Vagabond Collective's Wild Frontier Fest proves to be a success

With a constant line out the door and blaring music that could be heard from a block away, Mohawk hosted a day long festival that provided the perfect soundtrack for the sunny Sunday afternoon and the later cool but sweat-filled night. The first Wild Frontier Festival, hosted by Vagabond Collective, showcased over 20 bands of local talent.

Ricky Valenzuela and Cory Green are the two masterminds behind the record/music promotions company, Vagabond Collective. The idea for this formed when the two were part of a high school program called BlastBeat which helped students develop entrepreneurial skills in the music business.

"(We) participated our junior and senior years coming in first place both years," said Valenzuela. "So after high school ended, we really wanted to keep going. It's an addictive feeling seeing everyone at an event that you created."

And progressively, the events they were throwing started to become more elaborate. So one day when Valenzuela and Green were bouncing ideas off each other, the idea for a large music festival started to come together.

"The fest was the first crazy idea we had," Valenzuela said. "Our goal was to bring all this amazing new art and music together at one place. We pretty much just picked bands that we love, the best of each genre, and bands that complemented each other well."

Thus Wild Frontier Fest was born.

Doors opened at 2:30 p.m. Music enthusiasts of all ages hung around the Red River venue, bouncing between the inside and outside stages to enjoy the primarily indie pop bands including the experimental Canadian headliners, Holy F---. Even though the set times ran a bit off schedule, Valenzuela feels Frontier Fest's first run went pretty smoothly.

"I don't think it could have gone any better considering we sold out the club. I think about how major an accomplishment it is to get 841 people anywhere, especially to a music show, and especially in Austin where there are literally great shows almost every night of the week, but we definitely had a heavyweight lineup," said Valenzuela.

The lineup, which included local favorites Quiet Company, Follow that Bird!, and L.A.X, introduced the crowd to some of the newer unknown bands like Whoa Palamino and Sphynx. Sphynx consists of three childhood friends, Cory Dennis, Aaron Miller and Todd Harris, who have been playing in bands together for around twelve years. Wearing hand-painted costumes, this three piece completed the package with their elaborate synth pop.

San Marcos band, Zlam Dunk definitely provided the much needed energy as the audience started to become weary from dealing with the heat for the past six hours. The dance punk band motivated the crowd to dance and start a mosh pit. The mosh pit became so crazy that some of the front crowd members were thrown on the stage. No one was injured, and the show went on.

The band was recording their new album with producer Frenchie Smith during the entire weekend but took a break to perform their set at the fest. Guitarist Brett Thorne thinks that's why the band was so crazy on stage.

"We had a little bit of cabin fever so we cut loose," said Thorne.

Zlam Dunk was actually one of the first bands to perform at an early Vagabond Collective show.

"We played one of their first shows in a skate park to like ten people and now they're booking a whole venue so it's really cool," vocalist Charlie Day said.

Now that the crazy idea from Valenzuela and Green has come and gone, the team is now thinking of future events with Vegabond Collective.

"Keep an eye out for Wild Frontier Fest 2. This was only the beginning," said Valenzuela. "I'm beyond excited for the opportunities that we'll have now that the fest was a success. Keep your eyes open. We're not stopping any time soon." 

Updated with copy edits 9/14/10