More than 300 acts from around the globe (Japan, the U.K., Vietnam, Germany, Alaska, and beyond) will unite at 75 Stutson Street in Rochester to perform over seven days, October 20–26, during “Avant Garde a Clue II,” a free, all-ages festival, presented with no corporate sponsors.
Originally “Rochester Experimental Week” in 2022, the festival took a year off and rebranded with full force to “Avant Garde a Clue” (taking its name from a George Harrison quote about the Beatles’ yet-to-be-released track “Carnival of Light”). Organized entirely by Miami Psych Fest producer Adam Arritola, the 2024 festival featured over 200 international and local music acts that performed non-stop, back-to-back, and on schedule, executed with minimal hiccups.
Following an 18-day tour of Japan earlier this year, the festival returns to Rochester this month with over 300 genre-defying performances from acts from all over the world. Acid Mothers Temple (one of Japan’s most prominent psych acts) will play the only two-and-a-half-hour-long set of their entire U.S. tour, world-renowned guitar virtuoso Gabriel Marin returns with two sets, Apollo C. Vermouth (a moniker associated with Sir Paul McCartney) is mysteriously billed, in addition to the plethora of other performers, ranging from seemingly amateurish outsiders to some of the most refined masters of their craft, to perform throughout the week.
“By expanding our horizons of what music is, this festival is a real gift to Rochester, already recognized as a music town,” says Rauncie Reynolds, better known as “Granny Goth,” who attended and performed last year. (Her project, Anagogic Delphi, appears this year on Tuesday, October 21.) “The visionary organizer, Adam Arritola, is bringing together great musicians from around the world. I look forward to taking part and discovering new music.”
Performances at 75 Stutson, an independent venue in a former church, run continuously from afternoon until after late, starting October 20, and even earlier on the weekend. This will be the last major event there before the venue’s ownership changes hands.
Check the festival schedule at www.eclecticoverdrive.com for when doors open each day and the complete musician roster. Admission is first-come, first-in, and free of charge. When capacity is reached, the policy is one-in, one-out.
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