Since we attended in 2023, we had option to buy early tickets for $50 for the weekend – worth buying no matter what the case. I don’t recall much about the 2023 lineup other than it bounced between soaking rains and insufferable heat.
- The leadup for this year’s events were on the quiet side. The festival relied solely on Facebook and Instagram to promote interest and distribute information – schedules, locations, shuttle routes, etc – which isn’t what those platforms are for. It was next to impossible to plan what acts you wanted to see when the information was spread over 20 small images across four different posts. I scraped the data as best I could and dumped it into a shared sheet for people to use as they wished – it was my most liked Reddit post so far! I rarely use reddit.
- Tried to catch Sunbearer at The Odd to open things up. We managed see the last two minutes of their ear-bending set. Apparently, they were only set to play for 30 minutes? We finish out the rest of the evening between The Grey Eagle and Anoche, seeing Mama & The Ruckus and Red Clay Revival – both very much the “Asheville” kind of band.
- Friday – woke up with a decent hangover. Managed our way through the rain to the Asheville Music Hall for Lavender Blue. A shot of Benchmark and a beer sets my rudder straight. The High Divers at The Orange Peel. Caught up with The Old Futures at New Belgium – learned that I apparently photographed their very first show a few years ago at Great Wild Nowhere. Finished out the day with Ska City and FANTOMEX at Eulogy.
- Saturday. I’m slowing down even more. Straw House alongside a pint of Guiness at Jack of the Wood. Jon Charles Dwyer at Citizen Vinyl (a quiet reprieve, even if the foot-traffic from gape-mouth tourists provide extensive distraction. We haul out to The Outpost to see The Sadies, Susto, and Blitzen Trapper – a band I haven’t seen since…2009? How the world keeps spinning. I’m in bed by 10. My pillow is the best thing I’ve seen all day.
- Sunday, Day 4. I can do this, right? I paid to have this happen. I get to Eulogy to see Daikaiju at 3:30, but the venue is at capacity with a line of 100 people stretching down the block. I climb up to the bar on the roof. I can feel the show below through the floor. It’s nuts. We chill out with cocktails, women’s beach volleyball, and old-fart covers from the house band at Bears. I spend the rest of the day bouncing between Eulogy (Get Right and Bask) and The Orange Peel (Dylan Leblanc, The Heavy Heavy). Eulogy was the better spot for the end of the festival – cooler, chiller, less people.
- Acquired my fall wardrobe from various merch booths. My laundry basket smells like a cardboard box.
- The rain wasn’t anywhere near the problem it was forecasted to be. I got nothing else done this weekend. AVLFest is a marathon, not a sprint. And, when that fails, you might get on one of the shuttle busses.
- Next year? Perhaps. I’m once again thinking that I can get out with my camera more, shoot some bands, get the media passes updated. Then again, I’m feeling old. Maybe I’ll start with a nice jazz concert.
- Kidding.
