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Fan Fest 2010
August 13-15, 2010
The Talent Farm, Pembroke Pines, FL
Review and Photos by Chris Kruger
FanFest 2010 at The Talent Farm started off as a usual South Florida summer day, extremely hot and humid. The show started with only a handful of people watching, mostly members of the bands playing first. Maybe the event started too early and the heat was too intense for some to endure, because once the sun receded, the fans came out. For a three-day music festival comprised of local talent I was impressed by the amount of people who came to support the bands. A total of 36 bands played the event. A majority of the fans showed up for all three days. A lot of the bands that did not play on the first day came out just to support their fellow musicians.
On Friday the band that drew the largest crowd was Miami-based act And Then There Was You. The group put on an amazing show. The crowd sang along to all their songs and you could feel the emotion in their music. I later found out they were having their performance filmed so they could start scouting for a record label.
In between sets the event organizers set up seats shaded by tents where the artists hung out. While not performing, artists mingled with fans, played various games in the parking lot, and ate hot dogs and snow cones provided by food vendors.
As the night went on more and more people came to show their support. The later it got, the harder and heavier the music became. The crowd was very comprised of all types of people from all of the different music scenes. You had your Goth kids, your Emo kids, your metal heads, and of course your scene kids. It seemed the entire event should have started later and stayed open longer. The turnout would be greatly increased if the organizers start the show later and avoid the brutal heat.
The Talent Farm made it very easy for the bands performing to set up quickly and comfortably, providing a green room to prepare. The air conditioned green room gave the artists a place to escape the heat, knock back a few cold drinks, watch a little TV before going on. More local venues should take a cue from the Talent Farm's treatment of the artists. Allowing an artist to focus and relax prior to a set only improves their performance.
Each act was given plenty of room to set up merchandise tables to try and raise money. More money to the bands means more recording time in the studio.
When the night ended people hung out in the parking lot not wanting the evening to end. The common threads of conversation revolved around how great each band was and what time everyone would arrive tomorrow. In my book FanFest was a success and should become a destination for all South Florida bands.
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