Written by Lauren Greenslet
Bands from across Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont took to the stage on September 28 at the annual Brattleboro music festival, BrattRock. As a music festival made specifically for the youth, Brattrock hosted twenty-two bands ranging with kids under 18, making it the biggest lineup the festival has had ever. The magic of it all comes from not only the talented musicians but from the values in which it holds. BrattRock was created to foster a safe, supportive, and enjoyable environment for kid musicians of all ages and does just that with each show they put on. Ever since it started in 2016, it thrives more and more each year with new and different artists. For its 2019 season, BrattRock hosted its first hip-hop artist, JOHNNYMIKEY, who brought the house down as the last performer of the night. Among his hip-hop excellence, there were tons of other wicked bands who performed, too, all of whom ranged from alternative rock to bedroom pop on indoor and outdoor stages.
As a sound intern, some of the performers that stood out to me the most were Moxie, Caravan of Fools, Pears & Plums, Moving Day, Zoki, and The Man Made Tragedies. The Man Made Tragedies are a punk band from Saxtons River. With custom made picks and some really nice wireless mics, they truly brought the heat with an infectious stage presence that made you want nothing more than to get up and jump whenever you were instructed to. Pears & Plums particularly held my attention for the way they played their renditions of some of the classics such as Oasis’ “Don’t Look Back In Anger” and Blind Melon’s “No Rain.” They kept the edgy classiness of the tunes whilst holding a modern indie-rock feel to them. By far my favorite of the night, Moxie was a smash hit. As soon as the MC’s finished up introducing them, the crowd was already into it. People started pushing forward, trying their hardest to get the best view. When they finally arrived on stage, everyone went wild. They played some songs off of their album, “The Fall LP,” which already held an electric alternative-rock feel. Even after their lead guitarist, Leander, had a string break and borrowed one from Zoki, the energy never died down. Halfway through the act, their lead singer and bassist, Rei and David, started to shave Leander’s face. The crowd opened a pit in the center of the happy chaos and moshed to their heart’s content, or at least to the end of the set.
Being a sound techie is probably nothing like being an actual performer, but through the experience, I got to understand and feel what this place was all about. Figuring out where to put certain cables, learning what each slider is connected to, and how to set up monitors is fun but the real payoff is getting to do soundcheck. Just kidding, it’s to take in the moment, realizing that you’re in an environment that’s a welcoming open space for people to just come and hang and listen to some talented kids do what they love. Even with a threat of rain, the 2019 production of BrattRock ran more than smoothly.
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