Local acts head to Maine for the Caravan Festival, kick off show tonight at Kung Fu Necktie
Blessed to have a huge strip of land in Belgrade, Maine owned by his family, Matt Manser (guitarist of the Philly band Flamingo) chose to use it for something more than just a hang-out spot. He joined forces with the guys from Philly rock trio Penrose – Tom, Pat, and Dan Murphy and their manager, Lynne Krohn – to create a a 3-day music festival on his property, which sits right next to a beautiful lake. And he invited bands from the Philly area to make the trip to Maine to party and play music for 3 days. The Caravan Festival has been going on for four years and it occurs again July 27-29 featuring a lineup of mostly Philly musicians; participating bands include Penrose, The Lawsuits, Cheers Elephant, Levee Drivers, and more.
Tom from Penrose says “the bands coming this year are some of the best Philly has to offer.” They are expecting about 25 bands to play and a 350 person attendance. Brian Dale Allen Strouse from The Lawsuits tells us, “The real beauty of this is how everyone is out of their element. When it’s all over and we arrive back home, we’ll have met new people, created new relationships, and through the power of live performance, we’ll have established future opportunities to play in Philadelphia with the people and bands we met in Belgrade Lakes.”
Tonight at Kung Fu Necktie marks the launch party for the Caravan Fest with performances from TJ Kong & The Atomic Bomb, Penrose, and Izzy & the Catastrophics.
“The big news out of the Penrose headquarters … is that we’re going to unleash a whole hellstorm of brand new songs that’ll be on our upcoming record,” says Tom of tonight’s show. “For most of them it’ll be the first time anyone’s heard them, so we’re looking forward to unloading that.”
Tickets to tonight’s 21+ show are $8, set begins at 7:30 PM. After the performance there will be a party upstairs with DJ Matt Manser, the guys from Penrose, and TJ Kong’s Kevin Connor spinning tunes from the ‘Carabands’.
Interested in making the 8-hour trek to hear some of your favorite local bands play in a new setting? Go here to buy your tickets and check out the line-up.