We can not thank you all enough for how much of a success this past weekend was with our biggest and best Dumb Fest yet, even with all of the heat and lung tubes! THANK YOU tremendously to all of the volunteers that made this possible (ESPECIALLY the weeks leading up to the fest where we were thrown some curve balls and hospital visits), and of course to all 50 of the bands who performed, and all of the attendees- those in town who maybe checked out the fest for the first time, and those who drove from far and wide. Thank you!

Be on the lookout for a special Black Sheep Fest announcement coming from our site tomorrow. And we’ll see you next year, Dumb Fest!

Something cool happening in town that we almost forgot to mention on our site is the Springfield Haymarket Festival happening in town today at Douglas Park. The schedule includes some familiar acts to the Black Sheep stage including The Incorporated, and HISO Music Entertainment. There will also be some Black Sheep/Dumb Records representation there as well, you can possibly catch us handing out fliers or CDs for Dumb Fest 4-Ever. The festival is pretty packed all day from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm, let’s take a look at the schedule:

11:00 Opening
11:15 Jason Eklund (Musici)
12:00 AJ Segneri (Speaker)
12:15 The Incorporated! (Music)
1:00 Workshop Session 1
2:00 Jim Dixon (Speaker)
2:15 S.W.I.L.L – the acronym (Music)
3:00 Workshop Session 2
4:00 Brein Redmon (Speaker)
4:15 HISO Music Entertainment (Music)
5:00 Dr. Richard Gilman-Opalsky
5:15 Black Queen
6:00 Closing

You can find a facebook event for the festival right here. Also check out our Springfield shows page possibly for some other shows and events happening in town outside of Southtown.

Last we told you about Discontent Fest happening June 25th and 26th at The Rail II in Peoria. It’s the first year Peoria is hosting that fest, but this year will be the seventh year for long-running Mates Fest which is happening four whole days from April 14th through the 17th. There are a ton of bands playing Mates Fest including Springfield’s own Hospital Job, Our Lady and Livin’ Thing. Check out the bands announced so far below:

All Eyes West (CHI)
Arcade at Midnight (309’r)
Astronomy Class (Peoria)
Better Half (Peoria)
Brief Candles (MKE)
Brody Maag Hits (Peoria)
Chimess (309’r)
Cold Grip (Peoria)
Dirty Rotten Revenge (Bloomington)
Drained (Peoria)
Dry Heave (Champaign-Urbana)
Emily Marie Prewitt (Peoria)
Endless Compromise (Pekin)
Fancy Hawk (Peoria)
The Fantastic Plastics (NYC)
Foolish Belief (Peoria)
Grill Billyenz (Normal)
Hospital Job (Springfield)
Jared Grabb (Peoria)
Juliene and Her Violent Femmes Situation (309’r)
Kelut (Peoria)
Kowabunga! Kid (Champaign)
Livin’ Thing (Springfield)
Memorial For A Dove (Peoria)
Men of Fortune (Peoria)
Motes (Urbana)
The Oceanographers (Peoria)
The Origin Story (Lincoln)
Our Lady (Springfield)
Phantom Noise (Peoria)
Reduced to Instinct (Bloomington)
Rings (Peoria)
Shannon Moore Shepherd (Peoria)
The Siamese Connection (Peoria)
Sonic Comet (309’r)
Surrenderson (CHI/Normal)
Take My Bike, Please (309’r)
Terribly Happy (Peoria)
Thetah (Peoria)
Time Cube (Peoria)
Time Machine Guns (309’r)
Todays Hits (CHI)
Twin Galaxies (Peoria)
Unamused Dave (Germantown Hills)
Undeserving (Central IL)
Untaken Name (Peoria)
Up&At’em (Peoria Heights)
Winder (Bloomington)
Windowlicker (309’r)
Worry (CO)
Yonsei (STL)
Zach Clayton (Peoria)

That’s a lot of bands! And they aren’t even done announcing them yet! Stay updated with band announcements on the Mates Fest 7 facebook event. The fest will be happening at The Rail II and Peoria Pizza Works both in Peoria. The event is also for charity supporting the Peoria Regional Chapter Autism Society of America. Also follow the facebook page for more info on set times, and ticket prices when that info becomes available.

Summer may still seem like a ways off but there are a few summer festivals being announced in the area, including us just recently having announced dates for Dumb Fest 4 happening June 10th, 11th, and 12th of this year. Here is a festival called “Discontent Fest” happening in Peoria on Saturday and Sunday June 25th and 26th this year. It will be hosted at The Rail II in Peoria and features some of the heaviest bands from all over the midwest including Springfield’s own GUSH. Primitive Man (pictured above and on the player below) will also be playing the first day of the fest.

Day 1 (June 25th)
Suppression
Primitive Man
Cold Grip
Guilty Minds
Triac
Forced Opinion
Of Feather & Bone
Cult Leader
Na’Kay
Sea Of Shit
xABRUPTx
Falter
Moral Void
Rings
Oaf
Mace
GUSH
Angelust
Reduced To Instinct
Better Half
Infirmary

Day 2 (June 26th)
Cloud Rat
Ostraca
Kaoru Nagisa
Lifes
Dakhma
Closet Witch
Soul Glo
Gas Up Yr Hearse!!
Time Cube
Drained
Under A Sky So Blue
Clouded
Marcy
Take My Bike… Please
Astronomy Class

For the full lineup for Discontent Fest along with links to bands’ music and more info on tickets and set times, go to the facebook page right here. There might be more bands announced later on!