Here is the final installment of our Fest VI wrap up. Here we go, here we go, here we go!

It’s been said that Sunday is the hardest day to play during the Fest weekend. Everyone, for the most part, is hungover and/or tired and it definitely starts to show on that final day. Exhaustion aside, I think it’s pretty safe to say that everyone was ready to go out with a bang.

 
 

Common Grounds had the most solid lineup, from start to finish, on Sunday. Not surprisingly, the venue was nearly filled to capacity before the first band was even on stage.

Who was the first band you ask? None other than Philly’s punk supergroup, Armalite.  Although they were one of the headliners (and highlights) at Fest V, the guys worked through their rough time slot, despite the obvious headaches and lack of sleep, and had some fun. Seeing Armalite live is like spotting the legendary chupacabra, since they only play a handful of times, if at all, each year. Nobody believes you saw them. They are kind of mysterious and “unknown to science” I suppose as well. Not so much into the blood sucking I reckon.

“I’m gonna puke.” With that sentimental announcement by bassist Paddy Costello, trash can next to his amp and all, The Arrivals were up next. I haven’t fully absorbed their last full-length, Marvels Of Industry (Recess), but I cannot deny the catchiness of that album’s opening track “I’m Sorry For Saying I’m Sorry.” The track is definitely one of the best of the year.

I left a few songs into the Arrivals set to go check out yet another unique Gainesville experience; Stressface! The band, which is made up of No Idea Records employees, is like Spinal Tap for the Fest crowd. No little people or Stonehedge monuments, sadly, but who needs that when there’s shred to be had by all?

I ran back to Common Grounds to check my latest musical obsession, Off With Their Heads. Clearly drained from the weekend insanity, the boys looked weathered but did not hold back from unleashing their pop-punk fury on the masses, even if they were spent about eight minutes in. You know when a band plays exactly every song you want to hear? OWTH definitely matched all my expectations that day. The band in a few years, I think, will be at the level Dillinger Four is at now, hopefully with a little more musical output though.

Cloak/Dagger were easily one of my most-anticipated acts of the weekend. I’ve listened to their debut full-length We Are (Jade Tree) about six times a week, probably more, since it’s release. Actually, yeah, a lot more.

I saw the boys at ABC No Rio earlier in the year and was stoked to see them again, since they were now armed with a new batch of Drive Like Jehu-esque tunes. The audience seemed a bit stiff but the guys were bouncing all over the floor and the walls, totally sweat-covered and pumping their fists in the air. Seriously, if you haven’t picked this album up yet after I basically demanded you do so, what else is going to convince you? Get with it kid.

I stuck around at The Atlantic for Affirmative Action Jackson. If you don’t know already, AAJ is two-thirds of Paint It Black and a throwback to the days of :30 second hardcore thrash. The band said they might be a bit rusty since they had only practiced about three times the entire year but I don’t think it really showed. For only having a handful of practices, I didn’t really recognize a ton of the songs the band played either, so they must have written some new tunes at one point or another.

I ran back to Common Grounds one more time for The Marked Men. The band’s performance was one of the most inspired sets of the entire weekend. There is just no better way to describe it so why even try. Almost everyone in attendance was throwing their hands around in the air to every single note and screaming along like maniacs, as if this was the last show of the weekend. Mindblowingly amazing.

After the madness that was the Marked Men’s set, I needed a little break. The weekend was starting to wear me down a bit and I decided to take a food break, even though there were plenty of amazing bands still set to play.

We are more likely to see a tour from The Smiths than one from Bloodbath and Beyond, so I had to get a few minutes in with the band, at the very least. The band, which consists of members of D4, Tiltwheel and of course, the infamous Ben Snakepit, commented on how this was the “most clothed” Fest they had ever attended and demanded that all the dudes remove their shirts. Needless to say, most in the audience obliged and the incident was like a “Girls Gone Wild”….’cept with dudes and a plethora of man boobs and beer guts. Truly something to marvel in every which way.

Although Small Brown Bike broke up only a few years ago, their performance was long overdue. The unfortunate thing about SBB is that I always felt they were unfairly overlooked and criticized with the non-stop comparisons to Hot Water Music. I’ve never really dived any further into the band’s catalog past their incredibly well-crafted Dead Reckoning (No Idea) for some reason, but they played a tight and energetic set that made me wish I would have kept investigating over the years.

I was pretty surprised how the Venue was about 1/2 to 3/4 capacity for Seaweed’s performance. Well, anybody that left, it was their loss because the band was stellar. The late-90s alt-rock favorites are officially back but I think they have sadly been lost on a five-year age gap of music fans. Perhaps this will change with a new album and another tour. 

With that, Fest VI had come to a close. There were, I’m sure, tons of last night parties but I was satisfied with the thirty-two bands I had seen in three days.

I want to thank Tony and No Idea for putting this weekend together every single year. I am already counting down the days till Fest VII.

Check out more pictures from day three, along with the rest of the Fest weekend, here.

Tags: Affirmative Action Jackson, Armalite, Bloodbath and Beyond, Off With Their Heads, Seaweed, Small Brown Bike, Stressface, The Arrivals, The Fest, The Fest 6, The Marked Men //