Less than 24 hours after their show in Asheville where they played with California-based surf band the Growlers, the Nude Party hosted Field Day—an invitation-only music mini-festival in their backyard Thursday.
“All of our friends from around the state came to hang out for one day,” Nude Party keyboardist Don Merrill said.
The event started at 3 p.m. and went on past midnight. Approximately 150 people were in attendance, but Merrill said the success of the event can be attributed to their friends in Asheville who have helped them out in their career thus far.
“The vibe’s great; we’ve got the slip-and-slide and volleyball,” Nude Party bassist Alec Castillo said. “Everyone’s having a good time.”
The lineup included acts from Asheville to the coast. One performer, Wilson, was a childhood friend of Nude Party vocalist Patton McGee from Park City, Utah.
Locally known acts include Timothy Griffin of Space Canoe, Rubber Checks and White Woolly.
White Woolly’s guitarist and vocalist Charlie Hill said that field day is the band’s first time playing outside of their own house parties.
“I think they did a really good job putting together a separate outside stage and inside stage,” Hill said. “Everyone seems to be wanting to take care of each other. Being in Boone for the summer, this is a thing that I’ve been looking forward to for a couple weeks.”
Asheville-based artists The Ouroboros Boys, and Charlie Megira, an Israeli artist spending time in the US also performed.
“This is surprisingly cool, I mean I’ve never really spent time in Boone, but there’s a lot of kids out here and it looks like a really good time,” said Nick Marshall, who plays electric mandolin for the Ouroboros Boys.
In addition to all of the musical acts, the event included amenities such as a volleyball court, a homemade garbage bag slip-and-slide, an inflatable pool, an outdoor card table.
“Hopefully we can do this a couple times a year, “ Castillo said. “We’re actually thinking of running a real festival, maybe where Boone In Blossom is. We want to do this on a bigger scale.”
Story: Cole Cummings, Intern Reporter