Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros Let The Festival Guy Tell His Story
Saturday during Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros, lead vocalist Alex Ebert asked at the beginning of the set if any one had a story to tell.
Jubilently, one man raised his hand at the front of the crowd and Ebert told him that he would have his chance later in the day.
As the set winded down the band began to perform the widely known indie rock hit “Take Me Home.”
Without female counterpoint Jade Castrinos joining them on tour it was up to the crowd to pick up her part of the lyrics. When the song reached the point where it slows down to tell a story, Ebert called the guy from earlier in the set up on stage where he got his chance to share his tale.
That gentleman turned out to be Tucker Gumber, better known as The Festival Guy, who recounted how the band had changed his life not only once, but twice.
After seeing them the first time he decided to make music festivals his career. He subsequently quit his job and has since been to over 50 festivals in the last three years.
In addition to this he launched FestEvo, the next must have application for any music festival goer.
From the FestEvo website:
FestEvo is a mobile app & website created for users to connect with friends and festivals across the USA. Users have the ability to prep for a festival by creating camps and group chats so no one is alone in planning and travel. Attendees can discover new artists by hitting ‘play’ on an artist’s soundclouds directly in the app under a specific festival’s lineup. Research and review every festival in one place for a safer and easier festival experience.
Getting to share this creation was the second time that the band had changed his life.
It was hard to hold back tears during this inspiring narrative that made everyone who witnessed it appreciate themselves and where they were just that much more.
really? the COMMERCIAL for the new app was one of your favorite moments? That wasn’t touching, that was STAGED! I was pissed off they interrupted the festival for a freaking commercial.
Staged or not, the fact that someone was inspired to pursue their dream through the power of music is something that we have to respect.
We all have those artists whose music speaks to us in a powerful way. Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros happened to be the catalyst for The Festival Guy.
Can’t hate on someone who is living their dream and giving back to the festival community. A great moment indeed.
Yeah, I don’t think it was an ad as much as he was just sharing what he created. It felt a little insincere but basically the rest of his speech didn’t. I know I felt what he feels because I was not an ES&MZ fan before but now I am.
The Lips married a couple before performing the most broken, energy-devoid, meandering set I’ve ever seen them play. I was devastated at their shoddy performance