FEST! FEST! FEST!

YOU GUYS! IT'S ALMOST TIME! I'm a little excited. I can almost smell the warm, inviting, mouth-watering aroma of Flaco's as it mingles with the reek of sweat, beer, and fun. Just like last year, here are my picks for the weekend. The major bands are obvious, so I'd like to draw your attention to some of the lesser-known folks that are, for me, the gems of Fest.

First, these are the bands I will always see, even though I've seen them a bajillion times before:
- Cheap Girls (one of my consistent favorites of the last five years or so.)
- Coffee Project
- The Fake Boys
- Frank Turner
- Greenland Is Melting
- Mikey Erg (and all of the bands he's in: Off With Their Heads, House Boat, Now People, etc.)
- Paul Baribeau
- Pretty Boy Thorson (& the Fallen Angels, The Slow Death)
- Streetlight Manifesto
- Toys That Kill

I'm looking forward to seeing these guys for the first time:
- Bridge and Tunnel (I managed to miss them twice last year. It won't happen again.)
- Dear Landlord
- Good Riddance (Holy nostalgia!!)
- The Holy Mess
- House Boat (I listened to these guys so much that I had to take a break from them for awhile. It didn't last long. I will be there FOR SURE.)
- Laura Stevenson & the Cans
- Luther
- Make Do and Mend
- Mean Jeans
- Naked Raygun
- Sundials (I recently got their record as part of my Asian Man Records membership, and it's great!)

And make sure you don't miss these:
- Arliss Nancy (new friends of mine; awesome band, good people)
- The Arteries
- Big Eyes
- Nato Coles & the Blue Diamond Band
- RVIVR (Holy. Shit.)
- The Wild

And finally, my buddies/hometown bands (go see them!):
- Criminal Culture
- Dukes of Hillsborough
- Go Rydell
- How Dare You
- New Bruises
- Nothing In the Dark
- The Tim Version
- Too Many Daves
- Wet Nurse (They're Fest virgins, so make them feel welcome.)

Well, I think that's it! See you all at the happiest place on earth (downtown Gainesville, oddly enough.)