After going to bed far too late for my age, I went with my hotel roomie for the weekend (Phil Hawkins of Tuned Up) to Panera to meet up with some of the other Tuned Up crew, including Ryan and Katie Getz themselves, and then over to look around the nearby mall just to get out and maybe check out some record stores. The first band either of us were planning to see wasn't playing until 2:40, so we had plenty of time to gallavant. We were joined by fellow JFHer Chase Tremaine, along with his wife and children, and we decided to just have a slow-paced morning before going back to the fairgrounds to have the energy zapped out of us. When we did get back, I had planned to go watch hardcore band xDOULOSx, but that got derailed when Chase informed me that an artist named Kyle Thomas was performing at the impromptu stage at the same time. Kyle released a wonderful folk album called Majnaric last year, and I took the opportunity to hear him perform live (as did Jason Dunn of Hawk Nelson - more on that later). Kyle played a few songs including album highlights "My God Has Grace" and the lovely "However Old You Are," which always makes me tear up a little. Sometimes a lot...

Kyle finished up, and I quickly admonished him for making me cry that early in the day before heading over to catch the fantastic post rock of Fury & Solace. I don't listen to a lot of instrumental-only music, or much post rock in general, but Fury & Solace's take on it is mesmerizing. They effortlessly switch between crushing guitar riffs and beautifully melodic ambient sections, and it's so easy to get lost in it. The Forerunner was up next to kick off Friday's sponsored evening, which would feature the Resuscitation Records line-up. The Las Vegas-based heavy worship band performed in suits and fancy attire despite the sweltering heat (how they played a second set as TAKE is beyond me), but they knocked it out of the park. The crowd was on fire for "Crowns" and a personal favorite in "Lion" (with the first true most pit I had seen since the festival started) before they closed it out with their rendition of The City Harmonic's "Manifesto."

I took a bit of a rest at the Tuned Up Lounge before one of the most anticipated sets of the whole weekend: Pipe Bomb. Pipe Bomb is technically a solo project of Mitchell Layton, but he put together a band for the festival, which was mostly members of Plead the Widow's Cause, with his brother on drums. This being the first ever live performance for Pipe Bomb, no one knew what to expect, but expectations were definitely high. Layton's music often gets compared to The Chariot, and the whole event really brought that comparison to life. Moshing and stage diving commenced before the band even started playing, and once they got going with "Under God's Heel" while Kevin Schlereth drove a golf cart into the tent with two dudes moshing on top of it, I was already completely satisfied with the performance. But they tore through tracks like "Bliss," "Straight Edge Hate," "False God," and more while the energy in the crowd refused to die down. The set was short and sweet, but it was undoubtedly one of the big highlights of the whole weekend. Don't miss these guys if they play your area, and don't be afraid to get wild in the pit.

It was another stacked evening, with a lot of artists I wanted to see across three stages. For dinner, I hit up one of my favorite food trucks that comes by every year, La Paloma. This is not an ad for their restaurant, but their tacos are so good and I make them a priority every year. I took a break to scarf those down before the evening's entertainment commenced with pop punk act Sam's the Hero. Their take on the genre really reminds me of the golden years of the early 2000s - they would've made great Tooth & Nail labelmates with Hangnail and Craig's Brother. They played a song or two from their Charlie Cox EP, a brand new song coming out later in the month, and a faithful cover of Thrice's "Image of the Invisible." Brand new hardcore band Nomads followed at the Subculture Stage, so I popped on over. In the same way Sam's the Hero would have been great on early T&N, Nomads would have fit in well on early Facedown. Former No Treaty vocalist Danny Thomas now fronts Nomads, and his vocals work really well for the style. I didn't catch many song titles, but their set makes their upcoming EP on Resuscitation Records seem very promising.

I thought about going to catch the end of Keep Warm's set, when I checked the app and remembered that Trailand Eltzroth was performing Upper Kessler Hall. I really enjoyed his 2024 album For My Family and Friends, and it was hot outside, so an indoors performance of good singer/songwriter music seemed like the perfect combination. And I happened to catch his song "Sophia," which is a favorite of mine, so it worked out great. But when 7:40 rolled around, I went right back to Subculture for a band I've been wanting to see for about four years now: Plead the Widow's Cause. Like TAKE, I have to admire their endurance, playing a second set in the same day when it was that hot outside. But they smashed it, not seeming worn out or overheated in the slightest. Both of their albums were well-represented during their performance, from "Spirits Away" and "True Love" from Pain Split to "Jet Black Heart" and "Trapped Within" from last year's fantastic Silver Glass Stare. I'm not ashamed to admit that I spent a decent amount of my budget at their and Pipe Bomb's merch table, but it was worth every penny for one of the most exciting new bands in the current Christian heavy scene. I caught up with guitarist Brett Wanamaker real quick and then went to check out the rest of Whitsett. I could hear them playing their newer song "Ohio" as I headed that way, and they were sounding great. Whitsett really plays into the nostalgia of early 2000s youth group music, so it made sense that they then played a couple of cover songs from the era. Like Homeplate the day before, they played Relient K's hit "Who I Am Hates Who I've Been" before launching into official cover of Steven Curtis Chapman's legendary "Dive." The song translates incredibly well into pop punk, and the crowd really went off for it.

As the evening was winding down, I was going to have to navigate just one more schedule conflict from 9-9:40. I started off at Bloodline, where former Hawk Nelson vocalist Jason Dunn was about to take the stage. I wouldn't necessarily call myself a Hawk Nelson fan, but I do enjoy their first couple of Tooth & Nail albums, as well Dunn's newest album Formerly Known As..., so I expected to have a good time watching him play. Dunn took the stage by himself with just an acoustic guitar, and I hung around for a few songs, which consisted of a mix of Hawk songs as well as songs from his new album, such as the opener "Billy Enforcee." But I also had an appointment back in Upper Kessler, where singer/songwriter Zane Vickery was holding an audience captive. Vickery's 2024 album Interloper carried a heavy weight with it, and the crowd could feel it with every word he sang. "The Grateful & Grieving," a song he wrote about a tragic car accident that nearly took his life (and did take the other man's life), created such a somber moment, as did "Sad Dads Club," "The Best You Could," and "Big Things Coming." Vickery has a powerhouse singing voice, as well, and it was insanely difficult to not be completely captivated by it. His set was to end at 9:40, which would have given me a chance to run over to see the end of Clear Convictions. But being the last performer on that stage for the evening gave him the freedom to play a longer set, and I chose to stay right where I was. However, as 10pm approached, I made the decision in between songs to head back to Bloodline for the night's closer.

Admittedly, I'm a bit of a latecomer to Bleach. I've known who they were for years, and had even seen them perform once in 2003. But I had only really become a fan in the last ten years or so. But I was very excited to see them perform, and they did not let us down. The members of Bleach are in their 50s now (they even joked about being grandpas at one point), but I'm not exaggerating when I say that they sounded as good as they did 20+ years ago. They started the set with "Once Again Here We Are," and we were all transported back in time. As they journeyed through their discography, it was amazing to see even young adults in the crowd singing along to every word of every song, including songs that were released before they were even born. It's a testament to the timelessness of truly good music.

The band played a good-sized set, mostly pulling from Again, for the First Time and Bleach. You know they rocked out to "Baseline," "We Are Tomorrow," and "Heartbeat." But they also went back even further and busted out classics like "Perfect Family," "Epidermis Girl," and "Super Good Feeling." The choice of deep cuts was excellent as well. It was really great to hear "Sun Stands Still" and "Astronomy," and there was something so poignant and relevant about the chorus of "Found You Out" ("I'd wait a million years to feel the way that I feel right now ... ain't it fine like sweet summertime, and oh it's good to be alive"). Even on top of the song choices, the band's performance was so delightfully reminiscent. It's hard to put into words, but if you've been going to concerts for more than 20 years, you might know exactly what I'm talking about when I say that this felt more like a concert from that era than from the 2020s. There was no mosh pit, there weren't many cell phones being held up the whole time, there was just a great rock band playing music for a packed tent full of people of all ages living in the moment and enjoying it all. And then there was Davy Baysinger climbing and jumping off of a 12-foot tall speaker into the crowd. It was a truly wonderful time, a highlight of all of my visits to Audiofeed, and as Phil Hawkins said, "My soul needed that."

Audiofeed day 2 was absolutely packed. While I was watching all of the above, other stages featured artists like Saint of Pine Hills, Andy Squyres, Glenn Kaiser Band, TAKE, Insomniac Folklore, and Kevin Schlereth. On top of that, the kids' area was jam-packed with fun activities like bubbles, show and tell, and temporary tattoos, while Upper Kessler had speaking sessions and a ballet performance. There really is just something for everyone at Audiofeed. And there was even more of it to come...

Click here for day 3!

-- Scott Fryberger, 7/8/26