On the morning of last year’s CollinsFest, genre-hopping band Double Standard was preparing to perform its only two gigs of the year, guitarist Ari Williams said.
This year, Double Standard’s CollinsFest set will be their eighth show in the last month.
CollinsFest will take place all day Saturday in the courtyard of the Collins Living-Learning Center and will feature live music, a bounce house and free food for vegans, vegetarians and omnivores alike.
“I think we’ve come just so far,” Williams said. “I’m so proud.”
Aside from Double Standard, Exalted, Whale Bones, Boogie Goose and KP and Me are also slated to play on the raised veranda in the courtyard.
This will be the second consecutive year playing at CollinsFest for Double Standard, Exalted and Whale Bones.
Nick Pinder, who plays guitar in Whale Bones, said his band always enjoys the event, even though performing outdoors on a stage can feel a little different for a DIY band like his that’s used to playing more intimate venues like house shows.
“The highest elevated stage we’ll play is, like, not even a foot off the ground,” he said.
Williams said sonic quality can suffer a bit when performing outdoors, so Double Standard prepares its song list accordingly.
“We’ve got some that are more like dance-oriented and poppy, and then we’ve got some others that are less and more funky, and so we kind of fit our set towards the venue and the show,” he said.
The sheer amount of attractions at CollinsFest also make it different from a typical show. Event organizer Austin Van Scoik said there will even be a dunk tank, which will serve as a fundraiser for Middle Way House.
“Collins, in general, likes to help out where it can,” he said.
This year, Van Scoik said the festival received donated cups from Pizza X, Aver’s and Mr. Delivery. Festivalgoers can refill the cups with water in order to avoid generating loads of waste.
“I’ve been trying to partner with as many different organizations as I can to improve kind of the interconnectivity of things, and sustainability’s one of our linchpins,” he said.
Because of the variety of options, he said people often don’t focus on the bands alone.
“They’ll bring out blankets and just kind of hang out,” he said. “People do that anyway at Collins — like, they’ll just come out as a group and either work on stuff or just talk — so this is kind of that with music and free food.”
Double Standard’s drummer, Michael Wimer, said the band appreciates the opportunity to introduce an audience to a genre they might not be familiar with.
“No matter what audience we play in front of, we want to push their boundaries,” he said.
Still, CollinsFest’s most popular attraction is likely to be the free food, Van Scoik said.
For Pinder, that’s one thing he’s most looking forward to, he said.
“I always make sure to cop a burger,” he said.
