Carnival of Soul

A three-day hard rock/metal music festival dubbed “The Mini Fest” was held during the weekend in Ringle, near Wausau outside of the Q & Z Expo Center.

Taking place from Thursday-Saturday, the event featured performances by Static-X, Adelitas Way, Bobaflex, Saving Abel, Flaw, Sponge, Versus Me, Dope and more.

Many attendees of the pop-up festival chose to attend after Rock Fest in Cadott was postponed to 2021 due to COVID-19 concerns and were looking to get their summer concert fix.

Sam Stilb, a Rock Fest regular and former “Rock Fest Fan of the Year,” said he chose to attend The Mini Fest to feel a sense of normalcy amid many months of quarantining and social distancing.

“This was needed from a mental health standpoint, because there are a lot of us who are suffering by being locked down and doing nothing,” Stilb said. “This is an aspect of all of this that people aren’t seeing. Peggy (Olson) had this set up very well and everyone was very respectful. Those who wanted to social distance could sit far away and those who were more comfortable and haven’t been sick in the past six months to a year could be a bit closer while still respecting each other.”

Many precautions were taken at the festival to promote healthy behaviors. The concert grounds outside of the Q & Z Expo Center could accommodate 10,000 fans, but only 2,000 tickets were made available to allow attendees to socially distance to the extent they were comfortable with.

The usage of face masks and hand sanitizer were also heavily encouraged by venue staff and the bands performing.

Stilb said everyone in attendance was friendly and excited to hear live music again after a tumultuous first half of 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Everyone was freaking ecstatic and happy to finally feel normal,” Stilb said. “This whole ‘new normal’ just isn’t cutting it. A lot of us needed the old normal and it was an amazing feeling. I think we are fine to move forward with these shows. I don’t think this is nearly as bad as people are making it out to be.”

Eric Vobejda, attendee of The Mini Fest, and guitarist for Minneapolis-based rock band VIA, said while many attendees didn’t wear a mask at the festival people still felt safe and ready to forget their troubles for a weekend.

“Some people wore masks and others didn’t, but everyone seemed to be on the same page,” Vobejda said.

“No one was being disrespectful, everyone picked up after themselves and I had a really good time. You put your own life at risk any time you do something like this, but if you’re cautious about it you’ll be OK.”

The festival has received a large amount of skepticism and negative press coverage since its announcement earlier this year due to some questionable marketing. When the festival was originally announced it was called the “Herd Immunity Fest,” inviting critics from many walks of life.

The story was picked up by many major news sources in the rock/metal music circles, forcing originally billed bands Nonpoint, Royal Bliss and Blacktop Mojo to cancel their appearance at the festival to save face with their fan bases.

After the backlash, any mention of the original name of the festival was scrubbed from all marketing and social media materials and the groups who pulled out were quickly replaced.

However, the bands remaining on the concert schedule continued to receive a good deal of criticism online from the members of the public who feel events of this nature should be canceled indefinitely until a COVID-19 vaccine is created and readily available.

Stilb said he believes many of the people criticizing the bands for performing weren’t fans of the groups to begin with and are just looking for somewhere to put their anger and frustration with the current coronavirus situation in the United States.

“I think half of these people are internet trolls who would never see the bands to begin with and the other half don’t understand the full scope of what’s happening in the world right now,” Stilb said. “They’re being duped by the fearmongers who think anyone who comes within six feet of someone else is going to die.”

Tickets for the event did not sell out, but those at the event said attendance was still strong and small enough to where it gave the event a comfortable intimate feeling.

Vobejda said the potential spread of COVID-19 due to the festival is yet to be seen, but if it is shown the event didn’t contribute to the spread then that will be the first step forward in the return of live music to the state.

“Everyone was very relaxed and there wasn’t any hostility,” Vobejda said. “There has been a lot of drama surrounding this event, but people will forget about it in two weeks. But if all of a sudden that area of Wisconsin starts showing a larger number of coronavirus cases, that will set events like this back even further. They took a chance by evening hosting the event, so I hope it all works out.”

“This whole ‘new normal’ just isn’t cutting it. A lot of us needed the old normal and it was an amazing feeling. I think we are fine to move forward with these shows. I don’t think this is nearly as bad as people are making it out to be.”Sam Stilb, Mini Fest attendee