No spiked hair needed: 8th edition of Lakeland’s Punk Rock Flea Market is Sunday

Paul Catala
·5 min read
The eighth edition of Lakeland's Punk Rock Flea Market is Sunday along the shore of Lake Wire at Swan Brewing.
The eighth edition of Lakeland's Punk Rock Flea Market is Sunday along the shore of Lake Wire at Swan Brewing.

LAKELAND – When Chad Chastain first booked bands to play Lakeland’s Punk Rock Flea Market, he just solicited a few bands he personally knew and that year. About 1,500 people showed up to shop and listen.

That was in 2019. By 2023, more than 4,000 people showed up for the 2023 Punk Rock Flea Market, a day when everyone can be “punk,” with or without piercings, spiked orange hair or an attitude.

The eighth edition of the Punk Rock Flea Market takes place from noon to 6 p.m. Sunday along the shore of Lake Wire at Lakeland’s Swan Brewing, 155 W. Pine St. Along Pine Street, vendors and food trucks from across Florida and the southeastern United States in 76 spaces will be on hand, selling a variety of jewelry, classic vinyl records, goth and punk club wear, clothing, band t-shirts, stickers, custom-designed vintage dinnerware and other music and punk-rock related items.

For those unfamiliar with the outta-the-mainstream music genre, in the mid-1970s, punk was a rock movement that consisted of short, fast songs, minimal instrumentation and screeching vocals often consisting of political, anti-establishment lyrics. That anti-establishment aura continues to this day all over the world.

Locally, the first two Punk Rock Flea Markets were held in 2019, (the event was canceled in 2020 and early 2021 because of COVID-19). But it has taken place twice a year, in March and September, ever since.

Chastain, event coordinator and self-proclaimed “old punk rock dude,” has been in charge of finding bands to play at the event since the beginning.

Chastain, 43, is also the drummer for one of this year’s bands, The Kutoffs. He said he generally books bands to play that he has “some kind of a relationship with,” but also asks bands, generally by email, he’s personally seen play and he thought would be a good fit musically, visually and diversely.

“A lot of it is, if you’ve been part of the music scene for 20 years, you kind of know some guys,” said Chastain, who lives in Lakeland with a 16-year-old son and 13-year-old daughter. “And I wasn’t able to this time, but I always try to have some female or LBGTQ representation, too. Sometimes, I have to change (format) standards or go another music route to get that.”

Over the years since the flea market's inception, Chastain said he’s developed a wait list of about 30 bands who’ve asked to play. He said he works to book bands from all directions from Lakeland to connect all the surrounding punk rock scenes. He said he’s familiar with most of the bands who get signed on — everything from hardcore punk to folk-punk — but sometimes, he goes by instinct.

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“This edition, for example, I booked American Dream Survivors. I’ve never seen them, but they’re different due to having a banjo player and brass horns, so they’re a little bit left of center,” he said. “Even though they’re all ‘punk,’ we want each band a bit different.”

Scheduled for the 2024 Punk Rock Flea Market are:

  • 12:30 p.m. American Dream Survivors (Gainesville) —  a five-piece, playing eclectic Americana, folk-punk.

  • 1:30 p.m. Human Error (St Petersburg) — four-piece playing classic, aggressive, street punk.

  • 2:30 p.m. “A Decade At Sea (Miami) — four-piece playing 1990s’ style skate punk.

  • 3:30 p.m. Never Ender (Melbourne) — four-piece playing skate punk with some pop punk.

  • 5:30 p.m. The Kutoffs (Lakeland) — three-piece pop punk with heavier and softer songs.

  • 4:30 p.m. Up From Here (Tampa) — three-piece playing pop punk.

  • All day. DJ Dadd (Lakeland) – deejay spinning classic punk standards and new punk tunes.

It’s the all-encompassing punk vibe of the PRFM that made Danny Anderson of Tampa a fan and want to get involved. He attended the 2023 edition of the festival. He said he sent “a shot-in-the-dark” email to Chastain about having his band pop punk and emo-influenced band Up From Here -- on stage, for which he’s the singer and guitarist.

“We wanted to get involved with the community and be around other people who love punk rock music and are open to hearing new bands,” said Anderson, 27, who’s played guitar since he was 11. “We want to meet new fans, and this seemed like a new opportunity for us that we’ve never explored before.”

Overall, once the booths are packed, the stage is disassembled and the last tattoo is finished or nipple ring is purchased, Chastain said his goal for the music at the PRFM is to remind folks that punk rock is “fun” and more diverse than some people realize.

“I want to create some kind environment on stage where you’re getting exposed to not just straight-down-the-middle punk, but a little bit of all punk,” he said. “We want to connect the Central Florida music scene; I want to remind everyone that we do this because we love it.”

If you go

WHAT: Punk Rock Flea Market Vol. 8

WHEN: Noon to 6 p.m., March 27

WHERE: Swan Brewing, 115 W. Pine St. and along Pine Street east of Lake Wire, Lakeland

COST: Free

INFO: www.lakelandpunkflea.com; 863-703-0472

This article originally appeared on The Ledger: Who's playing at Lakeland's Punk Rock Flea Market on Sunday?