Bobby Sessions

Fortress Festival Survival Guide: Come With Us If You Want To Live by Prewitt Scott-Jackson

Image courtesy of Fortress Festival

Image courtesy of Fortress Festival

HAPPY FORTRESS FESTIVAL WEEK!

Pardon our celebratory ALL CAPS intro but we are super-hyped about Fortress Festival this weekend!

And while being super-hyped is all well and good, super-hyped does not equate to being super-prepared.

But don't worry y'all, we got you.

Hellbent on producing the most epic music festival survival guide ever, the crew and I locked ourselves away in the FWN lab* for over two weeks!

Unfortunately for you, this is not the most epic music festival guide ever; this is just a tribute. Hat tip to Tenacious D for the zinger!

DISCLAIMER: So it didn't take two weeks and this "lab" looks more like my Mom's basement. However.. we had nothing to live on save for warm champagne and canned ham; sacrifices people, sacrifices. Like seriously, two of our interns died making the following guide, so we really really really hope you enjoy it! Truly! 

Wait. What's that? You still don't have tickets? No prob, limited tix still available right here!

Enough of all that, let's get to the guide!

LINEUP/SET TIMES

Image courtesy Fortress Festival - Hey you. Yes, you! This is your cue to save this image to your smart phone

Image courtesy Fortress Festival - Hey you. Yes, you! This is your cue to save this image to your smart phone

This lineup is crazy good. I mean...

Run The Jewels in the 817? Are you kidding me???

Peter freakin' Hook, he of Joy Division & New Order???

Slowdive touring in support of a new record due out May 5th?

Purity RingStranger Things composers S U R V I V E?

Add in all the stellar local talent set to perform this weekend in the Ft. Worth Cultural District and holy Toledo Batman, we got ourselves a music festival!

ICYMI Episode IV: We recently featured a music video from every single Fortress Festival performer.

Here's a opportunity to familiarize yourself with the lineup in music video format:

Music Videos for Every Fortress Festival Performer Pt. I 

Music Videos for Every Fortress Festival Performer Pt. II

ICYMI Episode V: Check out our Fortress Festival artist interviews !!

1. Peter Hook

2. Sudie

3. Ronnie Heart

SUPER BONUS: Gee, idk, Fortress Festival curated this killer Spotify playlist!

TRANSPORTATION 

Image via Fortress Festival Facebook page - Catch a ride to Fortress Festival on bus.com

Image via Fortress Festival Facebook page - Catch a ride to Fortress Festival on bus.com

There are several paths that lead to Fortress Festival and while you must forge your own, here are a few suggestions:

1. Hitchhike - Ok, so we don't really recommend this because I'm 99.999% sure doing so exposes us to some sort of liability; but ya know, it's technically an option.  

2. A bike - Seriously, tons of great biking trails link up with the festival's grounds. Peep the Trinity Trails website here. Or check out Funky Town Pedicab if you'd rather pay someone else to do the pedaling.

MEGA BONUS ALERT: You don't even need to own a bike when you got the City of Fort Worth's B Cycle ride share program

3. A bus - Fortress Festival and Bus.com teamed up to provide festival goers with very reasonably priced options starting at $12. Why drive and play the parking game? 

4. A car - Pretty self-explanatory. A friend's, your own, your dad's, steal one (Wait, don't do that! See above-referenced mention of liability!!!), there's a Lyft station on-site, or perhaps save on gas via an irl Fred Flintstone car.    

5. Teleport - For superheroes only or idk, maybe that Sir Capt. Hot Topic Criss Angel dude.

FESTIVAL MAP

Image courtesy of Fortress Festival - Cue #2: Save this image to your smart phone!

Image courtesy of Fortress Festival - Cue #2: Save this image to your smart phone!

OMGee! This is the best looking map since The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on SNES!

The beer mug icon immediately caught my attention. Hmm, not sure why???

Anywho, I'm personally going to hit up the merch booth and that Indigo Yoga space on the lawn near the Modern pond.

Food. Food. So much..............food! Yummyyyyy foooood!!! Don't worry, we get to the food vendors a little further down.

The positioning of the stages closed it down for me. Look at that Modern stage placement! Look at that Will Rogers open space!

Get stoked y'all!

Get STOKEDQQKCDDECDQEDQED!!!

SNES Zelda Map - Me: You think they hold music festivals in Hyrule? You: I wish

SNES Zelda Map - Me: You think they hold music festivals in Hyrule? You: I wish

VENDORS

Image courtesy of Fortress Festival 

Image courtesy of Fortress Festival 

ATTN All Foodies - You'll be glad to hear that in addition to curating this amazing lineup of artists, the Fort Fest folks did some mighty impressive work with their food roster too.

Salsa Limón is a Fort Worth institution. Period. Nothing else to say here. 

Get your Medi food on with Shawarma Point or if you're like me, you'll be eyeballing dumplings from Cannon Chinese Kitchen

Immediately upon devouring said dumplings, you'll find me making a bee line to cool down with a couple Alchemy Pops.

*Cold Brew Coffee & Cream pop over here please!*   

But hold on a sec, check out the non-food vendors scheduled to be on-site.

The Daniel Daniel and I will be covering the event so I'm thinking we'll finally get our FWN family portrait taken in the Folsom Photo Bus.

Probably pick up some prints from Garageland or make some of our own at Pan Ector!  

While we're at it, gonna stop by Mama P's to pick up a new "tobacco pipe" for my uncle Jay .. snoogens.

Show Poster courtesy of Fortress Festival

Show Poster courtesy of Fortress Festival

LAST BUT NOT LEAST: HAVE FUN!

To be honest, you don't need this guide. You'll have fun no matter how you slice it.

But if our guide did indeed prove useful to you, it's comforting to know our interns did not die in vain:)

Stay hydrated y'all, look out for each other, and most importantly, have fun Fort Worthians!

Regretfully yours,

Xoxo,

FWN

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about the word writer person:

Prewitt Scott-Jackson writes Dad poetry & short fiction when he's not hyping and typing for Fort Worth Noise. His writing can be found in Ghost City Press (New York), Five 2 One Magazine (Los Angeles), and Sick Lit Magazine (Texas), among others. He prefers short walks on the beach because – and I quote – “It’s really hard to walk on sand.”

Music Videos for Every Fortress Festival Performer Pt. I by Prewitt Scott-Jackson

Image via fortressfestival.com

Image via fortressfestival.com

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Hold my beer. What was that? Run The Jewels is set to perform in the 817 area code? You sure about that? You sure it wasn't the 214 or 972? Or even the 940 area code??

A week later it's finally hitting me; this is not a drill. I repeat: THIS IS NOT A DRILL !!!

You simply don't ever see the likes of an act as relevant as RTJ in the 817. For that reason alone the team behind Fortress Festival should be commended.

While RTJ more than deserves the headliner moniker, the entire lineup from top to bottom is staggeringly impressive.

To celebrate last week's lineup announcement, we thought what better way to raise our glasses than to collate music videos for every act set to perform at the end of April.

Speaking of, the festival runs April 29th & 30th and it's all happening in the cultural district downtown. For more info click here. For tickets click here.

Without further ado, we present you with the Fortress Festival lineup ... music vid style ... Pt. I

Click Here for Part II

RUN THE JEWELS - "Lie, Cheat, Steal"

PURITY RING - "Fineshrine"

FLYING LOTUS - "Never Catch Me" ft. Kendrick Lamar

SLOWDIVE - "Shine"

NATHANIEL RATELIFF & THE NIGHT SWEATS - "S.O.B."

PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT - "Atmosphere" ft. Rowetta

HOUNDMOUTH - "Sedona"

WOLF PARADE - "Shine a Light"

SURVIVE - "Omniverse"

ALVVAYS - "Archie, Marry Me"

WHITNEY - "No Woman"

DENGUE FEVER - "Seeing Hands"

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about the word writer person:

Prewitt Scott-Jackson writes Dad poetry & short fiction when he's not hyping and typing for Fort Worth Noise. His writing can be found in Ghost City Press (New York), Five 2 One Magazine (Los Angeles), Prairie Schooner (University of Nebraska Press) and Sick Lit Magazine (Texas), among others. He prefers short walks on the beach because – and I quote – “It’s really hard to walk on sand.”

Music Videos for Every Fortress Festival Performer Pt. II by Prewitt Scott-Jackson

Image via fortressfestival.com

Image via fortressfestival.com

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To celebrate last week's lineup announcement, we thought what better way to raise our glasses than to collate music videos for every act set to perform Fortress Festival at the end of April.

Speaking of, the festival runs April 29th & 30th and it's all happening in the cultural district downtown. For more info click here. For tickets click here.

Without further ado, we present you with the Fortress Festival lineup ... music vid style ... Pt. II

Click Here for Pt. I of II

QUAKER CITY NIGHT HAWKS - "Mockingbird"

SAM LAO - "Pineapple"

BURNING HOTELS - "Beard"

GOLDEN DAWN ARKESTRA - "Stargazer"

SUDIE - "Schitzo"

RONNIE HEART - "Smoovie"

BOBBY SESSIONS - "Peyton Manning" ft. -topic

BLUE, THE MISFIT. - "No Care In The World"

CURE FOR PARANOIA - "We Matter"

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about the word writer person:

Prewitt Scott-Jackson writes Dad poetry & short fiction when he's not hyping and typing for Fort Worth Noise. His writing can be found in Ghost City Press (New York), Five 2 One Magazine (Los Angeles), Prairie Schooner (University of Nebraska Press) and Sick Lit Magazine (Texas), among others. He prefers short walks on the beach because – and I quote – “It’s really hard to walk on sand.”