Soul Asylum to Headline Carrollton’s 12th Annual Festival at the Switchyard; Hoobastank and Lit Join the Line-Up

The City of Carrollton is excited to announce Grammy award-winning, rock band Soul Asylum as the headline entertainment for the 12th annual Festival at the Switchyard on Saturday, November 5 in Downtown Carrollton (1106 S. Broadway Street). Multi-platinum selling band Hoobastank and platinum-selling Lit will open, with platinum-selling, alternative rockers Marcy Playground kicking off the nighttime entertainment.

Formed in 1981, Soul Asylum broke through commercially with the double-platinum 1992 album Grave Dancers Union. The full-length album earned steady alternative radio and MTV airplay on the strength of the Billboard Hot 100 Top 5 hit "Runaway Train," which won the Grammy for Best Rock Song in 1994. Adding power to the album was number one modern rock smash "Somebody to Shove," as well as “Black Gold.” The video for “Runaway Train” by the Minneapolis band featured missing and exploited children and teens and brought two dozen children around the world home to their families. Soul Asylum continued to enjoy mainstream success with their next album, 1995's platinum certified Let Your Dim Light Shine, which featured the international hit "Misery." Soul Asylum will rock downtown Carrollton with songs from their extensive discography that includes 12 studio albums, two live albums, five compilation albums, two extended plays, and 22 singles. Their most recent album Hurry Up and Wait was released in 2020.

Before Soul Asylum, California rock band Hoobastank will take the Festival stage. In 2021, Hoobastank celebrated 20 years of their self-titled release, Hoobastank. The album launched the career of the band to mainstream success with crowd-favorite hit singles including “Crawling In The Dark,” “Running Away,” and “Remember Me” – all of which have since been certified Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) platinum. The band’s 2003 follow up studio album The Reason took them to even greater  heights and solidified Hoobastank as a household name.

The title track “The Reason'' went four times platinum and racked up several number one chart positions along the way, while the album went double platinum. “The Reason” has more than two billion streams/views online.

Punk/Alt band Lit is guaranteed to heat up the evening with its signature sounds. Lit helped define an entire generation of SoCal power punk with hard-charging hits like “My Own Worst Enemy,” “Miserable," "Zip-Lock," and "Lipstick & Bruises." 

The band has released six worldwide studio albums, including their RIAA Certified Platinum A Place in the Sun. Their mega-hit "My Own Worst Enemy" is one of the most broadcasted, covered, karaoke'd, recognizable rock hits of the last 20 years and won them a Billboard Music Award for Modern Rock Track of the Year in 1999. As recently as 2017, Lit was back on the charts hitting number one on the CMT 12-Pack with their video for "Fast," from their These Are the Days album.

Kicking off the headliners, will be alt rock band Marcy Playground. In 2017, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the band’s 1997 self-titled debut album, Slow Down Sounds released the album on vinyl for the first time ever. The album went platinum in 1997, selling 1.4 million copies and spent a record 15 weeks at number one on the Billboard Modern Rock chart. In the interim years, Marcy Playground released four posterior albums Shapeshifter (1999), Marcy Playground 3 (MP3) (2004), Leaving Wonderland…In A Fit of Rage (2009), and Lunch, Recess, and Detention (2012).

Popular DFW Metroplex group, Emerald City Band, will take the stage in the afternoon leading up to the nationally known bands. Emerald City burst onto the Dallas music scene in 1983 and became a sought-after choice at parties, weddings, and corporate events with their sensational sound, hip vibe, and high energy. The party cover band grabs the audience’s attention with a 13 piece, three-horn section, super group that gets people grooving with a combination of dance songs and party tunes from the past and present.

Hip Hop Hooray will have the crowd jumpin’ as the group takes the best of ‘80s and ’90s hip hop tracks and throws down a high-energy “shizzle,” as they describe it. The group includes talented musicians who perform with one turntable and three emcees. The audience will groove to Hip Hop Hooray’s covers of “Humpty Dance,” “You Can’t Touch This,” “Funky Cold Medina,” “Ice Ice Baby," and more.

Bryan Adams tribute band Run to You will warm up the crowd before Hip Hop Hooray. The group takes pride in giving fans the ultimate Bryan Adams experience by capturing the sound, look, and vibe of the Canadian guitarist, singer, and songwriter. Run to You will have the audience singing along with hits like “(Everything I Do) I Do it for You.”    

A proud Texan will open the main stage Festival entertainment as the Jade Flores Band plays a mixture of classic country music, blues, and vintage rock and roll. Flores uses her soulful voice to put her own spin on a variety of well-known hits. Audience members will recognize Flores from the ABC television show and singing competition, American Idol.  Flores first appeared in season 17 and then returned in season 20. Her recovery from a vehicle accident inspires her fans today, along with her Texan pride.   

Main Stage Schedule*

National Anthem                        11:00 a.m.

Jade Flores Band                       12:00 p.m.

Run to You                                   1:00 p.m.

Hip Hop Hooray                          2:00 p.m.

Emerald City Band                      3:10 p.m.

Marcy Playground                       4:20 p.m.

Lit                                                    5:50 p.m.

Hoobastank                                  7:20 p.m.

Soul Asylum                                 8:50 p.m.

*All times are approximate and may be subject to slight changes.

In addition to free concerts, the award-winning Festival at the Switchyard features free live children’s entertainment, front-of-stage community performances, free rides and games, free face painting and balloon art, a beer garden, and an array of food vendors and Festival booths to shop from. The event is held on the streets of Downtown Carrollton, just off IH-35E and Belt Line Road, steps away from the Downtown Carrollton Station on the DART Green Line. Festivalgoers are highly encouraged to park at the North Carrollton/Frankford Station or Trinity Mills Station and ride the DART to the Festival site, as parking is extremely limited.

Sponsors to date include AmerisourceBergen Corporation, Carrollton Regional Medical Center, Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART), iHeartMedia Inc., MAKE - Music and Creative Arts Studio, Republic Services, Resort Vacations Inc., Texans Credit Union, Trinity Smiles Family Dentistry, and Western Extrusions.

Sponsorship opportunities are still available for the event, which consistently draws 35,000-40,000+ attendees. Visit carrolltonfestival.com or email festival@cityofcarrollton.com for more information about the various Festival sponsorship packages available.

Stay connected to all Festival entertainment news at carrolltonfestival.com and on social media at facebook.com/CarrolltonFestival and twitter.com/CarrolltonFest.