I <3 TO FEST.

Ten Fun Facts about The Fest! (and my trip across the South.)

1. Alabama is freaking terrifying at 4:00am.
2. Florida is 80 degrees in October and also 95% humidity all the time. Be still, my beating heart. No really, calm down Cat, stop panting.
3. The Fest is just as much ruckus as you've read it to be. I saw random pairs of underwear on sidewalks.
4. That said, it's really a brotherhood. If you pass out on the street (which I did not!), someone will always pick you up and help you out.
5. And that being said, the male:female ratio is about 9:1. I dunno, something about dudes liking bands that sound like Hot Water Music? And more so, the ratio of attractive males with beards and good tattoos:unattractive males is about 9:1. ONCE AGAIN, be still, my beating heart. (Such a stereotypical "girl who went to Fest" statement, but like I care.)
6. PBR tall boys are $2 everywhere you go.
7. Music never stops. There are warehouse shows, house shows, acoustic stuff in hotels until bars open the next day.
8. More cities need this. I know it's convenient in Gainesville with No Idea, but seriously. It's a great showcase for local venues and lesser known bands, but also a huge money maker for a city that normally doesn't make much on Halloween weekend because of the Florida/Georgia game being at a neutral site out of town.
9. I took VERY FEW pictures of actual music. The amount of people running around with D-80's and waving some sort of press pass was gross. I'm sorry, responsible press doesn't stand ON the stage WITH the band to take pictures. That's my one complaint.
10. I went to Graceland on the back, fulfilling a life-long dream. The staff told us awesome stories about Elvis and his buddies riding the horses and golf carts all over the property. I AM SURE THIS HAD NOTHING TO DO WITH NARCOTICS.
BONUS FACT. I had the most fun Halloween in my life history with the holiday. I'll be back next year.

And now, 10 fun fotos!


I repeat: Alabama's terrifying at 4:00am. We drove right by Talladega, or as Matt called, "Burning Man for rednecks".


Georgia.


Matt McHughes carries a man purse when he needs to distribute CDs.


Someone in this photo is drunk and someone else is high. TAKE A GUESS.


Jerry Jump is the best person on the planet.


Oh HELLS yes.


The amount of mirrors in Graceland is ridiculous. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NARCOTICS. This is me and Jerry creeping some floral arrangements. See the corner for bonus Matt.


That monkey creeps me out. And I really like monkeys. But not that one.


ONCE AGAIN. THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NARCOTICS.


The amount of records and awards in that place would make Bono pee his pants.

And for that actual life-thing, I start work tomorrow. Dreading it, since I picked up some sort of Fest flu. But I normally feel this way before going back to work. And once I get back into the swing of things, I feel so much better than I did when I was unemployed.

Always wondered how we fell this way.

I maaaaaaade it.

And I even made it on Friday, which means I got to see BOTH Hot Water Music shows. The driving wasn't really that bad. It was warm enough that the roads were pretty clear, just slushy. And speaking of Chicago, this place is slush.


Other than giant random faces in the middle of city parks, the city itself is kinda a mess. I don't think there was any urban planning involved, at all, so parking is seriously the worst thing in the world. I mean that. Of all the frustrations I've experienced on this trip, the single most frustrating hour I had was circling block after block looking for a place to park. My car is currently being stored in a parking garage in Lincoln Park that's $18 every 24 hours. I'm staying with one of Mattlahoma's friends named Ashley, as him & his friend Chelsey came up from Oklahoma for HWM. Her apartment is really great and she's been an awesome host, but seriously, screw this parking nonsense. Also, you would think that with such a parking problem that public transportation would rule, like New York. Incorrect observation.

But enough on the negative. Chicago's got some really awesome architecture. Their downtown and the magnificent mile is pretty great, but Wrigleyville and all the old buildings closer to the stadium are even better.


The Fields Museum also rules. WHO KNEW?


But really, how was the Hot Water Music?

The thing that's always gotten me about that band is their fan base. There's just this group of punk rockers who heard them sometime in their teens, maybe early twenties, probably at a point in their lives when they felt just a little bit lost, and Hot Water Music just made so much sense to them. And they really are one of those bands that just stick in your life; their fans never forget. I'm gonna say the female attendance at both the shows I went to was probably under %15. Everyone else there was a 20-something male with a beard. And they knew all the lyrics and they had the time of their life. At one point, the guys standing next to me toasted with the phrase "Here's to being 16 again" and it was pretty much the perfect summery of that experience. I like Hot Water Music and all, I think Chuck Ragan is an amazing song writer, but they've never fit that place in my life. I always had Rancid to take care of that for me. But, just to stand there and watch that comradery was an experience I haven't gotten since I was 15 years old and going to local punk shows in Colorado. Pretty great. Also, the theater it was in, the Metro, fantastic action.


Of course it's been a little snowy and a little cold. So I think we've been trying to limit our adventures to mostly indoor spaces. Besides the museum, we did a little shopping and a little eating today. Chelsey and I went to the Mac store, where she helped me get a new Studio Fix, as the first step in preparing myself for fancy-pants job interviews.


We also went to Dick's Last Resort, where the staff is mean to you and you pay $4 for a Miller High Life. But, it's all part of the gimmic. We went with Eric and it was nice to see him. He seems to be doing well and surviving art school, bless his heart. His creative will is much, much stronger than mine.


Meow.

We stayed late today, so we'll be leaving early tomorrow and it's a very long 12 hours to Norman. Matt's joking about just parking as much as possible, FOR FREE, along the way. I'm trying to think of it as my car getting a fancy hotel room. She needed it, right? Right? See, look at me getting upset again.