DromFest ’24 Has Coaxed ’80s and ’90s Bands to Come Out and Play – The Village Voice

When Al Crisafulli launched Dromedary Records out of his apartment in Lodi, New Jersey, in 1993, little did he know that 31 years later, the small imprint he created to put out his friends’ records would not only be surviving but thriving as well. 

However, through the wisdom of hindsight, Crisafulli has learned that the best way for him to truly enjoy this legacy is to simply have fun with it, regardless of the financial outcome. 

“I think the priorities are different now than they were then,” he tells the Voice, noting that the label has released classic albums from such groups as Footstone, the Mommyheads, and Stuyvesant over the past three decades. “In 1993, I hoped Dromedary would become my full-time job, my career, and would enable me to sell enough records that the bands on Dromedary could make decent money as well. Today I have a career [in sports memorabilia] that has nothing to do with Dromedary, so Dromedary is just a fun creative thing I do. The priorities are to enjoy it, to turn some people on to underground music, and maybe to occasionally contribute to a cause that’s important to me. So I think if you’d told 1993 me what 2024 Dromedary would look like, I’d be disappointed. But when 2024 me thinks about what the objective was in 1993, I think maybe I was a little misdirected. The 1993 me would not understand, I don’t think, the joy I get out of immersing myself in music just for the sheer enjoyment of the experience.”

Last summer, Crisafulli implemented this outlook into kinetic motion with the first annual DromFest, a weekend-long getaway festival that was created to pay homage not only to Dromedary Records but to the scene from which it arose, in the early ’90s, which will be happening again the weekend of August 30 up in Catskill, New York, at the Avalon Lounge. 

“So last year was our 30th anniversary,” Crisafulli, who currently resides in Kingston with his wife, Sandy, explains. “We felt like Dromedary is a tiny little micro-indie, but we’ve been around for a while and we’ve put out some really good records. So we felt it was worth having a party, but I didn’t want to do it in New Jersey, I wanted to do it Upstate. A lot of the bands who were on Dromedary over the years were bands that were more popular in New Jersey. So how do I get them? How do I get people to come here? And the answer to that was, well, I’ve gotta have bands besides Dromedary bands, so let’s turn this into a sort of celebration of all the music from back in the day and people who have been at it for a long time or bands who have sort of retired. And so we coaxed a few out of retirement last year. We had Das Damen play, we had Lotion there, Madder Rose played. It was a really, really good time. And you know, the cool thing about it was the vibe over the weekend was just so positive, and everybody really had so much fun, that word got around. So there was one artist in particular who told me last year that they couldn’t play but if I did it again this year they would play. And it turned out they couldn’t play [laughs]. But I started to explore this again, and I made a list of bands from back then to see who I can coax out of retirement.”

“The bands were as excited to be together and see each other play as the people who came to the show were excited to see them.”

Crisafulli might not have procured the act that provided the catalyst for this second annual DromFest, but this year’s lineup for the three-day event more than makes up for its absence. Much like its predecessor, the 2024 lineup for the festival is a dream bill for those of us who were raised on college radio in the mid-to-late ’80s and early-to-mid ’90s, teeming with such names as Sleepyhead; the Poem Rocket; Moviola; the Figgs; Chris Brokaw and Thalia Zedek, of Come; King Missile (playing under their old aegis, Dog Fly Religion); Antietam; Scrawl; Tuscadero; Babe the Blue Ox; and, perhaps most astoundingly, New York City post-grunge greats Cell, who haven’t performed live since they broke up, in 1995.

“Cell would not have reunited were it not for Al,” explains Cell frontman Ian James. “My bands Flower and French played at last year’s festival and have been friends with Al for years. We had a great time, saw old friends, and felt generally loved and appreciated — something I don’t think that we ever felt in Cell. With Das Damen reuniting for the festival last year [a band featuring Cell’s former bass player Dave Motamed and former manager on drums, Lyle Hysen], and enjoying seeing them after so many decades — a band I last saw at CBGB in 1989 or so — it struck me that Cell would likely receive a similar welcoming and loving reception. Keith [Nealy], Cell’s drummer, has steadfastly refused to reunite for years, saying he was ‘out of the business,’ but I contacted him and I’m sure word got to him through various other channels that if Cell was ever going to reunite, DromFest 2024 was going to be the time and place to do it. It didn’t hurt that Al has been pestering me for two years to convince Cell to reunite, with my response being: ‘Never! It’s impossible and out of the question!!’ Keith proved me wrong and had been won over by hearing about how lovely Drom 30 was. He agreed to reunite to play this year’s festival.”

Most of the bands who spoke to the Voice about playing DromFest credit Crisafulli for providing such a welcoming space for underground groups both young and old to convene and kick ass, convincing them to quickly sign up to perform over the weekend. “I sort of became aware of Dromedary in the ’90s through osmosis, having been a regular at Maxwells in Hoboken,” declares Lysa Opfer, bassist and keyboardist for Sunday’s headlining act, Aeon Station, the celebrated offshoot of New Jersey indie rock icons the Wrens. “I didn’t know him personally yet, but I remember Al putting on a great annual festival at Maxwells for the label, sort of the precursor to DromFest. Always a party! I finally got to actually meet Al when my old band, Overlake, was looking for a drummer. Al put us in touch with Paul Andrew, who would be Overlake’s drummer for the next two years. I finally got to really know Al and Sandy at the annual Yo La Tengo Hanukkah shows at Bowery. We would meet up, hang out in ‘our spot’ on the balcony, and talk about moving up to Kingston, New York. And now we bug him to put out our stuff.”

“I was aware of the label but only got to know it more through getting to know Al Crisafulli, mostly through my playing a lot at Tubby’s, the music venue in Kingston, New York,” explains Brokaw, who will be playing on Friday night, alongside Saratoga’s the Figgs and the Royal Arctic Institute. “Al asked me to play this year and one nice thing was that he asked me to do something I hadn’t done in a while, which I decided would be my rock trio, something I hadn’t done in two or three years. That inspired me to assemble a new version, with Clint Conley and Luther Gray. We’ve been rehearsing and it’s been really exciting.”

“I heard about Dromedary when Al reached out to me and asked if they could release a record with me. I said yes,” says King Missile’s John S. Hall. “I saw a posting for last year’s [DromFest] and I mentioned to Al that I’d be open to doing this year’s, if he decided to do it again. I was asked, and I immediately said yes. There really wasn’t a decision process. I thought it would be fun to get out of town for the weekend.”

“We started an Instagram account after Velocity Girl asked us to play with them in December 2023, and Al reached out through the account and invited us personally,” proclaims Phil Satlof, bassist for the celebrated Teen-Beat band Tuscadero. “We saw that Jenny Toomey had played last year and we checked in with Mark Robinson [of Teen-Beat Records], he said we should do it and we always follow his advice.”

“I was chatting with Al about getting on his radio show sometime and he brought up the fest and whether it could be a good fit for the Figgs,” recalls Figgs bassist/vocalist Pete Donnelly. “It didn’t take me more than a few minutes to get the other guys on board. We’re psyched for this. The Figgs typically play the capital region once or twice a year. But we’ve been dying to play Catskill and more Hudson Valley locales. When the opportunity arose to join this DromFest lineup, it was a no-brainer. Killer group of bands and performers to be a part of.”

One of the acts on the bill that Crisafulli is most excited for is Scrawl, the legendary Columbus, Ohio–based indie rock outfit formed by four talented women, in 1985. “My baptism to Scrawl was with the Velvet Hammer record that came out on Simple Machines, back in 1994,” he explains. “It’s just a great album. And I reached out to them and I thought there was no way they’d do it because I didn’t know anybody in that band. So I just got some contact information and reached out to [bassist] Sue [Harshe], and she had heard about last year’s show and that it was a lot of fun. So I guess they have some friends out here and they decided to do it, and they said yes really quick. I don’t know if they ever played out here in the Hudson Valley. I’m sure they’ve played New York back in the day, and places like CB’s and the Continental and Maxwells in Hoboken, and all this. But I don’t think they’ve ever been here, and I’m super excited about that. In fact, that whole day on Saturday is just crazy, because a lot of those bands are friends. Karen Kuhl and Antietam and Thalia Zedek and Scrawl, they’ve all been friends forever. So it’s going to be really neat to have them all playing on the same day. That’s one of the things that happened last year, is that the bands were as excited to be together and see each other play as the people who came to the show were excited to see them. We’re trying to recreate that a little bit.”

“In terms of being listeners, the way my brother and sister’s generation moved from garage rock that fueled sock hops to less challenging sounds as they aged — I don’t see that with the ’90s rockers and their audiences. They seem capable of having a thirst for new sounds while enjoying the muscle memory of old sounds.”

“Tara Key, from Antietam, was the intermediary,” relates Harshe, in reference to Scrawl signing on to perform. “She brokered the deal and Al Crisafulli closed it! We had heard amazing things about last year’s festival, and a weekend in Hudson Valley to play with and see loads of bands seemed ideal. It sounds like DromFest’s atmosphere is relaxed and communal — musicians and festival attendees hanging out together, listening to a lot of music, drinking beer. I’m guessing the weekend might feel a little bit like a class reunion.”

“I think I last encountered Sue and [Scrawl guitarist and lead vocalist] Marcy [Mays] when all of us collapsed together into a heap on the floor as I was playing an absolutely disheveled version of, I believe, ‘Feel Like Making Love’ with them during their encore at Bard College, circa 1989,” recalls Key. “They feel like home to me — home having been Louisville, in the adjacent Bluegrass to their Buckeye — and they are one of my favorite bands, hands down.” 

And speaking of Antietam, another group Crisafulli is most excited for that agreed to play the festival again, 2024 marks a milestone for that celebrated Kentucky-born indie rock outfit — their 40th anniversary. Yet, according to Key, the notion of DromFest as some kind of DIY trip down memory lane is a bit of a misnomer.

“Here’s the thing — this whole idea of DromFest being solely a nostalgia trip … I don’t like to see it through that lens,” she explains. “I prefer to think of it as reaffirmation. For one thing, Antietam has never stopped being a band for the last 40 years, and I do not mourn the loss of any particular era; I’m still writing the story. As are many others on the bill that weekend. And the audience that I saw last year and anticipate seeing this year included many people I see at shows all the time. So any positioning of the event solely as a vet convention or a gathering of the old tribes doesn’t really do it justice.… I think a unique quality for all of us who started playing in bands seriously during punk rock and indie rock — whatever the hell that nomenclature means — is that many of us have continued being players and listeners, often by fitting that passion around life beyond the salad days. My friend’s kids share an appreciation for their parents’ favorite bands, and they also introduce their folks to what they are listening to. That’s a much different dynamic than my dad trying to explain to me how awesome Jimmy Durante was, and, in turn, me proselytizing for Paul Revere and the Raiders! Now, maybe they/we even jam with their kids — I’m talking about you, Beatrix Madell.

“It’s a little different for our generations. I add the plural, as [husband and bandmate] Tim [Harris] and I were already two rings around the tree of bandom before we met up with our buddies in the ’90s. It was more common for folks who were in ’60s garage bands to stop playing and move on from music. And, in terms of being listeners, the way my brother and sister’s generation moved from garage rock that fueled sock hops to less challenging sounds as they aged — I don’t see that with the ’90s rockers and their audiences. They seem capable of having a thirst for new sounds while enjoying the muscle memory of old sounds. They are up for a challenge.”

“Lots of longtime friends of mine are playing, mostly from the East Coast but some beyond,” adds Brokaw. “I have a lot of far-flung friends from the indie rock world and most of us are not touring all the time or out in clubs every night anymore, so this is a nice opportunity to gather. But I wouldn’t describe this as ‘era specific,’ nor nostalgic. Many of the bands, players, writers, etc., that started in the late ’80s or ’90s never stopped, so I don’t think of them in that sort of light.”

“I would rather not think of myself as a representative of the early ’90s era of music,” admits Hall. “But I am too young to have been a part of the ’60s and ’70s, and too old to be part of this era’s music. King Missile, or Dog Fly Religion, is working on a new album now, and I hope it won’t seem too retro, although I don’t expect it will come across as modern, either. To the extent that the bands in this festival are from the same era — and I would hope some of them are newer than that — I would imagine that some of them will be doing at least some new stuff. Our set is about half old and half new, but most of the older stuff is from before the ’90s, from the first two releases. I’m sure that some of the bands will honor music from that early ’90s and late ’80s time period. But I hope the festival will be eclectic, because that’s what I prefer. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m looking forward to seeing what the weekend brings.”

“We have a lot of people now, including working people, who are really struggling to feed their families and to pay their rent.”

“There was a whole community of underground rock bands when a lot of this music was still outsider art and not things that were driven by clicks and likes and how many followers you have,” says Crisafulli. “It was just purely the music and who that music touched. The whole community and how you discovered this music was so much more fan-intensive. You had to seek this stuff out, it wasn’t being served up to you every day by an algorithm. And I think because of that, a lot of the music feels more authentic. And a lot of the people who were making that music have never really stopped. They’re still at it, they’re still doing this. They’re doing it differently, as they’re not trying to make a living at it. They’re not going on tour for a whole summer the way bands used to. But they’re still putting things out there. And I think if you look up and down the list of bands who are playing DromFest, it’s filled with people who have been at it for a long time. It’s not about resurrecting these old bands for a nostalgia thing. A lot of these groups are still out there and still making new music. It’s so, so much fun to see what they are doing and for everybody to share that. It’s probably my favorite part of this whole thing.”

In addition to the veteran bands on hand for DromFest, there’s also an impressive slew of newer acts, including Cathedral Ceilings, Matt Hunter and the Dusty Fates, Karyn Kuhl & the Gang, and Overheard, all of whom are current recording artists for the Dromedary Records label, not to mention non-Drom modern acts like Dew Claw and the Human Hearts. 

“Al and Sandy are longtime champions of the underground — obviously, first and foremost through Dromedary, but also just as people who love seeing little bands in little places,” says Cathedral Ceilings’ drummer, Nick D’Amore. “That they can both still be excited for and excited by local music in local venues is a beautiful thing. The fest is really a testament both to their love of music and the people who make it, as well as their own hand in bringing some of that music to the people. There are plenty of bands at the fest that aren’t Dromedary bands, just bands they love. Last year was a total blast, and this year should be no different.”

L: Nick D’Amore; R: Becky Cote

“For us, music has always been about connecting with other people, and we’ve found the best way to do that is to show up for one another,” adds Overheard guitarist/vocalist Erin Barth-Dwyer, whose Kingston-based group is no doubt the youngest on the bill (their debut LP, Intertwined, comes out on Dromedary in the fall). “We’ve met so many incredible and talented people through participating in and attending local shows — many of which have been with Dromedary. At last year’s 30th anniversary, we had the opportunity to meet and hear many of the bands that Al has worked with and supported over the years. Attending last year’s celebration was a really pleasant first-hand look at the community this label has developed, so being a part of it feels like being part of a family in a way. This year’s festival is just a big ol’ reunion of sorts.”

Another key element making DromFest such an anticipated event is its location. Though Dromedary has strong roots in Jersey, many of the artists we spoke to are looking forward to playing the Hudson Valley area, given the region’s rich history in rock ’n’ roll, especially coming off the recent 55th anniversary of Woodstock. 

“DromFest adds to the diversity of music going on here that attracts and involves locals as well as people outside the region,” says Malanga. “There really does seem to be an audience for every style and size of fest. There are DIY experimental fests alongside larger fests with more well-known acts. They all seem to coexist and find their specific audiences. DromFest is no different. It’s fun to have bands come to our area who may have only played NYC before, or maybe only toured from NYC to Boston.”

“Since we’ve moved up here we’ve been blown away by just how many incredibly talented people are up here, making art and music,” Opfer, of Aeon Station, writes via email. “A friend of ours, Mike Amari, prints a bi-monthly show paper, so you can really get a sense of HOW MUCH STUFF IS GOING ON AT ALL TIMES. Venues like Tubby’s in Kingston, and the Avalon in Catskill, are truly making this area a destination for touring musicians and locals alike. I am so grateful that places like this exist, almost in my backyard. It’s bananas.”

“The Hudson Valley is rich in history,” notes the Figgs’ Donnelly. “Washington Irving, Rip Van Winkle, the Storm King sculpture park … unbelievable stuff has prospered in this area. For good reason — it’s beautiful, unbelievably beautiful. It’s the corridor between NYC and Montreal. I think, in recent times, no different than ever really, but the attraction is the country and small-town living that so many people prefer over the unrelenting energy of the Metro area. Yet we’re still connected to the lifeblood of the city. The Hudson is our Mississippi River, carrying that artistic fervor up and down its banks.”

“I have been coming Upstate, Ulster and Delaware and Dutchess, as often as possible since I moved to Brooklyn almost 40 years ago,” says Tim Thomas, of Babe the Blue Ox. “I instantly recognized the vibe, and I loved the rolling hills and farms. Reminded me of Illinois and Minnesota, where my grandparents worked the land. But I also recognized that rural life is hard — hard in the winter, during storms. Hard to make money. But that’s true going back to the beginning of modern times. Cities had opportunities, but stress and filth. I feel like people are always rediscovering the rural way of life, but it’s no piece of cake. Much easier to visit Upstate New York than to make a career here! But it’s always been a destination. People who tire of NYC are drawn to the country. Upstate New York is NYC’s ‘country,’ and it’s easy to get to — lots of history. I doubt there are any musicians or artists in NYC who haven’t at least once fantasized about moving there. We love it. We were all lucky to find homes in Brooklyn long ago, or we’d probably be living in a town near the Hudson by now!”

Courtesy 12XU

“Being based in Kingston, New York, we are very familiar with the growth of creative communities in the Hudson Valley as a whole,” says Barth-Dwyer. “We’d be remiss to not acknowledge gentrification and the negative impacts of that in this area, which has contributed to the saturated housing market. The volume to which so many folks flocked to the Hudson Valley during the pandemic came with its downsides and its upsides, the upsides being quite a resurgence of creative activity from new artists moving here from NYC, California, and so many places in between. Some of these folks have organized their own DIY shows, like the one that connected us with our newest member-drummer, Kenny. So many of the folks who found their new homes in this area have successfully done so with a lot of care and consideration to building community.”

That sense of community is what drives Crisafulli to make DromFest so accessible to the public, namely in the affordability of its ticket pricing. In fact, the most expensive ticket you can buy is the $100 VIP weekend pass, which includes access to all of the weekend’s events; priority admission to the screening of the Silkworm documentary, Couldn’t You Wait – The Story of Silkworm; a Dromedary sampler CD; and a free copy of the new Sleepyhead 7-inch. But most importantly, the purchase of a VIP pass comes with a $10 donation to the Community Action of Greene County Food Pantry, in an effort to shine a light on the other side of life in the upper Hudson Valley area, one where a good, healthy meal isn’t just a Zelle away at the latest trendy artisan bistro that pops up in towns like Hudson, New Paltz, or Beacon. 

“We had a huge influx of people moving up from downstate after Covid and it drove up the price of housing,” explains Florence Lorenz, executive director of the Columbia-Greene Addiction Coalition, who runs the pantry receiving donations from DromFest. “A lot of the houses were purchased for either people to live in or as short-term rentals. A lot of these homes and apartment buildings were purchased and renovated, but also became out of the price range for people who were already struggling. So we have a lot of people now, including working people, who are really struggling to feed their families and to pay their rent. There isn’t a homeless shelter in Greene County, so our social services put people in motels, a lot of them were former seasonal resorts. And even now a lot of them are considered permanent housing, even though they aren’t winterized. So the need for food banks in the county is great; we are one of many food pantries doing work with a network of food pantries to try and coordinate services within the county. But for our pantry alone, we are serving about 188 families a month and the need continues to grow.”

“I think in all of the communities, food insecurity cuts across all demographics,” says Crisafulli. “One of the things that I read was that in the Hudson Valley in general, the estimate is that 8% of families are experiencing food insecurity. And that the number in Greene County doubles, and that’s where the show is, because Catskill is part of the county. So to me, it’s nice to have an event like this and to celebrate the things that we’re celebrating. But it’s also important to recognize the community that we’re a part of and some of the issues that the community is having. And I feel like, especially with people, we are really encouraging people who are from out of town and coming up for the weekend to consider buying the VIP package rather than buying the lower-cost package, just because there’s a donation there for the food bank, and hopefully we can raise awareness and a little bit of money to help the community that we’re gonna be in.”

Dawn Sutter Madell

“Longtime residents are definitely feeling the pain that comes with gentrification, and many of them are local musicians and artists,” adds Malanga. “That the people who’ve lived in an area the longest become victims of these changes instead of being able to enjoy them, or even have a say in them, is unconscionable. I also realize I’m part of that gentrifying just by my relatively new presence here, no matter how much I hate what it does or try to offset it. So residents do need help, as housing and other basic life needs just skyrocket, locally and nationally. The food bank is a great organization here in Catskill, as well as our Community Fridge, the Hudson/Catskill Housing organization, and mutual aid endeavors.”

“No one should ever go hungry,” asserts Donnelly. “It’s hard to witness prices of basic needs go through the roof while there’s record profits. It makes food banks even more vital to our communities. Art has never been able to financially sustain itself. Those making it may find themselves needing help. And there’s no shame in that. Let’s hope we can make a difference for anyone in need.”

“Food banks and community fridges are seriously underrated and quite underfunded staples to any community,” says Barth-Dwyer. “There’s a deeper conversation to have about why communal services like food banks are necessary for so many folks to survive that isn’t dissimilar to why small labels and venues are important for the existence of small music scenes. The level of economic disparity in our community has affected entire generations of people. As the middle class is quickly vanishing, services like food banks offer some relief to folks who are seriously struggling keeping their heads above water in this climate.”

For Crisafulli, the Avalon Lounge serves as the quintessential venue to bring together all of the elements he hopes will make this year’s DromFest another successful venture.

“We’re fortunate up here in the Hudson Valley that there’s a lot of really good music venues, but the Avalon is one of the very best,” he states. “And it’s a perfect location for what we’re doing. Not only is it a dedicated music space, but it’s also a Korean restaurant and there’s a lounge space upstairs. So there’s lots of room for different kinds of activities. We can do things out front, we can do things upstairs, and so that’s helpful. But also the Avalon is just cool. They provide a safe space for marginalized creatives year-round. They do all kinds of offbeat, off-center music and art events, and that’s the kind of thing we wanna support. And Catskill, that little stretch in town is just fantastic. It’s got Spike’s Record Rack two blocks away. The radio station has a studio right there on that same street. There’s the folks at Return Brewing, who we are co-sponsoring with, they’ve got a tap room that they’re opening up right across the street from the Avalon. There’s just a lot of really cool, arty independent businesspeople who are starting really great endeavors right there on Main, that one stretch of road. So it’s a cool place to spend the weekend.  And the Avalon is such a cool room. This is a small space, I think it’s maybe 150 cap. But it’s the kind of place to do this. I mean, this is the kind of room that all of these bands grew up playing in. Even the ones like King Missile and Cell that wound up playing much bigger spaces at the height of their popularity. To me, what we’re trying to do is get back to this place where it was an underground thing. And so getting everybody into this little underground venue and doing this little intimate show is really a cool thing.”

As for the artists scheduled to perform at DromFest, their hope is that attendees will experience the same compound of community and discovery that propelled their careers in the ’80s and ’90s. “I view this music-making as a continuum: The flow is still here and the sounds are just as true,” explains Antietam’s Key. “There is, however, also a special power granted to you as a performer when your crew gathers in such a special way. It’s like getting multiball. For those bands who are reuniting, I look forward to having a repeat of the feeling I had during such sets from last year — to be lucky enough to share in the kinetics when the switchboard is reconnected. And I also look forward to hearing music I have never heard. Al honors those of us who were jamming 30 years ago, with respect for the network we all, fans and bands, created — he is amazing in that way. He gets what made the music our bands made and are still making special, and a critical component of that was the community, which he and the Avalon so generously provide here.”

“We would love for people to feel encouraged and inspired to continue to show support to small venues hosting intimate shows that allow bands like us, and many of the bands playing this festival, the opportunity to grow and have a shot at one day possibly making a career out of music, if not the almost spiritual satisfaction that being in a small room of devoted and passionate artists gives,” proclaims Barth-Dwyer. “Attendees will see and feel the deep love and support that Dromedary Records has nurtured for over 30 years and will continue to nurture, dare I say, forever! That’s why we say ‘DIY til you die!!’”

“I want people to maintain faith that just because we’re older it doesn’t mean that everything we do needs to be centered on nostalgia,” declares James, as Cell returns to active duty with a fantastic new single, “Free People,” released on August 23. “Sure, some of it is absolutely nostalgic, which is why we probably have to play [1993’s] ‘Fall’ for this show, but we’ve all grown, we’re more kind, and we’ve dropped a lot of the competitive and other BS we were saddled with in our youth. Most of these bands have all moved on in some important way, and for some of us, our greatest achievements yet lay ahead.”

“People are definitely excited to see some of the bands they haven’t seen in decades or who are re-forming for this fest,” says Malanga. “That’s probably the primary draw, so we’re hoping they also stick around and dig on current bands [waves frantically] and bands they’re unfamiliar with. But knowing the kind of music enthusiast this fest attracts, I have no doubt that will be the case. Judging from last year, it will be a very fun, joyous, exciting atmosphere of people rocking to music they know and don’t know, getting to hang in our beautiful jewel of a venue, the Avalon Lounge.”  ❖

Ron Hart is the editor-in-chief of Rock and Roll Globe. As a freelancer, he has contributed to numerous publications, including Billboard, Spin, Rolling Stone, Pitchfork, Vice, and Relix, among others. Find him on X at @mistertribune.

DromFest ’24
The Avalon Lounge, 29 Church Street, Catskill, NY
Friday, August 30 – Sunday, September 1