by Marcella Ortega
Daily Lobo
Sin Serenade drummer Noel Marcos Armijo said it was an honor to play at this year's Fall Crawl.
"It is nice being around and growing up with musicians around here - being friends with all the bands and bringing music to all the people who are walking around," Armijo said.
The Weekly Alibi hosted its 15th Fall Crawl Downtown on Saturday.
Get content from The Daily Lobo delivered to your inbox
Sin Serenade, a local country-punk band, performed at the District Bar and Grill. Armijo said it was the fourth time Sin Serenade participated in the event.
"It went very well," Armijo said. "We've been playing for a couple years, and we've done enough to get a decent following. We saw a lot of regular fans, and we built more of a fan base."
Fall Crawl controller Molly Lindsay was in charge of staffing the event. She said the event required 50 to 60 people to sell and check wristbands at bar entrances. The wristbands cost $15 and allowed attendees to enter any of the 17 Downtown venues in Fall Crawl.
The festival included 70 performances by bands and DJs of various genres such as emo, punk, country, metal, rock and ska. The performances started at 8 p.m. and ended at about 1 a.m.
William Jewett, a bouncer at the District Bar and Grill, said the bar's staff did not come across any problems.
"The biggest thing we are dealing with is numbers - inside and out - so we can pass fire code," Jewett said.
UNM student Nicole Haskett said she watched six bands and her favorite was August Spies.
"They were the most hardcore band we've seen," she said.
Haskett said it was the first time she and her friends attended Fall Crawl.
"We've lived in Albuquerque long enough. We thought we would come out. We really didn't know who was going to be here, but we like live music," she said.
UNM student Sean Domincovitch said he attended the event to meet women and watch Feels Like Sunday.
"Their bassist, Scot Bryan, is amazing," Domincovitch said. "He's just brilliant."
New Mexicans were not the only people interested in the event. Ivan Flores said he drove from Los Angeles to attend the event even though he was not familiar with any of the bands in the crawl.
"I thought it would be fun," Flores said. "I heard there was going to be a lot of bands. I figured there would be some good ones. I saw a flier somewhere, and I just had to go."
UNM student Johanna Wild said she read about Fall Crawl in the Weekly Alibi.
"I think it's a good thing," she said. "I like that bands are outside on the street."
Some people had a different opinion of the event. Luke Smith said he went Downtown but not to watch performances.
"Hell no," Smith said. "All the bands suck. We saw some emo stuff, but we are more down for the punk, bluegrass and blues."
Smith and his friends went Downtown with acoustic guitars to perform in various locations and did not purchase wristbands.
There were also performances by bands that were not invited to participate in the event.
Minie Gonzalez, a vocalist and guitarist for Holiday Sail and the vocalist for the Minie Gonzalez Band, said her bands participated in what they refer to as Fall Brawl.
"It's a compilation of people who didn't quite make it," she said. "What happened was last spring we didn't get asked to play either, and we were bitter, so me and Rob (Holiday Sail bandmate) came out here, brought our amps, and we just rocked out."
Gonzalez and her bands performed outside on a sidewalk for tips.
"I like it out here, because we get the crowd who wants to listen to us instead of the people who are waiting for us to be over with to see the next band," she said. "But then again, being booked generates more money. But this is fun."
There were the same amount of bands booked as previous years, and the staff did not encounter any problems, Lindsay said.
"It has been a lot of fun," she said. "It has been a really big crowd."
