Bad Copy

If 2023 was the year of finally getting back into the swing of things with festivals and concert photography (comfortably), then I guess 2024 was the year I kind of embraced it all and charged in at full speed.

Memorable Festival Moments

I had a busy year attending five festivals in five months, despite bad weather, delays, and cancellations (thanks, global warming). I even caught COVID after Fest 22. It was exhausting, but I still cherished the time spent with friends and the amazing people I met. Here are some highlights from the season:

• Riot Fest – Rainy Sundays Hanging with GWAR – While year 2 of covering Riot Fest was an absolute blast, there was once again some bad weather cutting out a chunk of the last day. I did not prep well for the rain and didn’t want to risk my gear getting wet, so I stayed huddled under the limited tent space we had back in media area. There were some great bands I was hoping to catch early that day, as well as my writing partner Curtis who had a handful of interviews end up canceling because of the downpour. While it felt like a big loss to our final day and took some of the wind out of our sails, suddenly you hear someone yelling “Oh my god look!” and approaching us in the distance and pouring rain was our planet conquerors, GWAR! Can’t express enough how memorable and awesome it was to have them swing through regardless of the weather, and make time to interview and chat with everyone there hoping to meet them.

• Fest 22 – American Steel – Fest 22 was filled with memorable moments, especially since it was my first time attending and photographing the event with Kendra. A standout highlight was finally seeing American Steel, a band I have loved since college. I did not have many friends with similar music taste to bands like them, so it was incredible to be in a packed room, singing along to “Emergency House Party” and “Hurtlin'” with fellow fans.

• Bonnaroo – Parachute People – Bonnaroo will always hold a special place in my heart. I think this past year was my 8th (or 9th?) time coming back to the farm. For those that aren’t aware it is a camping festival of 80-100k people on a giant farm in Manchester, TN. It happens in the middle of June, and it gets hot (and dusty) as hell at that time. While the fun and eclectic lineups initially drew me in, it’s the friends and community that keep me coming back. One community I always love crossing paths with, and watching grow and become something even bigger and better, are the Parachute People. What originally started as the “Roochute,” quickly became something more than just Ron Holgado and group of friends trying to share positivity and disconnect from the unhappy world. Parachute people have not only became a part of Bonnaroo tradition, but a bigger part of the festival circuit and awareness over all. Bringing their positive vibes and messages to many across the US, and world.

• Bonnaroo – EMO Superjam hosted by Dashboard Confessional – Speaking of Bonnaroo traditions, another main thing to look forward every year at that festival is their themed Superjams. It is a set usually hosted by an artist/band where they are joined by other friends and musicians from the lineup. Although I’m only familiar with the main hits from Dashboard, I was pretty excited to see that they were hosting a Superjam and couldn’t wait to see what surprise guests were in store for it. They kicked it off with one of their own songs “Stolen,” and then next thing you know the guest singers started coming out. Something Corporate’s Andrew McMahon, Thursday‘s Geoff Rickly, Circa Survive‘s Anthony Green, and so many others joined on stage to sing a lot of the classics you’d expect. While it was awesome to see this powerhouse team sing songs from Jimmy Eat World, Fall Out Boy, Paramore, and My Chemical Romance, my absolute favorite was Cursive‘s Tim Kasher singing One Armed Scissor from At The Drive-In.

• Movement Music Festival – Gorgon City – While Techno and EDM are not common genres that come on in the background of my usual playlists, they have certainly grown on me over the years. I’ve caught some fun and entertaining acts at festivals like Movement and Electric Forest where they always put on quite a show and spectacle with visuals and lasers. One of my first years at Electric Forest was coming off of some heavier things in my personal life. I unknowingly “partied” a bit too hard and lost track to most of that day (I guess is a way to nicely put it), and I thankfully had my close friend Bryan there to keep an eye on me. One of the main moments I do remember from that time was waking up to a secret set from Gorgon City on a smaller stage tucked away in the Festival’s Forest area. Not much for dancing, but they had Bryan and I enjoying the remainder of the night to what they were playing to the crowd. Fast forward to 2024, and Gorgon City is bigger than ever with the EDM scene and festival circuits. They were playing Movement once again, but this time around they were not allowing photographers into the pit or back stage for that set. I somehow managed to be let into that, and enjoy the show from the side. It felt a little like a VIP moment between watching them play so close, and also watching so many other artists come and go to watch alongside where I was. Definitely an exciting time I’ll keep in the back of my head for quite a while on top of all the other fun times.

• Honorable Mention – Watching people and their reactions to seeing GWAR at 1am at Bonnaroo, clearly not knowing who GWAR is

Favorite Albums

There was a lot of great music out this year. It was honestly hard to narrow down a select few without overdoing it. I could probably list off 25+ more on top of this list, but these were some of the main albums that were on repeat for me.

• Alkaline Trio – Blood, Hair, and Eyeballs // I feel like Alkaline Trio kicked off 2024 strongly with this album. I’ve loved growing up and listening to this band and all their side/solo projects, but I felt like there had been something missing over the past few years. It wasn’t that I didn’t like their more recent albums (I also liked Skiba’s Blink stuff quite a bit as a guilty pop-punk pleasure), but there was an itch I just couldn’t scratch when it came to some of their other more recent albums. This is one where I feel like I can pick up at any point and listen to it through over and over, and BH&E has been one of the main contenders for favorite album of ’24.

• Hot Water Music – VOWS // Coinciding with Alkaline Trio, one of my other main contenders for this year is Hot Water Music (whom I discovered because of that beautiful Split album they did with AK3). They are fresh off their 30th anniversary tour, with their 10th studio album in the books and it has been an overall exciting year getting to catch them multiple times and see them still tear it up live. Every album they’ve released brings in great tunes with new surprises and explorations in trying something different and still keeping that signature sound. Adding the amazing Chris Cresswell into the mix brings even more energy and excitement to the mix, and I always look forward to anything new these guys have coming out.

• Frank Turner – Undefeated // I guess this really was a good year for some of my most popular artists I’ve listened to for a long time. I think if you know me personally, you’ll know I am a huge fan of Frank Turner. The album art tattooed on my arm from his Be More Kind LP may also give that away. Undefeated is his 10th album, and I’ve always loved the captivating and poetic songs and adventures from Turner. Dating back to college when i first heard “Long Live the Queen,” I feel like every album he puts out shows a sense of growth, and also explores new ideas and ways to sing to the good and bad times we have in life. While the theme this album seems to have feels a bit different from what I’ve enjoyed in his past music, it still brings the energy I love, and lyrically still speaks to me. I always enjoy reading about where the inspiration came for his work.

• Jon Snodgrass – Barge at will & Stoked Ghost EP // Jon had a busy year between his touring, new LP, and also adding a Halloween record into the mix before the end of the year. Like Frank Turner, I enjoy Snodgrass a lot and how through songs he reminds us to live in the moment and also remind your friends you love them. While Monster Holiday is an absolute jam, I felt Liver Let Die was fitting for the shared track from this album, originally by Tony Sly. No Use for a Name was huge for me back in the day, and I feel like Between Tony and Chuck Ragan, they opened the door to a lot of great new artists and solo acts like Jon for me early on.

Other notable favorites

Eels – EELS TIME

IDLES – TANGK

The Dopamines – 80/20

Aaron West and the Roaring Twenties – In Lieu of Flowers

Jack White – No Name

MakeWar – A Paradoxical Theory of Change

Future Islands – People Who Aren’t There Anymore