to the actual registration table and filled up on free shit. Everyone loves free shit. Got some Razorcake pins and even the new issue of Razorcake. Plus, coozies and free Fest samplers. It really is Christmas.

After registration Stephen and I caught some lunch at Leonardo's where I heard one of the best quotes of the whole weekend. Someone was listening to Metallica in the back and one man shouts, "You can skip 'The Thing That Should Not Exist', more like the song that shouldn't exist." That was probably paraphrased, but to say the least it made me chuckle. Anyway, we enjoyed our pizza and met up with my friend Eric to check into our hotel. Eric was not staying at our hotel, since he lives in Gainesville, but he had to use the restroom and knew a cool back way to our hotel. We settled in and then headed back to downtown for the first show of the night.

Out of convenience, we watched this band Battle! from Gainesville. They were a decent hardcore band, the vocals weren't as strong as I would have liked. We did get to watch a kid get way to far in Contra then any person should and meet up most of the guys from Go Rydell, which is typically a treat. Immediately after Battle! though, we left for the Venue to watch Japanther. When I first heard of Japanther I think I wrote them off as some kind of New York hipster band, but they are quite the opposite. They are actually a fun drum and bass pop punk band for lack of a better word. A tape recorder played continuously during their set adding samples and guitar tracks. It was a very interesting set up and set the party mood for the rest of the Fest.

Wasting no time, we immediately moved to the next venue, Durty Nelly's, which was right across the street. Steve and I joined Will to watch Arms Aloft, a great pop punk from Wisconsin who played a pre-Fest show last year in Cassellberry. I think they did a Jawbreaker cover? "Kiss the Bottle?" Something like that, I really enjoy them I want the one record they have that Will owns. So far, the night was going fine and all the anticipation was building up to the inevitable beach party at the Kickstand.

That's right, the Hard Girls were the next band on my list and I could not wait. While waiting for them to set up I met up with my friend Jose from California. That is right, he flew all the way to Florida to come to the Fest, not only him, but his friend Danny too from the Pillowfights. Both Danny and Jose are the some of the nicest people I met the whole weekend, including Wild Jurkey himself, Jon. Jon is from Long Island, so you can already assume many things about him and his personality, but don't hold that against him. I watched Hard Girls and had some of the most fun I had all Fest long. If you haven't heard the new EP or read my review of it you should. I purchased a shirt and the Shinobu/Pteradon split that Asian Man put out awhile ago. Honestly, after that performance I could have not seen any band and I would be fine for the rest of the day.

Since it was rather late, Steve and I got some Taco Bell then tried to get into 1982 to watch my buddies in Spanish Gamble. That was not going to happen though, because they were to full capacity, which is how it stayed for the entire weekend. Total bummer, so we went back into the Venue and was able to catch A Wilhelm Scream. I have only seen them live once, but I got in just as they were into "The Horse." They played a few great sounding songs from the new EP and I was more impressed with their performance than the last time I saw them. Strike Anywhere was next and of course everyone went crazy. They played their most popular songs right at the beginning of the set and played a few new ones. They always put on a great live show and I almost somehow never miss it. Quickly though, their set ended and 7 Seconds came on. The younger me freaked out to see these older guys going up there and playing songs they wrote when they were younger than me. The stage diving was non-stop and I avoided the pit. I was gonna stay young till I die and not die in that pit. They ended the set with their cover of "99 Red Balloons" and that was the end of my night. Exhausted, we retreated to our hotel room to rest up for the next day, which would prove to be the most insane Fest day in history.