Union Square’s Warehouse XI hit capacity as dusk fell on the first night of Someday Fest. The indie music festival returned last weekend, expanding into a two-day event in its second year. The lineup showcased eighteen New England bands, featuring a range of styles from indie folk, to alt-country, to free jazz, to loud noise rock that was loud enough that you could enjoy it from the street while waiting to get through the door.
Inside the main event space hosted two stages, so the crowd could watch consecutive performances without downtime. As one band performed on the first stage, another band set up on the second stage, ready to play as soon as the previous set concluded. Analog visual effects group Digital Awareness projected colorful visuals of the performance on televisions on the stage and on the wall behind the musicians. Vendors sold clothes, prints, and bionicles made out of recycled game consoles in a side room.
Saturday headliner Joyer brought energy during their country-shoegaze set at the end of the night, as the audience danced along to the jangly tunes from their newest album, “On the Other End of the Line…” Although the “East Coast” band consists of members based in New York and Philadelphia, they have been involved in the Boston music scene for years and return to a local music festival in Somerville as part of a larger New England music diaspora. Sunday’s headliner, Guppy, a band started at Emerson College and now based in Los Angeles, is another example of local musicians rediscovering their roots at Someday Fest.
Other highlights from the weekend included Boston’s Pew Pew, which just released its first EP, “Purgatory.” The fourpiece delivered regimental, pulsating drums behind buzzing guitar riffs. They played their newly released reverb-soaked songs, which they call “illegal music” focusing on guilt and impurity. The band created a powerful post-punk sound in all sorts of ways, even taking a screwdriver to their guitar strings for one track. Despite the musicians facing the back of the stage for much of the set, Pew Pew brought unmatched energy to the crowd.
While many bands were noisy, others were more toned down. The Clearwater Swimmers, a self-described “slow rock band,” strummed sway-worthy folk rock. They played a few previously unreleased tunes with their regulars, mixing straight shoegaze songs with tracks steeped in country twang.
Fortuna 500, a staple Somerville band which helped organize the event, played their iconic garage country. Not even a cast on his wrist could stop lead singer Cole Triedman from shredding on his banjo. The bandmates, who live in the same house and were dubbed “the band that put Somerville on the map” in their introduction, drew an enthusiastic group for the unique celebration of local music.
Gill Aharon, pianist and owner of the Lilypad, the music club and art gallery in Inman Square, served as an emergency fill-in when the original Saturday opener Bong Wish dropped out of the lineup. Aharon performs regularly on Wednesdays, leading the Gill Aharon Trio from behind a Kawai grand piano at his club. For the Someday Fest gig, he slimmed down the presentation, employing an electric keyboard while improvising free jazz with percussionist Randy Wooten.
The largest ensemble of the festival might have been the eight-piece Le Prestige. A combination of guitar, vibraphone, accordion, standup bass, drums, and no less than three saxophone players crafted a danceable groove for the afternoon crowd on Sunday.
Other performers included psychedelic folk trio Hereboy, New Hampshire-based indie folk band Watson Park, noise rockers Their Treasure, “farm emo” group Tiberius, singer-songwriter Nora Meier, honky tonkers Wilted On The Vine, new Sidebody offshoot project Mirth Snow, folk and soul artist Kimaya Diggs, ‘90s alt rock-inspired Salty Greyhound, puppy rock trailblazers Puppy Problems and emo-adjacent rocker Raavi.
Said lead organizer Ryan DiLello: “Such an inspiring and fulfilling weekend. I’m so grateful to everyone who helped make it happen. We’ll be back next year!”
Additional reporting provided by Michael Gutierrez.
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