Full Bloom Festival showcased 14 musical sets near 11th Street and North College Avenue on April 22. Throughout the day, bands performed in the garage and backyard of Pinthouse, a house owned by multiple IU students.
Trinity Travis, “Pinthouse” roommate and IU senior, said Josh Chaney, member of local band THiN LiNES, mentioned the idea of having a music festival after Travis and her roommates held house shows. She said the roommates didn’t expect this amount of people to want to be involved.
In the front yard, artwork including pottery, paintings and jewelry was laid out on tables to be swapped for other artwork. One painting said “make love not war” in magazine letters while, in the background, two people kissed, surrounded by sunflowers.
Through the alleyway, one stage was dark, with flashing strobe lights and people packed inside of the garage, as the other was sunny, with people sitting in the yard sitting and standing under a gray pergola and string lights in the backyard.
Related: [Burning Couch Festival celebrated indie, rock, rap artists April 23]
Too Many Cooks, a psychedelic punk funk blues band, performed “Dani California” by Red Hot Chili Peppers while the sun beamed down on the audience.
Ed Lockwood, guitarist, introduced the band before they played “Time” by Pink Floyd. After announcing “It doesn’t stop getting funky. It only progresses. Even funkier,” the band began to play “Purple Haze” by Jimi Hendrix. The band also played original songs.
As Too Many Cooks performed outside, people jumped and screamed to Lounge inside of the garage. The band performed “Just Like Heaven” by The Cure before serenading the crowd with “Tennessee Whiskey” by Chris Stapleton.
Lounge also performed classics such as “Kilby Girl” by The Backseat Lovers, the Scooby Doo theme song, and “Sex on Fire” by Kings Of Leon.
After intermission from 3:30-6 p.m. for the Women’s Little 500 race, LYSERGiC performed “Mary Jane's Last Dance” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers while the audience spread out under the pergola.
“We’re really gonna stick it to the man with this one,” Keegan Bane, LYSERGiC vocalist and guitarist said, before beginning “Another Brick in the Wall” by Pink Floyd.
LYSERGiC also played songs by Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath.
Johnny Bortka, LYSERGiC guitarist, said he’d always loved festivals and was excited to play in this one, especially because of the independence from any institutions. He said Bloomington is his favorite place to perform.
Related: [Montage Film Festival showcased talents of IU students in film]
Inside the garage, The Matriarch performed songs by Joan Jett, The Clash and The Romantics while Mal Babcock, drummer, smiled at her bandmates.
The Matriarch also played its original song “Best Wishes.” Its cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” by Nirvana created the first mosh pit of the night. After an encore, Al Erftenbeck, vocalist, joined her bandmates for one last song.
Indifferent Society performed popular songs in the backyard, including “Locked Out of Heaven” by Bruno Mars, “Beggin’” by Frankie Valli, “Stressed Out” by Twenty One Pilots and “Ain't It Fun” by Paramore.
THiN LiNES performed multiple cover songs to a full backyard. Josh Chaney, a member of the band, asked the audience to help them write a song. The crowd gave them two genres, jazz and funk, and two topics, flowers and aliens. THiN LiNES finished the night with a Charlie Brown theme song remix.
