It was 3 days of fun and 2 days of music. It was loud, drunken, sun blasted and amazing. It was Rad Fest, likely to be the first and last of its kind. Its strengths, while amazing, were definitely its financial weaknesses. There were no lines, not even at registration. This wasn't Fest, I could get into any venue I wanted to, whenever I wanted to. I could even get to the front of any show I wanted to. After the show, all the bands were there eager to chat. It was great.
However, I know it had to suck for the parties (well party mostly) responsible because there were a lot more blue (band) bands on wrist than orange (paying). And that's a damn shame, because it may have been the best music festival in the history of music festivals. I can't recall a concert that has been so amazing or so fun.
It started Friday morning. Originally, the car was going to be me, my girlfriend, and Jay from Red Collar. Then their merch girl. Then Beth from RC got off work so they drove separately. We were also waiting for Joe and Jay-Ar so they could follow us to the beach house. Joe forgot something at his sister's house so it ended up being my girlfriend and I driving by ourselves.
But first we had errands to take care of. Dexter needed to be kennelled. I needed two new tires (which ended up being 4 new tires!). My girlfriend needed a new SS card. So around 10 am we pulled out of our driveway and headed for Carolina Beach! The ride down was mostly event free. We sweat a little because my AC doesn't work properly and we had to listen to music through her macbook, but it wasn't a bad trip.
We got to Carolina Beach around 1 and discovered that it was the same condo complex my girlfriend had stayed at for a bachelorette party last year. Joe and Jay-Ar showed up and we all unloaded our cars. We made some sandwiches and had lunch. Then we all piled into my car and drove to downtown Wilmington to pick up tickets for Rad Fest!!!
Registration was a breeze. We parked in a parking lot across that was a tow lot, so my girlfriend stayed behind and protected the car. The three of us walked upstairs and got tickets instantly. So much better than sweating outside a hotel in Gainesville for hours on end. This was not the first time I thought, 'Wow, this is so much better than Fest!' I also introduced myself to a very stressed out Chason.
Then we scoured downtown for a parking deck so we could be centrally located to the 4 venues. Of course, we only needed three of the venues (16 Taps, Charlie Brownz, Soapbox) because we had no interest in the Whiskey. We found a parking deck somewhere near Charlie Brownz and wandered in for the opening act of Rad Fest, Fossil Arm. We got there a little before he started and settled in.
FA was like a modern day Bob Dylan, even going so far as to cover one of his songs. He played the entire set in shades. Cool dude. Up next was Greenland is Melting. They were the first band on our list of bands we must see. And they set the tone for the rest of the weekend. The bass player normally plays a standup bass, but his right arm was in a sling. It did not slow them down. They brought the house down. We also saw a fierce mullet and coined our motto for the weekend. Business in the front, party in the back. We definitely took every opportunity to throw that into any situation. The guys in Greenland is Melting were very friendly and we discussed our common friend Michael Claytor. He is apparently a big deal down in Gainesville, deservedly so.
We took an early dinner break at some mexican place made up like a sports bar. It was pretty good. It was here we learned about fat tacos and mini shrimp. Also learned that Jay-Ar is afraid of frogs, so no one ordered the frog legs. Out of respect. Didn't need any panic attacks. You dig?
From there we ventured over to the Soapbox for our first show in that establishment. What was the main stage of the entire weeked was also the biggest disappointment. Not from a musical standpoint, but totally from a sound standpoint. Both upstairs and downstairs were afflicted with a case of bass and drums. Bass was definitely turned up too loud and the bass drum drowned out vocals and guitars. It wasn't just one band, it was almost every band we saw in the Soapbox, upstairs or down.
First up at Soapbox was Gatorface downstairs. They were tight, played a good mix of old and new and also were the first band to claim they couldn't play the song I wanted because they didn't remember how to play it. Boo. Still pretty good, though. Would see again. Their set ran short which was a great thing for us, because we had to run over to Charlie Brownz (the venue furthest away) to catch Coffee Project.
Coffee Project was exactly like I expected. One guy on guitar, one guy alternating a horn and a guitar. Discovered that "Oh Sweet Pickle" was actually about a cat and not a dog like we thought. Found out that our friend Michael Claytor was on CP's new record (and was even cartooned for the jacket, how awesome is that?!). Girlfriend bought a shirt and the new record, even though we still don't have an operational turntable yet.
It was time for us to make our way to the main stage also known as the Soapbox Upstairs. On our way to Soapbox a bum on the side of the road noticed my Saigon Kick shirt and was moved to comment, "What do you know about Saigon?!" and "That really brings me back." It was pretty awesome. Then we arrived at the Soapbox and the hordes of people smoking out front.
Having never been to the Soapbox, I wasn't sure how to get upstairs. We did not realize there was a set of stairs at the entrance, so we walked up the stairs at the back of the venue. When we got upstairs, Nothington was about halfway through their set. I had never really listened to them, but they were pretty energetic and the crowd loved them.
We were there to see The Measure (SA), so we caught up with friends in between Nothington and Measure. Measure fell victim to the same thing that afflicted Gatorface. The sound mixing was awful. I couldn't make out what 1/2 the songs were. The guitars were totally drowned out and the vocals were almost non existent. It really sucked because I was looking forward to Measure a ton and they just did not have a good mix for their sound.
Measure was the last band my girlfriend really wanted to see, but we had seen Rehasher before and she had enjoyed that so we hung around to see how they were this time. Also, Roger had commented on my Saigon Kick shirt so that warrented us sticking around. They were probably the fastest band we saw at Rad Fest and funny as always. But it was also my girlfriend's bed time so we loaded up and went back to our condo at Carolina Beach to drop her off.
On the car ride back home, we had a crazy old dude almost walk into the side of the car while we were going about 60 MPH. That was the only thing of note on the trip home. Dropped her off and switched over to Joe's car. This will be important later in the story.
We made our way back to Wilmywood to see Red City Radio who was a hit in Durham the previous night. The crowd was electric and I probably would have enjoyed them more had I known their songs, but their sound really just wasn't my thing. They were very good at the "Whoa punk" sound typical of fests, but I think I was just a little burned out on it. Scotty Sandwich and company were thoroughly enjoying this set, and I caught up with them after the show. Scotty was mega hammered and they wandered off to get some food promising to meet up after TRB. Yep, never saw any of them the rest of that night.
Everyone else I knew ditched out after RCR to see Worn in Red, but I had never really listened to them and I owned Spanish Gamble's CD so I figured I would stick around for them. SG was very similar to RCR live. SG had a little bit more technical guitar work, but overall if you had told me that RCR had never left the stage, I would have believed you. The only difference was the crowd size/energy. Again, they were a solid band, but I think I am just worn out on the straight up whoa sound and they were firmly in that mold.
I ran into Brett from The Riot Before at 16 Taps. I had seen them previously at the Milestone in Charlotte opening for Leatherface. They were a band I had enjoyed, but I never really appreciated until I saw them live. At the Milestone show, I had requested that they play "Threat Level Midnight" at the Rad Fest show. He said he would. Now at 16 Taps I asked him if he remembered that conversation. He had, but he said they did not remember how to play TLM. Disappointing. But it wouldn't keep me from coming back for their show, especially considering how good their new album is. But there was work to do before that.
From 16 Taps we headed back to the soapbox downstairs for the first band I was really excited about seeing, Dirty Tactics. It was the 1-2 punch on the first day I was mega hyped for. Dirty Tactics, then running back over to 16 Taps to see The Riot Before. We got there as the last band was finishing up their set and I saw DT merch that I wanted. The new album and a really awesome baseball shirt. The problem was, none of the DT guys were around. This had me super bummed and they had no one at the merch table. This was going to be a major problem.
Oh well, DT took the stage on time and Gary was noticeably irked that they were going on against None More Black. I understood his frustration, but whatever, I was here to see DT and they did not disappoint. They were also the only band that played a song I requested. Luckily it was already on their set list and a new song, so the odds were in my favor. The sound mix was again suspect, but they were blistering. They were drastically different from the sound that is most popular at these fest shows (see "Whoa punk" or "WP"). It is always awesome when I see a band that I like on record and they blow that away live.
I hit up the guys in the band for merch after the show, but told them I had to cut out ASAP to get back over to 16 Taps to catch TRB. They were understanding as they were headed that way also. The Riot Before was impressive as always. While they were originally a "WP" band, they had begun to shatter that mold on their new album. They opened with "The Middle Distance" and it was awesome live. Just awesome. They played a good mix of old and new. The crowd definitely responded better to the older stuff and at times were just standing around during the new songs. Especially "The Oregon Trail" which is one of my favorite TRB songs. I was disappointed for the band, but I know it is the curse of new music. Random fans just don't know it as well. But the new stuff was excellent live and increased my respect for this band. They are, easily, one of my bands to watch to have major success in the immediate future.
The Riot Before was the last show of the evening for us and we met up with Beth and Jason from Red Collar (well, actually, Beth was asleep in the car) plus their merch girl Lynn. While we were talking I met John x1984x again. We had met very briefly at the Leatherface show at Fest. It was cool to talk with him and his lady friend and exchange gossip on why Leatherface was denied entry into the US. It was all very hush hush. I also ran into Dan from DT whom I had seen at the TRB show and he told me I could run by his car to buy merch now if I wanted. I wanted to, but I had to get this group (me, Joe, Jay-Ar, Jason, Beth and Lynn) back to our beach house for the night. Very bummed about this.
Remember the part about taking Joe's car? It matters now. Jason said to us, "Hey, we'll get in our car and give you a call when we get to a cross street so we can meet up and follow you there." Joe heard, "I'll call you if we get lost." It should be noted that I was rather tired at this point as it was 2 am Saturday morning and I had been up since 7 am the previous day. We had a GPS and we just started going. I realized we were out of downtown Wilmington and I said, "Joe, where are we going? We're supposed to be waiting for Jason." He said, "I thought they knew how to get there."
Well, I called Jason and we figured out that they were going the right way, but I guess I thought they were heading the wrong way so said, "I think you are going the wrong way, but I do not know my way around Wilmington at all." All of that statement was true, but they were definitely going the right way. I kept telling Joe we should probably turn around, and he definitely kept driving forward. We finally stopped at a breakfast place and Jason said that would be a great place for us to meet up. My misinformation had sent them way out of the way, but I had no idea how far out of the way. I offered to drive back to meet up with them and guide them, but apparently Beth had woken up and saved the day. Thank you Beth!
We got into the restaurant which was mostly empty. Knowing we would have 6 people, I picked a table set up for 8. I figured they were probably about 10-15 minutes away. About 5 minutes after we got there, a drunken party of about 10 stumbled in. The three of us sitting at the table sure looked like jerkwads. Oh well. We ordered our food about 30 minutes later and about 15 minutes after that the Red Collar car arrived. Any irritation the drunken party had for us was lost instantly when they saw Jason's spurs. Apparently they were enthralled and commented on them constantly. I imagine the wait staff was still irritated with us though, haha. My girlfriend was also not pleased as she thought we were dead on the side of the road somewhere. It was only like 3:30!
Now regrouped we headed back home to prepare for Day 2 of Rad Fest...
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