Saturday was a tough morning. Halfway through the festival, I was starting to feel the combination of heat exhaustion, constant walking and standing, and sleep deprivation. I really wanted to catch a set at noon, the first one scheduled for the day, but I decided to get some rest first. But eventually I made my way to the fairgrounds to catch my buddy Mykey Root and his metalcore / deathcore band Dreaded Dale. The band has gone through some changes over the last few years and it's kept them from releasing more music. Thus a lot of the songs on their set were familiar, such as "Voices," "Kingslayer," and the devastatingly heavy "Wormwood." Thankfully, it sounds like they're about ready to record some new stuff and get it out in the world, which I'm looking forward to. It was also cool to see Jon Lorbacher (formerly of No Treaty) playing guitar with the band. (Side note: his new band Sequoia will probably have new music out next year.)

The barbecue food truck was calling my name at this point, so I bought a nice bowl of brisket mac & cheese and wolfed it down before joining up with some friends and acquaintances for a short Bible study. Joining were Eric Tuffendsam (who makes music under the name Sower), Clifford Close (podcaster and one-man band Sherwood Forest), Nic Gundy (festival regular and Clifford's former podcast cohost), and the duo of Myles Ferguson and Keith Kliewer (who make up the band Grand Motel). This is the kind of stuff that makes Audiofeed extra special: getting together with friends to not share a love of music, but to fellowship and share a love of Jesus and His Gospel. After the Bible study, the Grand Motel guys let us know that they'd be playing and impromptu The Story So Far cover set at the Front Porch later, so I made plans to go see them.

Wind Words took the stage at 2pm. I don't recall having seen them play since 2022, so I made plans to catch them this year. As I walked to the stage, it started drizzling, which was such a relief from the heatwave. The second I stepped into the tent, it started raining even harder, as a light thunderstorm made its way through. It caused some mild technical difficulties with the sound system, and the sudden downpour caused some of the outdoor vendors to have to pack up and cover their goods, getting completely soaked in the process. Thankfully, it didn't seem to do too much damage other than soaking a bunch of shirts. Wind Words played on, though, worshiping the Lord with their brand of post hardcore and alt rock, including a song they just recently released called "SDG," which stands for "soli deo gloria." The end of their set was supposed to signal the start of Grand Motel's cover song set, but unfortunately the Front Porch Stage was a little flooded and temporarily unusable. But on the plus side, it was fun to see small children carelessly splashing in the water and mud puddles. Ah, youth.

Some rescheduling occurred that threw me off a bit, so I ended up missing thrash metal band World of Chaos. The band is comprised of three members, two of whom were under 18 years old. I did end up seeing a similarly young act called Xristus Victor, who mixed thrash metal, metalcore, and hardcore, and had talent way beyond their years. They got the crowd going with their originals "Bye Phil Eesha" and "Beat Hell," and then closed down their set with a cover of Sleeping Giant's stone cold classic "Tithemi." These two bands were just two more examples of the revival of rock and metal in the younger generation. While younger millennials and gen Z are largely fiddling around with trap and really bad synthpop (no hate... whatever floats your boat), it's amazing to see gen alpha kids bringing back alt rock, Midwest emo, and various types of heavy music. And be good at it, no less!

From 6-10pm in Upper Kessler Hall, there was to be a screening of the film Electric Jesus followed by a Q&A and discussion with the film's director Chris White. I wasn't particularly interested in attending, but I thought it was a really cool addition to the fest this year. The folks running the show behind the scenes are constantly coming up with interesting ideas and more ways to make your admission money worth the price.

I was gearing up for another loaded night, and I was about to wear myself out. 7pm featured a newer progressive metalcore band called NRWHL. The band had just released a new album called Glory Be, and they put on a heck of a show. They were loud and energetic, and they got the crowd moving despite the semi-muddy ground that the rainstorm had caused. I stayed for about half of their set and then jolted over to Burningtown for the proper Grand Motel performance. The duo played from their new album, Tooth of the Lion: A Spring Perennial, an album that I had previously had trouble getting into. Watching their live performance of songs like "I Can Count All My Bones" and "Wept" unlocked something in my brain, and it's since become one of my favorite albums of the year thus far. And seeing the vocalist going absolutely wild in so many mosh pits gave them bonus points, as well. If you're unfamiliar with their music but you enjoy alt rock and Midwest emo, I'd recommend checking them out.

One of my most anticipated sets was about to commence back at Bloodline: Twenty Something Summer. Comprised of members of alternative folk band Adjy (a festival regular that actually did not perform this year), Twenty Something Summer drops the folk aspect entirely and instead replaces it with ska. Christopher Noyes is still the main songwriter and lead vocalist, though, so of course the two bands feel pretty melodically and lyrically similar. But the ska and reggae sound so authentic, and the whole set was pure joy. Described as a pool party, the whole band hit the stage with in lifeguard outfits, while a friend of the band was grilling hot dogs on a George Foreman grill for anyone in the crowd who needed more energy for dancing. I'm not sure how many hot dogs were consumed, but there was no shortage of dancing, which began as soon as they opened with a cover of the fantastic hit "I2I" from A Goofy Movie. They also jammed one of my favorite songs of 2025, "Pool Hoppin," as well as their brand new song "Dance Party Holy War!" from their new Pool Hoppin EP. I'm not much for dancing at shows these days, but even I had to skank a little bit for that one. They played a few new ones as well, and I found out from their keyboardist Mary Quasarano that they were indeed working on a full-length album. I don't know when it drops, but I'm buying a copy as soon as it does. Needless to say, Twenty Something Summer met my high expectations, and I really hope I get another chance to seem live sooner rather than later.

After grabbing a CD and shirt from their merch table, I remembered why I'm not much for dancing at shows anymore. The skanking really took it out on me, so I decided to park my behind at Burningtown for the remainder of the evening, opting to forego seeing Oyarsa in favor of not overdoing it. I instead watched an artist I initially did not have on my schedule: Skye Peterson. Her brand of folk and singer/songwriter music generally isn't in my wheelhouse, but it's impossible to deny how talented she is at it. Her husband Thomas Austin joined her onstage for a few songs, blending the piano with Skye's lovely singing and acoustic guitar. I'm not too familiar with her catalog, but she did spend a good amount of time playing her newest album Through Line, "Made For" and "I Love That Girl." She also made a joke about being surprised when she was invited to play Audiofeed, thinking "Sure, yeah, I definitely belong at that rock festival," which is probably a common preconceived notion about the event. But she also acknowledged how great the people were and how much she had enjoyed her time so far. After her performance, I caught up with some friends, and I finally got the chance to meet Zane Vickery in person, who declined my handshake in favor of giving me a big hug.

After chatting for a bit, it was time for the final performance of the night, and another highly-anticipated one at that. The one and only John Van Deusen was back for his fourth year in a row, and he asked us to grab a chair and bring it up close for an up-close-and-personal acoustic set, which we were all happy to comply with. I'm sure I'm not alone when I say that JVD has been one of my favorite new artists over the past few years (close to ten for me at this point). He's been so prolific with his output, and it would be impossible to cover everything that everyone wanted to hear. But he still managed to spread out his song choices over almost all of his albums, including a brand new song called "Farsick" from an upcoming album of the same name. The song choices were really great, from the emotionally heavy ballads like "Absentee Heartbeat" and "Before You Fade Away" to the upbeat sounds of "Whatever Makes You Mine" and the biting satire of "Boring." He mentioned his distaste for playing the newer stuff he should be supporting, as he tends to get sick of whatever music he's promoting at the moment, so he didn't reach into As Long As I Am in the Tent of This Body I Will Make A Joyful Noise Pt. 2. He did, however, play several worship songs, including "I Was Made To Praise" and "By Gracious Powers" from Pt. 1, as well as "All Shall Be Well" and "No Limit To Your Love" from Every Power Wide Awake. Kevin Schlereth tried to get John to play the 11-minute title track of that album, but John would only agree if Kevin joined him onstage for it, to which Kevin bashfully declined (dang). John did, however, get Skye Peterson to sing with him for a beautiful rendition of "Tomorrow" from the movie Annie, and later brought us all to tears as he and Zane Vickery led us in worship with "On Christ the Solid Rock I Stand." Sadly, as the Burningtown crew is pretty strict with time limits and were eager to close down for the night, John had to cut a few songs he had planned on playing. But I, and most assuredly many others in the tent that evening, would have been content to sit there and listen to him play all night long.

At the risk of contradicting myself, I was also ready to head back to the hotel for the night. Day 3 had been less exhausting than the two before it, thanks to a slightly lighter schedule and the cooler weather the rain had brought with it, but my endurance was still being tested. I hung around for a bit to chat with a few friends and bid farewell to the Tremaines, who were heading home the next day, and then drove back to sleep as the impending dread of "the last day of Audiofeed" was starting to settle in...

Click here for day 4!

-- Scott Fryberger, 7/10/26