CONCERT COVERAGE, FESTIVALS, FEATURESJenna PerrySeptember 16, 2023Comment

TENNESSEE IS FOR LOVERS FEST AT THE CAVERNS IN PELHAM

CONCERT COVERAGE, FESTIVALS, FEATURESJenna PerrySeptember 16, 2023Comment

Deep in the hills of southern middle Tennessee on a warm Sunday afternoon, the sound of emo kids of all ages could be heard singing. This isn’t a normal occurrence for this area of the state, but on Sunday September 10, 2023 fans of emo music from all across the South took over The Caverns music venue for a day of music, food, and all around fun as Hawthorne Heights brought their much loved festival, “Is For Lovers Fest”, to town. A festival by a band, for bands is a unique thing, and “Is For Lovers” lives up to the hype. The Caverns obtains its name for the space in which most of their events take place. It really is a cave, not figuratively, but literally. This is one of the most unique and beautiful music venues you will ever see, and one that all of the bands were more than stoked to be playing in. Throughout the evening you heard references from the stage akin to, “We are playing in a cave!” The venue also took advantage of the property’s wide open green space, and added an amphitheater stage to have even more music throughout the day under the sunny sky.

The festival split the day’s acts between the two stages and staggered set times so that there wasn’t a large overlap. This permitted fans to catch sets from most of the bands of the day if they should choose to (I did). The day opened with Sky Wallace as the first act taking the stage in the cave, and with Nashville’s own Khamsin kicking off the party on the outdoor stage. From then on, it was nonstop music including acts such as Thursday, Proper., Emery, Mayday Parade, State Champs, and The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus just to name a few. Being the hosts of this shindig, Hawthorne Heights played two sets. They opened their day with an intimate acoustic set in the cave and then a full band party on the outdoor stage a little later in the evening. Between all of the stages, there were many favorites played by each band in their sets, and some even had a chance to sneak in a cover or two. My personal favorite was The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus playing “All The Small Things” by Blink182 that had the entire cave jumping and singing along. There was no shortage of singing along and dancing to be found during whatever band you were listening to. I even spied some moshing going on during some sets, both above and below ground. The day’s live music offerings were closed on the outdoor stage with Underoath taking the stage in a rocking set that had people out of their seats and crowding the barricade to take part. The last music set of the evening didn’t signify an end to the festivities completely though! To end the night on a high note, there was an Emo Cave Rave in the cave with a DJ.

Although the highlight of any festival is always the music, there were plenty of things to see and do outside of that here. There were local vendors selling everything from t-shirts, to fans, to jewelry, as well as food trucks of all kinds to ensure that no emo left hungry. There was even a “Dunk the Punk” dunking booth that had a line every time I passed it. This was really a festival that thought of the audience and catered to them.