Fest 23: Day 2 in Gainesville, FL

Even though I’m on vacation and off the full-time gig clock, my body absolutely refused to sleep in. Regardless of being up until 2am catching up with Rich, there I was wide awake at like 6:30am. I did my best to try and remain in bed and see if I could doze off again, but my body was just too excited for the second day… so I made the most of it and quietly got up. I sorted through some of the 2,000 photos I took from Day 1, and even selected a handful to share for that fun algorithm we constantly need to chase as creatives on social media. By 8am I snuck out to go find a strong cup of coffee, and luckily we had Wyatt’s right around the corner. I waited in line with like 6 others who were also wearing all black and band shirts, and we all had a laugh knowing exactly what certain festival everyone was there to attend.

With my redeye, I made my way back up to sort and reduce my photos down some more. I’d say for myself as someone who casually shoots shows for fun, I take anywhere from 200-1000 photos per band (depending on the band, venue, policies, etc.). I then somehow try to narrow that down to ideally 20-30 tops, and for festivals like this and Riot Fest that is a huge challenge. I continued narrowing and editing until Rich was up, and then we set out to find breakfast.

We stopped by Maude’s Cafe and ordered some breakfast sandwiches, then grabbed a seat in the courtyard outside amongst many other Fest people hanging, and began to plan our our Day 2. I learned pretty quickly last year from Kendra that no matter how much you try and have a plan, it eventually shifts more into going with the flow. I think it was another big day of like fourteen bands I wanted to try and at least see a few songs from, but I was already feeling the soreness in my legs and feet from Day 1. We headed back into the hotel to rest up, and I prepped my camera gear for the day.

We were off to a great start, and the first two bands on my list for Day 2 were both at Bo Diddley. Weakened Friends kicked things off, and I was so excited to see them again so soon. I had first caught them at Riot Fest last month, and this band seriously became a absolute favorite of mine for this year. The energy both from their songs and the band themselves is contagious. I could never put my camera down for even a second because of how much Sonia and Annie are dancing and playing around the stage, and looking like they are having an amazing time playing. Their new album also just came out earlier this October and has been another staple on repeat.

Rich and I made our way over to the merch area to check out all the fun designs for the bands that day, and I snagged a Get Up Kids shirt and Dead to Me hoodie. Ran that up quickly and made it back down to the photo pit in time for Pool Kids to start. Sadly before I knew it I was on the move again, making my way back over to Palomino to catch City Mouse. While on the way I ran into some more Fest friends I had met from last year, including Adam from Say-10 Records! He was also on his way to the same spot, so we went together and grabbed a spot on a bench in The Backyard and caught up a bit. We had a great convo of how great both Fest and the community have been, and how fulfilling it is to be a part of it all with so many other great people. I slipped in to catch half of City Mouse before making way back to Bo Diddley once again.

Up next was Drug Church, and man did that get chaotic in the best way possible. They’ve been another act I have ben trying to catch live for a little while now, especially after their latest album, Prude, came out last year. The entire band was all over the stage, jumping, and rocking out. It was an overall experience, where even the security and entire crowd along the rail were all together and a part of. You don’t realize how much crazier it can get, until their singer Patrick gives a little speech and pep talk to everyone being together, and then he invited everyone over the rail! Next thing you know, I want to say there was about 15-20 different people crowd surf over the rail throughout the last song.

Taking a minute to give a shoutout and many props to the amazing security on that rail! Not just for this set where they pointed out and caught every single person who came over during the chaos, but just in general for all weekend. Any time I was in that photo pit for the bands, they were always there dancing, smiling, talking and singing with others. They were there to help make sure everyone was ok, and really amped the vibe of the party way up than it already was. I always appreciate the help of security and what they’re there to do at venues, but these guys really loved being there and had a blast doing what they did.

It was a bit of a blur jumping around from venues for the next few sets. Made it out to Heartwood to see Signals Midwest, back to the Wooly for The Dreaded Laramie (which was such a good time and glad I finally got to see them), then out and around the corner to The Bull for more Sweet Gloom action with Jaake’s acoustic set. I crossed paths with the amazing Sam Russo after Jaake’s set and caught up a bit, and realized he was also hanging out with Dan Andriano of Alkaline Trio (who I didn’t recognize at first without his stache he had for Riot Fest a month ago)! I geeked out, snagged a photo of them together, and made my way to the next band.

I was planning to post up at Bo Diddley Plaza for a good amount of the rest of the day. Jeff Rosenstock is a staple rotation in a lot of my playlists, and I try to never miss an opportunity to see him live. It was a great set to launch into some other all-time favorites that I have gone way back with as well. It was crazy to get to hear both RX Bandits play all of The Resignation, followed by The Get Up Kids with Something to Write Home About. Both of these albums were main staples in my CD collection back in the early 2000s. You had to choose wisely and make meaningful picks back then when we had to listen to music on CDs. You could only carry so many albums at a time, and had to make them count! An even more extra special moment happened with Get Up Kids when Jeff Rosenstock came back out to sing “Action & Action” with the band!

After that high school nostalgia marathon of albums I listened to way too much in my car driving around to nowhere, only getting 5ish hours of sleep was finally catching up to me. I made it over to Wooly to catch part of a fun set from Five Hundred Bucks before calling it a night.