More outdoor stages this year is going to be clutch. One thing I haven't missed about going to Fest is the anxiety of showing up to a venue and having it be at capacity. I think it's gonna be a little harder this year to gauge what bands might draw a bunch because without shows/touring it's hard to gauge where the hype might be, if that makes sense. One thing to keep an eye out for is bands that are playing earlier in the day with even the slightest bit of buzz/hype around them. Like, if Origami Angel is playing somewhere at 2 in the afternoon and you really want to see them? I'd get there at doors if you can. I haven't been in a few years, but I got burned by that a few times back when I went annually (e.g., showing up right as doors opened where Dear Landlord and Mixtapes were the first two bands).
I don’t think I even tried to get into the Wooly for that set. Just figured it would not workout unless you really committed to that one set.
They told someone on Twitter “check our website every Thursday at 4:20 pm for new passes from anyone who gets a refund”
JUST ADDED: PEARS, The Casket Lottery, Direct Hit, Ratboys, Be Well, Brendan Kelly, Sundowner, Ray Rocket, Elway, Militarie Gun, Ceschi, Pass Away, Heart & Lung, NØ MAN, Camp Trash, Antagonizers ATL, Joystick, Bottom Bracket, Bandaid Brigade, Pseudo, Racones, Totally Slow, Minimum Rage, SACK, Superbloom, Nato Coles and the Blue Diamond Band, Bricheros, Better Now, Big Loser, Fortitude, Teresa Rose, Thunderclap, Wired Up, Telepathic Lines, Johnathan Coody, Secret World, & Jen Pop!!!
The new bands are out! I'm particularly stoked on: Direct Hit!, Joystick, Pears, Heart & Lung, Big Loser, Be Well, and Superbloom! Cool to see solo acts/sideprojects from a bunch of bands in the mix now too (Brendan Kelly, Sundowner, Ray Rocket, Jen Pop, Bandaid Brigade)
I was so excited about Direct Hit! being added I didn’t even notice Be Well got added too!!! Bane and Battery are two of my all time favorite hardcore bands, so seeing a group with members of both will be really cool.
I feel like the "this band sounds like the 90s" narrative/hype/buzz has died down over the last few years, but one of my biggest critiques of bands in that mold is they have a tendency to forget the most important part of that whole vibe: The hook! And Superbloom has those in full force. Super underrated band. Such a great band! That album is super intense, though. Haha. I'm hoping I get to see them. They were one of the last bands I saw live ahead of the pandemic (opening for HWM) and I wasn't familiar with the record then. So it'll be rad to see them and sing along.
Militarie Gun is a great add. Probably as close we’ll ever get to Regional Justice Center playing. But that Militarie Gun stuff is really darn good too. Will be watching that set.
The biggest thing that announcement did for me is confirm that at this point The Wonder Years is still on the lineup. As long as it stays that way, nothing could really make Fest significantly better/worse for me.
A few amazing adds on this one! Samiam and Bigwig are great adds on the bigger, likely main stage side of things. Crime in Stereo doing Troubled Stateside is a dream come true for me... And Saves Ends and the Wonder Bombs are both really cool, if not slightly predictable, adds. This all just made this weekend even more anticipated than it already is!
I've never been to fest before and I was wondering if there's ins and outs. My friend and I have never been to Florida before so we were planning on trying to check out some other stuff while we're there, particularly some of the state parks but since the bands we're most interested in seeing are the smaller bands that don't make it to California often and bigger bands like TWY, it'd make the most sense for us to leave and come back.
I mean, most of the festival is in a bunch of different venues across the city. There's also two outdoor stages, one of which will be where the bigger bands (like the Wonder Years) play. So by the very nature of the festival, "re-entry" is allowed. On Friday, shows start in the late afternoon. On Saturday and Sunday, they start earlier in the day (around noon, I think). So mornings are probably your best bet if you want to get out and do something fun/touristy. I would just caution you that if a band you want to see is playing a smaller venue earlier in the day, that you're going to want to get in line early. Because some of the clubs definitely hit capacity earlier on. Particularly if they have any sort of buzz/hype around them or they don't play out very often. DISCLAIMER: I haven't been to Fest in a few years, so others may have some different/better advice. Haha.