September 2024
It’s easy to hate on festivals fueled entirely on nostalgia acts… until those acts are a pretty strong cross section of oneof your favorite eras of music.
Best Friends Forever Festival – set to take place over three days in early October at the Downtown Las Vegas Events Center – hits that nail head on for those who were fans of the early 2000’s indie rock and emo scenes. The first time event will bring over three dozen bands to Southern Nevada, with the lineup reading like a who’s who of the years when emo and indie rocks often stood with one foot planted in punk’s anti-mainstream anger bleating out through a blur of post hardcore guitars.
Bands like Murder City Devils, Built To Spill, The Anniversary, The Dismemberment Plan, Vs Self, and Unwound represent the more discordant edges of the scene, while bands like The Get Up Kids, Rainer Maria, Pinback, and Piebald played with a more refined sense of pop mixed with fragility. Current bands like Mannequin Pussy, Drug Church, and Reno’s own Bug Bath add a sense of younger projects who trace their influences directly to many of the groups also included on the lineup. Cap’ N Jazz, Sunny Day Real Estate and Bright Eyes – the festival’s headliners – all emerged from the scene to a slightly larger audience, though only Bright Eyes might be able to claim ever having a period of mainstream acceptance. All will be performing at Best Friends Forever Festival.
While single day and three day tickets are available, the festival also has VIP ticketing options which include a seated viewing area. For those of us who grew up driving to small clubs to see these bands play the first time around, those upgraded seating options aren’t a bad deal at all!
Best Friends Forever Festival will take place in Downtown Las Vegas from Friday, October 11th through Sunday October 13th.
Full information can be found at BestFriendsForeverFest.com
