As promised, here’s a more thorough recap of my time at the first annual Breakfest! I honestly felt like this festival was tailor made for me. Popular punk rock music brought all of its rebellious angst and attitude while it was juxtaposed by some the city’s best comfort foods in the form of breakfast. With lots of vegan options also available, it was nice to know that I’m not the only punk who enjoys meat alternatives and cruelty free foods.

“There has never been a sadness that can’t be cured by breakfast food.” – Ron Swanson

Food options were sure to include your southern staple: biscuits and gravy. There were also individually packaged cereals like Cinnamon Toast Crunch to bring back some serious nostalgia from elementary school.

Personally, I gravitated towards the healthier options because I had already spent the past day and a half in Nashville loading up on junk food (stay tuned for a list of the great foodie finds in my next post). Some of these healthier options included vegan donuts from Five Daughters Bakery. They had tons of vegan options, but I’m sucker for a classic so my favorite ended up being their purist. Poppie was also there, serving vegan breakfast hot pockets.

The other half of this perfect match was obviously the stellar lineup of performers. I found out about Breakfest because I tend to do random searches of when broken up bands might just get together for one more show. Cartel is one of the biggest bands that I regret not being able to see live before their split. They’ll occasionally do shows together, like Warped Rewind at Sea, but my budget and timing never seem to lineup with these rare opportune shows. So when I saw that Will Pugh was putting on an acoustic set for the festival, I knew it was probably the closest I would get to seeing a live performance of some classic Cartel songs.

William Ryan Key was another former vocalist that put on a solo performance. The former lead singer of Yellowcard showed off some new tracks that he’s been composing as a solo artist. It was fun getting to see this new and more vulnerable side of him. Then as a nice treat for all the loyal fans, he closed out his set with a classic from Yellowcard.

Another obvious benefit was seeing New Found Glory. I was surprisingly really into their new album, Makes Me Sick Again, so I was stoked that I’d get to see them perform some of those tracks. And honestly, they’ve just never put on a bad show! You can read more about the last time I traveled out of town to see them through this post.

The real kicker was that Daddy Issues was performing at Breakfest. In case you missed my last post on them, Daddy Issues is this amazing female trio that come together as a stellar indie grunge band. I didn’t think I’d ever see them doing a tour through Houston because they’re pretty underground, so it was kind of a no brainer once I saw them listed at Breakfest. Knowing that I had a chance to see them live along with some other great headliners was just the push I needed to buy tickets for the festival and book a plane out to see Nashville.

I can’t think New Found Glory enough for putting this festival together. The band hails from Florida, but their lead guitarist, Chad Gilbert, is actually from Franklin, Tennessee. So it was incredibly sweet of him to put this together, showcasing tons of local bands like Daddy Issues, and also bringing in bigger names that stay around the area like William Ryan Key and Will Pugh. To see what other bands were at the festival and sign up for news about next year’s round, make sure to visit Breakfest’s site!

xxRose

PS Are there any other bands you wish you could see live just one more time? Leave a comment and let me know! I’m always looking for great music recommendations.