Posts tagged Magrudergrind

Today was the first of 3 days of The Fest.  I had heard so much about it for years from friends, and I was finally about to experience it.  Before we headed down there, we needed to do some much needed merch organization in preparation for Lemuria’s set on Saturday.  We took all the boxes and bins of shirts and hoodies and sweatpants out of the van, took inventory of how many of each size we had, and then decided how much to bring into the show.  We then stowed all the backstock in a easy to get to spot so we could restock throughout the day if needed (which it was).

We then drove down to the Holiday Inn to check in.  The line was soooo long, but luckily there is a separate and MUCH shorter line for bands to check in.  Chris and the rest of Magrudergrind flew in and Sheena picked them up while we were checking in.  We then headed to Double Down which was where they were playing that night.  After parking the van we went to get coffee where I had my first (of many) Fest run-ins.  Rory (singer of Witness, How We Are, Soul Control) was there.  It’s always a great time seeing him.  We were about to get something to eat so he joined us.  We got these delicious quinoa  and black bean tacos.

We headed back to the venue where we hung out for a while.  I re-met Mike Harpring (I did sound for Good Luck when they played Sugar City over the summer) and ended up talking to him a lot about 90′s hardcore.  It was really great and we became fast friends.  The first band of The Fest I watched was The Holy Mountain and it was a great way to kick it off.  I forgot how good they are live.  So heavy and so good!  There was definitely a giant jack-o-lantern that was tossed around during their set and worn on many people’s heads.

After them was Assholeparade.  They were good, but the big surprise with them was the 2nd half of their set was all INFEST covers.  It was tons of fun, especially since they played 2 of my favorite songs: “Sick-O” and “Where’s the Unity?”.   Magrudergrind was next and they were punishing.  This was the 2nd time I saw them in 2 months and they still blew me away.

I didn’t have plans after that.  I knew my friend Danny (who I had yet to meet in person) was seeing The Copyrights at 8 Seconds so I decided to go there.  I caught the tail end of their set and it was good.  A few text messages later and she found me and gave me an awesome hug (and took the super dorky picture of our first meeting right away). It was super exciting to finally meet her after being internet friends for over 2 years.  We ended up hanging out for an hour or so.  Saw the last song of Run, Forever.  Then we got to The Atlantic way too early for the P.S. Eliot set.  We watched part of Creepoid and they were this really good shoe gaze rock.  But we needed food/ice cream so we went to Karma Cream (my 2nd time there that day).  I had this delicious vegan ruben that I wish i could always eat.

Walked back to The Atlantic.  I watched a couple PS Eliot songs but then decided I wanted to go check out Hot Water Music so I went to The Venue (i’m sorry, the Florida Theater of Gainesville).  I’m not a huge Hot Water Music fan but I really like Forever and Counting and No Division.  Just as when I saw them at Krazyfest, the only song I knew that they played was “Rooftops”.  Luckily I did not break my glasses during it this time.  Even though I didn’t know most of the songs they played, they put on a good show and the enthusiasm from the crowd was amazing.

After their set I originally planned to go back to Double Down to see Circle Takes the Square, until Chris informed me that TV Casualty was a super group punk cover band with Ted Leo on vocals, Adam from Atom and his Package, and a couple guys from Paint it Black.  I debated both for a while but then went with the cover band because I thought it would be more fun and I was more likely to see CTTS soon seeing as they have a new album coming out soon.
I definitely made the right decision!  They were all dressed up as The Misfits and did a whole set of Misfits songs.  The highlight for me was their last song was introduced as a “new song” and then they played “Mother” by Danzig.   So many ridiculously fun sing-a-longs.

Vegan ice cream flavors sampled: 5
Hugs given/received:  10+
Bands watched: 9
Cover songs I was super excited for: 8