.fourteen.

Al's Bar (Crucial Fun Fest, Show #1) - 5.28.10

Lexington, KY

w/ Delay, Sidekicks, Timeshares, Sundials, and Dead Dog (aka best show ever)

Crucial Fun Fest is a 3 day long fest in Lexington, Kentucky that a wonderful boy named Anthony (with the help of tons of people, I'm sure) has put on the past 5 years. Spraynard was lucky enough to be asked to play this year. I'm going to do my best to recap the three amazing days in Lexington, and since each show was separate from each other, that will hopefully be easier than I think.

So we began driving Thursday night and stopped in West Virginia to stay at a surprisingly nice motel for 40 bucks. Dos ended up leaving his phone at the motel (and we ended up picking it up on the way back... weird), which to me was a sign that this weekend was going to be all about hanging out with homies and temporarily forgetting the stresses of every day life.

We arrived in Lexington around 1 pm on Friday, and were greeted by our BFFs in Sundials. They quickly carted us away to this skatepark nearby where Sean of Andrew Jackson Jihad had just finished ripping it up. Judging by the amount of sweat on his clothes and the other kids tearing up the cement heaven, Lexington seemed to be pretty skate-friendly... always a plus.

After some discussions of how much we all wish we could rule at skating, we headed back to Anthony's house to meet Anthony (since somehow we had still never done that). While our conversation was brief, I knew right away Anthony was a legit kid. Uhh... this pre-game talk is even boring me... ON TO THE SHOW!

The show was at this place called Al's Bar. Super super nice bar and they were all about all ages shows, which to me is the most important thing for a venue to have... NICE!

The first band to play was Sundials. Like I said before, these dudes are BFFs of Spraynard, and for damn good reason. Not only are they the nicest kids eva, but their music is so effing enjoyable. It's like a more poppy and happy Cheap Girls. While their music is very inviting and joyous, their lyrics are usually geared more towards ethical dilemmas in the scene and the world in general, and anyone who listens to Spraynard knows that's riiiight up my alley. Their set was so good, and a lot of my opinion is due to the fact that I was itching to see them since our weekend tour about a month ago. Check em' out, right now!



The second band was Timeshares. Like I said, Crucial Fun was literally Homie Fest 2010 for Spraynard, and these guys are no exception. We first met Timeshares when we played New York on our January tour. They're the kind of guys who constantly quote Christmas Vacation or Billy Madison and think it's just as funny as the first time they heard it (again, have you MET Spraynard?). Not only that, but they sound just like every 90s Epitpah/Fat band that you fell in love with in High School. Some bands can really butcher that sound, but they totally bring you back (in a good way) and add a really enjoyable modern twist to it. Straight up punk! Love em.



The third band was Dead Dog. I had never heard Dead Dog before, but I was pleasantly surprised! Super chaotic poppy noise-ish kind of stuff. The guitarist was amazing, but amazing in a way that he treated his guitar like shit, and knew exactly what he was doing. He would like, pull strings up really high, hit his guitar against his amp, mess with the pickups... hard to describe, but it sounded super good. I'm bummed I didn't get to talk to them, but so it goes at a crowded punk show when you're shy enough to begin with.



The fourth band was The Sidekicks. OK, I will be the first to admit that I talked a lot of shit on The Sidekicks' new record "Weight of Air." I was absolutely in love with their 7" "Sam," so when I heard the much slower Weight of Air, I was bummed out to say the least. After seeing them in New York not too long ago, my opinion on them completely pulled a 180. Steve's voice is so incredibly good, while the rest of them are each beyond amazing at their instruments. Not only that, but the songwriting is super unique for the punk scene right now (it pulls a lot of influence from Mo-Town... no joke!). To top it off, they are all sweethearts... every last one of em. While I am definitely in love with this band, they have a tendency of playing their songs slower than the recordings when they play live. We all know that's the number one punk rule you cannot break. But they are, and hey, people still love em. WOO!



Last, but in no way least, Delay. Delay is my favorite band. I say that a lot on this blog, but if it wasn't for Delay, I wouldn't have half the faith I do in punk rock right now. These guys are a perfect example of how a band can be so good, and not give a shit about money or fame or any of that jazz. Kind of a cliche thing to say, but never less true than the first time you heard it. Green Day is all of these dudes favorite band, and it shows with their consistent attitude of keeping the (punk) faith while still writing amazing lyrics about love and honest emotion. Such good people, best band, nuff said.



After the show, we laughed as Harris from Sundials muttered incoherent words of drunkenness at a table in Al's Bar. Then we caught word from Matt in Sidekicks (while enjoying some delicious hashbrowns from Waffle House) that he knew of a less crowded place to sleep for the night (Anthony's house literally had about 60 people staying there). We followed Matt to a kid named Jon's house (who turned out to be a great addition to the already overwhelmingly sweetheart-y weekend) and talked about plastic army men and weird Major League Baseball incidents. We got a refreshing night's sleep (wait a sec, I slept like 3 hours... nevermind) and were greeted by Jon's mom making us food in the morning. LOVE IT!

Oh, at some point during the night, our buddy Andy from Columbus wore a Snuggie for the first time. He was quite pleased.



stay sweaty!