Photo recap: FIDLAR and Dune Rats make Gainesville debuts

Zac Capener of FIDLAR plays guitar during the song Cocaine. All photos by Gabrielle Calise.

By Gabrielle Calise

FIDLAR’s hour-long set on Saturday featured brash punk anthems, a slew of crowd surfers, and for some inexplicable reason, two life-sized R. Kelly statues.

Fresh off their television debut on Jimmy Kimmel Live, the four-piece garage rock band took the stage at the High Dive in Downtown Gainesville to promote their sophomore album, Too.

A FIDLAR fan shows off a tattoo that he got to honor the band. The group’s name is an acronym for “F*** It Dog, Life’s A Risk.”

Fans await FIDLAR’s performance at the High Dive.

Brisbane-based rockers Dune Rats opened up the show with an energetic performance. Their upbeat punk rock songs prompted multiple mosh pits in the center of the room, warming up the crowd for the FIDLAR’s headlining set.

Australian rock band Dune Rats got the night started. Singer Danny Beusa was an expressive performer, making faces, jumping around and swinging his long hair around during the  set.

Before FIDLAR took the stage, the lights in the venue dimmed as R. Kelly’s Ignition Remix blasted from the speakers. Crewmembers pulled sheets away from the pair of large objects on opposing sides of the stage, revealing two life-sized R. Kelly statues as the band came onto the stage.

Some bands play pop songs over the speakers to hype up the crowd before coming out. FIDLAR took things to the next level with twin R. Kelly statues.

FIDLAR ran through hits from its latest album, including the songs 40oz. on Repeat, West Coast and Drone. The new record chronicles frontman Zac Carper’s struggles with substance abuse that resulted in a stint in rehab. The fresh songs were met with an enthusiastic response; Crowd surfers sailed through the air as fans screamed the new lyrics back at the band.

While the group’s first album is laden with references to cheap beer, pills and cocaine, Zac Carper’s experience in rehab inspired the songs on FIDLAR’s sophomore record.

The group also performed popular hits from its self-titled debut album, starting their set off with Stoked and Broke and ending with an explosive rendition of the song Cocaine.

For the goofy band of skate punks, it wasn’t enough to leave it at that. To finish things how they started, R. Kelly’s I Believe I Can Fly played over the loudspeakers as fans filtered out of the venue.

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Gabrielle Calise can reached at gcalise@ufl.edu, or send a tweet her way @gabriellecalise.