By Juan Jusino, Tampa Correspondent

Venue – The Orpheum, Ybor City, Tampa, Florida-October 29, 2015–Lagwagon, Mustard Plug, Heartsounds, Teenage Bottlerocket, Masked Intruder

The BIG PRE-FEST takes place for two days in historic Ybor City, Tampa, Florida, and it serves as a lead-in to THE FEST, an independent three-day music festival that takes place in Gainesville, Florida  For punk-rock fans, this is the place to be, as both festivals feature hundreds of bands, across multiple venues, over a period of five days.

This year, Lagwagon was scheduled to close the BIG PRE-FEST before performing at THE FEST later on that weekend, and luckily, we got a chance to cover the first show.  From early on, the anticipation for Lagwagon was high.  From the moment I arrived, I heard people outside complaining about how they could not get in because the show was sold out.  Sadly, by the time I was allowed to verify my press credentials, a few bands had already played, but there was still plenty left to enjoy.

Due to the nature of the multiple-venue festival, it was interesting to watch the crowd morph from band to band, as they moved around to catch the sets that they were interested in seeing.  From the classic ska-punk act of Mustard Plug, to the powerful Heartsounds; to Teenage Bottlerocket, who still managed to deliver a solid performance after one of their members was not able to make it to the show, and a highlight performance by the funny and energetic Masked Intruder, everyone got their money’s worth.

As I mentioned before, the anticipation for Lagwagon was high.  Considering that their latest album was released to high anticipation in 2014 after a 9-year wait, one could reasonable assume that there were plenty of fans hungry to see Lagwagon.

Lagwagon took the stage at around 12:40am.  As expected, with a multitude of crowd surfers and a never ending mosh-pit, being in the crowd was rowdy and intense.  For a band that never pursued mainstream success, they sure pack a strong following.  In between songs, I could hear some of the comments in the crowd: “Man, I’m so fucking happy right now, I can’t believe I’m seeing Lagwagon!”  It was evident that the packed venue was full of hard-core fans.  Lagwagon delivered a powerful performance for the wild crowd with a solid set of more than 15 songs.

Check out some of the photo highlights below:

PHOTO GALLERY

Lagwagon

Heartsound

 

Masked Intruder

Mustard Plug

Teenage Bottle Rocket

FACEBOOK-Lagwagon

FACEBOOK-Masked Intruder

FACEBOOK-Mustard Plug

FACEBOOK-Teenage Bottle Rocket

FACEBOOK-Heartsounds

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