Festival Fever: Restoration Festival Returns – With a Kamikaze Hearts Reunion!

The former St. Joseph’s Church in downtown Albany has already been in the news quite a bit this week after it was cited as a possible location for Raven’s Head Brewing’s brewery and restaurant.

Now the former church is in the news once again, as the B3nson Recording Collective has announced that the Restoration Festival (aka, Rest Fest) will be returning to the former church for the third year to help raise funds to preserve the historic building.

There are some changes planned for Rest Fest III, too. First, the fest will expand from two to three days with the addition of a Friday night kick-off concert to get the ball rolling prior to the the all-day Saturday and Sunday festivities.

Secondly, the fest, which has been held in late August the prior years, has been pushed back to September in the hopes of attracting additional area college students to the festivities. Rest Fest III will be held Friday-Sunday, September 7-9.

Festival organizers also announced the first act of the fest – a reunion of the Kamikaze Hearts, who will headline the fest on Friday, September 7. The reunion will feature all five of the band members – Bob Buckley, Nathan Giordano, Matthew Loiacono, Troy Pohl and Gaven Richard – from their final album, “Oneida Road,” which was released in 2006. The band reunion will feature a 90-minute career-spanning retrospective featuring one-time only guests and surprise collaborations.

While ticket prices are yet to be determined, tix are slated to go on sale on Saturday, July 7.

UPDATE (6/7/12, 12:30pm): A few other bands announced for Rest Fest III include Sgt. Dunbar & the Hobo Banned, the Parlor, Barons in the Attic, Swamp Baby and Scientific Maps…

ADDITIONAL UPCOMING FESTIVALS FOR 2012:

Saratoga ArtsFest @ various locations, Saratoga Springs, 6/7-10/12
Rhythm On the Ridge @ Maple Ski Ridge, Rotterdam, 6/9&10/12
Art on Lark @ Lark Street, Albany, 6/9/12, FREE
River Street Festival @ River Street, Troy, 6/16/12, FREE
Clearwater Great Hudson River Revival @ Croton Point Park, Croton-On-Hudson, 6/16&17/12
The Old Songs Festival @ Altamont Fairgrounds, Altamont, 6/22-24/12
Friehofer’s Saratoga Jazz Festival @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, 6/30-7/1/12
CountryFest @ the Times Union Center, Albany, 7/7/12
Scream It Like You Mean It @ Upstate Concert Hall, Clifton Park, 7/8/12
Shockwave Festival @ Upstate Concert Hall, Clifton Park, 7/20/12
Rockstar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival @ Saratoga Performing Arts Center, Saratoga Springs, 7/31/12
SAWFest Music Festival @ Salem Art Works, Salem, 8/18/12
FreshGrass Bluegrass Festival @ MASS MoCA, North Adams, 9/21-23/12