So What?! Music Festival
Quiktrip Park; Grand Prairie, TX
Saturday, March 19th – Sunday, 20th, 2016
Written by Caitlyn Willard
Lineup:
So What?! had an incredible lineup this year with headliners including Underoath, Saosin, Neck Deep, State Champs, New Found Glory and Beartooth. There was a vast variety of genres to please all festival goer’s. A
Who: New Years Day, Forever Came Calling, Escape The Fate, SECRETS, 7 Minutes In Heaven, Movements, Waterparks, Miss May I, Milk Teeth, Neck Deep
When & Where: 3/19/16, Quiktrip Park; Grand Prarie, TX
By: Caitlyn Willard
For full gallery, click here!
Who: Blessthefall, My Only Safe Haven, Emery, Real Friends, Neck Deep, Convictions, Sorority Noise, New Years Day, State Champs, and SLAVES
When & Where: 3/19/16, Quiktrip Park; Grand Prarie, TX
By: Caitlyn Willard
For full gallery, click here!
Last month, the So What?! Music Festival announced the lineup for its ninth edition which will be taking place on March 19th and 20th at Quiktrip Park in Grand Prairie, TX. The lineup so far is pretty damn incredible, including acts Underoath, New Found Glory, Bayside, Blessthefall, State Champs and Saosin. Just a couple of weeks ago, the festival updated its lineup, adding over 20 additional artists. You can find the fully updated list below!
For more information on the festival, including tickets and packages, click here!
Saturday, March 19th:
New Found Glory, Bayside, Neck Deep, State Champs, Real Friends, Blessthefall, Citizen, Emery, Escape The Fate, Fenix TX, Have Mercy, Hundredth, Knuckle Puck, Miss May I, New Years Day, Slaves, This Wild Life, Turnover, Unwritten Law, 7 Minutes In Heaven, A Will Away, Bad Luck, Bonfires, Capsize, Capture The Crown, Forever Came Calling, Hotel Books, Like Pacific, Major League, Mariner, Milk Teeth, Movements, My Only Safe Haven, Myka Relocate, Outline In Color, Picturesque, Radio City, Seasons Change, Seaway, SECRETS, Sorority Noise, Speak Low If You Speak Love, The Plot In You, Too Close To Touch, Under Dog House, Where Crowds May Gather, Will Deely
Sunday, March 20th:
Underoath, The Devil Wears Prada, Saosin w/Anthony Green, Beartooth, Dance Gavin Dance, Silverstein, The Word Alive, Being As An Ocean, Born of Osiris, Emarosa, He Is Legend, I See Stars, Stray From The Path, The Contortionist, Zao, ’68, A Lot Like Birds, Artifex Pereo, Assuming We Survive, Chunk! No Captain Chunk!, Covet with Yvette Young, Cruel Hand, Currents, Fire From The Gods, Ghost Key, Hail The Sun, Hazing, Kingdom of Giants, Little Envy, Kublai Khan, Monuments, Rarity, Silent Planet, Stolas, The CMDWN, The Ongoing Concept, Tides of Man, Uh Huh Baby Yeah, Words Like Daggers
If you’re asking yourself, ‘wait – I thought it was called South By So What?!,’ you are correct. The music festival is back for it’s ninth year under the new name So What?! and will be taking place on March 19th and 20th at Quiktrip Park in Grand Prairie, TX. The lineup so far is pretty damn incredible, including acts Underoath, New Found Glory, Bayside, Blessthefall, State Champs, Saosin, and more!
Tickets are $50 for both Saturday and Sunday, but fans can also purchase a 2-day weekend pass for only $75! In addition, there will be three different VIP packages:
–VIP Star Package is $150 and includes: 2-day VIP ticket, limited edition festival poster, t-shirt, 3D Laminate, Souvenir 3D ticket, early entry, full access to the pre/after party, and meet and greet!
–VIP Rockstar Package is $250 and includes: 2-day VIP ticket, main stage VIP viewing area with private bathrooms, limited edition festival poster, t-shirt, 3D Laminate, Souvenir 3D ticket, early entry, vip area access, full access to the pre/after party, and So What?! Festival water bottle
–VIP Superstar Package is $350 and includes: 2-day VIP ticket, main stage VIP viewing area with private bathrooms, limited edition festival poster, t-shirt, 3D Laminate, Souvenir 3D ticket, early entry, vip area access, full access to the pre/after party, So What?! Festival water bottle, parking in front lot just steps from entry gate and exclusive parking pass air freshener!
Below you can find the full list of artists that have been announced so far and which date they will be performing at!
Saturday, March 19th:
New Found Glory, Bayside, Neck Deep, State Champs, Real
Friends, Blessthefall, Escape The Fate, Knuckle Puck, Citizen, This Wild Life,
Emery, Turnover, New Years Day, Have Mercy, Hundredth, 7 Minutes In Heaven, A
Will Away, Bad Luck, Bonfires, Capture The Crown, Currents, Ghost Key, Hotel
Books, Like Pacific, Major League, Mariner, Milk Teeth, Movements, My Only Safe
Haven, Myka Relocate, Outline In Color, Radio City, Seasons Change, Seaway,
SECRETS, Silent Planet, Sorority Noise, Too Close To Touch
Sunday, March 20th:
Underoath, The Devil Wears Prada, Saosin
w/Anthony Green, Beartooth, The Word Alive, Born of Osiris, Zao, The
Contortionist, I See Stars, Stray From The Path, He Is Legend, Emarosa, Being
As An Ocean, ’68, Artifex Pereo, Assuming We Survive, Covet with Yvette Young,
Cruel Hand, Currents, Hazing, Kingdom of Giants, Little Envy, Monuments, Rarity
Stolas, The CMDWN, The Ongoing Concept, The Plot In You, Tides of Man
[Note: In the midst of allegations made against a former member of Neck Deep in regards to unlawful interactions with underage fans, we would like to state that neither Lucy Out Loud nor members of its staff condone any sort of actions of that nature. This
review was aimed to focus on the band and on the album’s merit, though we
deemed it irresponsible to make no mention of the aforementioned issues. The
band’s official statement on the situation can be read here. Thank you.]
Punk doesn’t do intros.*
It’s supposed to start mid-chorus. There’s no clearing of
throat, because the best punk singers have the scratchiest of screeching vocal
chords anyway. You just start in the middle, and don’t worry if the listener
has time to get acclimated. They’re pulled along, and they’re with you, or
they’re against you.
British pop-punkers Neck Deep know this. They know all the
lessons that Punk has been teaching us. They’ve got a few seconds of record
studio leftovers, and we’re in, on the opener of their new album, “Citizens of
Earth.” A few hard-hitting eighth notes that rise in intensity and before long
we’re in the album, and singer Ben Barlow is telling us how “every earthquake
starts with a little shake.”
It’s a great opener. It’s a calling card and a call to arms. It
shoves us right into their world before we have time to figure out what that
world is. This has been the best way to start a Punk album ever since
“London Calling,” but while Strummer and co. were ushering in an
apocalypse to fit their whole political movement, Neck Deep are starting an
album called Life’s Not Out To Get You, mostly about heartbreak and feeling
lonely and stuff like that.
And then “Threat Level Midnight” starts, with another
perfectly executed Punk intro, and you can’t escape from any of those feelings,
or the excellent 90’s-emo guitar work. Over the course of 12 songs, Neck Deep
wrestle with their title, against the unstoppable irrationality of youth that
insists that life is, after all, out to get you, and you specifically.
Sometimes they’re telling us about that girl and how she got away, or about the
loneliness of friends that aren’t worth it, sometimes while on the beach. But
there’s the other through line, the get-over-it reminder of the album’s title,
that infects songs like lead single “Gold Steps” (the source of the title
refrain). The two sides are fighting, and it’s not ever quite clear which is
winning. It makes the emotions of both feel earned, as they argue against each
other from across tracks.
Neck Deep don’t do anything particularly new. They’re not
trying to. There’s nothing to their sound that makes them radically different
from their peers in the pop-punk world. But the band stands out, because
they’re good at what they do. The songwriting is strong, the hooks are soaring,
and all of the elements of the band work together perfectly. By keeping things
straight without too many frills, the band’s strengths are allowed to shine
clearly.
The lyrics are through the album are inches from a diary, with
enough wit to stand out, but not too much to lessen the bare-hearted rawness.
The band could be described similarly. There is a crispness to every sound,
with a sledgehammer rhythm section and a well-matched lead-rhythm guitar
battle. But there’s just enough rawness there—much of it coming from Barlow’s
voice—to keep it interesting.
And before you know it, the album closes with “Rock Bottom,”
losing energy for just enough time in 36 minutes to fit in a well-executed
ballad called “December.” The album closes like it opens, almost in the middle.
You don’t have time to quite figure out what just hit you, but it was
definitely good.
*Which of course won’t stop me from writing for an
unnecessarily long time before actually mentioning the music I’m supposed to be
reviewing. Punk also hates rules, right?
Release Date: August 14th, 2015
Run Time: ~35 minutes
Rating: 4/5
Track listing:
1. Citizens Of Earth
2. Threat Level Midnight
3. Can’t Kick Up The Roots
4. Kali Ma
5. Gold Steps
6. Lime St.
7. Serpents
8. The Beach Is For Lovers (Not Lonely Losers)
9. December
10. Smooth Seas Don’t Make Good Sailors
11. I Hope This Comes Back To Haunt You
12. Rock Bottom
Written by Jon Hecht
This track is off the band’s upcoming album, Life’s Not Out To Get You, to be released August 14th via Hopeless Records. Fans can pre-order the album by clicking here!
Who: Neck Deep
What: Vans Warped Tour ‘15
When & Where: 6/26/15, NRG Park Main St Yellow Lot; Houston, TX
By: Mercedes Guzman
For full gallery, click here!
Over a week ago, Neck Deep announced that they would be re-releasing Rain In July / A History Of Bad Decisions via Hopeless Records on June 17th. The album is a remixed and remastered combination of the band’s first two EPs, Rain In July (2012) and A History Of Bad Decisions (2013).
Rain In July / A History Of Bad Decisions will be available for the first time on CD and on three new exclusive vinyl variants:
Track listing for the album can be seen below!
Track Listing:
1. Kick It
2. Silver Lining
3. What Did You Expect?
4. Over and Over
5. A Part Of Me (feat. Laura Whiteside)
6. I Couldn’t Wait To Leave 6 Months Ago
7. All Hype, No Heart
8. Up In Smoke
9. Tables Turned
10. Head To The Ground
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