The 5th installment of GonzoFest is finally here. And it promises to be unlike any GonzoFest this city’s ever seen. This year’s Festival will showcase all the events on the same day (Saturday, April 11) at the Big Four Lawn, rather than celebrating Hunter S. Thompson each evening for a week at different bars and bookstores across the city, as in previous years. GonzoFest has officially entered the realm of warm-weather, riverside music festivals.
But don’t let your flowy festival maxi skirt and the food truck smorgasbord make you forget what GonzoFest is all about. GonzoFest wouldn’t be if it weren’t for the late (great) Hunter S. Thompson and his genre of Gonzo journalism. The headlining artist of Gonzofest 2015, 1200, is taking the legacy of Hunter S. Thompson into account while planning his performance.
“I’ve been studying Hunter S. Thompson in depth since I got on the lineup for GonzoFest,” 1200 frontman, Jecorey Arthur says when explaining the plans for his performance, which will include 3 different sections he’s calling “Youth,” “Growth,” and “Triumph.”
“Youth” will be the first section of 1200’s Gonzofest set, which will showcase songs the musician wrote when he was younger. “These songs are about things that aren’t really important to me anymore, I wrote them when I was younger and getting started,” Arthur says.
Following the first section, “Growth” will consist of mostly instrumental pieces. Rather than rapping during this part, Arthur will be playing the keyboard along with his usual quartet of accompanying musicians.
To end the performance, “Triumph” will be the grand finale and will include a variety of 1200’s best music, including the premier of two brand new songs and, as Arthur teases, “ [Triumph] will feature some additional personnel with us on stage.”
As if that’s not enough to get you pumped for this year’s GonzoFest, 1200 has also released a new 1-minute video documentary teaser for the festival each day this week.
If you still don’t have your tickets to GonzoFest, you can buy them online for $10 here and at the Monkey Wrench. They will also be available at the festival for $15.
