DAYTONA BEACH — For fans of a particular band that formed in Ocala in 2003, May 9 became, well, A Day To Remember.
That group — already scheduled for a 9:05 p.m. May 10 slot on the Octane Stage at Welcome To Rockville at Daytona International Speedway — added a second show, a surprise pop-up show at a makeshift stage, and word got out. Thousands of fans descended upon the Kona Big Wave Outpost, as A Day To Remember ripped through a high-energy set of cuts the band most likely won’t play at its Sunday show.
“We haven’t played just these songs since back right after we graduated high school,” lead singer Jeremy McKinnon told the audience while introducing a 2007 song, ‘The Danger in Starting a Fire.”
“Jump up on the top of somebody. Have a good (expletive) time,” McKinnon urged the crowd.
And there was plenty of that.
A mosh pit formed, while countless people body-surfed toward the stage, where they were dumped over the railing in front of the stage. Behind the band, skateboarders performed tricks on a ramp.
The disco-ball helmet in the mosh pit for A Day To Remember
Alexis and Troy Gosse, fans of A Day To Remember from Altamonte Springs, made it up close as they said the band rates high on their list of favorites.
“Can’t complain about the fact that it’s low-key, you’re up close. It almost feels like back garage-style,” Troy Gosse said.
“Pop-up show? Hell, yeah!” Alexis Gosse said. “They are awesome. Energy was freakin’ top-notch.”
Troy Gosse, who wore a sequined “disco-ball” helmet, made it into the pit.
Rockville fans from Jacksonville super-hyped about A Day To Remember
Ryan Vestel, a Rockville veteran who’s only missed the first year the festival was held in Daytona Beach in 2021, said he’s seen A Day To Remember about 15 times.
“The pop-up show, that really cheered me up about last night, missing out on a couple of bands (as storms delayed proceedings),” Vestel said. “So being able to come in here and they put that on, that was a special surprise.”
He traveled from Jacksonville with his fiancée, plus a friend since 8th grade, Samantha Mills.
“It was small and intimate. You got to see more of the band up close, and it was pretty cool,’ said Mills, who waved a sign “Amazing. Super-hyped, like always.”
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: A Day To Remember makes memories with fans at Rockville
Reporting by Mark Harper, Daytona Beach News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
