Furnace Fest 2020 Festival • Page 30

Completely forgot about Chasing Victory! Colour Revolt should also be on the list.

 

CHASING VICTORY

Man. That'd be so good.

If they take this slightly more poppier than just the few bands on Saturday this year, you could see an influx of the New Found Glory/The Starting Line Drive-Thru era of bands and their offspring like All Time Low or The Maine. Something Corporate and/or Jack's Mannequin reunion would be immense. Dashboard Confessional could slot in as well as a headliner.

 

Brandtson, Colour Revolt, Twothirtyeight

 

Still can’t believe I had to miss this at the last second, stoked to hear it went so well but I also have INSANE fomo. Missing UO playing When The Sun Sleeps and missing out on the NJ and Chariot records are the three biggest hits for me honestly. The CBK Misery Signals cover also looked insane.

My incredibly optimistic hopes for next year:
Bleeding Through
Haste The Day (with Jimmy Ryan on vocals)
The Chariot (won’t happen but idc)
Norma Jean with Josh on vocals (also won’t happen)
Copeland
Poison the Well
Misery Signals
Throwdown (Keith on vocals)
Advent
Strongarm
Lydia
Between The Buried And Me (would be so sick if they did a special throwback set)
Earth Crisis
Armor For Sleep
Nora
Botch
Coalesce
The Red Chord
Despised Icon
The Dillinger Escape Plan
The Number Twelve Looks Like You
HORSE the Band
A Life Once Lost
Dead To Fall
Comeback Kid with Scott on vocals (I can dream)
Disembodied
From First To Last
Hatebreed
mewithoutYou
Boys Night Out
American Football
The Promise Ring???
Sunny Day Real Estate?????
Texas Is The Reason??????
Atreyu with Alex on vocals again
Would be cool to see The Used or Silverstein do sets where they only play old stuff

Also obviously would be totally fine with a lot of bands from this year being booked again

 

Oh and of course Fear Before The March Of Flames would be INCREDIBLE

 

A lot of good mentions already for next year hopefuls. Some I’d want to see more than others, but just sort of brainstorming for the sake of it and hopefully not mentioning what others have already listed.

Emanuel
Hope Con
Suicide File
One Step Closer
Anxious
Therefore I Am
Set Your Goals
Fiddlehead
It Dies Today
Valencia
TUI
Polar Bear Club
Drop Dead Gorgeous
Drain
Roses Are Red

 

I want Moving Mountains

 

I would empty my bank account for a PBC reunion where they played all of their pre-Death Chorus material

 

I have no idea how to begin my write-up for this

 

I wore a Fear Before shirt one day and got so many comments on it. This would be the perfect place for a reunion show.

In fact, let's do the entire Dudestorm tour lineup from circa 2005: Fear Before the March of Flames, Bear vs Shark, The Fall of Troy.

 

Hope Con and It Dies Today would both be so good, totally slipped my mind. American Nightmare would also work perfectly.

 

Alexisonfire for sure. The Chariot reunion or just a one-off.

A Fever 333 set on the Plugyourholes stages would be off the charts.

 

PBC and SYG I would buy a ticket right now

 

Here are some of my thoughts about FF21:

I have been to 7-8 festivals in the past 5 years and I don't remember one where everyone was so positive and just happy to be there, both artists and fans. I witnessed so many acts of kindness from random strangers and everyone was very chatty and had positive vibes. That was awesome and made the weekend very special.


Favorite / memorable sets:

Thursday (pre shows):

Hopesfall - My first time seeing them and although it was a short set, they made every second count. The band were TIGHT and Jay was amazing. I got to chat with them after the show and Jay seemed like the nicest guy ever. I caught him a day later at the fest too and he came to me and started chatting with me. Awesome guy. I already knew that I wouldn't be able to see them at the fest so I made sure I enjoy every second of that set.

Emery - I have seen Emery many times and they never disappoint. The crowd was super hot for them and they definitely brought it.


Friday:

Across Five Aprils - One of my most anticipated bands to see that weekend. The set on Thursday's pre show left a lot to be desired but the one on Friday, although a much shorter set, was SPOT ON. I also caught Brandon and Jason for a long chat and they were super cool. I saw Jason again the day after and spoke to him for like 10 minutes and he asked me a bunch of stuff about my life story and growing up in the middle east and I asked him about meanings behind some of my favorite A5A songs. Awesome dude as well.

Haste - Another band I really wanted to see and the set was fun as hell. For older gents, they had wild stage presence and energy that many younger bands lack today.

From Autumn To Ashes - Where do I even begin? One word: Insane. With out a doubt one of the craziest set on the fest that set the tone for the rest of the days that followed.


Saturday:

He Is Legend - I AM HOLLYWOOD. I was happy.

The Beautiful Mistake - I only caught half the set because I was rushing to see SKSK but I really hope they are going to tour soon because I was really bummed out I missed half their set. At least I got to see "On Building".

Scary Kids Scaring Kids - Fun as hell. Cove fits so well there and sounds almost the same as Tyson and many parts.

Beloved - Crazy energy, crowd was wild. My only complaint was that they didn't play "Kiss It Goodbye" but the rest of the set made up for it for sure. Can't wait to see the full video when it's released.

Further Seems Forever - There were TONS of other band members on the side of the stage from bands that performed through the weekend, which made it feel special. When you see 3 members from big bands standing on the side of the stage and screaming together the words for "New Year's Project", you can't help but feel you are a part of something special.


Sunday:

Fit For A King - Super fun set. It took 2-3 songs but eventually they won people over.

Microwave - Another band I was really excited for, even though I already seen them 3 times in the past. Somehow they managed to cram all my favorite MW songs in their setlist, ending it with Vomit. I always look at people's faces when the heavy part kicks in to see their reaction. It's priceless.

Boysetsfire - A bit disappointing for me, it felt like there was a lack of energy or maybe I was just tired. the crowd was much less involved in that one.

Killswitch Engage - A perfect way for me to end the weekend. I was expecting to stand way back and just chill with my last bit of energy but I found myself in the front going crazy for "This Fire" like it's Friday noon and the weekend just kicked off. That Adam guy is a douche alright but people shouldn't take him too seriously.



Some minor notes:

- The layout was great, entering and re-entering was a breeze, getting from stage to stage was super easy, it was never too crammed (except for the bigger shows in the shed stage) and everything was flowing great. My only complaint was the long lines for food and drinks and them not selling water in bottles, only in cans (what's up with that?). The water station was great and there was always places you could take a break and rest for a bit in the shade.

- I hope that next year there will be a bit more focus on younger bands. I want people to see this 20 years from now and see the bands that will be big then and not only see bands that will be 70 year old dudes at that time.

- I am mostly a shy person but somehow I found myself talking to so many great people at the fest and the vibe was always so positive.

- The reserved parking was a life saver. On the first day I parked at downtown Birmingham which was about 12-13 minutes walk from the venue. Walking back after the first day was not fun, to say the least. I am our of shape and my whole body was sore and that walk hurt. On Saturday and Sunday I had the car parked at the Wesco lot (about 3 minutes walk from the venue), which allowed to to take an hour break each day and go chill in the AC so I could rest my feet and get away from the sun. Reserving energy was a big part of the festival for me.

- See you guys next year!

 

I am loving reading these stories and essentially living the festival through all of your perspectives. Keep them coming!

 

What about 3 days of Anthony Green with Circa Survive, Saosin, and The Sound of Animals Fighting? I feel like that would be super cool to see.

 

Yeah would love to see Saosin play all of Translating The Name, would be perfect for the fest.

 

Man imagine if they could line it up so that FF would be their final show.

 

Dream list of bands that could possibly play next year that didn’t play this year:


Botch *
Minus the Bear *
Copeland
Relient K
VersaEmerge *
Mewithoutyou
Adventures *
Code Orange
Life in Your Way
Rainer Maria
Hot Rod Circuit *
Devil Wears Prada
MxPx
Jonezetta *
Hop Along
Acceptance
Bane *
Dashboard Confessional
Alexisonfire
Soccer Mommy
Circa Survive
Bear vs Shark
Bayside
Senses Fail
Colour Revolt *
Laura Stevenson
Snapcase
Boys Night Out *
Blindside
Camp Cope
Strike Anywhere
Interrupters

* = reunion

 

If this becomes a regular thing I can definitely see future lineups somewhat mirroring the Wrecking Ball Atlanta roster from a few years back.

 

I’ll add
Shadows Fall
Story of the year
Chimaira and Yellowcard reunions would be awesome!
I know other have said it but Rise Against and The Used seem like fits.
Also are overseas bands allowed?
If so Parkway or Bullet could headline and I’d kill to see I killed the prom Queen play!

 

If Dashboard plays they should get The Moon is Down FSF lineup to play as well.

 

I was the dude who broke his arm and stayed the entire day on Friday after breaking it. I had surgery Saturday afternoon to put a plate and screws in my arm and get a cast. I still made it back in time to see Glassjaw and Taking Back Sunday on Saturday night straight out of surgery. And then attended Sunday. The organizers of furnace festival ended up reaching out to me and telling me I was the legend of the weekend and put me up on their socials. I was also able to manage side stage for knocked loose and turnstile due to my injury lol. overall best weekend of my life and absolutely the best festival I have ever attended.
Highlights from the weekend
-Comeback Kids sounded PHENOMENAL. Holy fuck.
-ETID. Absolutely destroyed the main stage and the pit was sheer madness. Kinda glad I couldn’t go in it. Absolutely the GOAT.
-Dying Wish. Sounded so great, I cannot wait for their new album. Great way to start off Sunday.
-MIW. I know a lot of people aren’t fans of them, and there was controversy from some old heads on putting them on the lineup but they CRUSHED it. My partner who had never listened to them until a week before the festival was absolutely impressed with their set. It also helped they played nothing but heavier, ripping songs.
-Knocked Loose. I have nothing to say except this was hands down the greatest set of the weekend and it is going to go down as the most legendary set of the festival.
-Turnstile. Absolutely so much fun and the level of energy they put into it and that the crowd have back was intense. Absolutely livr up to the hype. Unfortunate they cut their set short due to a person getting injured.

 

I am with you on all of the above! I don't think people realize how good that Knocked Loose set was, just unreal, I saw them Wednesday before in Atlanta and this was 10x better due to the energy, sound! What a weekend!

 

Knocked Loose had the most intense crowd, most intense stage presence and the energy was so much I thought the shed would collapse. It’s gonna be the stuff of legends. Just like the Andrew WK set from back in 2003