This was a big long day.  Lemuria was playing at 8 Seconds at 11:10pm but we got to the venue at 11am to load in and set up merch.  I had done merch for them a few times before, but they warned me that The Fest will be the busiest day on tour.   All our hard work organizing the shirts and such the day before really paid off when I was setting stuff up.  I’m glad I took these two pictures before the doors opened because I barely had time to myself any other time at the merch table.

For a good part of the day Alex helped me out at the table.  It was nice to have an extra hand because it was definitely needed for things like getting change from the bar or running out to the van to restock shirts.  We were lucky to find a parking spot right outside of the venue so restocking (which we had to do a bunch of times) took no time at all.

I took a quick food break around 1:00 and came back just as Paul Baribeau was going on.  I hadn’t seen
him play in a few years so it was nice to sing along to some old songs.  My 2nd and final break was around 4:00 so I could go see Off With Their Heads.  When I got to Florida Theater almost an hour before they were going on, the line was around the corner.  Luckily my friend Sparky was on a layover inbetween flights and gave me a call which helped the time of waiting in line much more enjoyable.  I got in at the end of Make Do and Mend’s set.  I had never heard them before but there weren’t that bad so I might have to check out their records.  After they got off stage I secured a spot right up front against the stage.  They were the band I was most excited to see at The Fest so I wanted the best spot.

In the past I wasn’t a big Off With Their Heads fan.  I had seen them once before many years ago, but they didn’t do much for me.  It wasn’t until I heard their newest record, In Desolation, that I started to like them.   I’ve had that record on heavy rotation since January.   Saying I was excited to see them was an understatement.  As soon as they came on and went into “Die Today”, the place exploded.  It was awesome to see Jay Draper and Mikey Erg rocking out on the side of the stage.  Jay later told me that he tried to get my attention to throw me a bottle of water but I was too distracted.

When they played “Drive” I was so pumped.  That is probably when I started to lose my voice. Half way through the set they said they were going to skip the next song due to lack of time.  From where I was standing I could see the set list and the song they skipped was “Trying to Breathe” which is one of my favorite songs so I was obviously really bummed.  They closed out the set with “Clear the Air” so that made up for it because that is easily my favorite song on the new album.

As soon as their set ended, I pushed my way through the crowd and out the side door and ran to Double Down.  The night before it was announced that one of the mystery sets was A Wilhelm Scream playing their album “Mute Print” in its entirety.  I’m not a big fan of them but I used to love that album so it was going to be a nostalgic sing-a-long.  I got there in the middle of the first song and pushed my way to the front.  I haven’t listened to it in a while but all the lyrics came back to me.  This was the 3rd band of the year I have seen play my favorite album of theirs.  First was Thursday playing “Full Collapse” at the Roseland Ballroom in Portland, and then I saw Jimmy Eat World play “Bleed American” at the Town Ballroom in Buffalo.  I think it’s fun when bands do that every once in a while.  The Lemonheads are touring through Buffalo in January playing “It’s a Shame About Ray” and I’ll definitely be there.  I’d be a fool not to seeing as I named my button business after a song on that album (Bit Part Buttons).

I didn’t stay for A Wilhelm Scream’s whole set because I think it trails off after “The Rip”.  Plus I still had a long day ahead of me at 8 Seconds working the merch table and I was itching to get back to it.  Other people might have found selling merch for 12+ hours, but I had a great time.  I’m not just saying that, it seriously was really fun for me.  I think it helps that Lemuria is one of my favorite bands so when someone wants to buy their shirt or record I share the excitement with them.  I also like that if someone asks me what my favorite album is or “what album has that song that goes like this…” I can tell them my honest opinion.  For that reason I don’t know if I could do merch for a band I didn’t love because my heart wouldn’t be totally in it and I would feel like I was being disingenuous.

After Good Luck’s set (which was really good, I can’t wait to hear the new album), something really awesome happened.  I sold a hoodie to a girl and she paid with $40.  I was about to give her the $15 change and she said “keep it”.  I was floored, and made sure she knew that her change was $15 and that she really didn’t want it (she seemed sober but I still don’t want to assume).   She assured me that she wanted to tip me that much because she lives off of tips and knows how it is.  I was so appreciative and told her to take as many stickers, patches, or buttons that she wanted.  Then she asked  “Am I your favorite person right now?” and I replied “Definitely!”.  It seriously made my night.  I didn’t get your name, but whoever you were, thank you again so so much!  I will never forget that awesome act of kindness.

The only bummer thing about doing merch for Lemuria that day was not being able to be up front singing along.  I was able to see Max from the view I had but everyone else was obstructed from my view due to a large pillar.  I was still able to hear them really well and definitely sang along from the merch table inbetween (and sometimes while) making sales.  Last time I saw them play was back in June in a living room in Olean with Screaming Females.  They played really well and the crowd was going crazy.  The surge of people at the merch table after their set was also crazy.  Luckily people understood that I’m only one person and were very nice.  Max also came and helped out for a little bit until the line died down which I really appreciated.

Screaming Females played a great set after them and made me bummed that I missed them when they played at Mohawk Place in Buffalo a couple weeks ago.  Bomb The Music Industry closed out the night.  I’m not a big fan of theirs but they sounded good and I enjoyed their set more than when I saw them a few years ago.  Nothing else exciting happened the rest of the night.  We packed up, Sheena picked us up and Chris told us about the ridiculous house show Magrudergrind played earlier that night where someone had a 40 oz bottle smashed over their head due to an argument.  It felt so good to be off my feet that night.  Even though I was dead tired and exhausted, I couldn’t fall asleep for a while due to the extreme pain my feet were in.   I don’t like to take medicine, but I took a couple ibprofane’s to help me fall asleep.  Listening to David Cross also helped.

Hours working merch: 12
Veggie dogs eaten: 3 (the only food I ate all day)
Tips received:  $51.00