BY RACHELLE FLAVA RAE GREENBERG / PHOTOS BY DAVE MOTO FASTLANE MUSICMEDIA

Friday night, live music continued making its comeback at Ferg’s Sports Bar & Grill in St. Pete. As national acts are beginning to resume touring, Ferg’s held “Spring Break of Rock” featuring Folk University opening for Fastball, and Everclear

First up, was Folk University that was recently featured on ABC-TV Action News. Mike Twitty wanted to do two things; play music and spend time with his family. He started Folk University back in college and then went on to pursue a career in real estate appraisal. He is the elected Pinellas County Property Appraiser. Folk University now has his two sons by his side; Zach (keyboards) and Sam (drums), they are joined by his sons’ childhood friend, Andrew Cadavid (bass).

Mike used to play Ferg’s as a duo in the early 90’s. Playing charity events in the past, this was their first performance in over a year. Opening the show for Fastball and Everclear, they did it with a bang, and even got a few original tunes worked into their set. Playing hits from REM, The Cure, The Stray Cats, Tom Petty & The Rolling Stones, their choice of songs had something for everyone.

As the temperature dropped, the wind began to howl, and Fastball quickly hit the stage. Playing hits like “The Way”, “White Collar”, and “Out of my Head”, they were only happy to appease the eager crowd with familiar tunes. This being their first gig in over a year, you could feel the band’s excitement. Miles Zuniga (vocals, guitar) said that in the past after making a record, the band would go their separate ways. Now, they’re so excited about the music, it’s more like “How soon can we make another record?” Now, they have a refreshing sense of urgency about the music.

As the crowd grew, the colder temperatures seemed to be ignored as Everclear hit the stage. Clearly they were having a great time playing one hit after another… It’s during these moments that the realization hits you … that you are back at a good old-fashioned concert! The crowd reacted to Freddy Herrera (bass) and Dave French (guitar) who were very animated. The band sounded so good, that it’s hard to believe they were in quarantine. Every person was singing along with the songs, and just couldn’t get enough.

At the end of the night, the 90’s nostalgia was dripping from everyone’s lips. Thank you Ferg’s for hosting such a great event & I’ll see you out and about, because “Rocking out is what I do!