Collaborative Ethnography at Furnace Fest: Initial Findings on Affect, Community, and Commerce in Hardcore

Brandeis Musicology Colloquia

October 26, 2022.

Abstract

At Furnace Fest (Birmingham, Alabama), attendees travel from across the U.S. and Canada for three days of emo, hardcore, metal, and punk performances. Furnace Fest originated in the Christian hardcore scene in 2000, running for four years before folding; organizers relaunched it in 2021, partly in hopes to appeal to fans who attended (or would have liked to attend) some twenty years prior. The event’s crowd reflected this background: over 85% of survey respondents in 2021 were in their 30s or older; similarly, 86% responded that they had grown up in a Christian household. But if many were returning to Furnace Fest in 2021 out of nostalgia, fewer doing so were Christian: only 39% currently identify as Christian. Participants (organizers, bands, attendees) were respectful, welcoming, and inclusive—far from the polarization that dominates public discourse in the U.S. As a nostalgic event with an engaged fan community, Furnace Fest provides a unique opportunity to think longitudinally about (a) how to research annual events ethnographically, and (b) what this research might reveal about the event, its organizers, and their community. What aspects of the community that gathered at Furnace Fest make it meaningful? How do religious convictions—or the lack thereof—contribute to this community’s overall sense of belongingness? Based on ongoing fieldwork, in this talk I consider what my research collaborators and I have learned so far about working together—both in terms of our research methodologies and in terms of festival organizers and their communities.