Pollstar 2019 Festival Hotstars: The Fever 333 Puts Its Stamp On Rock Festivals

Jason Mendez/Getty Images – The Fever 333
The Fever 333 blows up the stage during the Afropunk festival at Commodore Barry Park in Brooklyn, N.Y., August 26.

The Fever 333 burst onto the scene from a U-Haul truck in the parking lot of Randy’s Donuts in Inglewood, Calif., on July 4, 2017. The date is fitting for the band’s origin story as The Fever 333 has quickly established itself as America’s newest hard rock voice of independence and protest – and a band to watch for in 2019.

Its story goes back a bit further, though, as The Fever 333 is something of a hardcore punk supergroup, made up of singer Jason Aalon Butler (formerly of Letlive), guitarist Stephen Harrison (Chariot) and drummer Aric Improta (Night Verses).

They parlayed relationships within the scene into collaborations with practitioners of the art like Travis Barker of Blink-182 and John Feldmann of Goldfinger to record an EP, Made An America, that has spawned hits with “Walk In My Shoes” and the title track, with a remix assist from rapper Vic Mensa.

But The Fever 333’s frenetic live show is attracting the attention of talent buyers and festival bookers like Gary Spivack, executive vice president of festival talent for Danny Wimmer Presents – one of, if not the, largest producers of rock festivals in the world. DWP booked The Fever 333 at Rock On The Range at Mapfre Stadium in Columbus, Ohio, May 18-20 and brought them back for Monster Energy Hard Rock Allegiance in Camden, N..J., Oct. 6.

“With our festivals, we rarely rarely do repeats but we are going to with The Fever 333,” Spivack told Pollstar a couple of days ahead of the Rock Allegiance festival. “We feel very bullish on that band with its live performance and they’re going to have their debut record coming out on Roadrunner/Atlantic, too.

We can’t be too precious and jump on stuff that has no traction, and that’s why we like The Fever 333.”

Agent Nick Storch of Artist Group International tells Pollstar he expects The Fever 333 to tap into a youth vein that has long been thought dormant with political engagement on the upswing.

“There’s something extremely visceral about what they do,” Storch tells Pollstar. “It’s very intense and emotionally charged. I hate to say the obvious thing, but they do compare with Rage Against The Machine. It’s very powerful, with a sense of inclusion. They’re trying to empower people; it’s very active in the moment and responding to the world today as it is, in a way that very few are doing.

“They give every bit of energy when they play and they are crazy live.”

The Fever 333 will continue doing that into 2019, Storch assures, in the clubs and festivals. And maybe even in the streets and parking lots where people can hear the message.