Yes, I am finally getting around to day 4's post!
I arrived early downtown for the last day of the festival and saw at least part of the sets for 27 bands. There were some really good bands playing, and some not so good, or at least not to my liking. It was a day full of bands with exclamation marks in their names and bands with music and comedy (?) on the agenda.
I started my day at The Social to see Orlando’s Mel Martinez. It was early so there wasn’t much of a crowd yet, but the pop/rock duo was very entertaining with good music and joking between songs. Their set included “18” from Martinez’s recently released debut EP “The Door Is Open.”
Then I was off to the Wall Street main stage to see Chris Via. With songs like "Pretty Girl" and "Dream Girl" his cheery, sing along bubblegum pop is designed to make teenage girls squeal, and the few that were in attendance did just that.
Next up was Shut Up and Dance on the other Wall Street stage. The six piece Orlando band combines pop with fast-paced club beats and had a big crowd show up to enjoy their set.
After their set, I headed back to The Social to see 10 West. The six member Jacksonville band played a classic styled solid rock set, heavy on guitars and jamming, like any respectable Southern Rock band would.
The BackBooth was next on my agenda for Florida’s Pathway To Providence. The early crowd was enjoying the five piece band’s punk tinged modern rock sound, including “I Am The Tower” from their CD “Hello World.”
I caught part of the sets of a few more bands then headed off to The Social for a much anticipated show by A Cover Story. I had seen them play before (the first time being FMF 08, so I knew it would be a good show. With a 4 PM time slot, the guys had been out every day during the festival urging people to come watch their set and it paid off with a very good sized crowd. They played several songs from their soon to be released CD including the title track “Watch The Cities”.
After that I did a lot of wandering around catching bits and pieces here and there such as Jacksonville’s Captain Kid flooding the audience with t-shirts during their set, to Yellowman sound checking to reggae beats, to the peppy pop of Fort Lauderdale's Jacob Jeffries Band, to the eight piece Orlando band Shady People and their Southern Surf Rock with a Reggae beat, to the spacey experimental rock from Florida's Leone, to the costumed five piece band The Schmeltz rock pop comedy with songs “Soccer Mom” and “The Spocker,” to the high-energy of Gainesville’s T13C!, Including “I Am a Robot,” to Raging Geisha, a five piece Miami band and their fusion of pop and hip hop, to the punk, funk sounds of Orlando’s Union Made and their circus atmosphere complete with costumes and dancers.
Then I was off to be Gargameled. I’ve never been Gargameled before; it was quite interesting and kinda fun.
After that it was time to head Back to Wall Street to see Clayton Senne. I’d only ever seen him perform solo, so I was looking forward to his full band show. His pop infused soul music always draws a good crowd. I really liked his songs “Mercy” and “Walk Out The Door,” and as always he is very entertaining between songs (and he performs in his socks).
I wandered back to The Social to see the modern rock of Gainesville’s Colourslide. While they were playing, the guys from A Cover Story were loading back in; they said they’d been asked to play again. Hmmmm the next set was supposed to be a “secret (OK not so secret)” show by Between The Trees. Well maybe they weren’t playing after all, but no, there they were as well. (If I was really smart I might have been adding 2 and 2 here, but not yet.) A Cover Story took the stage and did two songs, lots of fun, always good to see them play. Then Between The Tress came onstage along with the head of Bonded Records, who announced that A Cover Story had won a recording deal with them. (I guess that’s one way to make sure the band is there when you make such an announcement – trouble was most of the band was out loading their gear back into their cars.) The lead singer (Jon C.) was inside waiting to see Between The Trees play, the look on his face was priceless!
It always amazes me how many talented indie bands there are in Orlando, let alone everywhere else, and I am thrilled for the opportunity to hear at least bits of so many during FMF, I always come away with a big list of bands to explore further. The downside is the bands I miss seeing during the festival because there are just so many good bands playing at the same time and blocks of time with not a lot to see.
Also, I am amazed at how many My Space pages are all decked out with all kinds of crap and at the same time contain little or no actual information about the bands (this from a writer doing research standpoint).
Here’s a link to the photos from Day 4
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kat32807/sets/72157618391667620/
