See 305 Fest's full lineup and set times -- plus Crossfade's interviews with Speedfreak Presents, Merchandise, Torche, Noothgrush, and Dropdead.
Local promotion outfit Speedfreek Presents has been on a serious mean streak lately, delivering a steady stream of otherwise unbooked concerts featuring all manner of brutality from the national hardcore, metal, and extreme music scenes.
The agency was founded in 2011 when Torche drummer and longtime South Florida punk/hardcore contributor Rick Smith started flying out bands that (because of cost, logistics, or fear) never tour down to Miami.
And in a year's time, Speedfreek has not only firmly seized the mantle for promoting hard and heavy music in Dade County. But the team is now planning to unleash a festival unlike anything the Magic City has experienced to date.
After a decade of booking and playing in bands, Smith began to cultivate the Speedfreek brand with semi-regular Blast Night showcases in Miami and Gainesville. After booking West Coast powerviolence legends Despise You's first East Coast tour, he teamed up with scene vet Roger Forbes to bring Providence, Rhode Island's Dropdead to Churchill's Pub last December.
"The unfortunate thing is we have to charge more," Smith half-laments. "They're not $5 punk shows anymore. However, the facts are obvious. We almost always get skipped over when tours pass through the Southeast. The goal is to try and make some legendary shows go down in Miami that wouldn't normally happen on their own."
In keeping with their mission statement to make history, Smith and Forbes have signed on to coordinate this year's 305 Fest, an annual punk and hardcore showcase that has gone through a few casts of coordinators. It's safe to say that the Speedfreek edition of the festival is the most ambitious to date.
305 Fest 2012 Lineup
-Bastard Noise
-Iron Lung
-Dropdead
-Noothgrush
-Failure Face
-Assholeparade
-Torche
-Jacuzzi Boys
-Floor
-Mauser
-Fistula
-Shitstorm
-Black Mayonnaise
-Post Teens
-Merchandise
-Backslider
-Murder Suicide Pact
-Full of Hell
-Church Whip
-House of Lightning
-Rose Cross
-Cellgraft
-440
-Cop City/Chill Pillars
-Heroindod
-Holly Hunt
-Radiation
-Nailbiter
-Sure Charm
-No Qualms
-The Heartstrings
-Teenage Softies
-Shroud Eater
-New Coke
-The Cost
-Alma
-Fourier
-Snakehole
-Life Chain
-Rapturous Grief
-Landbridge
-Meddling Kids
-No Children
-Devalued
-Guerrilleros de Nadie
-Baker Acted
-Slashpine
-Gorilla Pussy
305 Fest 2012, presented by Speedfreek. Friday, July 6, to Sunday, July 8. Churchill's Pub, 5505 NE Second Ave., Miami. Doors open at 4 p.m. on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. Three day passes cost $60 via speedfreak.bigcartel.com. Call 305-757-1807 or visit churchillspub.com.
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