Hot Gig Alert (9/4): Sad Summer Fest hits Worcester
When Warped Tour took its’ annual summer trek around the country for the last time in 2018, a hole was left in the alt community and luckily, a new tour quickly saved the day. That tour? Sad Summer Fest, a festival tour that was the brainchild of longtime Warped stalwarts The Maine, State Champs, and many more. After an incredibly successful run, the next year’s lineup was quickly announced, the excitement was built, and then…the pandemic. A time where artists for the first time in their careers were told they couldn’t play shows, interact with their fans in a live setting and they pivoted. Beautifully, in fact.
Bands made incredible quarantine records, found creative ways to connect with fans and their bandmates in a lot of cases, and produced some high-quality live streams. Be it The Maine playing three full live shows in empty rooms to All Time Low doing zoom calls live-streamed that included fan participation. New albums like The Maine’s most recent, “XOXO: From Love and Anxiety in Real Time”, and Grayscale’s upcoming newest “Umbra” were produced. And as live music makes its much-anticipated return, some of the hardest working bands in the pandemic are bringing it back with a vengeance.
The latest incarnation of Sad Summer Fest, after two pushbacks in scheduling for obvious reasons, hit the road just a few days ago and is a chockful bill of everyone from pop-punk All Time Low to alt-indie mainstays like Movements and Grayscale to Warped veterans The Story So Far and The Maine. It’s going to be a great opportunity for fans to feel part of their community again as well as for bands to road-test the tracks and albums that were only able to be listened to and performed via technology. With some very Instagram-worthy backdrops and Sad Summer-themed cocktails, maybe even some of All Time Low’s new wine brand? It’s sure to be an incredible day.
The touring festival will make its return to Worcester on September 4th at The Palladium Outdoors with doors at 2:30 pm and the first band hits the stage at 4:00 pm! The vibes will be flying high and why not keep the party going at the Sad Summer Nights afterparty inside the venue, exclusively after the Worcester show. Tickets are still available for Worcester’s date which can be found here, where you can also find the tour’s non-harassment policy, VIP tickets as well any FAQ’s you may have!
