The Orange You Glad festival kicked off last night with a pre-party at Backbooth where glitter, balloons, lights, smoke and sweat scattered across the dance floor like an explosion of hip paradise. The night featured Grimes with openers Born Gold and Michael Parallax and acted as a sort of sendoff for the four-day-long festival.
Michael Parallax stood on the ground level as fans surrounded his keyboards, dancing and moshing along with his sparkly synthesizers, cresting in rage and falling in ambiance with each new song. This was the point in time where glitter exploded in the air. Balloons also scattered across the bar from one end to the other as audience members hit and volleyed them back and forth. All the while, a screen behind Parallax flashed his lyrics or messages of his choosing. One said, “Stay Classy, Orlando!”…(full coverage here).
The pre-party for the Orange You Glad music festival was a clash of dancing electronic fun, but the official first night of OYG was a bit more intense.
Spread out across three venues (Will’s Pub, Substance and Uncle Lou’s), Thursday night took festival goers to the Mills 50 area of Orlando where 12 bands played. The night started off at Will’s withTelethon, an electronic pop-rock band that played Stanley Kubrik’s A Clockwork Orange on a screen behind them as they played their set. The lead singer smoked a cigarette as he took the stage in front of his synthesizer, which had an ashtray sitting on the edge of it. He eventually took out his guitar and started shaking and headbanging until he knocked his beer over on the stage. They mentioned in the middle of their set that they would be playing this year’s SXSW, although it’s unofficial….(FULL COVERAGE HERE).
Compared to the mayhem of the first night of Orange You Glad, the second night ran in much simpler vein. There was only one venue to worry about—The Plaza Theatre in the Milk District—and the evening was filled with old throwback surf-rock, doo-wop, and 60′s girl-pop via the likes of Cults,Spectrals and Mrs. Magician.
Mrs. Magician, a four-piece from San Diego, mixed an interesting blend of surf- and punk-rock. Four-to-the-floor beats on their song “Night Life” called up the kind of energy from classic bands like The Clash, but then quickly transitioned into the twangier, controlled elements of Beach Boys’ surf-rock era. The lead singer said at one point that Friday night’s concert was their first time playing together as a full band (Thomas Garcia and Evan Ehric are the two core members). If you’re playing live for the first time as a full outfit, Cults isn’t too bad of a band to open with….(FULL COVERAGE HERE)
Just like the first day of Orange You Glad, festival goers ventured back to the streets of Mills 50. Only this time around, instead of 12 bands to run around and catch, there were 25. That’s right … 25 bands from right here in the heart of Orlando all the way to Philadelphia. We had our own stage that night, too, at Paradise where we got to see the likes of Gospel Music (featuring members from Black Kids), Grandchildren, Loud Valley, Praything, and The Lonesome City Travellers. At some of the other venues (Wally’s Lot, Will’s Pub, Uncle Lou’s and Peacock Room) we got a chance to seeHundred Waters, The Big Sleep, Caveman, and Mr. Gnome. It was an exciting night of running between venues catching everything from post-punk to folk rock to soul….(FULL COVERAGE HERE)
The final day of Orange You Glad brought everyone to Audubon Park for the first, last, and only time throughout the music festival for 2012. It was a drizzling overcast day, which added this sort of moody finality to the festival. There were a lot more local acts compared to the previous nights, and it felt right that OYG would represent Florida so heavily in the final stretch.
XXYYXX, a teenage minimalist electronic musician whose real name is Marcel Everett (pictured above), played at the large outdoor stage just outside of Park Ave CD’s. He played slow, mellow beats while vocals—whether his own or others’ pre-recorded—echoed on in the background. With the dark clouds looming behind him, his minimal James-Blake appeal fit right into the start of that Sunday morning. Out Go the Lights, a young group of indie rockers with a splice of charisma, also played on the outdoor stage where they showed their prowess as a rock band regardless of their age. The lead singer strained himself as he showed off his skill with a falsetto, and they even mixed in a few electronic manipulations to their traditional guitar-bass-drums trio….(FULL COVERAGE HERE)
From the minds of Spirit Cat and Tiny Waves, Total Bummer 3-D is another music festival to hit Central Florida, since Orange You Glad. And with a $35 price tag for the four-day weekend and over 100 bands available for your viewing pleasure, it’s beginning to seem like Florida is stepping up to the fest arena with no holds barred, and this time around a Moon Bounce is available! (Not really. But here’s for wishful thinking.)
The first night of Total Bummer stretched up and down Mills 50 between Uncle Lou’s and Will’s Pub, where the name of the game surf rock, jam rock, psychedelia, punk and cupcakes. Surfin’ Serf, Great Deceivers, Wet Nurse, Thee Holy Ghost and Trails let loose over at Uncle Lou’s, while the heavier genres for the night—via USA Holes, Alias Punch, Filthy Savages, Basements of Florida and more—commanded the Will’s Pub arena down the street….(FULL COVERAGE HERE).
From the rocking Day 1, to the raging Day 2, to the super-moon Cinco-de-Mayo extravaganza of Day 3, Total Bummer has once again been another successful Floridian indie music festival. Gathering in the best and the brightest of Florida’s finest, Total Bummer spent four days this past weekend showing the world what the Sunshine State has to bring to the table.
Sunday, the final day, was no different. At the Say It Loud Gallery, Day Joy invested their dreamy pop-folk music into the hearts of the audience swaying all around. Their atmospheric sound filled the large warehouse and enveloped all fest goers in attendance. Songs like “Talks of Terror” showcase their ability to span great distances. At times airy and soft, the song can feel like a psychedelic dream; at times harsh and dark, the song can also be nightmarish.
