Hassle Fest Marathon – Previous Years! The Story of Homegrown Fest 1 & 2

As reported by our sister blog Boston Becomes Eclectic, preparation is under way for Hassle Fest 7 – annual festival of underground music that features both local and national artists! This time the headliners are legendary Flipper performing equally legendary madman David Yow of Scratch Acid / Jesus Lizard / Qui fame!
Before it became Hassle Fest, however, it was called Homegrown and the first rendition took place in 2009 at Church of Boston. While not much evidence survives in terms of videos (aside from performance by Sunburned Hand of the Man), words written about a festival (courtesy of Dig Boston, Anti-Gravity Bunny and Vanyland can still be found in Google archives. Here’s Dig interviewing festival founder Dan Shea:

“I think the term ‘psych’ is really beginning to shake loose that notion of being just one thing, of being San Francisco in the ’60s,” says Dan Shea, organizer of Homegrown—a four-day festival of music resistant to classification. Description-defying, yet Shea gives it a shot: “Not boring bands. Not traditionally psych, but far-out sounds to the Boston ear.”
 

Homegrown 2 (which took place in 2010 at Temple Sound and Stage in Jamaica Plain) and some of the bigger names on the bill included Jeff the Brotherhood, Ty Segall, Marissa Nadler, Keith Fullerton Whitman and Damon and Naomi (ex-Galaxie 500). Homegrown 2 also fares better on video evidence captured by Liz Pelly (among others).
Here’s Phoenix sounding off on the event:

Homegrown II’s line-up boasts 53 bands in three days — roughly 31 hours of live performances. Day One highlights include ex–Galaxie 500 duo Damon and Naomi in the penultimate slot before their pals Major Stars, Drag City’s heavy-handed psych stalwarts, who bring the night to a close. Day Two offers Jesse Gallagher of Apollo Sunshine, Doomstar, a slimmed-down but no less raucous Drug Rug, and a special set by Keith Fullerton Whitman, who’s renowned for both his spastic, avant-electro work as Hrvatski and his guitar-and-loop-drone creations released under his own name. A rare performance by garage distortionists Tunnel of Love closes out the night. Day Three has Shea’s band Needy Visions playing catchy, psychedelic slacker pop, as well as Irish indie-fuzz band So Cow. Closing out the festival will be a solo set by BBQ, the moniker of Mark Sultan of King Khan and the BBQ.

 



Stay tuned for the story of Homegrown 3 and 4, as well as story of Hassle Fest!
Further Reading:
Bodies of Water Shows