Bryan Jackson Music Fest
The Treasure Coast music scene suffered a tragic blow on October 30, 2013, and unfortunately, South Florida had something to do with it. The emocore group Ghost Cat was traveling north from a show in Lake Worth when a motorist driving the wrong way in 95 plowed head-on into the band’s SUV. Two of the band members survived serious injuries, and bassist Bryan Jackson was ejected from the backseat and killed on impact.
“He was all-around the most lovable guy in our music scene,” recalls his friend Zack Jones, who performs with jangly rockers Gravel Kings. “A lot of people are angry, but he was so chill. Every time he was with somebody, he made them feel like they were close.”
Three months after Jackson’s death, Jones hosted a memorial concert, where about 1,000 friends, fans and music lovers turned up to celebrate Jackson’s life. And this past January, Jones launched an official tribute concert, the Bryan Jackson Music Festival, which busted the doors of Fort Pierce’s Bottom’s Up Raw Bar and Grille with some 4,000 attendees. “It was a sea of people for that town,” Jones says. “It was unheard of. It felt like playing Bonnaroo.”
For the second annual fest—titled Bryan Jackson Music Festival, Episode II, in a Star Wars font appropriate for this movie season—Jones is more prepared. It will be hosted January 9 at St. Lucie County Fairgrounds, where 35 bands in genres ranging from punk, hardcore and indie to folk, country and reggae will perform on three stages.
Ghost Cat circa 2013
Local audiences who make the hour-long drive from West Palm Beach to Port St. Lucie will be rewarded with a comprehensive survey of the Treasure Coast scene, a robust community despite the fact that the region has roughly one venue for original local bands. Ghost Cat, naturally, will headline, along with The Sweet Escape—aka Bryan Jackson’s first band—and Fort Pierce staples like Break the Hero, The Humdingers, Catalogues, Church Girls and Jones’ own Gravel Kings. South Florida will be well represented with Wake Up, Sweet Bronco, Lavola, The Whiskey Wasps, Gallimimus and Killmama. Always Wanted War, a hardcore act from Germany that toured with Ghost Cat, will perform as well in an uber-rare Florida appearance.
Tickets cost $10 in advance or at the gate, and the event includes a craft show, art expo, skate ramp, a full liquor and beer bar and some 15 food trucks, all culminating an EDM paint party. To purchase tickets or for more information, visit bryanjacksonmusicfestival.com.
~ John Thomason
