So last entry we welcomed this year’s festival season with the inaugural Suburbia Music Festival. The following weekend we attended a festival, that though in its fifth year, this was my first time attending as I’ve spent the better part of the last five years in NYC.
Homegrown Fest – May 10th – Main Street Garden Park – Dallas,TX
Though it started as early as noon and I wanted to get there early to see my friends the Phuss play, we didn’t quite make it till after 7pm.
I loved discovering that this was taking place in a smaller patch of grass located right in the middle of bustling downtown Dallas. It was the polar opposite to last weekend’s Suburbia Fest that was staged far removed out in a nature reserve.
Vendor booths lined the first half of the block, followed by a stretch food trucks. Dogs on leashes scurried about while parents smeared sunscreen onto their children.
In its fifth go-round, Homegrown Festival has grown into a Dallas institution. What was once an experimental upstart aided by Downtown Dallas Inc, and attracted about 1,100 patrons at it’s inaugural fest in 2010 is now a neighborhood staple that draws a crowd of nearly 4,000 and is worthy of a street closure.
Originally, Homegrown booked strictly North Texas bands and artists until the lineup was opened up to the entire Lone Star State in 2012, a necessary talent-buying strategy in order for the festival to continue thriving the way it has. Homegrown stands to strengthen both their business model and the Texas music scene as a whole.
Though the crowd size was probably at its peak by the time we arrived, there was no line at the park’s only entrance gate.
We timed it right as the sun began to set and the heat died down, Sarah Jaffe serenaded the audience through the transition from day to night.
Sarah Jaffe
It’s crazy how popular she has become and I think its wonderful. From sitting on the other side of the bar at Dan’s Silverleaf in Denton where she used to work, to watching her perform to an intensely invested, passionate crowd that knew all of her material is a great thing to witness. She’s got the right handlers and has been making some big moves lately.
Trail of Dead
Booking Austin’s …And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead to play their 2002 cult classic Source Tags & Codes in its entirety preceding
the Toadies’ Rubberneck 20th anniversary set was an undeniably brilliant move by festival organizers.
The uproarious finale of A Perfect Teenhood with an added interpolation of Patti Smith’s Gloria. was perfect.
While waiting in a never-ending beer line, it was like High School reunion – the place so small, every few seconds it seemed, an old aquaintance would tap me on the shoulder and we would catch up for a few minutes. I ran into all of my friends in the Toadies’ crew and got to catch up with Duane for a bit finally. We saw each other in Austin for literally a hug’s length of time so it was fun to catch up for a bit.
But the fans are still the best thing about any festival –
The Fans
The lineup at Homegrown was familiar & comforting in the sense that it’s proprietary. It properly represented bands of every genre within the Lone Star State and I hope it continues to be an important contribution to Dallas music and Texas music alike with every year that passes.
(later that night) Jessie Andrews – Candleroom – Dallas, TX
Ok so I wanted to hang but I had another gig to get to around the corner. I knew the Toadies had a hometown full of people to entertain and they were leaving soon after to New Orleans so I did the goodbye thing before they even started & as soon as they finished, zoomed over to Candleroom to catch Jessie Andrews‘ DJ set.
Originally we were gonna do a gig together earlier that day at a resort but for whatever reason that got cancelled and though I played, she didn’t but I told her I would come to her gig tonight. I met her in Austin earlier this year at SXSW when we did a daytime gig together at the W Hotel.
She’s amazing – she has the ambition of 10 people and we bonded over shared work ethics and being the only sober people most of the time. She’s also an amazing DJ and had the house rawking all night. Good times.
Photos –
Roy Turner
Mike Brooks
