With a lineup of 300-ish bands playing throughout town over a 3-day period, there's a lot to discuss about The Fest, an annual celebration of punk rock that takes place in Gainesville, FL in late October.
At FEST 21, the headliners included GWAR, Lucero, Dillinger Four, Thursday, Descendants, Tim Barry, Screaming Females...the list goes on.
Yet, as I made the rounds and met people, a common question was who I was at Fest to see. It's a surprisingly hard question to answer, because my answer is that I was at FEST 21 for Fest, not any single band. It's an experience itself.
Scene Point Blank has regularly attended over the years. I think this is probably my 12th visit, but it's hard to track. The overall experience is an abundance of music, seeing old friends and making new ones, while sneaking in some time to sleep, rest, and recover. The venues are all close together and the sets are often concise, meaning you will sometimes see 5 bands in 3 venues in 2 hours. How much you want to jump around is up to you, and most people will build their own adventure over the 3-day schedule.
Having attended several times and having a personal preference for smaller venues, our coverage leans toward cramped, sweaty bars and clubs instead of the big, open Bo Diddley Plaza main stage. If you want to read my full itinerary, so to speak, that's at the bottom along with a photo gallery. Here are a few highlights from throughout the festival, broken down day by day.
THURSDAY
No, this show wasn't technically part of FEST 21. Tickets were sold separately and I didn't bother with the press pass. This was simply a big concert in the plaza, featuring MakeWar, Signals Midwest, Into It. Over It, and Descendents -- a diverse lineup of up-and-comers and one legendary group.
MakeWar warmed up the crowd as it trickled in (remember, this is the night before the festival, after all), with a powerful sound system that reached all parts of the park. I was taking it easy and watching from afar, but the group's mix of emotion and crunch was on full display. I've really enjoyed their last two records and I'm ready for what's next. They have a new drummer in the lineup, introduced as their “new and last drummer.” Signals Midwest followed. To repeat the "emotional" tag, I felt the band's personal style came across differently in the massive venue. The group sounded good, but the mood wasn't quite right. Up next was Into It., Over It, a band I haven't personally spent much time on. It was clear from reading the crowd that their set was a hit for fans. From the back it was energetic, yet personal, with Evan Thomas Weiss mixing in some personal Descendents anecdotes.
I've covered the Descendents a few times in recent years and they always impress -- I'll say they're one of my favorite live bands right now, even if they're mostly playing older songs. While they aren't exactly young, they exude energy from the stage and their songs come with more punch in a live setting than on many of their recordings. This set leaned heavily on Milo Goes To College, rapidly pace and playing the hits but also with some personality that connects the bridge from stage to audience. The band is tight, but it feels real and personal instead of The Greatest Hits Show. Live, the band just has an extra energy that isn't found on most of their recordings.
FRIDAY
On first draft, I picked five sets from the day and had to narrow down to these three. Honorary shoutouts to Seagulls and Totally Slow as I get started.
GWAR
Yes, I saw a few bands first. But GWAR kicked off FEST 21 in many ways. Or, as the band stated during in their 6pm timeslot, “Nothing like GWAR in the cold, hard light of day.” If you don't know about GWAR after the last 40 years, well, expect crazy costumes and lots of (projectile) gore. It's a blend of thrash metal, theatrics, b-movies, and wrestling with R-rated themes that combines (alien) sexuality and carnage with some political satire thrown into the mix. Beyond the alien appendages and dismemberment, Gainesville was also treated to commentary on Vladimir Putin, Joe Biden, and more under a bright and sunny Florida sky.
Shehehe
I’d heard a few songs, then I caught the tail end of last year’s set. This year Shehehe returned to High Dive, a modest size club that’s a perfect for their big, yet grizzled sound. Shehehe play guitar rock, but stripped to a punk rock core that keeps the songs short and loud with peak energy, no filler. The band is a pleasure to watch, both for technique and talent, but also because it just sounds so good when you’re there in the moment.
Too Many Daves
It feels like a repeat, as I've highlighted this band a few times over the years. But they just fit that Fest mooed. A gimmick band, of sorts, with singalong tongue-in-cheek bro party punk anthems, it both mocks a lifestyle while acknowledging harsh realities. Friday's set felt like 10 years ago with a packed room at Vecinos bar where the audience was equally as excited and vocal as the band of members mostly named “Dave.” From audience mic shares to a crowdsurfing guitar solo, it was boisterous, sweaty and celebratory: the perfect way to finish the first night while boosting excitement for the next two days.
SATURDAY
There are about 13 hours of scheduled live music on Saturday, with doors opening around noon and continuing 'til the bars close. I discovered some new bands and also saw a few favorites. Runner-ups for write-ups were The Dread Laramie, Braid, and School Drugs if you're wondering.
The Jukebox Romantics
In an early afternoon timeslot in the sweaty Vecinos, The Jukebox Romantics celebrated their fifteenth anniversary as a band by crowdsurfing a cake for a very long two-minute song as half the crowd parted and half got a little too into it (pictures below). But it was really their emotionally-tinged melodic punk that hit hard enough that you could, for 30 minutes, forget about the intense heat in the front of the room as the sun beat down on the band from the steet-facing window behind the stage. The Jukebox Romantics play anthemic, pop-structured rough-around-the-edges punk that’s equally fun and fierce. As I wrote about Too Many Daves above, there was a constant atmosphere of celebration that bleeds from stage to audience, making for powerful set I’ll remember whenever I’m listening to the band in the future.
The Bollweevils
The Bollweevils had two sets over the weekend, this being the smaller of the two shows. With their penchant for getting on the floor and leading the pit, it was a perfect setting for frontman Darryl's enthusiasm. Playing their unique take on Chicago pop-punk, the dark room was full of bright smiles -- the biggest coming from the man with the mic.
Dillinger Four
It was fun watching a crowd who hasn't seen D4 nearly as often as I have. I overheard people in the distance checking out Lane's exaggerated drumstick tosses, meanwhile Paddy’s banter between hits mixed comedy and song meanings. The band hasn't put out a record in years, but the set was tight and high energy. Plus, they have a song titled “Gainesville,” and you could almost sense that the crowd was waiting for that big singalong.
SUNDAY
The Fest is a marathon and sometimes it involves sacrifices to make sure you keep pace. This was one of the hottest Fests I remember, with temps in the upper 80s throughout. My Sunday led to the difficult decision to miss a few bands I really wanted to see (Screaming Females) because I needed some time off my feet in air conditioning. But despite an afternoon hiatus, it was a packed lineup with too many bands to see in a single day.
My personal highlights are below, with additional namedrops for memorable sets by Tim Barry, Billy Liar, and more too.
Lucero
Lucero play mood music. I've seen them a handful of times in the past, in small and mid-sized rooms where the bar vibes fit their themes perfectly but I always felt it didn't connect the way I'd like, as compared to when I listen on tape. But time and place matters, and their southern ballads and weary tone fit a Sunday afternoon the park perfectly. The sound at Bo Diddley was great and, while their set began with the crowd notably hiding in the shade on the outskirts of the venue, everybody crept forward by the end. Lyrically, Lucero's songs are about hardship and struggle. While Fest is generally joyous, the mood was fitting for this point in a 3-day festival and you need a shift in tone.
Dead Bars
Much like I wrote of The Bollweevils on Saturday, this was a “mystery band” which means a “bigger band in a smaller room.” It also means you get the die-hards and a high energy experience. Dead Bars dug into their catalog, breaking out some 7" singles and other songs rarely played in their set lists, while the intimate setting turned their barroom anthems into the communal experience they're meant to be. Dead Bars may have packed Loosey’s bar, but the full room doesn’t distract from their core vibe: that however outcast you may feel, music can always bring us together.
Middle-Aged Queers
With a ton of singles, this band play fun, empowering singalongs that pull from the past, namely early/mid '90s punk and some classic rock pizazz. But live it's another story. There are theatrics like balloons, a bubble machine, and some surprise props, but it's the trading of instruments and the crowd interaction that establishes an unforgettable atmosphere. The songs are written where everybody can, and will, sing along and they'll probably bump into a few members of the band as they do it. The band calls themselves middle-aged, but it feels like eternal youth as it goes down.
THE WRAP
With a billion bands and only three days, you'll never get to see every band you want to. It's a weekend of setting schedules, breaking them, finding new bands, and making sure you also take some time to refresh. While there are a ton of great headliners, the experience isn't so much the show as it's the community. FEST 21 was a positive, inclusive escape from the real world where friends reconnect, new friends are made, and to foreshadow what some friends of the site contribute on the next page of this feature, it’s a place where we all forget our troubles for a moment and enjoy the power of music. Because, yes, FEST21 is about about a community and it’s about friendship and an independent spirit. But it wouldn't, and couldn't, exist without the music that drives us all.
Because we were unable to see the bands we'd like to, and because there's simply no way to be in 10 venues at once, we asked some bands to share some of their favorite moments of FEST 21 on the next page.
Bands I saw at FEST 21 (and I’ve probably forgotten to list a few more):
MakeWar, Signals Midwest, Into It., Over It, Descendents, Carly Cosgrove, Night Jobs, American Thrills, GWAR, Totally Slow, Love Kills Joy, Articles, Friendly Fire, Distants, Seagulls, Sports Reference, Hunger Anthem, Shehehe, Evening Standards, Big Sad, Goddamnit, Too Many Daves, The Dreaded Laramie, Debt Neglector, School Drugs, Strike Anywhere, Moonraker, Pretend Molly, The Jukebox Romantics, Mikey Erg, Don’t Panic, The Bollweevils, World’s Greatest Dad, Dillinger Four, Innerlove, Billy Liar (acoustic), Church Girls, Signals Midwest, Braid, Mikie Mayo, City Mouse, Tiltwheel, Long Relief, 0 Miles Per Hour, Lucero, Pop Icons, Dead Bars, Brendan Kelly, Tim Barry, Whiskey & Co., Middle-Aged Queers, Rodeo Boys, Wolves&Wolves&Wolves&Wolves, Billy Liar (full band), Heart & Lung, Rad Owl
Five bands I'll be buying stuff from soon: Shehehe, Worlds Greatest Dad, The Jukebox Romantics, Seagulls, The Dreaded Laramie
