KOI Music Festival 2011

KOI Music Fest came back for Round 2 last weekend.

This year I was smart and stayed for most of the day (the whole thing went from 1 PM til well into the morning) and I made a list of the different bands that I wanted to see. At the end of the day I saw eleven bands in total, and this girl was not disappointed.

Like last year, there was a main stage and about nine different venues around Downtown Kitchener, located at various bars, clubs, and cafes. This year though, the main stage was a bit bigger and located in the Crabby Joe's parking lot

I started out my day at Cafe Pyrus where Koetta Black played their set. Towards the end of their last song people were given a free copy of their CD and some stickers.

Koetta Black

I had some time to kill before the band Liferuiner played their set, so I wandered around downtown and ended up at the Main Stage. I saw the band Dancing With Paris all over the KOI facebook page before the festival - they won some contest and got to play on the main stage. This band was awesome live...I hope they come back again next year so that I can see the whole set.

Dancing With Paris

More Dancing With Paris...

Next was Liferuiner at the PSD (Peter Says Denim) Venue across the street. For some reason...I don't know why, but I thought the show would be something like the Christian Rock moshpit scene from Metalocalypse (minus the blood). Maybe I heard someone bash "Straight Edge" bands or something... Anywho, during their set, I totally got creamed at the EDGE of the moshpit.

Liferuiner

More Liferuiner...

I went back to the main stage, ran into some old friends (yay!) and watched bands Stray From the Path and The Real McKenzies.

Stray From the Path

The Real McKenzies - how about some Celtic Punk, eh?

Afterwards, my friend and I went to Capers Sports Bar and watched Blind the Carrier's set before heading out to The Wax to see Blind Witness. Both bands were so awesome...during Blind Witness' set, the place was packed.

Blind the Carrier

Blind Witness

We walked back to the second stage to see the band Hometown Beatdown, then went back across the street to see the last three bands play at the main stage - Dead and Divine, The Planet Smashers, and Protest the Hero. All of them were awesome (unfortunately I had to leave before Protest the Hero finished their set). It was like a big party that night in the parking lot downtown.

Dead and Divine

The Planet Smashers

Protest The Hero - I'm sorry that these photos suck!

...I look forward to Round 3 next year. ^_^

(More doodles coming!)