Bad Copy

Towards the end of 2024 I noted Jon Snodgrass’ two new albums as some of my favorites that year. When reaching out to him asking if he’d be coming through Detroit again anytime soon he responded “You may wanna road trip to Tillsonburg, ON this summer. working on a thing!” and I had no idea what that meant, or what to expect. I also thought, “Where the hell is Tillsonburg?”

I had no idea what to expect from Buddies Fest when it was first announced; early bird tickets went on sale, and I knew regardless of covering the festival or not I wanted to be a part of this experience. A few months later, the lineup was announced, and man was I excited. So many artists I’ve been wanting to see and finally photograph, along with many others to discover along the way.

When we finally arrived to July and the week of the festival, I began to prep and research the location. I’ve lived in Detroit and the surrounding area for 15 years. Very familiar with Ontario and cities like Windsor, London, and of course Toronto as they are pretty much not too far of a drive once across the Detroit River. I had never recalled or heard of Tillsonburg, at least not to my terrible memory. I wondered what made this location stand out, and why a festival here of all places. I was excited to check out somewhere new, queued up my playlist of all the artists I’d be seeing this weekend, and hit the road. Then I got a flat tire as soon as I got into Canada.

I panicked a bit, but thankfully had it happen right by a tire place. Literally minutes in to Canada and everyone was already so nice and offering to help. I had just lost air from hitting a Detroit pothole (IYKYK), and they checked everything and filled me up and refused payment no matter how hard I tried. An anxious way to start out a new festival, but barely delayed and back on my way after the help of so many great strangers. It was a wonderful 2 1/2 hour drive out to Tillsonburg. Something really felt zen about listening to Drag the River and Jim Bryson while driving through miles of country farmland, with giant wind turbines and solar panels mixed into the beautiful and peaceful scenery.

After a full day of the 9-5, and about 2.5 hours of driving, I arrived to my hotel. I was exhausted, but immediately started making new buddies as we all visibly stood out and were very clearly there to see some punk bands this weekend. I chatted a bit, and called it a night to prep up for the first day!

Day 1

It started a bit hectic for my Friday off as my full-time job took over the first half of the day. Thankfully I was able to sign out and make my way to The Mill as doors opened. I met up with Ben Andress who runs Blacktop Records, and is also one of the organizers of Buddies Fest. Got credentials all set up for the weekend, and not long after that I met Avery and Billy, who were both from the area and photographing the festival as well. We chatted up quite a bit about shooting shows and how excited we were to be there, and then quickly made our way to Paddy’s Underground for Drag the River to officially kick Buddies Fest off! It was a packed pub down there for the start of it, to the point where it’s capacity had already been reached halfway through their set. Jon Snodgrass and Chad Price came out to excitement and cheers, and did their thing to a room full of singing and buddies.

The festival schedule was set up pretty nicely, where the crowd would switch between Paddy’s Underground in the lower level of The Mill, and then the main stage was set up outside along the creek, surrounded by a few vendors, merch tables, and Speedy Fries serving out the food at the back of the venue area. Each band or artist played for about 45-60 minutes, then you’d have a little time to make your way back to the other stage for the next act. We cut it a little short towards the end of Drag the River, and made our way outside to the main area for the first time to get ready to catch Loveit. While it was still a bit earlier in the day for Friday, and way too damn hot and muggy out, they really kicked things off and got the energy going for the rest of the evening to follow. They will also be playing Riot Fest later in September, so I’m looking forward to seeing and snapping them again in a few months.

Before this lineup was announced, I wasn’t as familiar with a handful of these bands. I recognized names and/or songs from some, but this is also why I love going to festivals so much because it becomes another great opportunity to add to that list. The Drew Thomson Foundation (and Single Mothers as well) were both new to me, and I’m so glad I got to experience both live as my official introduction. It was also interesting to see Thomson’s solo project, before catching the heavier jams from Single Mothers later on.

At this point I needed to get some food, and since I was in Canada I decided to go with some poutine from Speedy Fries. Was it the best choice when I had to be back at the stage in 5-10 minutes? Probably not. Was it also the proper thing to eat in muggy 86 degree weather? Definitely not! It didn’t matter though because it tasted great and I was ready to get back out there just in time for Pkew Pkew Pkew to bring the party back to the main stage!

Next up was Chris Cresswell back in the Underground performing his solo music the first day, along with Dave G. on synth/keys. Those that know me usually can tell how much of a fan I am of his work. It still blows my mind to see how involved he is with so many other talented artists, and the variety of thoughtful melodies and lyrics he writes out and greatly delivers on for like 4+ bands on top of his solo work. I stayed for as much of his set as I could before heading back up to Single Mothers.

I really enjoyed the change of pace and variety each stage had with the artists playing. Paddy’s kept it a bit more chill with the acoustics most of the time, while the main stage amps it all back up with the energy. Single Mothers was so much fun to catch next, and I had an absolute blast photographing both them and PkewX3 jumping around and playing with so much energy.

Greg Norton along with a whole big group of buddies brought the crowd back down to Paddy’s once again. I was finally able to meet up in person with David Jarnstrom from Rad Owl after photographing him and that band a handful of times the past year. I also crossed paths with Jeremy Porter, another Detroiter, and catch up a bit before the music kicked off. Since my day was a bit non-stop kicking off so early, I was beginning to hit a wall towards the final few sets of the night. I caught a great set of Norton + a bunch of the Buddies who came on to sing and play, then made my way up to prep up for Dillinger Four.

D4 was one of many artists I have been dying to finally see live. Not only do I get to experience that with so many other great fans and music legends in the crowd, but I got to photograph them as well to really add to that experience! It was such a great first day, but even with the energy of that set and crowd I was feeling rough and sadly called it a night. The FOMO was hitting hard before I had even left The Mill for the night, but on my way out I was excited to see one of my all-time favorite concert photographers Riley Taylor hanging taking a break from also snapping the day away. We chatted a bit and introduced ourselves and would catch up more the next few days while shooting the rest of the fest together.

Day 2

After finally resting up a bit at the hotel, I was ready for day two. The music didn’t start until 4, so I took my time and explored around Tillsonburg. Every single person I met or saw along the way waved, said hello, and asked how I was doing. It was such an awesome experience, and really gave me the same “up north” vibe as visiting a lot of the smaller towns I love in Northern Michigan areas. After swinging through a Tim Horton to get my caffeine fix, I made my way back to the hotel to prep up my gear.

Today was going to be my main marathon of a day. So many more bands I was excited to see, and I wanted to make an effort to catch a bit of every single act. It was going to be non-stop from 4pm to 1am, and I couldn’t wait! We once again started off in Paddy’s Underground with Guilhem. We had been connected on Instagram for a little while now, but it took me way too long to realize we were also coincidentally in line together at Fest 22, waiting to get our credentials. I still have the Pouzza fest stickers (another festival I hope to eventually get out to) he handed out!

After that was Chad Price Peace Coalition on the main stage! While up there I stopped through at Speedy Fries again, and explored some of the other booths that were set up. Behind the stage you could get a haircut AND a tattoo, and I’m not going to lie I thought long and hard about getting a tat to commemorate this occasion. Something about the skeleton cowboy head and the lyrics to Snodgrass’ “Your First Rodeo” really felt fitting for this entire occasion… however, after an unexpected longer conversation with my partner about it, I got a very stern “please don’t” and sadly moved on. Guess I’ll have to think up some potential fun ones for Riot Fest or Fest 23 coming up instead.

I made my way inside and grabbed a drink, and saw Lenny Lashley hanging out along one of the tables. We talked for a bit and joked about crossing the border into here and how strict it can get sometimes, and then parted ways so we could prep up to play next. After that was another exciting Buddies special, with Jon Snodgrass playing a bunch of his jams with Bill Stevenson + his son Miles. It was awesome to watch the chemistry and energy between Bill and Miles for this set. Towards the end Jon rotated in some of the other buddies hanging out amongst the crowd, and then we kicked off ALL taking the stage with Scott Reynolds! I feel extremely grateful and lucky to not only get to see and snap Descendents last year while at Riot Fest, but I also get the whole ALL experience as well these next few days. It was so much fun to be on and around the stage for this, and watching so many people scream along and go crazy to their set.

After a very hot and muggy few hours in the sun, it was back to the underground to catch fellow Detroiter Jeremy Porter play. We chatted a bit while he was warming up with some jokes about ALL opening for him and how great that was, and then he kicked off his set to people pouring in from main stage. Before I knew it, it was time to prep up for one of my all-time favorite bands The Flatliners to close out the main stage for the evening.

Again, like I had mentioned on Day 1, I am a huge fan of this band. Not only getting to see them a few times within a year, but hanging out and chatting with them throughout the last few days was a huge highlight of this weekend. They brought the energy closing out this extremely hot day for sure!

By the end of their set I could feel myself starting to hit that wall again. I wasn’t ready to go down and Billy himself reminded me “you can’t capture anything cool if you’re home sleeping” as we made our way down to catch the dudes in Rad Owl close out Paddy’s with a full underground of people cheering along.

We made our way over to the Copper Mug after for the remaining three bands. I met up with Riley and some others and caught up about our day while buying a few rounds of gin and tonics for each other. While chatting and waiting for the bands to set up, I was definitely feeling the exhaustion of the long day. I’ve been going to and covering festivals for over 12 years now, and I feel like every year gets a bit harder for me to keep up. However things changed when Dealbreaker came on. I was revitalized and felt like I had chugged ten cups of coffee to the energy they opened up with. Literally for them, The Lookout, and of course another favorite The Penske File it felt like I was just starting my night out again. Bouncing around, cheersing friends’ drinks, and running all over the venue snapping photos the rest of the night. Lost track of time by that point, and about all I could remember was seeing it was after 1AM before I made it back to the hotel nearby and immediately fell asleep as soon as I hit that bed.

Day 3

Suddenly just like that, we’ve reached Day 3. There is always a feeling that sets in for me on the last day of a festival that always adds a little sadness and anxiety. Knowing that the fun is almost over, and you have to go back to reality always sucks. I spent a good chuck of the morning relaxing a bit, and going through some of the photos I took. I eventually gave in to start packing what I didn’t need for that day up so I’d be ready to head back to Detroit early tomorrow. After I was all set at the hotel, I made my way to The Mill a little earlier this time, to grab some food and coffee. I ran into the guys of Rad Owl and some other buddies finishing up breakfast and chatted with them a bit about how great everything has been this weekend. I then decided to have a hot coffee in the sunny 85+ degree weather and once again questioned my poor choices of the wrong foods in the wrong weather.

I wrapped up my coffee and lunch and then headed down to Paddy’s for Chuck Coles and Kenda Legospi to officially kick off our last day. Sunday was a solid day of discovering some more great artists I wasn’t too familiar with, outside of the playlist I made leading up to the event itself. SLIP~ons, Walt Hamburger, and Dog Party all were having great times hanging out most of the weekend and playing their sets. It really was a great time capturing everyone this entire weekend.

As we were heading into the evening and the sun was starting to set, the sadness was starting to hit. I knew it was getting close to when I’d have to call it for the fest, and prep up for my early drive back home in the morning. Thankfully up next was Jim Bryson, who has been someone I’ve been excited for and wanting to see for a while. I got up to the front of the stage and waited for him to start. He came out to an introduction from Snodgrass, and had me pull a slip of paper from his hand. It was a question to ask him. I was tricked and set up by Jim pretty much asking him “Why do you wear a hat when we all know you are bald?” It was a lot of great songs mixed with some fun stories and conversations, then I made my way back to the main stage.

Open Hand wasn’t able to make it out, so Kicksie was moved into their slot earlier in the day. Another new band I pretty much had discovered there live, and they were so much fun to watch and photograph. Really loved snapping their set, and I realize it may have not happened if they went on to the later set since I had to take off before then. After they wrapped up I spent some time along the main stage, hanging out and catching up with the bands, new friends, and buddies I’ve met over the weekend. Everyone, and myself, were so excited for round two of ALL with Chad Price to kick off soon. Again it blew my mind that I got the full ALL experience this weekend, after listening to them and Descendents for so much of my life. They did not disappoint, and the crowd returned that energy back. Sadly towards the end of their set, I started to make my rounds and saying goodbye to all the other amazing photo friends that shot together for the fest.

At the beginning I noted about wondering where Tillsonburg was, and what had made it this special place to hold Buddies Fest. Between the lovely country drive out, the amazing people from the area, and the wonderful town and scenery it all made so much more sense. Everything about Buddies Fest really lived up to it’s name. I came to this only somewhat knowing a few people online, and connected with so many new buddies by the end that I now look forward to seeing from, and hopefully seeing again sometime soon at future shows. This new event that Jon Snodgrass, Ben Andress, and so many others came together to establish felt like such a high point for me this year to be a part of. I loved being a part of this community and I cannot wait to do it all again next year!