Saddest Day 2025
Heading to Boston in December wasn’t a threat to us Minnesotans, so of course when our friend Jake hit us up about a new event they were planning, we didn’t flinch. Saddest Day was the first of hopefully many Converge-curated festivals, the debut event being one night only. The band hand picked some of their favorite acts to share the stage with them at the Roadrunner in downtown Boston. And because visuals are just as important to Jake, he wanted an on-site art show complete with live art and printing. Of COURSE, we had to be involved, along with our friends Thomas Hooper and Keenan Bouchard.
We arrived a few days before the event to get a head start on all the art-making. Jake and his family were gracious enough to host us at their beautiful home, and it quickly became a full blown slumber party. We spent a few days in the Bannon Printing studio preparing paper for live printing, with several trips to Whole Foods sprinkled in for all of the snacks. Shoutout Whole Foods, we do accept sponsorships, just sayin’.
All photos taken by Jodi!
The day of the event was a long one. We loaded in earlier than should be required from a group of goofballs on a Saturday morning. We created a whole art show from just some sheets of cardboard and lots of tape. There may or may not have been some attempted naps in odd corners of the venue. By the time doors opened, we were ready for fresh eyes on everything we had been preparing. The guys got to work adding finishing touches on their paintings, as I attempted to print through fighting for air thanks to the bug I picked up during travel. Jodi slayed it and kept up with everyone I had to point in her direction, which was a LOT of people, our little corner upstairs was a buzz for most of the night.
The event as whole was amazing, and despite my less than par breathing ability it was an absolutely incredible experience. Jodi was basically surrounded the entire time by sales and inquiries, and Jake, Thomas and Keenan were all watched in awe anytime they were holding a brush or spray bottle. I had attracted my own curious audience, and very much enjoyed whatever conversations we could shout at each other over the music around the corner. We came home with so many new ideas for the next one, knowing and being promised that there would in fact be a next one. And lo and behold, Saddest Day 2 has recently been announced! Round 2 will be TWO DAYS this year, taking place once again at the Roadrunner, December 12-13. In the meantime, we have Fire in the Mountains soon, which I promise it won’t take me 7 months to write about lol.
