Why You Should Go To THE FEST At Least Once In Your Life
Spanish Love Songs playing to a sold out crowd at 8 Seconds.
I was born in L.A. I grew up in L.A. I still live in L.A.
Being a SoCal kid meant that I was bound to find myself going to shows all the time. I consider myself truly lucky for being able to get in the car and drive to Hollywood, Orange County, or Pomona to catch a show. If I’m really ambitious, I will make it out to Ventura, San Diego, or Riverside. Aside from attending Warped Tour and Taste of Chaos (the years that both festivals were around), I somehow made my way to Coachella, Bumbershoot Festival (in Seattle), and Riot Fest (in Chicago. THE CURE HEADLINED THE YEAR THAT I WENT). So how is THE FEST different from all of these other festivals? One acronym: DIY. One word: Friendship. Lastly, is there any other festival where bands do cover sets?!
I didn’t know what THE FEST really was until a few years ago because I started paying attention to the bands I like that were getting booked for it. This year, I finally made it out to Gainesville!
There were bands that I LOVE that were part of this year’s festival. Some of them include Joyce Manor, Worlds Greatest Dad, Audio Karate, Get Married, Problem Daughter, Spanish Love Songs, Go Betty Go, and many more! Even though they have played in SoCal or are from SoCal, I knew it would be a great experience to see them somewhere else. Somewhere that I had never been to. Being at FEST was such a positive experience. I DID NOT WANT TO GO HOME. Anybody else share this feeling? Not only was FEST full of music I love, but also friends, new and old. And throughout that entire process, new memories were being made. I got to be reunited with friends that live in different parts of the country and I finally got to meet some people that I had interacted with online. I guess you can say that FEST is a punk rock camp.
One of the greatest things was seeing friends play venues where the rooms were super packed. There is one band from home in particular who had played two sets throughout the weekend. I had no luck getting into their first set. I’m talking about Spanish Love Songs. When I caught their second set the following night, I couldn’t believe my eyes when they started playing. 8 SECONDS WAS PACKED. But this band has been working their butts off so seeing the venue fill up was amazing and POSI to witness! Proud of SLS.
Another favorite highlight was seeing bands do cover sets of bands FEST goers love, especially if it’s bands that are no longer around, disbanded, or rarely play. One regret I have was not catching The Strokes cover set by Ramona. Ahhh. But catching Get Married cover Elvis, Problem Daughter cover Rancid, and Pity Party cover The Distillers was honestly one of the coolest things of the weekend.
While I had most of my FEST planned out, there was definitely some down time during the weekend where I had no specific band to watch in mind. That’s when I knew I could go to any venue and catch a band that I may not have been familiar with or didn’t really have plans on seeing to begin with. Some of those bands ended up being A Wilhelm Scream, Pool Kids, and You Vandal. And once again and I’ll be another person to say it, whether you have the opportunity to see The Bronx or Mariachi El Bronx, DO IT. Wild, I tell ya and you are in for a fun time!
While I had the time of my life, I knew that one of the best weekends ever was bound to come to an end as I had a flight to catch at 6am the Monday after FEST. But guess who’s planning on going back? -JL
Here's our October Playlist of Posi Jams, FEST EDITION.
