Charleston will be even more alive with music than normal from March 28 to March 30 thanks to Frequency Fest.
It is a power-loaded music festival with more than 50 bands on three different West Ashley stages: One at Tin Roof, one at The Garden at Charles Towne Fermentory and one at Frothy Beard Brewing. And the collection of acts essentially runs the stylistic gamut from thrash to hip-hop to Appalachian folk to Americana garage rock.
And perhaps what’s most exciting: This isn’t a fru-fru corporate festival with branding on every available surface, or a mega-expensive mega-fest where you’re a thousand miles from the stage. This is, as the festival announcement emphasizes, a free, all-ages DIY show for those who still love to seek new music.
Frequency Fest is presented by Holy City Booking, an agency with the goals of strengthening Charleston’s music scene and emphasizing local and regional talent. The festival’s schedule certainly bears that out.
The lineup
The headliners alone form a fantastic overview of the breadth of Southeastern indie music, with a special emphasis on the Holy City.
Let’s talk about Acid Hawk, for example. It is one of the headlining bands at Frequency Fest, offering a thunderous bass and drums duo that rocks low, hard and loud. Another band, Catholics, also shares some room at the top of the festival poster alongside Acid Hawk, but the style is completely different, a highly experimental blend of off-kilter math rock and indie noise.
Another Charleston act, Infinitefreefall, is arguably as experimental as Catholics, but its emphasis is more on pop than rock, with irresistible melodies to match. Majic Dust blends soaring, anthemic hard rock with some truly fascinating goth touches, as if the Foo Fighters had a secret passion for Bauhaus.
But if this is getting a little too arty for you, then there’s The Maxines, straight-ahead hard-rockers out of Savannah. And a little further down the bill you’ll find Charleston’s own Anergy, a band that draws inspiration from old school punk, grunge and other modern influences to create a high energy, driving sound. This will be the Agent Orange-Circle Jerks portion of the show.
Did we mention the K-pop dance party that kicks everything off? Yeah, that’s happening over at Frothy Beard Brewing on March 28, presented by the Southern Seoul Social Club. DJ Majr is on the ones and twos spinning out your favorite K-pop hits from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m.
The schedule
After your K-pop appetizer on Friday night, things kick in hard at all three locations on Saturday.
Tin Roof has six bands on the schedule, including headliner ADHD, The Maxines, The 33s, Rocket 77, Anergy and Busted Radio. The Garden by Charlestowne Fermentory has five bands lined up, featuring the aforementioned Catholics alongside headliners Jest, Momphobia, Bluegill and Scrlett.
From 7-10pm, Frothy Beard Brewing will host SEVEN bands, including Gods, Raxxane, Shack Devill and Juventad.
The Tin Roof and Frothy Beard Brewing lineups are presented by Port City Blitz and Melloe Soule.
Sunday features another full slate of exciting bands, including headliners Leopard & The Diamond Sky (who mix melodic pop-rock with electronica), the screamo ragers Palacade, and the pure rave EDM of Charlez.
The ethos
A free DIY all-ages festival might be just what Charleston’s music scene needs right now. It’s not often that fests like this can boast such large lineups of entirely independent artists, and it’s more important now than ever to support these artists in an overstuffed entertainment landscape that makes it hard to stand out.
The fact is that there are many bands making great music just under the radar, and Frequency Fest might be the best way to see and hear them.
And the community has responded to that chance with interest. As we mentioned earlier, you won’t find branding on every available surface like some music festivals, but the local sponsors that Frequency Fest DOES have — Holy City Tattooing Collective, Early Bird Diner and Bozzelli & Sons Heating and Air — helped make Frequency Fest free.
One way or another, one thing is clear — the music will be easy to find at this broad festival.
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