The genre-bending of modern day music festivals at times results in a sea of blank stares and furrowed brows, or it works famously, with an offbeat artists injecting new energy into a tired audiences ... and sometimes it's a bit of both.
This was the case on Day 3 of France's Main Square Festival in 2023 in which L.A. punk rockers Fever 333 found themselves in the odd position of performing before Seattle rapper/popstar Macklemore and legendary French DJ and record producer David Guetta.
Fever bassist April Kae tells the At First Listen podcast that her band was eager to take the stage that day, but the audience was less prepared.
"They were straight-faced, looking mad — and it was also young girls and their moms ... taking their kids to see Macklemore and not expecting to see Fever," April says.
The icy vibe melted away after a few songs, however, and everything changed.
"By the end, they were cheering my name and they were clapping for me. We couldn't get off the stage, they were clapping so loud. It was our last show of tour. We really brought it all. We were on. It was a great show. And we brought them with us."
April, one of the faces of Fender's newly launched Player II Series of guitars and basses, explains that her band has often prevailed in front of tough crowds because Fever 333 has always been about inclusion.
"I love music that brings you and carries you with it," she continues. "I think the Fever live show, specifically, does that really well. Maybe part of why people make sour faces when a band takes the stage is because they don't feel included. Right? That's mostly why we don't like things is that we don't feel included. That's why we hate what's different, because we're not included. We're afraid of it."
For more about Fender Player II, go here.
For tour dates and more on Fever 333, go here.
Photo: Connor Petersen