The Mustang began to slow as they neared the large convention hall where the music festival was being held. Normally it would have taken them half an hour or so to get there, but with Alex driving it was rarely more than a ten or fifteen minute drive. Kaz swore the only reason he hadn't had his license revoked was because his dad was a cop. No one would ever try to ticket Mr. Richardson's kid, not unless they wanted to get shouted out of the state. Kaz stared silently out the window of the car, eyes flicking from building to building across from the convention hall. It was a stark contrast from his neighborhood, all half-abandoned warehouses and cracked cement buildings. It was a welcome change, really. He had always preferred the more run-down parts of town over the clean-cut hedges and picturesque mansions of his street. The car rumbled to a stop around the corner, Alex cursing and complaining loudly that someone had stolen his parking spot closer to the entrance.

"How many bands do you think will show?" Kaz asked, sliding out of the cherry red Mustang and shutting the door gingerly behind him. Alex had a tenancy to shout at you if you slammed the doors too hard. Something about damaging the hinges. He opened the door to the back seat, pulling his guitar out and slinging it around his shoulder while Alex began to ramble on excitedly.

"Dude, you know it's gonna be at least twenty bands at least. This is like, the third biggest festival that rolls around. Hell, they'll probably have twenty bands a day!" Alex all but shouted, grinning widely as he locked the car and shoved the keys into the pocket of his suit vest.

"Come on, be realistic here. It's not that big, and each band gets an hour of play time before someone switches off. It'll probably be like, five bands a day that take turns or whatever," Kaz chuckled, beginning to walk towards the gate that separated the parking lot from the partially set up stands and practicing bands scattered across the blacktop. Alex bounded after him excitedly, his grin so bright it could blind.

"But just think, man! This is our first music festival, and that means we're getting somewhere! Maybe they'll even give us a few extra hours of play time after we knock them off their asses with our skills," he rambled, giving a quick wave to the security guard at the gate before slipping inside. Kaz rolled his eyes, frowning annoyedly as his guitar case caught in the small gap between the gate and the ticket booth. It took him a few tries before he actually got through the gap, and Alex snickered at him when he finally shoved his way through. Kaz shot him a look as they walked, but a small smile began working its way across his face as they walked further and further into the growing crowd. Booth owners were running left and right, bands were scrambling to find a decent place to practice, and the food trucks were fighting for decent places to park. It was nothing compared to the oncoming chaos, but Kaz loved it all the same.

He wasn't quite sure where he was going, but he knew they had found their practice spot when Alex began to all but skip towards the mess of instruments and extension cords just behind the large outdoor stage. It was a large and fairly empty space, with few other setups near them. Kaz laughed a little as he found Michael slumped over one of the snare drums, snoring loudly with his face pressed into the worn white surface. Kaz set his guitar down gently in the grass next to his sleeping cousin before taking the drumsticks gently from Michael's hands. He snickered quietly to himself before he began to bang loudly on the symbol just above his head, causing the sleeping boy to startle awake violently.