Sunday's schedule was looking to be the lightest yet. There were bands playing all day like the first three days, but there were fewer bands that I was looking forward to. After going with Phil to visit a local church and grab a bite to eat, we both crashed pretty hard back at our hotel. While we rested, the fairgrounds hosted a content creators' symposium, hosted by Clifford Close. I had considered going in and out of it in between sets from Visitor Pass, Kept On Hold, and Maewyn. But all of that got derailed by sheer exhaustion, so I made the choice to stay in bed until a bit later.

By about 5:30, Phil and I were ready to head back so we could catch Chainstay. The St Louis emo band was a last-minute addition after another band had to drop, and I was quite excited to see them on the line-up. Sadly, much of the fest-goers had started to thin out, and the crowd was becoming more scarce. Thankfully, it didn't deter the Sunday night performers, including Chainstay, who put on an energetic and passionate performance. They played quite a few from their latest album Where the Heart Is, such as "Take the Caseyville Exit," "Another Song About A Tree," and "Water Colors," before closing it out with "Deciduous" from their EP Trying to Hold Together. They were followed shortly after by legendary acoustic punk outfit Destroy Nate Allen. Normally a duo of Nate and Tessa Allen, they have recently added a drummer and a bassist to their crew in preparation of both this show as well as a brand new, full-band album. As usual, their performance was lively, humorous, and chaotic. I only really caught about half of their set, which contained a lot of songs about food: "Vegetables," "Pecan," and a song about not cooking bacon when you're naked. I didn't catch the title of that last one, but it contains a lot of wisdom nonetheless.

With a good 90-ish minutes until the next act, I decided to grab one last food truck meal. I was quite bummed to find that La Paloma had already left, and the only place left was a cuisine I had never had before and was therefore a bit uncertain of: Zambian food. I ordered some chicken samosas, and I was blown away by how flavorful they were. I'm definitely going to keep them in mind for next year. After eating, I hung out with some of the Tuned Up crew before helping them tear down and load up everything in their vehicles before going into the penultimate performance of the weekend. Now originally, this was going to be Facedown Records band Deathbreaker, but they also had to drop from the line-up last minute. In a cool twist, though, their replacement ended up being one of the absolute highlights of this year's festival: Collective Dust. A newer band on the scene, Collective Dust is a group of young guys who play what is affectionately known as "crabcore." It's a colloquialism for a specific type of metalcore from about 20 years ago that is associated with MySpace culture, and often features guitarists playing breakdowns while standing in what looks like a crab stance. It's super niche and of its time, but in an age of nostalgia, it's just what we all needed. They nailed the whole aesthetic of it, too, from the appearance to the auto-tuned vocals to the trap and synthpop influence, even down to the goofy, long song titles (like "2007 Called, They Want Their Music Back" and "Me? Sarcastic? Never..."). They hit the ground running and never turned it down, giving their all on both the stage and the couple of times they jumped into the crowd. They even wowed the audience with their amazing cover of Parry Gripp's classic "It's Raining Tacos." I expected to enjoy them, as I've been enjoying their singles as of late, but I have to say it ended up being a top five performance for me. If you want to have a real fun time at a metalcore show, catch these guys when you can, and you'll get exactly that.

Finally, we came to the closing moments of Audiofeed 2026, with old school Facedown band Bloodlined Calligraphy headlining the Bloodline Stage. Lead vocalist Ally was still wearing her knee brace, which limited her motion, but outside of that, the band still sounded great more than 20 years in! The crowd had really started to disperse by this point, but there was still a decent turnout for the band, and they gave the people what they came for: a riveting, fast-paced 40 minutes of top notch hardcore. The crowd moshed to classics like "They Want You Silent," the duo of "Know When To Hold 'Em" and "Know When To Fold 'Em," and "Last Goodbye." The golf cart guys from the Pipe Bomb show even ran it back, driving the cart (safely) into one side of the tent and out of the other while the Grand Motel guys and fellow artist Christian Welch rode on the back throwing punches and kicks into the air. It was a delight. Meanwhile, Ally made sure to mention the importance of taking care of one's mental health, and let the crowd know that the band is more than willing to hang out and talk to anyone before calling it a night with "Shall We Dance."

And just like that, Audiofeed 2026 was in the books. It's always a bizarre feeling leaving the grounds for the last time each year, knowing it'll be 52 weeks before coming back. I tried to catch whoever was still hanging out and say fond farewells, but ultimately didn't prolong the inevitable voyage back for one more night of hotel rest. Much of the next day would be spent in a car, so I definitely needed a respectable amount of sleep. (Though the end of that drive resulted in a big hug from my wife and daughters, which was a great reward.)

It's hard to put into words just what Audiofeed means to me at this point. What started as a trip to see some cool bands for a good price has turned into a super meaningful event with new friendships that I look forward to all throughout the year. The artists are great, the crowd's love of music and art is palpable, and it's so easy to make new friends that even I can do it. I mean, I struck up more than one conversation with someone I didn't know simply because of the band shirt that one of us was wearing. It's simply a premier music festival, and absolutely worth the time and money. If any of this sounds interesting to you and you're within driving distance (or you're willing to make a big trip out of it, like my buddy Talia who flew in from California), then you should seriously consider coming out for Audiofeed 2027. As of now, neither dates nor artists are confirmed, but it's most assuredly going to be another great year in the festival's history. Be sure to follow them on social media, and keep an eye on their website and/or mobile app to see what happens next.

-- Scott Fryberger, 7/10/26