Halloween is often celebrated with outrageous costumes, vibrant parades and every brand of candy under the sun. In Gainesville, Florida however, Halloween is transformed into a three day weekend holiday where costumes are arbitrary, punk rock bands replace parades and candy is substituted with gallons of beer. This year, No Idea Records celebrated an enormously successful Fest 8; a diverse mix of all types of punk music brought a huge crowd to central Florida this year. Unfortunately, with hundreds of amazing bands playing in the short span of only one weekend, mixed with unfathomable amounts of beer and cheap whiskey, I was not able to see every band I would have liked to, but I was lucky enough to see some incredible sets.
Read more after the jump.
Friday October 30th
First official day of Fest. Registration mayhem means later show times for the bands scheduled to play this day, but hanging out by the pool, drinking $2 beer on the roof of the Holiday Inn and enjoying beautiful weather is definitely the best way to kill time before any show. The first band of the night to kick off my Fest 8 experience was Magrudergrind at the Common Grounds. Needless to say, their show absolutely destroyed. Brutal vocals over grinding guitars chords accelerated everyone into Fest overdrive. I left a song or two early to catch a few other bands before running to The Venue to catch Small Brown Bike. I can’t even describe how excited I was to see this band for the first time; a band that so heavily contributed to the post-hardcore sound of 1990’s and had broken up before I had finished my first year of high school. I really felt fortunate to see live. Small Brown Bike had an amazing energy and put on an excellent show.
After SMB’s set, 1982 was the place to be to check out Gainesville locals Spanish Gamble. Besides from being some of the sweetest dudes I have ever met, Spanish Gamble played one of the most dynamic sets I saw my entire weekend at the Fest. The love the crowd showed for this catchy punk band was unbelievable.
Following this show, more drinking ensued, then back to Common Grounds to see Coalesce. Their set was nothing short of aggressive but unfortunately after day one of all day drinking, I don’t remember too many details.
Saturday October 31st
Not only was the second day of the Fest on Halloween but it also fell on Saturday, without a doubt the most outrageous day of the weekend. Shows started at 1PM this day; a little too early for many of us still recovering from raging the night before.
I started off Halloween festivus with whiskey breakfast at The Venue and an awesome set from Rehasher, a band I am not too familiar with but was still very entertaining.
Saturday’s highlights included a bittersweet set from Ringers, a Boston pop punk band that will be calling it quits soon but still ruled at the Market Street Pub (my personal favorite fest venue). Another highlight, to no one’s surprise, an unbelievable performance by Fest favorites Dillinger Four. Midwestern Songs of the Americas is one of my favorite albums of all time, so no matter how many times I’ve seen D4 their set never gets old. The place went absolutely out of control when they played their song “Gainesville,” a three-minute tribute to the annual awesome recklessness of the Fest.
The most insane part of Fest Halloween was the late night show at the Fail Safe Records Warehouse that started at 2AM and continued until past five in the morning. This show defined what I consider the Fest to be all about; a bunch of bands thrown together last minute, playing short but sweet sets in the middle of the night to dozens of kids who were determined enough to find the place (the warehouse is off a main highway, definitely not an easy place to reach). Everyone ready to experience more mind blowing music performances after drinking, dancing and singing all day long.
Banner Pilot kicked the show into high gear with a powerful performance that kept the crowd’s energy running high for a wild set by Dead to Me. Words can’t really do justice in describing the mayhem that ensued during this set, so I’ll let a video courtesy of the wonderful folks at National Underground do the talking.
I was lucky enough to see Spanish Gamble for a second time. The crowd’s energy was reminiscent of their show the previous night and major kudos to these guys for being able to play such a charismatic set at 3AM!
The remaining Fest night owls were woken up by Sakes Alive!! covering Andrew W.K.’s classic “Party Hard” and an energetic 5AM set by New Jersey’s own hip hop artist GDP before a noise complaints caused the Gainesville police force to interrupt the festivities.
Sunday November 1st
Goodbye October, hello November! Final day of the Fest and not going to lie the notorious “Fest Aides” have kicked in before I have even left Gainesville.
After drinking all day, running around trying to see as many bands as possible, falling asleep at 8AM the night before and waking up at 11AM for hotel check out I was a little slow moving. What better to cure these ailments then whiskey breakfast and a wild set from Off With Their Heads at The Venue? It seemed like a really smart idea at the time.
Sunday highlights included two songs by The Bomb, an awesome band featuring Jeff Pazzati from Naked Raygun. I missed the majority of the set due to losing track of time at a hot sauce bar (if you ever find yourself in Gainesville, don’t pass up a chance to go to Tijuana Flats, dozens of hot sauces to sample!)
Seeing Samiam headline the last day of Fest was quite an experience. They opened with the first track of their most recent release Whatever’s Got You Down and played a powerful set that threw me back into a time warp to the mid 90s.
I was bought back to reality later that night at a random house show where Hour of the Wolf, an aggressive punk band from Arizona, played a set that absolutely destroyed. A few other bands played the show as well, I remember enjoying them all but after three chaotic days and late, late nights I can’t remember any of the names of the bands, but I’ll leave you with the recommendation to check out Hour of the Wolf!
The Fest is a weekend of absolute mayhem. Dozens of talented bands, mind blowing shows, tons of beer, dozens of new friends, couches to sleep on and an entire city in central Florida to explore make the Fest drunk and disorderly but worth every bit of chaos. It is impossible to see every show on your list without planning every second of your day and long lines outside of venues make missing your favorite band a very likely situation. Red tape at shows is far from punk, but places like the Fail Safe Record Warehouse and the many residents that donate their houses, basements, kitchens and backyards to the bands, fans and friends that want more than what they can get at a venue make the Fest a truly unique experience. My fest mantra has become stay up late, drink irresponsibly, be as spontaneous as possible, bring money for records and without a doubt take a few days off from work when you return home. See ya next year at Fest 9!
-Charlotte Longworth
