Bad Copy

We woke up hungover; it was not pleasant. Today was the first batch of festival day shows at The Office and Bar Pink, followed by more night shows at Space and Soda Bar. For the early birds (and the less hungover), there was also an acoustic show at Red Brontosaurus, a record shop near the day venues. Since we woke up a bit too late for that, we decided to grab some breakfast.

Bar Pink was the first stop. We saw Justus Profit lay out a short, mellow set of beautiful tunes. Rob and I decided to take it easy, mostly hanging out with friends and trying not to stress about seeing all the bands this afternoon. However, Matt and Ilya went hardcore with the tiki drinks. The “sneaky tiki” was the drink of the day, but I was pretty happy not taking a part in that. Bar Pink also had a few cute drink specials that were little inside jokes for the Awesome Fest regulars. The bright blue “Paul’s a Narc,” the “VLHS,” and “Hugs and High Fives” were notable on the menu. I ordered the “Ask A Punk,” which was a stiff drink full of whiskey, ginger, bitters, and lime. That was the only drink I had that day.

After we partook in a few hilarious and INTENSE games of Giant Connect 4, we saw Cringeworthy: a J-church/Cringer tribute band. Our friends from the Bay Area had put this four-piece together and it was really fun to see them play this set!

Next, we ran over to catch a few songs at The Office because I wanted to check out Needles // Pins. Rob and I had gotten hooked on one of their songs prior to the fest and they did not disappoint. I also had to see Decent Criminal, a band who just keeps getting better and better. On top of that, they are some of the nicest peeps you’ll ever meet.

I rushed over back to Bar Pink because I just could not miss Fleshies. This band headlined the first punk show I ever went to, so I try to catch their crazy sets every chance I can. The pit was so WILD that I 17 again, if even for just a minute.

We all started to crash during Bad Cop / Bad Cop.  I was able to make it through a few songs; but everyone went a bit too hard with the partying, so we had to leave. More hardcore napping ensued in order to rest up for the night shows. Most of our crew did not make it and were K.O.ed for the night.

I managed to hang for a bit and catch Dimber, who blew me away. I had heard so much about this band. They filled my heart with so much joy that I ended up buying their EP (which is really good!).

While waiting for The Shell Corporation to start, a group of us hung out at the bus stop between the venues. Marty was trying to use the internet, while friends from bands walked by and stopped to chat. Both years I have been to Awesome Fest, that bus stop always has become a focal point for running into people you haven’t seen yet that day. It was really nice to just give my ears a break and only listen to the sounds of voices I so rarely get to hear.

And then The Shell Corporation smashed into the moment with their tight harmonies and epic presence. I might be biased tho since Jan is one of our own, a fellow Bad Copy contributor and my friend, but I really love Shell Corporation. Their new album Fucked is so sick.

Anyway, my night ended when I fell over outside – stone cold sober – and ate shit on the concrete. I figured that meant I needed to go to bed instead of watching Toys That Kill. Sidewalk- 1. Jen – 0. Oof!

Armed with a camera, Eden took a ton of photos of her own Awesome Fest experience. It most definitely does not match up entirely with what I saw, but enjoy the gallery nonetheless.

Check out Eden’s amazing photos of her Day 2 experience at Awesome Fest and our Day 1 coverage. Stay tuned for our post about the third and final day coming out tomorrow!