Orlandofest! The most anticipated thing of the year for me! The highlight of this fest was for sure the fact that i got to interview my favorite band, Against Me! but i'll get to that later, Orlandofest was full of surprisingly great bands who made the fest one of the best i've ever been to.
Ok, lets make a few things clear: I only saw only a few bands on friday, i will review only those , i saw almost all of the bands saturday, so while you'll get the big picture of the fest, you won't here much about friday...I missed the following bands: xbxrx,Majority Rule, plastic mastery,Carrie Nations, blue eyed boy mister death,The Holy Mountain, Cowboys Became Folk Heroes ,a game of you...WRITE YOUR OWN REVIEW OF THEM BELOW.
There were alot more people than I expected here, i expected maybe a hundred, but a few hundred kids showed up with intent to rock. onto the bands
Alright, Baby Dracula was one of the surprises of the fest for me, Goth Surf punk from South Florida, having almost a garage Misfits sound, these kids put on a good show, they handed out free demos which I picked up and enjoyed very much...woo!
Skip a few hours till my return, when I saw Kite Flying Society, these local hardcore kids also put on a great show! With the rain pouring down on the kids, they played a melodic blend of complex guitars mixed with some metal vocals which made for a super set.
Airoes was next, from the start, they made me think of Blankwave Arcade-era Faint, more rock driven than techno driven, however very danceable...and the kids danced. I don't mean hardcore dance...I mean MTV spring break dace. It was cool though...thumbs up to these guys too.
The K10 propspect was next, and i didn't really know what to think of these guys, they were on tour with the Carrie Nations and i guess had some energy...the crowd liked them somewhat...i'm not sure about em though. Their live set was not enough to judge on I guess.
End night 1...for me.
The next day, I was going to interview Against Me! around three, however the AM! van broke down, so unfortunately plans were delayed. I arrived at like 7, when Closed Casket Diary was playing, the crowd was dead for this except the last song, i'm not sure why, everyone knew the words, it was probably a cover and i'm just not scene enough, so no one told me. They put on an OK show.
If my memory serves me correctly, The South played next, just fast punk, it was ok I suppose, by the book type stuff not too many chances being taken.
From here on out, I dont know what order the bands are in, i just know i saw them, don't fret if they are out of order.
With rain as the backdrop, Reactionary 3 took the stage (ACTUALLY, there was no stage) these guys rocked pretty hard, i was not too familiar with these guys other than they were on No Idea (my favorite label) they played fast punk too, Against Me! enjoyed them too, as they stated in the interview. Thumbs up.
I don't remember I Would Set Myself On Fire For You, sorry...the name sucks though.
Kodan Armada was next, boy, they fucking rocked it, to my surprise the crowd went off with this band, which came to a surprise to me. I really wasnt going to watch this band, but as soon as they started, the kids were all screaming "TICK TOCK!" over and over, which caught my attention, unfortunetly, i couldn't get a very good view since there was no stage, but I could for sure see the energy put forth by these guys, best non-Against Me! band of the fest, I bought a cd from them, which i absolutely love, these guys were so fucking good. 2 members started crying after the set...i'm not here to judge that sorta thing.
Dispensing False Halos played next, didnt see them cuz I was interviewing Against Me!, but they sounded metal.
I don't remember Revenge Therapy either. Sorry.
Books on tape played, fucking weird. Techno, just a dude with a mixer, this shit was fucked, it was cool...I guess...thumbs sideways.
Abe Froman played, they were great as well, aside from having an awesome name. A girl singer, however their live show saw resemblences to Against Me!, the crowd loved these guys too. thumbs up.
Next up was Kylesa...uh, Metal...I didnt like these guys. I'm not sure what else to say.
Unfortunately, due to rain, there were not as many people there for AM! as there should have been, maybe a few hundred, but perfect weather would have produced an insane number.
AM! set up and Tom said "Hey we're Against Me! from Gainesville" which was greeted with thunderous applause, the blasted right into a new song, i'm not sure what it was called, but it was great! After that, another new song that was called "Mutiny on the electronic bay". After that, yet another new song...the best new one they played i think. Without pause, after the 3rd new one, Warren started the drumbeat of "Pints Of Guiness Make You Strong" which was gratly cheered by the crowd. The crowd knew every fucking word and it rocked. Tom's vocals were just drowned out in the sea of chanting "Hey, just like James i'll be drinking Irish tonight!" and other such notable lyrics, which were screamed by the crowd.
That's when it all came crashing down, Nelson, the man who put this all together came over to Tom to tell him to wrap it up (it was 1:15 AM). He told him to play 2 more, however, the Rollins security guard had different ideas, he called the cops and made everyone leave, after a few minutes of the crowd pleading for one more, everyone left, passing by 11 cop cars as they left. Fuck that shit man.
Anywho, it was a great weekend that i'm sure will be as great next year! I only wish Against Me! could have played more...but 4 songs is still great in my book...plus the new songs are amazing. Great bands, great atmosphere, great fest.