Preview: The, Nice Fest
Where do you start with a fest whose schedule runs four days with 70, 80, who knows how many acts? How about starting at the start and ending at the end? Nice, A Fest runs four days, from Thursday, July 25 to Sunday, July 28.
Get your tickets here.
Music fests are a place to discover new music. So go in completely blind and see some bands you’ve never heard before. Or disregard that advice entirely and preview below some acts we’re excited about at Hump Day News.
Life is about choices.
Saturday
Vundabar / Palehound / Bay Faction / Pile / Grass Is Green / Gymshorts / Divine Sweater / Hush Club / Layzi
A Day Without Love / Aubrey Haddard / Barefoot Young / Burp. / Cheer Camp / Doss / Eph See / Goodkarma / Happy Just To See You / Hell Beach / Invisible Rays / JVK / Little Low / Makeout Palace / MK Naomi / Mom Rock / Nurse Joy / Ohio State Fair / Otis Shanty / Pink Slip / Sidebody / Supermarket Parking Lot / The Calendars / The Dead Friends Club / Tyler & the Names / Viruette
NICE /// 4-Day ScheduleSaturday will put your head on a swivel. Thursday had one stage, Friday had two, and the third day of Nice, A Fest has three stages, between Crystal Ballroom, The Rockwell, and the newly-introduced outdoor stage at Grove Street Parking Lot.
With so many options, you’ve got some tough choices to make. Make ‘em, and don’t look back in anger. 35 bands scheduled for Saturday, not to mention DJs and buskers.
If you want the classic summer fest experience, head for the outdoor stage. The Grove Street lineup features some heavy local and local-ish hitters, no strangers to the spotlight, including the pop-strong Layzi, electro-charged Divine Sweater, alt rock Pile, a “return of” Bay Faction, the folkish Palehound, and closer Vundabar.
If you’re a sucker for air-conditioning, go everywhere else.
Doors open at noon, or a little thereafter. Why not start off on the ska foot with Pink Slip at Crystal Ballroom (1:30)? Hump Day News last caught the pink-clad skankers at Hope Fest, up in Salem (which, by the way, rebranded as Moon Over Salem, happening again 9/14). The band goes 5, 6, 7 deep, complete with horn section and sing-along anthems.
Keep it rolling in the Ballroom with a Hell Beach (just dropped a new album, Beachworld), Viruette, Happy Just To See You chaser. The last band, by the way, is genuinely full of nearly Axel & Lolo-level positive unicorn & sunshine vibes. Not just a name!
If you find yourself downstairs at The Rockwell early, don’t miss the manic energy of Makeout Palace (2:45). A versatile rock trio with some aggro-meets-shade of jazz threads, bent on reappropriating the word ‘cuck’ for who knows what reason. Recommended.
Follow up Makeout Palace with A Day Without Love (4:15) at the same stage, or head back to the Ballroom for the performance art, printing press, musical collective that goes by sidebody.
Neu-soft psych rockers Otis Shanty take the Ballroom stage at 6PM, as afternoon starts to shade into the evening program. The band just released a single off the forthcoming EP Up On The Hill, available via Relief Map Records when it releases in September. Go have an early listen to the new material and see how it stacks up to their previous superlative EP Early Birds.
As day turns to night, your choices don’t become any easier. JVK (6:45, Crystal Ballroom) is fresh off a Boston Calling appearance.
Nurse Joy and Cheer Camp play back-to-back at The Rockwell (5:45 and 6:30, respectively), each offering a take on rock n roll, one a little more art-damaged than the other. And do you like harp? There have been harp sightings at Dead Friends Club (8:00, The Rockwell) gigs, so go find yourself a 47-stringed monster or whatever it is. The super prolific cabaret rocker Supermarket Parking Lot will hit the Rockwell stage a bit later in the evening.
Plan ahead! You could see a crush of festgoers filtering into The Rockwell and Crystal Ballroom after the Vundabar set closes out the outdoor stage around 9PM.
If you’re keen on seeing bands in either spot after 9PM, be mindful of the crowd and get to your spot early if you think it’s going to attract the bulk of the departing Grove Street Lot numbers. Once a venue hits capacity (and this has happened before – Colleen Green at Crystal Ballroom hit capacity in 2022), it doesn’t matter whether you have a fest pass or not: you’re not getting in.
Will it happen again? Grass Is Green is playing a reunion show at 10:15 at Crystal Ballroom. People love reunion shows. If the outdoor stage crowd is still raring to go, they might head there. And god bless Burp. for closing out Saturday night with the final set on any stage. If there’s one band you can trust to bring the energy, it’s gonzo hyphy rawkers from Lowell.
Shout out to all the artists playing Saturday at Nice, A Fest, including Eph See, Hush Club, Tyler & the Names, Doss, The Calendars, MK Naomi, Goodkarma, Aubrey Haddard, Ohio State Fair, Invisible Rays, Barefoot Young, Mom Rock, Little Low, Gymshorts, and more.
