The once-named “Herd Immunity Fest” made national headlines when it was announced last month, and now the three-day rock gathering is in the books. The festival took place Thursday (July 16th) through Saturday (July 18th) outside the Q&Z Expo Center in Ringle, Wisconsin, and a smattering of social media posts and YouTube clips offer a glimpse of what it looked like.

The “Herd Immunity Fest” faced backlash when it was first announced in late June, not only for its name but for the fact that it was going to be staged in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite organizers quickly renaming the event the “July Mini Fest”, a handful of bands dropped off the bill, including Nonpoint, Royal Bliss, Kaleido, and Blacktop Mojo.

Things looked sketchy this past week when organizers reached out to fans to help set up the grounds on Wednesday, one day before the festival was set to kick off. Photos from that day didn’t show much in the way of any progress (cue the Fyre Festival comparisons), but apparently they were able to set up in time.

Thursday’s bill was a light one, just comprised of three bands — Sponge, Flaw, and Saving Abel. Sponge singer Vin Domborski gave veteran music journalist Gary Graff an overview of his experience in an interview with The Oakland Press.

“They got some pretty bad press,” Dombroski said after returning to Detroit following the band’s Thursday set, “but I felt like you had to give it a chance — maybe there’s something that will shed some light on how to do these things. There’s nothing up there. The area’s a cornfield.”

He added, “If we were gonna do anything like this, it felt like the safest bet I’d seen so far. I went with an open mind — and a little apprehension.”

As for the crowd, Dombroski estimated that 750-1000 people were there for Sponge’s set. He added that he didn’t see much in the way of mask wearing, but did witness some social distancing in the crowd. “I don’t know what’s going go on the other days, but from what I saw yesterday [fans] were doing a good job [of social distancing],” he remarked. “I was a little surprised, but my experience was a positive one, as risky as it sounded.”

Friday got off to a rough start when headliner Bobflex couldn’t make the trip when their van broke down on the way to the festival. That left AC/DC cover band Thunderstuck as the day’s headliner. Organizers posted a couple of Friday photos on Facebook, which showed a seemingly sparse crowd, but fairly spaced out.

Saturday’s bill was main event, with Static-X serving as headliner along with sets from Adelitas Way, Dope, and others. While one person posted the full sets from Static-X and Dope on YouTube, the camera remained focused on the stage throughout, never panning away to show the crowd.

For their part, Static-X did reach out to fans a couple days prior to their performance, urging them to wear masks and maintain social distancing. The band stated, “It is of the utmost importance that we EACH do our part to make this as safe as possible for everyone.”

A number of fan pics and videos on Instagram give a sense of what the crowds were like throughout the festival. Some show just a few people sitting in lawn chairs at the front of the stage, while others show a more tightly packed crowd. Organizers limited attendance at 2,500 in an effort to maintain social distancing, but the photos and videos suggest the number of attendees was considerably less than that.

See the Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube posts below to get a sense of what the just-completed “July Mini Fest” looked like.

Editor’s Note: If you’re a fan of our content, consider supporting Consequence of Sound and Heavy Consequence by visiting our newly launched web store and picking up one of our custom face masks. A portion of the proceeds will benefit MusiCares’ COVID-19 Artist Relief Fund.

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We are excited to return to the stage this weekend for what will be our first show since March. Obviously, over the last few months a lot has changed in the world, so it is of the utmost importance that we EACH do our part to make this as safe as possible for everyone. While your community leaders have deemed this to be a safe and acceptable gathering, we would still like to personally ask for each and every one of you to go the extra mile to help everyone remain safe… We are asking everyone to MASK UP & BACK UP. DISTANCING: The promoter has advised that the OUTDOOR site is huge. It can accommodate 10,000 people, but they have capped ticket sales at 2,000. This was a huge factor for us agreeing to play. This means that there is plenty of room for everyone to spread out and be safe. There are strictly enforcing a NO MOSHING rule and we are in full support of this for obvious reasons. We are asking that everyone please be respectful of everyone else’s personal space. We ask that you are conscious of this while watching the show, standing in lines for food, drinks and bathrooms, etc. WEAR A MASK! This is a simple request and it will help to ensure your safety, the safety of those around you, and also those at home. Wearing a mask demonstrates that you respect yourself, and it also demonstrates that you respect others. We will all be wearing masks and we ask that you all do the same. Please wash your hands, try not to touch your face and use hand sanitizer. We have been informed that hand sanitizing stations will be available throughout the site. We all want live shows to return and for things to get back to “NORMAL”. We want to reiterate that this upcoming show does not fall under the definition of what any of us would consider to be “NORMAL”. This is a baby step and in many ways this is also a test. We want you to remember that most places in America are not yet able to have this type of concert experience. Let’s all go above and beyond, in order to help ensure the health and safety of everyone involved, as well as everyone at home. #MASKUP & #BACKUP! Sincerely, Static-X #StaticX

A post shared by Static-X (@staticxofficial) on Jul 16, 2020 at 9:03am PDT

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