Furnace Fest 2024: The End Of An Era was held at Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham Alabama during the first weekend of October. It had been the third weekend of September each of the previous years of this era but with it falling into October, that worked out well for me! Elphie and I had a road trip vacation planned for September and we returned with a few days in between before I had to leave for Furnace Fest. I had purchased my ticket at Furnace Fest 2023 due to the announcement that 2024 would be "the end of the era." I figured I didn't want to miss the last one. I suppose time will tell on if it was indeed the last one...or if and when a new era will begin.
I worked out a spot in an AirBnB with Chris Smith and we were fortunate that the host didn't decide to cancel on us. Some folks weren't so lucky, even having cancelations happen as they were in commute to Birmingham. There would be 12 of us in the AirBnB...I would be in a bunk bed sharing the room with three other dudes.
When The Blamed set up a pre-show, I decided to book a Thursday morning flight so that I could be in Birmingham early enough to catch the show. I hoped if there were any delays, it would not be such that I couldn't get there in time. Instead, Southwest bumped the flight earlier by a few hours! Same occurred with my return red-eye flight on Monday...it bumped up about an hour earlier.
Despite having just finished a road trip vacation of two weeks, I didn't feel too much exhaustion going into Furnace Fest...other than being tired due to waking at 5am for the early flight. I am glad that I went and it was another great experience! If it is indeed the last one, it went out on a high note! It was cool meeting a few new people, including a celebrity, ha! as well as getting see a few bands I never had the chance to see while they were more active such as Dogwood, Slick Shoes, and No Innocent Victim. Audiofeed set up a booth to get the word out to the Furnace Fest folks and it also allowed for a place to rest a bit here and there. I think that was especially helpful for me as I didn't feel as worn down when everything ended as I did in prior years.
With the camera restrictions set in place at Furnace Fest, I was using my iPhone 14 once again to capture all the footage. At times it was hard to get a clear shot of the stage. Sometimes I was quite far away. This isn't the best footage out there by any means but it is what I captured for my own nostalgic purposes anticipating my elder and senile years to come.
I wasn't entirely sure how I wanted to build the promo/intro project. I thought about doing a similar thing to what I did with Audiofeed this year...which is basically what I ended up doing with the footage from both festivals in 2023. When I sat down to create this, I thought about what I did with the 2021 promo. I'm not particularly happy with that one, but the idea I wanted to revisit showed the previous era of Furnace Fest from 2000-2003 with footage I found on YouTube and pulled for my own purposes. At the time, I recorded it off the screen and the audio was pretty low. I decided to pull some of that same footage again to use. This footage is of Norma Jean performing "Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste" and Andrew WK performing "Party Hard." Both clips are from the Shed and as I probably wrote when sharing that project, both clips were influential in my wanting to attend Furnace Fest. Even though Andrew WK never did make his return, I decided using that footage again was worth while. I thought that they probably highlighted some of the best of the festival experiences of 2000-2003. As I did in 2021, I included a clip from the Beloved set I captured in the Shed. I added a clip from Pennywise playing the "Bro Hymn" on the main stage in 2023 and finally clips from this year of Norma Jean playing "Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste" again with Josh Scogin, Scottie Henry, and Chris "Derr" Day joining the band and a clip from Underoath performing "Writing On The Wall" to close out Furnace Fest. I added several of the promotional graphics put out by Furnace Fest over the last year and then did some manipulation of some of the footage using some favorite effects - Aged Film and Bad TV. The project is less than two minutes but I feel it works well as an End Of An Era promo.
https://youtu.be/RclDsNIAPwM
Here is the full playlist of my video footage captured during Furnace Fest 2024: The End Of An Era
I woke up at 5:00am on Thursday October 3rd, 2024 so I could have time to shower, finish the last little bit of packing, and make the transit commute on the CTA to Midway Airport for my 8:00am Southwest flight to Birmingham, Alabama for Furnace Fest and some of the pre-festival festivities. I got through the TSA screening and to my gate before sunrise! I ended up capturing a little bit of that while waiting to board the flight. There were quite a few folks on the flight coming from Chicago (and elsewhere due to connections coming through Chicago). We arrived at Birmingham Shuttlesworth Airport around 9:45am and I went to a restroom to change into shorts. Apparently while doing that, there was a group photo taken of all the Furnies and Slossages who had been on that Chicago flight! I went and rested a bit on one of the rocking chairs and tried to determine what my next steps would be. Marco Castro had set up a Pop Up show at Bandido Coffee with Kevin Schlereth and dubbed it a Furnace Fest and Audiofeed meet-up. This was scheduled to start at 2pm so I had several hours before that still. I reached out to Otto Jensen who was also flying to Birmingham to see if he had touched down yet. He had not...I was hoping to perhaps coordinate a ride into the city with someone I knew. Perhaps I should have gone outside rather than sit on the rocking chair and worked something out with folks from the Chicago flight. Oh well...
I reached out to Marco to try to see what he was doing and how he might be getting around the city. It turned out he was in a hotel and had until at least 1pm before he had to leave. He mentioned that he wanted to take a nap so at this point I booked an Uber to his hotel and utilized the room to also take a nap. The Uber driver was cool and the app somehow managed to double my tip for him, ha! During the drive, I captured a quick clip of the Sloss Furnaces. At the hotel, I met Rob Froese of Friend Club Records and his partner Megan. They were in the lobby planning to go get some food and Marco talked to them about Audiofeed and his Pop up event at the nearby Bandido Coffee. We ended up signing their yearbooks and Megan gave us crabs...not like that! It was a squishy rubber crab toy. We parted ways and Marco and I both enjoyed a quick hour or so nap in his hotel room. I woke up feeling fairly refreshed but had to pee...at this point I didn't see much reason to try to fall asleep again and just waited on Marco to wake. I was able to capture a shot of the Vulcan statue from Marco's room! Once he was ready to go, we headed down to the lobby. Being the hype man that he is, Marco talked to the hotel staff about his Pop up show as well as about Furnace Fest and had convinced one of them to come out to Furnace Fest! Apparently it would be her first real concert!
We walked around the corner to Bandido Coffee. I noted that there was a pizza restaurant in the same building and considered getting some food there. At Bandido Coffee, we ran into the band Painted Light who was in town and playing one of the pre-shows for Furnace Fest. It turned out that they had been potentially booked to play the most recent Audiofeed but had to back out due to scheduling issues. We had some good conversation with those guys before they had to leave for load in at their show. I ordered a decent dark roast cup of coffee and then Otto sent me a message that he and Laura were nearby getting some BBQ. I ended up meeting up with them at Jim 'N Nick's BBQ and also got some BBQ for lunch. We caught up for a bit then we all went back to Bandido Coffee. Marco decided to begin the "show" part of the Pop up and he played a couple of tunes. I captured his introduction as well as his rendition of "What Does The Fox Say?"
I reached out to Marco to try to see what he was doing and how he might be getting around the city. It turned out he was in a hotel and had until at least 1pm before he had to leave. He mentioned that he wanted to take a nap so at this point I booked an Uber to his hotel and utilized the room to also take a nap. The Uber driver was cool and the app somehow managed to double my tip for him, ha! During the drive, I captured a quick clip of the Sloss Furnaces. At the hotel, I met Rob Froese of Friend Club Records and his partner Megan. They were in the lobby planning to go get some food and Marco talked to them about Audiofeed and his Pop up event at the nearby Bandido Coffee. We ended up signing their yearbooks and Megan gave us crabs...not like that! It was a squishy rubber crab toy. We parted ways and Marco and I both enjoyed a quick hour or so nap in his hotel room. I woke up feeling fairly refreshed but had to pee...at this point I didn't see much reason to try to fall asleep again and just waited on Marco to wake. I was able to capture a shot of the Vulcan statue from Marco's room! Once he was ready to go, we headed down to the lobby. Being the hype man that he is, Marco talked to the hotel staff about his Pop up show as well as about Furnace Fest and had convinced one of them to come out to Furnace Fest! Apparently it would be her first real concert!
We walked around the corner to Bandido Coffee. I noted that there was a pizza restaurant in the same building and considered getting some food there. At Bandido Coffee, we ran into the band Painted Light who was in town and playing one of the pre-shows for Furnace Fest. It turned out that they had been potentially booked to play the most recent Audiofeed but had to back out due to scheduling issues. We had some good conversation with those guys before they had to leave for load in at their show. I ordered a decent dark roast cup of coffee and then Otto sent me a message that he and Laura were nearby getting some BBQ. I ended up meeting up with them at Jim 'N Nick's BBQ and also got some BBQ for lunch. We caught up for a bit then we all went back to Bandido Coffee. Marco decided to begin the "show" part of the Pop up and he played a couple of tunes. I captured his introduction as well as his rendition of "What Does The Fox Say?"
https://youtu.be/phm8Kmtrwas
Kevin Schlereth played a couple tunes next and I captured the last one he played called "Tables."
Kevin Schlereth played a couple tunes next and I captured the last one he played called "Tables."
After Kevin wrapped up his set, most everyone went on their separate ways. I was considering finding my way to Workplay to get my wristband and Kevin decided he also wanted to make his way over there. I hitched a ride with Kevin and Marco also came along. I got my wristband and while hanging around, I saw Zach Bridier. While we were talking, I considered if LCY Media where The Blamed had their pre-show set up was in walking distance. Zach was also going to that show and as we talked I figured I'd put my stuff in his vehicle. Then I saw Chris Smith and the crew he traveled with so I figured since I would be staying with them, I would put my stuff with them as well. We drove over to LCY Media and a few of us decided to get dinner at Birmingham's Wings and Waffles. I got some honey BBQ wings and glazed waffles. I asked a local about this "white" BBQ sauce and how it tasted like ranch dressing to me. I was corrected that it was NOT ranch dressing, ha! It was a bit of a long wait but we got our food. It turned out that a BBQ was set up at LCY Media as well.
Everyone who went to this show got a V.I.P. lanyard and poster. I got in a merch line so I could get some patches from The Blamed as well as the 3" vinyl. I was also tipped off by Zach about the Death Machine 7' being sold at the Living Sacrifice table and got a patch from them as well. I am glad that he did because it sold out before Living Sacrifice even played!
Spoken In Tongues opened the night. It is a project of Billy Power. I captured the song "A Wasted Day In Mexco." (I mis-labeled it as just Wasted Day...I probably should have looked at the recordings prior to my typing this now and I could have gotten it right. Apologies). I thought they put on a pretty good show.
Everyone who went to this show got a V.I.P. lanyard and poster. I got in a merch line so I could get some patches from The Blamed as well as the 3" vinyl. I was also tipped off by Zach about the Death Machine 7' being sold at the Living Sacrifice table and got a patch from them as well. I am glad that he did because it sold out before Living Sacrifice even played!
Spoken In Tongues opened the night. It is a project of Billy Power. I captured the song "A Wasted Day In Mexco." (I mis-labeled it as just Wasted Day...I probably should have looked at the recordings prior to my typing this now and I could have gotten it right. Apologies). I thought they put on a pretty good show.
https://youtu.be/v5L4mNs3rco
The Blamed played next and I captured a newer song called "I Don't Want 2" which Bryan Gray wrote as he recovered from a serious medical emergency he endured a few years back. Bryan had to play while sitting but it didn't slow him down any and the set was great!
The Blamed played next and I captured a newer song called "I Don't Want 2" which Bryan Gray wrote as he recovered from a serious medical emergency he endured a few years back. Bryan had to play while sitting but it didn't slow him down any and the set was great!
https://youtu.be/9JIDSxZEECI
Living Sacrifice closed out the night. It was Arthur Green's 50th birthday and he was surprised with a cake just before the set began. I captured "Reject" at the end of the set when Jason Truby and his son took stage to do some guest work (Jason on guitar and his son on percussion). It was a fun set and sounded great as well.
Living Sacrifice closed out the night. It was Arthur Green's 50th birthday and he was surprised with a cake just before the set began. I captured "Reject" at the end of the set when Jason Truby and his son took stage to do some guest work (Jason on guitar and his son on percussion). It was a fun set and sounded great as well.
We left pretty quickly after the show ended as most of us had little sleep. I quickly said goodbye to Sid. Unfortunately, we didn't really have much time to connect but I got a souvenir to him from our Australia and New Zealand trip last year (we hadn't had a chance to see him before this!). We arrived at the AirBnB after a little bit of GPS confusion and settled in for the night.
10.04.2024
https://youtu.be/N6xC-j3GPWo
We all woke up at the AirBnB and prepared for the day with showers and/or breakfast. Since we already had wristbands, we were able to by-pass some of the line as we entered Furnace Fest! Chris had V.I.P. parking so we were conveniently located for merch drops. Upon arrival, I met up with those running the Audiofeed booth for a few moments before securing the Unoriginal Vinyl/Tooth And Nail releases exclusive to Furnace Fest. I looked through some of the test presses that they brought out as well and then checked out the Equal Vision Records booth for a minute. I didn't really pick anything else up at the time though I would later get some samplers from the Charon Collective and the new press of Emery's The Weak's End. After dropping off the merch at Chris' vehicle, we noticed a side entrance and utilized that.
I went to a booth that had "Fro-Zen Smoothies" and ordered a Cherry Creamsicle." This ended up being my morning breakfast upon arrival each day and it was quite good.
The first band I decided to check out was called Double Tap. I believe they were a Birmingham local and they put on a good show. They played on the Monster Energy Pond Stage.
https://youtu.be/0Cc2H4KoaYo
As I left, I captured some scenic footage of the pond.
In the Arsenal Strength Shed Stage, I watched Bury Your Dead, capturing Magnolia and Bury Your Fucking Dead (Losin' it) at the end of their set. The vocalist announced it as his last time playing with the band. There was a pretty good pile on...which ended up often being the shots I would capture during the sets in the Shed in particular.
https://youtu.be/bFVgg23knYA
I walked over to the Heart Support Main Stage next to see some of the set by Dying Wish. Marco has kept hyping them up and I didn't have conflict so I figured it was worth it to check them out. I captured the song "Torn From Your Silhouette." As I left that area, I saw good ole' Sean Huncherick in his Amy Grant shirt! We talked briefly before I moved along back to the Shed.
https://youtu.be/EZJoCPjdyUw
Back at the Shed I watched the set by Bleeding Through. They set up a Shed long circle pit and I captured a few seconds of that as well as a song clip.
https://youtu.be/DgE78Cwl4xU
I went back over to the pond to hear the first few songs by Slow Joy. In the footage I captured, it seems I caught the guy who took my order at Birmingham's Wings and Waffles the night before.
https://youtu.be/2xC8FlD3Ap0
Back in the Shed, I watched He Is Legend perform their "I Am Hollywood" album play through. I was intent on capturing "Dinner With A Gypsy" and it worked out!
https://youtu.be/XbxQkcl_UVs
I remained in the Shed to watch the start of Emery's set. They were meant to do an album playthrough of "The Weak's End" but they started the set with a few songs from other albums. I ended up capturing the opening song which was "Thrash."
https://youtu.be/VyFXjj1fY_0
I decided I wanted to get a full set each day of Furnace Fest again this year and for Friday I settled on Silent Planet. They ended up playing a few minutes short and having to cut some songs due to ongoing technical issues on the Main Stage. It was still a great set and I thought it sounded good overall as well.
Silent Planet Setlist:
1. Offworlder
2. Dreamwalker
3. Antimatter
4. :Signal:
5. Anunnaki
6. Panic Room
7. Native Blood
8. Trilogy
https://youtu.be/O67oJIAiC70
I ended up taking a break from the bands for quite a while...probably longer than I had intended actually. I got a "jumbo" quesadilla from Romega Taqueria for dinner and while it was good, I learned of another booth selling street tacos at $3 each. Also, I'm not sure I'd call that quesadilla "jumbo." During this break, I got the samplers from the Charon Collective and the Emery vinyl then met Chris to do a merch drop before getting three of those street tacos from Mi Pueblo. In line, I encountered Leanor (Jeff The Girl) from Five Iron Frenzy. I told her of how we had recently visited Scum of the Earth in Denver while seeing our friends the Filizola's. It was cool to talk to her for a minute. I went back to the Audiofeed booth where I had eaten the quesadilla earlier to eat the tacos. I headed over to the Shed to see Coalesce. As I entered and the space was packed, someone got hurt and the band shut it down. It turned out to be the end of the Bane set. They apparently were able to clear out the injured person and Coalesce was able to get set up to play.
The Coalesce set didn't have the best sound going for it but I watched it until the end, capturing a clip somewhere in the middle. I had thoughts of capturing a song at the end but they didn't give a warning that it was the end of the set.
2. Dreamwalker
3. Antimatter
4. :Signal:
5. Anunnaki
6. Panic Room
7. Native Blood
8. Trilogy
https://youtu.be/O67oJIAiC70
I ended up taking a break from the bands for quite a while...probably longer than I had intended actually. I got a "jumbo" quesadilla from Romega Taqueria for dinner and while it was good, I learned of another booth selling street tacos at $3 each. Also, I'm not sure I'd call that quesadilla "jumbo." During this break, I got the samplers from the Charon Collective and the Emery vinyl then met Chris to do a merch drop before getting three of those street tacos from Mi Pueblo. In line, I encountered Leanor (Jeff The Girl) from Five Iron Frenzy. I told her of how we had recently visited Scum of the Earth in Denver while seeing our friends the Filizola's. It was cool to talk to her for a minute. I went back to the Audiofeed booth where I had eaten the quesadilla earlier to eat the tacos. I headed over to the Shed to see Coalesce. As I entered and the space was packed, someone got hurt and the band shut it down. It turned out to be the end of the Bane set. They apparently were able to clear out the injured person and Coalesce was able to get set up to play.
The Coalesce set didn't have the best sound going for it but I watched it until the end, capturing a clip somewhere in the middle. I had thoughts of capturing a song at the end but they didn't give a warning that it was the end of the set.
https://youtu.be/lQbsObw3roU
As I left the shed, I decided to get a quick shot of the Sloss water tower. I went to the main stage and watched the rest of the August Burns Red set. I captured "Composure" which closed out the night. It was a pretty big crowd at the main stage and I hung back near the fence for the V.I.P. folks.
https://youtu.be/IocnrK9IkDI
I exited from the side gate and we were able to leave pretty quickly out of the parking lot and to the AirBnB. Quite a few of us stayed up way to late chit chatting.
After the late night on Friday, Chris and I both got up pretty early on Saturday. Chris wanted to help out with the Straight Edge Root Beer Social and I wanted to be sure to be on the Furnace Fest grounds in case there was something to score from merch. The root beer social was fun and there was some good root beer to be had too. On my way into Furnace Fest, a friendly girl named Margaret (I think) struck up a conversation and it turned out she was from Asheville. She said she had been spared of damage for the most part but knew a lot of folks who had gotten it pretty bad. During the conversation, I told her a bit about Audiofeed as well. Once again, upon arrival, I hung around a while at the Audiofeed booth. I ended up getting a shirt from No Innocent Victim which was the only merch purchase I made. I got another Cherry Creamsicle smoothie for breakfast as well!
I went to the Arsenal Strength Shed Stage to catch Commodity because someone at the Straight Edge Root Beer Social was really pushing them. I captured a cover of "Monster Squad."
https://youtu.be/1BRWTkvCKxo
I stayed at the Shed to watch Idle Threat. The Audiofeed crew was mostly there as Idle Threat has played a few times at Audiofeed.
https://youtu.be/80Lmn6HVO3Y
I stepped out of the Shed for a few minutes to utilize the port-o-potty and then watch the first few songs from Greyhaven on the Monster Energy Pond Stage. I ended up capturing their first song called "In A Room Where Everything Dies."
https://youtu.be/EB0iMs_b3lQ
I went back to the Shed to see Evergreen Terrace and the Shed was packed! This was the case in 2021 as well and I couldn't see anything so I didn't get any footage. I did my best to at least capture some footage this year and I got "Dear Live Journal."
https://youtu.be/UBGSHK2cFrA
I left the Shed so I could see some of My Epic playing on the Heart Support Main Stage. I ended up capturing one of my new favorite songs called "Wildflowers."
https://youtu.be/1sChj4QLIp0
After the My Epic set, I got a Bad Luck Burger Club burger then went to the Audiofeed booth to hang out for a while. There was meant to be a group photo which did happen a couple different times as folks kept coming that had missed it. Reese Roper ended up stopping by as well and I told him how I wish Five Iron Frenzy hadn't dropped the year that they were lined up to play. Hopefully they will play one day in the future! We also possibly had some of the Officer Negative guys visit the booth as well.
I headed back to the Shed to catch some of the Shai Hulud set. I'm not sure what song I captured but I think in hindsight after catching some of the lyrics during the editing process, it might have been "Two and Twenty Misfortunes."
https://youtu.be/gaO7hn-2_qs
I went back over to the pond and watched the end of the Be Well set, capturing a song.
https://youtu.be/pXCjSbbPK1s
I stuck around at the pond to see the Catch 22 set as well, again capturing a song.
https://youtu.be/clC0GjLyiKo
Back in the Shed I caught the latter half of the Snapcase set. I was able to capture the song "Incarnation."
https://youtu.be/4ZsgRKQjPoM
No Innocent Victim was one of the sets I had in mind to capture in its entirety once they were announced as booked for Furnace Fest and they played on Saturday. Schedule wise, it worked out fairly well. I was able to make my way toward the front but by the wall. I ended up setting up by the A.D.A. section and having a fairly good spot to capture video. I noticed Loyal Thurman from Unified Underground on side stage singing along throughout the set! Josh from Dogwood did a guest vocal on "Reunion" and there was a huge pile on during "My Beliefs." I was glad I was able to capture this entire set and have a decently clear view through most of it.
No Innocent Victim Setlist
1. Intro
I went to the Arsenal Strength Shed Stage to catch Commodity because someone at the Straight Edge Root Beer Social was really pushing them. I captured a cover of "Monster Squad."
https://youtu.be/1BRWTkvCKxo
I stayed at the Shed to watch Idle Threat. The Audiofeed crew was mostly there as Idle Threat has played a few times at Audiofeed.
https://youtu.be/80Lmn6HVO3Y
I stepped out of the Shed for a few minutes to utilize the port-o-potty and then watch the first few songs from Greyhaven on the Monster Energy Pond Stage. I ended up capturing their first song called "In A Room Where Everything Dies."
https://youtu.be/EB0iMs_b3lQ
I went back to the Shed to see Evergreen Terrace and the Shed was packed! This was the case in 2021 as well and I couldn't see anything so I didn't get any footage. I did my best to at least capture some footage this year and I got "Dear Live Journal."
https://youtu.be/UBGSHK2cFrA
I left the Shed so I could see some of My Epic playing on the Heart Support Main Stage. I ended up capturing one of my new favorite songs called "Wildflowers."
https://youtu.be/1sChj4QLIp0
After the My Epic set, I got a Bad Luck Burger Club burger then went to the Audiofeed booth to hang out for a while. There was meant to be a group photo which did happen a couple different times as folks kept coming that had missed it. Reese Roper ended up stopping by as well and I told him how I wish Five Iron Frenzy hadn't dropped the year that they were lined up to play. Hopefully they will play one day in the future! We also possibly had some of the Officer Negative guys visit the booth as well.
I headed back to the Shed to catch some of the Shai Hulud set. I'm not sure what song I captured but I think in hindsight after catching some of the lyrics during the editing process, it might have been "Two and Twenty Misfortunes."
https://youtu.be/gaO7hn-2_qs
I went back over to the pond and watched the end of the Be Well set, capturing a song.
https://youtu.be/pXCjSbbPK1s
I stuck around at the pond to see the Catch 22 set as well, again capturing a song.
https://youtu.be/clC0GjLyiKo
Back in the Shed I caught the latter half of the Snapcase set. I was able to capture the song "Incarnation."
https://youtu.be/4ZsgRKQjPoM
No Innocent Victim was one of the sets I had in mind to capture in its entirety once they were announced as booked for Furnace Fest and they played on Saturday. Schedule wise, it worked out fairly well. I was able to make my way toward the front but by the wall. I ended up setting up by the A.D.A. section and having a fairly good spot to capture video. I noticed Loyal Thurman from Unified Underground on side stage singing along throughout the set! Josh from Dogwood did a guest vocal on "Reunion" and there was a huge pile on during "My Beliefs." I was glad I was able to capture this entire set and have a decently clear view through most of it.
No Innocent Victim Setlist
1. Intro
2. C.E.B.
3. Never Face Defeat
3. Never Face Defeat
4. Whitewashed Tomb
5. To Burn Again
6. Bring Them Back
7. Set Apart
8. Stand
9. Paid In Full
10. Tear Us Apart
10. Tear Us Apart
11. Tipping The Scales
12. Flesh And Blood
13. Ready To Fight
14. Death Grip
15. Reunion
16. My Beliefs
https://youtu.be/2r-5kO76WPg
Slick Shoes was playing on the Pond during the later part of the No Innocent Victim set. I got over there to see the last couple of songs and end up capturing "Darko." I never had the chance to see them play before so I am glad I caught a little bit of that. I guess there was a bit of a scheduling conflict in that I did miss most of their set in favor of No Innocent Victim.
https://youtu.be/2r-5kO76WPg
Slick Shoes was playing on the Pond during the later part of the No Innocent Victim set. I got over there to see the last couple of songs and end up capturing "Darko." I never had the chance to see them play before so I am glad I caught a little bit of that. I guess there was a bit of a scheduling conflict in that I did miss most of their set in favor of No Innocent Victim.
https://youtu.be/SBLLOS16mFY
Back in the Shed, I watched the first half of the Stretch Arm Strong set and captured their first song which was "Worst Case Scenario." There were balloons with blinking lights inside. People were just hitting them around at first then began to pop them and throwing the lights. i think at least one person got hit near the eye. Hopefully there wasn't any severe damage done to anyone hit with the lights.
https://youtu.be/mat6knUPAAw
I left the Shed, utilized the port-o-potty again and then ordered a hot dog from Stephen's Hotdog wagon located by the pond. Five Iron Frenzy was playing and doing their "old school set." After I finished the hot dog, I captured "Fistful of Sand." I stayed to watch the rest of the set. I think that I probably missed one or two songs.
https://youtu.be/NXdIKp4fQOc
I went back in the Shed to watch Poison The Well. I captured the song "Nerdy." Early in their set, while the Shed was packed, there was a minor confrontation with a drunk guy that I am glad didn't escalate more. He was obnoxious and I was eventually able to get some distance from him and his crew.
https://youtu.be/WkB2dEclWh0
I ended the night sitting at the Audiofeed booth hanging with friends there. Chris and some of the AirBnB crew were heading to an aftershow with Demon Hunter so I was waiting for the others who were not going to that show in our AirBnB crew to come through during their exit but apparently I missed them. I did manage to get in touch with some of them and get to a spot to meet them and then get a ride back. The Magee's offered a ride otherwise so I think it would have been all taken care of. It turned out Jeff, another one from the AirBnB was also still on site and took a "sketchy Uber" to the AirBnB. We could have coordinated a ride for him as well had we known. Oh well. I went to bed fairly early and hoped there would be someone getting on site at Sloss so I could get in the line for the Blindside merch as they were dropping a couple exclusive vinyls.
I woke up on Sunday October 6th, 2024 and everyone else in the room still were sleeping. I took a shower and when I finished up, they were mostly awake. Chris had wanted to do a breakfast hang at a Waffle House. I decided I would ride along but perhaps walk over to Sloss from the Waffle House if needed. It turned out Jeff also wanted to get in the Blindside line so that was the plan, we'd walk from the Waffle House to Furnace Fest. Chris at this point decided to just drive to Sloss and eat something at the car. We got in the Blindside line and happened to be a few people behind a celebrity - Brock Dittus (if you are on the 90's Christian Music Recovery Group on Facebook then you know who I am talking about)! It became a running joke to capture Brock sightings so I did capture a clip of him in the line as well as a train crossing the entrance to Sloss. We waited in that line for about two hours. I was told that besides having the new pressings of "A Thought Crushed My Mind" and "About A Burning Fire" that they also had some pressings of "With Shivering Hearts We Wait" so I hoped to get a copy of that as well. The wait was long, no doubt, but the time passed with fun conversations and friends dropping in from time to time.
While waiting in the line I captured the best footage I could get of '68 performing on the Heart Support Main Stage. I captured "Death Is A Lottery." They finished up their set doing a The Chariot cover but I was just getting done making my Blindside merch purchase. I was abruptly told no that they did not have "With Shivering Hearts We Wait" and that I was limited to one copy per album. I also picked up a book from the Dogwood table before taking the merch to Chris' car.
https://youtu.be/dgja7y9eOd8
Upon re-entering, I got another Cherry Creamsicle smoothie and hung out a bit at the Audiofeed booth again. I coordinated a ride to the airport with the Magee's and figured I'd help with the Audiofeed booth teardown as well since would be there waiting to leave. I also captured some footage of the food trucks I had visited so far including Bad Luck Burger Club and Romega Taqueria.
I made my way over to the Monster Energy Pond Stage to catch some of the Codeseven set. I was capturing the first song called "Laissez-Faire" and noticed smoke coming from the generator truck. Eventually the production team also noticed it and took off running toward the truck then the sound cut out. It stopped smoking for a moment then began again for a bit longer. While I waited to see if they might get started again, I noticed a guy who looked like Beavis so naturally I captured a clip of him.
https://youtu.be/HBevJ00aPU0
I decided to head into the Arsenal Strength Shed Stage for The Showdown. I couldn't resist getting snakebit, afterall! There were water balloons being launched with a slingshot and being tossed from the stage during the set. I captured "Dagon Undone (The Reckoning)." Sean Huncherick also was captured stage diving and crowd surfing.
https://youtu.be/VZLxDDHWjJE
I went back to the Audiofeed booth for a while and hung out there but returned to the Shed to catch some of the Mindforce set. I captured "All Facts."
https://youtu.be/7bMD5kGmT6c
I headed to the main stage to catch some of the Eighteen Visions set and captured "I Don't Mind."
https://youtu.be/195Nl_pJIOo
When Dogwood was announced for Furnace Fest, I knew I wanted to capture their entire set. They are another band I missed when they were active and I wasn't about it miss it during Furnace Fest. I did have the unfortunate luck of a large man standing pretty much directly in front of me but I did the best I could on capturing the set and enjoying anyway. They were playing on the pond stage so I ended up capturing one full set at each stage this year.
Dogwood Setlist:
1. Preschool Days
2. Suffer
3. Rest Assured
4. The Good Times
5. Label Me
6. The Pain Is Gone
6. The Pain Is Gone
7. Feel The Burn
8. Building A Better Me
8. Building A Better Me
9. My Best Year
10. Do Or Die
11. Never Die
12. All Hands On Deck
https://youtu.be/PFR0TRSQr3E
As I left the Dogwood set, I ran into Lee from Audiofeed and Cornerstone. We caught up for a few minutes before I went to get some dinner. He had been watching Drug Church and they finished up as we were talking.
After getting a slice of pizza from the Pazzo truck, I went back to the Shed to see H2O. I captured "Still Here."
https://youtu.be/T_rhOD_fGVU
I went back to the pond stage to see some of The Juliana Theory play. I ended up capturing "Into The Dark" before heading to the main stage. They started playing all songs from Understand This Is A Dream but switched it up after the fourth song.
https://youtu.be/bZKFOwalV6k
At the main stage, Extol was playing with Bruce from Living Sacrifice filling in on vocals. They tossed out red wristbands that had "Extol" printed on them and made a joke about how one can toss them in the trashcan. This and a few other things showed their awareness of the silly occurrence from last year when they were unable to make the trip due to slow processing of the government in regards to visas. I captured "A Gift Beyond Human Reach."
https://youtu.be/tvaZH7oMUds
I went back to the Shed one last time to catch some of the Comeback Kid set. I got to see the end and I captured "Wake The Dead."
https://youtu.be/hBqWquyEdp8
As Norma Jean began to play on the main stage, I got some tacos from Mi Pueblo again. They had the best prices and really good food! I ended up capturing "Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste" along with many other people. Josh Scogin, Scottie Henry, and Chris "Derr" Day of the original era of Norma Jean came out to do the song which added to its greatness!
https://youtu.be/t4UxS0eSO8Y
Blindside was one of the bands that I missed in 2022 when I chose not to go to Furnace Fest that I had regrets about missing. This year they were meant to play the entirety of the "About A Burning Fire" but skipped a couple songs in favor of their hits from Silence (which they played in its entirety in 2022). I ended up capturing "About A Burning Fire" at the end of their set.
https://youtu.be/AEr98PNiPjM
Underoath closed out Furnace Fest playing from "They're Only Chasing Safety" but I captured "When The Sun Sleeps" from their encore. I also included the very end of "Writing On The Walls" because of the massive pile-on. It seemed fitting to include it.
https://youtu.be/F_3fxxBVDCc
I left quickly after the Underoath set ended so I could get my bag and merch purchases from Chris' car so he and his crew could get back to the AirBnB and sleep before their long drive. I found part of the gates were gone to the side of the main stage area and went through that to get to Chris's car. I also used that to get back in and head to the Audiofeed booth where the Magee's would be so I could get the ride to the airport. I captured some footage of the mass exodus from Furnace Fest as well as the Audiofeed flyer that was hanging near the booth advertising our festival for next year. I helped where I could with tearing down the booth. I caught up with Lee for a few moments as he left the grounds and also a few other friends. Eventually, once everything was taken down and packed away, the Magee's took me to the airport where I attempted to sleep a little bit before having to go through the TSA checkpoint.
https://youtu.be/PFR0TRSQr3E
As I left the Dogwood set, I ran into Lee from Audiofeed and Cornerstone. We caught up for a few minutes before I went to get some dinner. He had been watching Drug Church and they finished up as we were talking.
After getting a slice of pizza from the Pazzo truck, I went back to the Shed to see H2O. I captured "Still Here."
https://youtu.be/T_rhOD_fGVU
I went back to the pond stage to see some of The Juliana Theory play. I ended up capturing "Into The Dark" before heading to the main stage. They started playing all songs from Understand This Is A Dream but switched it up after the fourth song.
https://youtu.be/bZKFOwalV6k
At the main stage, Extol was playing with Bruce from Living Sacrifice filling in on vocals. They tossed out red wristbands that had "Extol" printed on them and made a joke about how one can toss them in the trashcan. This and a few other things showed their awareness of the silly occurrence from last year when they were unable to make the trip due to slow processing of the government in regards to visas. I captured "A Gift Beyond Human Reach."
https://youtu.be/tvaZH7oMUds
I went back to the Shed one last time to catch some of the Comeback Kid set. I got to see the end and I captured "Wake The Dead."
https://youtu.be/hBqWquyEdp8
As Norma Jean began to play on the main stage, I got some tacos from Mi Pueblo again. They had the best prices and really good food! I ended up capturing "Memphis Will Be Laid To Waste" along with many other people. Josh Scogin, Scottie Henry, and Chris "Derr" Day of the original era of Norma Jean came out to do the song which added to its greatness!
https://youtu.be/t4UxS0eSO8Y
Blindside was one of the bands that I missed in 2022 when I chose not to go to Furnace Fest that I had regrets about missing. This year they were meant to play the entirety of the "About A Burning Fire" but skipped a couple songs in favor of their hits from Silence (which they played in its entirety in 2022). I ended up capturing "About A Burning Fire" at the end of their set.
https://youtu.be/AEr98PNiPjM
Underoath closed out Furnace Fest playing from "They're Only Chasing Safety" but I captured "When The Sun Sleeps" from their encore. I also included the very end of "Writing On The Walls" because of the massive pile-on. It seemed fitting to include it.
https://youtu.be/F_3fxxBVDCc
I left quickly after the Underoath set ended so I could get my bag and merch purchases from Chris' car so he and his crew could get back to the AirBnB and sleep before their long drive. I found part of the gates were gone to the side of the main stage area and went through that to get to Chris's car. I also used that to get back in and head to the Audiofeed booth where the Magee's would be so I could get the ride to the airport. I captured some footage of the mass exodus from Furnace Fest as well as the Audiofeed flyer that was hanging near the booth advertising our festival for next year. I helped where I could with tearing down the booth. I caught up with Lee for a few moments as he left the grounds and also a few other friends. Eventually, once everything was taken down and packed away, the Magee's took me to the airport where I attempted to sleep a little bit before having to go through the TSA checkpoint.
After trying to sleep a little bit...I maybe got 30-45 minutes, I woke up having to pee and the lights were on and folks were working the customer service desks. I went to the restroom and got myself together so I could go through the TSA checkpoint. My crotch region set off the scanning system again for some reason so I had to deal with the pat down but otherwise I got through relatively smoothly. Another person apparently set it off in the same region of her body. I noticed a few of the same folks I flew down from Chicago were also going through TSA so I assumed that they would be on the flight with me again. A few of them were sitting near where I was trying to sleep as well. I also noticed the infamous Brock Dittus. I ended up walking behind him toward the gates. I stopped to use the restroom and then proceeded to the gate for the Chicago flight. Two of the guys from the AirBnB were there! I suppose had I known they also were taking the red-eye flight, perhaps I would have also gone back to the AirBnB and tried to sleep a few minutes in a bed. Oh well. Sitting right behind them was Brock Dittus. Apparently he would be flying to Chicago as well. I snapped a quick covert pic of him and posted it in the 90s Christian Music Recovery Group page as sightings of Brock had become a running joke during Furnace Fest. He looked up after I made the post and acknowledged me with a nod, ha! A little bit later he came over and we "met" officially which included a quick selfie. It was a funny moment. He apparently had at least one connecting flight on to Portland, OR while I was heading home to Chicago then to work.
We all boarded the flight with the warnings that there were not enough checked bags and the overhead bins would be filling up. Thankfully, I got a seat where I could fit my backpack under the seat in front of me. Unfortunately, I had some goofy teenage boys sat next to me in the row. Oh well...I tried to sleep a bit more on the flight but I don't think I got too much. Upon landing in Chicago, I made my way to the CTA transit and off to home for a quick shower and drove on to work. As I drove, I captured the Buckingham Fountain with a rainbow while waiting for the light to change. I was pretty tired through the day but I made it through and when I got home, after eating dinner, I passed out watching Monday Night Football.
It was a fun trip and I really enjoyed Furnace Fest once again. In some ways, I am sad to see it go. It was a bit pricey though...especially comparatively to Audiofeed so I am not sad to see that money go, ha! We will see what happens with the future but I am glad to have had the opportunity to experience Furnace Fest...not just the one time it was meant to happen but three of the four times! It gave me an opportunity to see a lot of bands I wouldn't have otherwise probably ever gotten to see (or see again in some cases). Thank you, Furnace Fest!
Additional soundtrack is "Thrush" by Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster. I decided to stick with this theme as they are local to the festival. It may be the regret I have of not attending in 2022 since Maylene played that year only.
We all boarded the flight with the warnings that there were not enough checked bags and the overhead bins would be filling up. Thankfully, I got a seat where I could fit my backpack under the seat in front of me. Unfortunately, I had some goofy teenage boys sat next to me in the row. Oh well...I tried to sleep a bit more on the flight but I don't think I got too much. Upon landing in Chicago, I made my way to the CTA transit and off to home for a quick shower and drove on to work. As I drove, I captured the Buckingham Fountain with a rainbow while waiting for the light to change. I was pretty tired through the day but I made it through and when I got home, after eating dinner, I passed out watching Monday Night Football.
It was a fun trip and I really enjoyed Furnace Fest once again. In some ways, I am sad to see it go. It was a bit pricey though...especially comparatively to Audiofeed so I am not sad to see that money go, ha! We will see what happens with the future but I am glad to have had the opportunity to experience Furnace Fest...not just the one time it was meant to happen but three of the four times! It gave me an opportunity to see a lot of bands I wouldn't have otherwise probably ever gotten to see (or see again in some cases). Thank you, Furnace Fest!
Additional soundtrack is "Thrush" by Maylene And The Sons Of Disaster. I decided to stick with this theme as they are local to the festival. It may be the regret I have of not attending in 2022 since Maylene played that year only.
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