Dodging beer showers, stage divers and the house monitor swinging like a gorilla from its chains bolted to the ceiling of Will's Pub in Orlando, Fla., I had point-blank position on a crazy-strong lineup  Wednesday night. Leagues Apart (Manchester, UK), Broadway Calls (Rainier, Ore.), The Arteries (Swansea, UK), The Flatliners (Ontario, Canada) and The Menzingers (Philadelphia) are among 300 bands playing this year's Fest in nearby Gainesville.

 

In its 10th year, the preeminent punk rock festival annually draws 6,000 beard- and org-core fans from around the world to the little college town. Legendary groups like Youth Brigade, Hot Water Music, Bouncing Souls, Kid Dynamite and Small Brown Bike, and just every other on-the-rise punk band in the world, turn Gainesville into a PBR-swilling, tattoo-parading punk-rock mecca. Last night's show was just a teaser for the real thing, which starts Friday. Check here each day to see what we saw.