Zitfest Day 2 at Orange Door, December 18

Photo by Monica McGivern

​Zitfest Day 2
With Sumsun, the Dewars, Plains, the Monster, This Heart Electric, LLLR, Little Beard, Teepee, Go Ghosts, Band in Heaven, Guy Harvey, the Jameses, and Love Handles.
The Orange Door, Lake Park
Saturday, December 18, 2010

Read Day 1 coverage here.

The seriously anticipated second day of Zitfest lived up to all the expectations -- massive, killer, seamless. The Orange Door in Lake Park functioned much like a house show -- the crowd was a hundred-deep group of best friends and there was a genuine appreciation for the bands, since most are face-melting hometown heroes. Mingling, excessive in between sets, would cease totally once the music got going again.

The Orange Door was the breakout star, and this is purely from an outsider's perspective. Seated in a shopping plaza in a relatively desolate intersection, the pale yellow warehouse features a banner on its exterior advertising it as the go-to destination for "Christian," Alternative," and "Blues." Obviously a local mainstay, it had a comforting mien: bartenders who might've been there for years, rainbow Christmas lights, a checkerboard floor bizarre and sprawling enough to make the place look like an extension of its neighbor, Party City (also: a caged skeleton). The festival came with its own paper program containing a map highlighting The Orange Door's location, plus the nearest place to get pizza. No point in that, though, because local food vendor Pete Cavanagh was armed with charcoal grills to create vegetable paninis, and chicken salad.

Photo by Monica McGivern

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A rundown of the magic itself: LLLR, the first act caught by this reporter, is CJ Jankow's fast-paced guitar paired with Nelson Hallonquist's textured, lightning-storm drones. Miami's Little Beard, both adorably twee and gritty, played a slew of new songs and averted disaster when singer/keyboardist Sarah Attias avoided a fall. She later shared a microphone with Teepee, whose organic-but-psyched-out fuzz was exceptionally lush and beautiful.

Go Ghosts' candied indie rock had catchy, seemingly-love-fueled tunes that were fun enough to temper some early technical difficulties. The DJ followed them with "Goodbye Horses," which the Band In Heaven, joined by a drummer and tambourine-player, then played, as if in immediate homage. The Cranberries' "Dreams," though, served as crowd-charmer. "This is another cover," said guitarist Ates Isildak. "All of our songs are covers."
Guy Harvey's melodies are so guitar-driven that, after the equally energetic Band in Heaven, the guys resembled the Feelies in both style and their ability to get people moving more wildly than before.

Photo by Monica McGivern

​As for the Jameses -- organizers, roadies and buddies of everything this weekend -- the set resulted in the happiest kind of mosh pit: hand-holding, mid-dance hugging, a loving swarm around Jesse Bryan and requests from Dan McHugh for everyone to get much closer.

Photo by Monica McGivern

​Love Handles played as Love Handles Extreme, a nine-piece of friends featuring maracas, bongos, a horn, and emotional confetti. "We're going to play every song," declared guitarist CJ Jankow, and while the set was nearly cut short when they were allowed only "one more song" after barely two, his statement proved almost true: they ended up getting three more songs.

Photo by Monica McGivern

​ So eager everyone was to support each other that the vibes became familial, and while trains blared on the nearby railroad tracks, certain members of Miami bands, after the draining drive, felt comfortable enough to nap in cars parked right in front of the venue. This was a festival, to be sure -- but again, it was more like being at your buddy's party, and not due to obvious reasons (a strong, tight-knit scene and cheap beer) but because of the setting and the population of nice kids. Keep in mind, Dade and Broward readers: Palm Beach is always worth the drive.

Photo by Monica McGivern

​ Critic's Notebook

Better Than: Day 1 of Zitfest -- but only the category of lineup size.

Random Detail: Every single person in attendance danced (or swayed enthusiastically) for at least one song per set.

By the Way: This event was not actually thrown in support of The Tea Party. Overheard: "Is Matt Cutler [of Tumbleweave] here?  We hate you, Matt Cutler." -The Band In Heaven's Lauren Dwyer in a moment of sweet sarcasm.