Sad Summer Fest - State Champs Mention New Album, The Maine Share Thoughts On Life

Authors; Ani Carlson, Dusty Faye (WI Section Out Later This Week)

We've got everything you want to know about this summer's SSF, from Brond (Just Friends) joining Mom Jeans during "you can't eat cats kevin" to The Maine bringing two bananas on stage for "Girls Do What They Want". It was quite a chaotic tour.

Ani - The Myth in Maplewood, MN (July 25)

Doors for this indoor date opened at 1:00 pm, although most had begun to line up by noon. Myself and a friend of mine arrived a little after 12:30 pm, not exactly knowing what to expect of the layout of the crowd. There was a small section of the parking lot fenced off with merch tables, food trucks, and photo areas scattered inside that led into the venue, allowing for easy exit and entrance as you please. Bands were primarily meeting people indoors from 1:00 to 2:10-ish. This included The Maine's John O'Callaghan, Mayday Parade, and State Champ's Ryan Scott Graham. All other bands -excluding The Wonder Years- were outside later in the day.

Enough of that boring reporter stuff now. Let's get to the good ish.

The bands on the MN bill consisted of Ashland (2:00-2:25), Just Friends (2:40-3:10), Stand Atlantic (3:25-3:55), Mom Jeans (4:10-4:40), The Wonder Years (5:00-5:35), Mayday Parade (6:05-6:50), The Maine (7:20-8:05), and State Champs (8:35-9:20).

As stated previously, myself and a friend got there around 12:30 thinking the line would be a lot longer than it was. In hindsight, it was certainly better we were early. The Maine -minus John- came out to the line as soon as doors opened, took pictures, signed fan items, etc. When it came to our photo, we made the bold decision of asking everyone to t-pose. Pat seemed to only slightly catch on to what was occurring while Jared was absolutely clueless as to what exactly a "t-pose" was. Either way, they were semi-successful at accomplishing the task and, hey, they really did try their best.

Ashland kicked the festival off with a chill vibe that got you warmed up for the day. It was pretty much impossible not to nod your head steadily and swing along to the beat of their hits such as "No Trouble". Asia's powerful vocals echoed throughout the filled venue with strength and meaning, providing a perfect example of why lesser-known bands are just as incredible as experienced groups. Not only is their stage presence a comforting force, but directly after their set, they made their way to the merch table and hung around the entire day. They're sweet and humble individuals, allowing my friend and I to leave our bags with them and stay sheltered from the sun with them in between sets. They're eager to meet those that support them and easy individuals to speak to.

Neither my friend nor I had ever heard of Just Friends, but perhaps that made for an even better experience. The ska-filled ten-piece hyped up the whole room within seconds of them going on with their unmatched energy and dance moves. They got everyone on the floor jumping around in an unorganized manner and even brought a conga line into the mix of the pit. Things started heating up once the California based ensemble went in with Supersonic, a definite crowd favorite. The entirety of their set made for a great soundtrack to chest bumps and frog leaps into the air. The chemistry between all members proved their band name; they were all just friends. More accurately, best friends.

Stand Atlantic has been a recent favorite of mine, so it's not very much of a surprise to those who know me that I was in the pit for nearly their entire performance. Bonnie, along with the rest of the band, brought the hype that day by beginning their set with Bullfrog, a personal favorite off of their recent debut album Skinny Dipping with a high-speed tempo. Not long after, guitarist David Potter joined the crowd for a fast-paced circle pit, playing in the center of the chaos as if it was no big deal. This was the first time of the day in which the pit went fully active, and it was most definitely not the last. Potter didn't last long once back on stage, though. It's unclear what had occurred, but Potter left the stage mid-set to take care of the issue. Thankfully, the Stand Atlantic crew was quick to find a replacement to play the rest of the set. You know what they say; the show must go on.

Mom Jeans. What can I say except... wow. By this point, I had ordered a vegan chana rice bowl, so I unfortunately wasn't able to experience the atmosphere of the center of the thick crowd. Instead, my friend and I stood off to the side finishing our meal. We watched as they played crowd-pleasers such as Shred Cruz and Danger Can't, all while dancing along in a horribly timed and unorganized manner. It was interesting to see them perform from a different perspective in the crowd. We had a much better view of the drum kit, that's for sure. Midway through their set, Mom Jeans brought lead vocalist Brond from Just Friends up on stage for two songs, one of them being "you can't eat cats kevin". Her energy radiated throughout the room just as it had hours previous. That girl just does not quit! Once nearing the end of their show, Eric Butler (vocals, guitar) began a speech on starting your own band. "This is for anybody, anybody can do this shit. Doesn't matter what you look like, doesn't matter what you look like, doesn't matter what you tell yourself. 'You can't be in a band', that's bullshit. Go home, start a band." He says with conviction. "If you don't want to start a band, that's cool, too. Start drawing or start going to more shows. Start helping out your friends that are in bands." Butler ends by stating confidently "If we can be up here doing this thing, then you can, too."

The Wonder Years went straight into their show with some of their moderately aggressive tracks first, such as Sister Cities, but left Passing Through a Screen Door and I Just Want To Sell Out My Funeral for the near end. They left a nice gap in the middle of their set for people to catch their breath by adding in the less-vigorous Pyramids of Salt (which, let's be honest, most go hard to anyway). The Wonder Years also spoke out about it being their tenth year coming to Minnesota, and how lucky they were to be doing what they love for so long. Along with this, they also joked about making the setlist, saying they didn't want to fill it with sad songs but acknowledged that they are The Wonder Years after all, so these "non-sad songs" didn't really exist. Might I also mention that this was about the time that many began noticing the Mayday Parade merchandise guy in the pit throughout the set. This wasn't the last time that night, either,

By the time Mayday Parade went on, my friend and I were so sore and in pain that we could barely stand. However, this still didn't mean that we weren't on the floor for them (against our better judgment). This part went by in a such a blur that I can't exactly recall what they did or did not play, apart from Jaime All Over and their cover of Mr. Brightside, originally by The Killers (but you probably knew that). These two songs were easily the ones that brought the crowd to its peak during their performance, with fans of all ages and genders screaming along at the top of their lungs. Mayday Parade also spoke on this being Sad Summer Fest's first year in existence, bringing it to everyone's attention that years later, we would be able to say we attended the very first Sad Summer Fest in 2019. That really hit hard for me, as I'm sure it did for most people.

The Maine. Always a favorite of mine to see live. This time they really pulled out the stops with pyrotechnics going off during their newest Numb Without You, even crisper suits than usual, and bringing a full-on cake out to a member of the band for their birthday. This was not, however, the end of their revelry. Like almost every show of theirs that's occurred, they partook in the tradition of bringing a fan up on stage for Girls Do What They Want. It was on this occasion that John made the decision of bringing someone who had not seen The Maine before up, which was an incredible thing for him to do. Could you imagine? John had also made his way across various areas of the venue during the show, leaving his next moves up to mystery. While in the middle of the crowd -in the sound booth-, he expressed that life is much, much shorter than we want to believe and there's no room for denying yourself of the things you want to do in life. This is something we all need to be aware and conscious of. Thanks, John, for bringing this to people's attention.

I had said many times throughout that day that I wasn't really sure who I was most excited to see. By the time State Champs went on, I knew I couldn't deny it any longer; I was easily most hyped for them. No doubt. They came out swingin' with continuous bass drops and immense amounts of liveliness, only for this to progress throughout each song they played. As always, Elevated and All You Are is History got the brunt of the energetic crowd. Before their powerful end, they made a brief mention of it being "time for a new State Champs album" which encouraged cheering from everyone in the room. Champs, we're all extremely ready for and excited to see what's to come, so don't screw this up! ;)

Whether or not festivals are your thing, you have to make it a top priority to check out all bands listed, if you haven't already. All of them have such incredible attributes that must be seen in person. In fact, most have already lined up more shows for 2019! Be sure to grab your tickets for those who have!