LOUD!Fest 2 organizers hope attendees will walk away from a day and night of great music Saturday feeling inspired.
It doesn't take a lot of money or living in a big city to make an awesome music festival happen, local musician Kelly Minnis said.
"You don't have to have a certain stature or live in Houston or Austin to be part of a scene. If there's not one, you can make your own," Minnis said, adding that he wants local teens to be encouraged "not just to be part of the culture or partake in the culture, but to be someone who actually goes out and organizes and helps present it to other people."
Minnis, with friends and fellow musicians Niki and Matt Shea, has done just that.
Drawing on their contacts among local musicians, the three have brought together 20 punk, rock and metal bands -- including longtime local favorites Street Pizza and out-of-towners such as The Valentine Failures -- who will play beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday in downtown Bryan.
For $5, people can see the bands at Stafford Main Street and Revolution Cafe & Bar.
Niki Shea said LOUD!Fest is a less commercial and more local alternative to the Northgate Music Festival.
"We're just as organized, but nobody's getting anything out of this," she said. "We're doing it because we love music and because it's fun."
The three friends started Loud!Fest last year to raise support for local teens who were petitioning city leaders to build a skate park in College Station.
The event at Zapatos last year was free and much smaller.
But Niki Shea said it went so well, they wanted to do it again.
Minnis and the Sheas have created Loud!Fest in true do-it-yourself spirit through months of hard work.
The three designed screen-printed LOUD!Fest T-shirts, made compilation CDs and printed posters in a makeshift shop in a garage.
Niki Shea said the group went door to door asking local businesses to support their efforts.
"They were all really sweet and did," she said.
More information about the festival, including a list of bands with links to their Web sites, can be found at www.myspace.com/bcsloudfest.
Tickets are available at www.myspace.com/sinkholetexas. Minnis said people who buy tickets in advance will receive a special signed copy of the event poster and a two-disc compilation CD.
The Sheas and Minnis hope Loud!Fest will become an annual event that grows larger each year.
"We plan on doing it every year until we just can't do it anymore," Niki Shea said. "It's a lot of fun putting it together, and it's a lot of fun seeing it come together."
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