Merge Fest (2024)

Me and B, headin' southbound, see?

B and I waitin' for Neil's plane to arrive.

The three of us roam to our temporary Carolina home.

To jam out to nice riffs for Merge's 35th.

Redd Kross make us jump, jump.

The Mountain Goats make us jump, jump.

A Giant Dog makes us jump, jump.

Fucked Up makes us… go home.

We'll need nourishment to survive a week of this.

Music festivals matter.

Black Lives also Matter.

Burritos also matter.

The signs tell us we should be getting back.

There's a lot more to go.

Like Friendship.

And Previous Industries.

And Carson McHone.

And TORRES.

And Destroyer, who bought a burrito behind me.

And Fruit Bats, who I had to get unfortunately close to.

To ensure proximity to Superchunk.

Between sets, we went to a museum about the sets.

We gazed in awe at The Mountain Goats liner notes.

We gazed in awe at Superchunk album art prints.

We gazed in awe at A Giant Dog's golem head.

We gazed in awe as some sub par pierogis.

Then we unpacked our dangerous chemicals.

And build a darkroom in the middle of our airbnb.

The future is here and now.

But there's a lot more to go.

So after guessing at who might have formed Merge Records…

We popped over to see the glorious Quivers at Merge Records.

"Oh my goodness," we said. "The Quivers are so good."

M. Ward is also good.

Back to the darkroom house for a bit.

And some air-guitarring on the streets.

Signs indicate there might be more to do.

And spirits are high.

Because we get to see the glorious Quivers again.

And Eric Bachmann, while we're at it.

And Imperial Teen, no longer teens, but still in top form.

Back to the basement for Magnetic Fields with a Chunky guest.

The Clientele try to put me to sleep.

But Mike Krol knows how to wake us up.

By screaming from the rafters.

We finally have to leave this place.

Get back to birds.

And finish cataloguing.