For three consecutive autumns, local musician and promoter Ricardo Guerrero's annual end-of-summer local showcase -- Death to the Sun -- has ranked among South Florida's best festivals for contemporary and/or experimental rock music.
Just shy of reaching half a decade (and more than a couple months after the actual end of summer), the annual music marathon and unholy rager is about to celebrate its final edition.
"My memories of Death to the Sun are few, to be honest," says Guerrero, who performs breezy acoustic garage pop as This Heart Electric. "I'm always running around like a madman, stage managing, taking drugs, and performing. It's all one big, bright blaring blur."
As you might remember, Guerrero is not one to shy away from griping to Crossfade. But his recollections of this short-lived tradition are not all entirely negative.
"I do remember two-second scenes," Ricardo's continues, "where I would stop to notice the crowd and take a deep appreciative breath. It's beautiful to see something you created and worked so hard to manifest, and it's even more rewarding to see people having a fucking ball and wil'ing out to fucking awesome music!"
Fucking awesome indeed.
Death to the Sun 2012 Lineup
-Bulletproof Tiger
-Claws
-Chrome Dick
-Cop City/Chill Pillars
-Dead Beat Dad
-Devalued
-Dim Past
-Dino Felipe
-Eyelash
-Fourier
-GG Mozart
-Kenny Millions
-Las Tias
-Luma Junger
-Manny Mangos
-Mask Era
-Mothersky
-No Emotion
-New Coke
-Rat Bastard
-Suede Dudes
-The Astrokats
-The Cost
-The Gun Hoes
-The Jellyfish Brothers
-This Heart Electric
-Toad Eyes
-Whorish Boorish
-Xela Zaid
A look at this roster confirms that, much like its previous incarnations, Death to the Sun 2012 is sure to appeal to fans of garage, punk, "indie rock," shoegaze, surf, grunge, metal, partying for 12 hours, belligerent dancing, and publicly disgracing oneself in the name of leisure and sociability.
Death To The Sun 2012. Saturday, November 24. Churchill's Pub, 5501 NE Second Ave., Miami. No cover. Call 305-757-1807 or visit churchillspub.com.
Follow Crossfade on Facebook and Twitter @Crossfade_SFL.
