Starting the FYF Fest with Fidlar playing on the Spring stage at 1 pm in the afternoon, was actually a good idea, which bathed me in the appropriate ambiance right away. It was hot as hell, but this didn’t stop Fidlar’s fans to jump and crowd surf as soon as the joyous punk band started their set. Soon, the dust was high in the blue sky and the energy had reached some new heights on the positive vibe barometer. This is why I love this band, it is impossible to not feel happy when you listen to their bouncy beer-fueled songs about rehab, sobriety, video games and skateboarding, it is just a lot of fun, tons of free spirit and everyone gets it at the first riff.
The band seemed to enjoy their set too, often half bent over their guitars –decorated with a Wutang sticker and ‘burrito' – the music was exploding, frontman Zac Carper did a few back-rolling on stage and the mosh pit was soon out of control. The crowd was young, regaining more of its positive energy at each of the band’s aaaa-aaaa-aaaa scream, and guys and gals couldn’t care less about getting sweating and dirty in a giant steamy bath.
This carefree humor, the numerous ‘fuck’ words in the lyrics, and the sense of mayhem cultivated through their set were perfectly reflecting the free spirit of the FYF fest, as Fidlar was playing all their hits one after another (‘Wake Bake Skate’, ‘Max Can’t Surf’, ‘I Wait For The Man’…), as well as songs I hadn’t heard before. But they surely played one of my favorites, the Iggy and the Stooges-inspired one ‘I Wanna Be Your Cocaine'. During their set someone gave away FYF fest pink or grey bandanas that everyone soon was wearing renegade-style, as a half-face mask to fight the heat and the dust…
‘This song is about… snowboarding’, said Carper before one of their bullet songs combining a nervous energy and a laid-back attitude…. These kids certainly knew how to freshen up their crowd!