Country music artist Dylan Scott rocked the Peach Fest main stage. – Tech Talk Photo File
Lacy Camp
Staff Reporter | lmc074@latech.edu
The Louisiana Peach Festival is one of the longest-running agriculture festivals in the state.
Each year farmers pride themselves on their plump peaches, but there was more to the Peach Festival than just the local crop.
For kids, there was fun. For everybody, plenty of entertainment.
The music events started Friday afternoon as When All Is Lost (W.A.I.L.) took center stage following an introduction by Doug Postel, an ex-officio Chamber of Commerce board member.
W.A.I.L. is a band from Central Louisiana that fuses classic rock and roll with indie alternative punk.
“This was actually our first time performing at Peach Fest and the furthest north we have played at,” said Xzavier Price, W.A.I.L. lead vocalist. “Months ago I contacted Judy Copeland about our band. At the time I don’t think she was too enthused about us, but when I sent her our music and videos she liked what we had to offer.”
Copeland, one of the Peach Fest directors, was not the only one who “liked” W.A.I.L.’s upbeat style. Cameron Williams, a senior mechanical engineering major, did as well.
“I thought their performance was awesome,” Williams said. “They just had this unique energy.”
Cover band The Chee-Weez closed out the first night of Peach Fest. – Photo by Lacy Camp
That same energy rolled on through the night with a performance by The Chee-Weez, a five-piece ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s tribute band from New Orleans known for crazy costumes and pyrotechnics.
The Chee-Weez bassist Joey Mangiapane said the band always try to “bring fun, high energy and all the songs that we believe that the audience would know.”
Opening up with “What I Like About You,” the NOLA band covered popular songs such as: “Don’t Stop Believing,” “Take Me Home Tonight” and “Don’t You Forget About Me.”
After a two-hour performance by The Chee-Weez, the first day of music was complete.
Late Saturday morning the Roadhouse Band and the 3-year Peach Fest music veteran Zach O’Neil picked up where Mangiapane and his band left off.
“The band and I tried to select a high-energy set list,” O’Neil said. “We wanted to get the crowd pumped up, ready and excited for the other great acts who were to follow that evening.”
Alt Rock/Indie group When All Is Lost (W.A.I.L.) opened for the Chee-Weez Friday evening. – Photo by Lacy Camp
During his set O’Neil debuted an original acoustic song.
“The new song I wanted to have debuted was a song that I co-wrote with a friend of mine,” O’Neil said. “We were really excited to perform our newest song for all of our local friends after receiving a lot of positive feedback on my Facebook music page.”
Katalyst, Louisiana Swamp Donkey and Bastrop native Dylan Scott wrapped up the remainder of the music portion.
“Outside venues like this always have their own sort of feel,” said Christopher Rice, W.A.I.L. sax and keyboard player. “So when you can get the crowd standing up and wanting to dance when it’s blazing hot outside, it always gives a great energy that you can’t always get.”