julie at The Wooly
The Wooly, Gainesville, FL | October 16th, 2025
Written and photographed by Anna Joy McFarland
It was Thursday evening when I walked up to The Wooly venue and saw a line wrapped around the block. It had been a while since I had seen such a large waiting crowd at one of my hometown's venues, and there were even more people waiting inside the venue for the show to start. Three-piece shoegaze rock band julie from California was going to take the stage soon, with support from Atlanta-based Sword II.
Sword II was the perfect opener to set the tone for the night. It started more mellow, but as the crowd started to get a feel for the music, both the crowd and band began to rock out. They were very complementary to julie's music and fanbase. With an album release on the way in November, I'll be listening to them and on the lookout if they ever come down to Florida again.
Before julie even began, the room was packed with people from the front of the stage throughout the entire venue. Immediately as they came on, the crowd erupted into cheers. The crowd was dancing to every song, even the ones that were a little more toned down. With such high energy, a mosh pit naturally formed; however, so sudden that the front row was pushed forward toward the stage. After a reminder from vocalist Alex to be kind and mindful of each other and the limited space, the crowd was much more prepared and harmonious. Many people were having the time of their lives, from those in the mosh pit to others who stayed out of it but were still cheering the lyrics. Some fans rode the high from above, crowdsurfing with the support of others. The band played off this energy and killed it onstage, in an understated kind of way. For shoegaze fans, you will definitely like julie, and I would recommend not missing their next shows.
