Hollow World Fest 2024: A Day of Heat, Heart, and Incredible Gulf Coast Music

It seems a little odd talking about how much I love live music on a site dedicated to live music. Kinda redundant huh? But the chance to spend an entire beautiful day at an outdoor music festival listening to bands and artists from right here on the Gulf Coast playing the kind of original music I love was a soul filling experience.

Everybody had been putting out good weather vibes all week because the last thing you want at a festival is a storm. Maybe the vibes worked a little too well because there was not a cloud in the sky all day and it was a scorcher. But the early bands and their loyal fans braved the heat and tried to stay hydrated. As did the vendors scattered around Museum Plaza.

Tori Lucia kicked off the day with a solo set. I wrote a little piece about Tori Lucia and the Nitty Gritties here on Scene Pensacola a few weeks ago. Her voice was as lovely as ever and the sound from the stage was excellent. (The sound and lighting were great all day)

Next up, Aumua. (Formerly Panzacola) I've seen these guys live before and I love this band's sound so much! I'm going to sit down with them at some point and talk about their music and get the story behind that name change.

In that last photo, you can see festival founder Zach Huot with his hands full of audio cable. He was bouncing around all day helping taking care of technical problems or whatever else came up. And even in the middle of occasional music fest chaos, he seemed as calm as could be. Cool to see.

Rufus McBlack was next up and brought some energy to the stage.

Honey Daze delivered the Summer vibes. Very cool musical style.

Next up, About to Sweat. And yes, with temps in the 90's and the sun blazing, sweat jokes were made. But man everybody just rolled with it and had a good time.

Feed Lemon surprised me a litte and changed things up a bit with a tie-dyed wearing grunge sound. Ahhh, my youth. Several of the people I was around were super excited for this set.

Alright, now no disrespect to any of the other bands. I found some great new music to listen to for sure and some new artists to follow. That's one reason I love festivals. Finding new favorites. But the after-sundown run of bands was the reason I was excited about this fest going in. And the night started great with No Complications, a band I've been hearing a lot about recently and have wanted to see live. Loved it!

What this next guy can do with a guitar is legendary. It's been a while since I've seen The John Hart Project live and I'm so glad they were on this lineup. Plus this is he first time I've gotten to photograph him so I was doubly excited. The way he contorts himself to bring the notes out of his body and through the guitar is a photographer's dream.

Speaking of Gulf Coast legends, these next guys are just that. The musical geniuses of Migraine play improvisational rock-jazz-unclassifiable-so-why-am-I-even-trying music. A few times, I found myself holding my camera down with my mouth open forgetting to take photos. Mind warping stuff.

And we capped off the evening with the headliners and the reason this whole thing came together, Cavae Mundi. I really dig the music I've heard from them but was told that seeing them live is special. And I was told right.

What a beautiful day and night it was. I really appreciate Zach, the bands, the crew, the Handlebar folks, and everyone else who worked to put this thing on and who work to promote local talent. There are a lot of great musicians around here so next time you get the chance, go find some to check out. And if you don't know where to find them, that's why we and the Scene Pensacola show calendar are here. (Shameless plug but I'm not ashamed) 😄 Seriously, there's nothing like live music and 10 bands in like 11 hours was heaven for me. Exhausting, but heaven.