Going to Scion Garage Fest in Lawrence this year was like watching an incredible mix tape come to life right before my very eyes.

Dozens of bands from around the world took the stage at various venues around town for about 8 hour straight. The Clean, The Gories, The Raveonettes, King Khan and the Shrines….this festival had it all. It supported local venues, which made me happy, AND it was free (free!). I had a hard time deciding which bands to see, but ended up spending all of my time at Liberty Hall. I feel a little bad for not getting out to the other venues, but all the bands I really wanted to see were at Liberty.

I could not believe that a festival of this magnitude only had one local band lined up. That was probably my ONLY complaint about the festival. This is Lawrence, and every venue’s show should have started with one of our many amazing local bands. But lucky for us, the one local band was Rooftop Vigilantes, and they did not disappoint.

I hadn’t seen them before, but knew they were going to be rowdy. What I didn’t expect was that they would blow the roof off of Liberty Hall. Seriously, I heard these guys playing LOUD while I was walking down 7th street (which is nice if you were stuck in the Will Call line outside, it made for a good preview).

They represented the Lawrence music scene well. They were rowdy, chatty with the crowd, and played hard and fast. But best of all, they were LOUD. I thought “Yowza, I feel bad for whoever has to follow these guys.”

The Lawrence crowd loved them right back. As people started filtering in they were already dancing and eager to get their garage fest on.

Slowly throughout the evening more and more people started filtering in. You had folks clutching their PBR cans, nodding to the music, right next to folks clutching their kids, swaying to the music. And before I knew it, Best Coast took the stage to an absolutely packed and deliriously happy crowd at Liberty Hall.

Oh Best Coast, way to make the Lawrence crowd fall in love with you. Not only did they pay homage to Love Garden (where they noted they bought records and played with the cats), but then THIS adorable thing happened:

The true magical moment of the night was when Best Coast brought a nine year-old fan onstage with them. The lead singer started talking to her from the stage “How old are you…nine? You TWEETED me?….well THANK you!” Then, she brought the young fan onstage and serenaded her. As if Best Coast weren’t sugary and cute enough… That little girl stood there in all her innocence and won our hearts over. This was going to make her year (possibly her decade). And what a hip young girl she was! She donned a Bottleneck t-shirt, and when the drummer gave her a tambourine, she kept a perfect beat with it throughout the whole song. I was impressed. I can’t wait to see this little girl’s future band.

Watch the magic happen here:

After that much cute I needed some air. The set was so sweet I’m pretty sure we all left with an extra cavity or two.

I had a tough decision to make. Go see King Khan and the Shrines at the Bottleneck or watch The Raveonettes. I ended up seeing The Raveonettes because they don’t come this way as often, and also the King Khan show had become one of the many moments during the night that shows became one-in-one-out.

I was thrilled to see The Raveonettes perform. I remember playing their albums on KJHK way back in the day, and was excited to see what they’d bring to Lawrence.

What they brought were two extra band members (who didn’t play on EVERY song) and a whole lot of sexiness.

Here’s what they opened their set with:

What I liked about The Raveonettes was the glamor they brought to the night. I wasn’t expecting that. I also wasn’t expecting it to feel that sultry. They know garage rock, they know how to make a lot of noise, but they also know when to turn down the lights, kick off the high heels and perform a sultry little number with just the two of them.

I’m not going to lie. It felt a little romantic. They even brought two extra band members to help spread the love around. And forgive me, but I couldn’t help but sway a little while I gazed up at them from the pit down below.

I was expecting a night of mayhem, tom-foolery, and obnoxious behavior. But it was nice to see those little sweet (Best Coast) and romantic (Raveonettes) moments peppered in. My only regret is that I didn’t get to the other venues. I hope you will share your garage fest experiences with me, because surely this was the concert event of the year in Lawrence.