Local indie pop-rock band, The Forum, will find themselves bracing the crowd for YouTube singer- songwriter and headliner Tessa Violet on her world tour Thursday.
The Central Florida based band with Gainesville roots is opening for “Crush” singer Tessa Violet at the High Dive on Thursday. Tickets are $15 in advance and $17 at the door. Doors open at 8 p.m. and the show begins at 9 p.m.
The Forum was founded in Gainesville during late 2015 after vocalist Michael Higgins met his future guitarist Nick Wheeler and bassist Jacob Farrell through craigslist ads. The band rounded out its current iteration in December 2018 when drummer Ethan Klohr joined the group.
The inspiration for the band name came from meeting each other online.
The Forum jumped on the opportunity to open for Tessa Violet after seeing that she was coming to Gainesville. The band immediately reached out to the High Dive to try and grab a spot.
Patrick Lavery, the Facility and Events Manager of the High Dive, happily obliged.
“The Forum is one of the best bands in Gainesville and they were very excited to open the show. It was a no brainer,” Lavery said.
Michael Higgins, 23, sees the show as an opportunity to reach a broader audience.
“I’m interested to see what kind of crowd it draws. I think it will definitely be a new crowd of people that probably haven’t seen us before in Gainesville,” Higgins said.
A week after playing with Tessa Violet, The Forum are returning to perform with some of the state’s largest regional bands at the Heartwood Soundstage.
The Forum will perform alongside other Florida bands flipturn, The Hails, King Complex, Glass House Point and Driveway. The show begins at 6 p.m. and tickets are priced at $10 online for students and friends of Heartwood, $12 online for everyone else, or $15 at the door.
“That lineup is interesting because I feel like we all grew up together in the music scene the last three years in Florida,” Higgins said. “It’s really cool to have that collection of artists all in one night back in Gainesville. We all have such respect for each other.”
Before solidifying what Higgins describes as a “huge opportunity,” The Forum has been consistently hitting shows around Florida, creating new music and expanding their presence.
Higgins said the best part of performing around Florida is seeing fans across the state come back to their shows.
“My favorite part is seeing the people that you’ve reached in those places come back and then meeting new people,” Higgins said. “It’s really cool to get that group growing and coming back and it’s a testament to the work we’ve put in to get back there and connect with those people.
The band plans to release a new single in the fall, but gave no further information about the record.
The Forum recently completed their May tour, where the group visited South Carolina, Georgia and Tennessee as well as multiple Florida cities.
