The Hails to Headline Gainesville's High Dive's Last Hurrah

The Hails have announced that they will be headlining Gainesville, Florida’s infamous High Dive’s last hurrah, All Hail High Dive, before closure.

Taking place on May 19, with support still to be announced, the indie five-piece is the perfect example of the musical launch pad High Dive has been for the Florida music scene over the last decade plus. Last week, High Dive’s founder and owner Pat Lavery shared on social media that the venue is coming to a sudden end after their landlord informed them they had 30 days to vacate to make way for the new owner who will redevelop the property. 

The Hails shared, “Every musician has a place where they feel they truly cut their teeth, and High Dive was ours. We take pride in being a band that started in Gainesville and were able to climb the ladder of playing local indie showcases and food truck rallies, to eventually selling out shows of our own. High Dive always welcomed us and gave us countless opportunities to improve — even when we were insufferable college kids who showed up late to soundcheck and sometimes only cared about how many drink tickets we could score.”

The band’s frontman Robbie Kingsley continued, “As a performer, I learned invaluable lessons from the people who worked at High Dive and from those who came to our shows. Every time I was on stage, I discovered something new about myself and the community. The building has a soul that can’t be extinguished, enriched by all the culture that has been shaped within its walls. Having spent nearly a decade in Gainesville, I'm sad to see it go. I always planned to return for more shows and good times. High Dive will be dearly missed, but its impact will resonate with us forever.”

Tickets for The Hails’ final show at High Dive are on sale now here. The band and the venue expect this to be a massive friends and family affair, and a proper chance for the community to say a heartfelt goodbye to the landmark location.

After forming at the University of Florida in 2015, The Hails were first given a chance to perform publicly by High Dive. With that foundation set early on, The Hails have since been able to grow from local legends to a nationally recognized act. In the Fall of 2023, the band released their debut album What’s Your Motive to the praise of Billboard, Consequence, Miami New Times and many others. In the time since their album release, the band has toured extensively, bringing their music to new audiences across North America. This June, The Hails will join the lineup of Governors Ball in New York. 

High Dive has existed at SW 2nd Avenue in Gainesville, FL since the 1990s under various names and ownerships. Once known as Covered Dish and then the legendary Common Grounds, the venue has been a pillar of one of Florida’s most alternative cities. Groups like The Hails, flipturn, Hot Water Music, and Less Than Jake got their start at High Dive, while acts like Kenny Chesney, Mike Campbell (The Heartbreakers), Black Flag, Built To Spill, Mitski and Ethel Cain have graced the stage over the years. Each year, the venue has been a host location for The Fest, one of the largest hardcore events in the world. High Dive also made Consequence’s list of 100 Best American Music Venues.

Lavery said, “A big part of the mission of a small to mid-sized local music venue like High Dive, in a small college town like Gainesville is to help develop local talent. We have given hundreds, if not thousands, of local bands their shot on this stage. Most play a few shows to their friends, then break up upon graduation and move on. I'm proud to say that The Hails are one of our biggest local success stories from the 13 years of High Dive's operation. The band played their very first show on our stage.  We saw them grow from young, wide-eyed men, to a mature, focused band with national success. Along with their music scene contemporaries at the time flipturn, The Hails helped show their generation of local bands that Gainesville could once again be a launching pad for a career in music, as it has before with bands like Against Me!, Less Than Jake, Hot Water Music, etc. I couldn't be more excited for the future of The Hails. I am also honored that they are coming home to our stage for one last hurrah.”

On plans for the future, he continues, “While I am open-minded about finding the perfect location to relocate High Dive, I have not yet found that spot and have accepted the possibility of this being the end of the venue and the name. Everyone please hang tight as that is sorted out, we will be in touch very soon with more information.”

UPCOMING THE HAILS TOUR DATES

May 19 - Gainesville, FL - High Dive

June 4 - Charleston, SC - New Realm Brewing

June 5 - Charlotte, NC - The Evening Muse

June 6 - Washington, DC - DC9

June 9 - Flushing Meadows Corona Park, NY - Governors Ball 

ABOUT THE HAILS

Following a string of encounters too strange to be coincidence, Robbie Kingsley, Franco Solari, Dylan McCue, Andre Escobar and Zach Levy came together to form The Hails. Despite first playing in an insular Miami high school music scene, the band officially formed at the University of Florida in Gainesville, turning the tattered carpeting and beer bottle lined shelves of their sty college house into a distinct, refined sound that is now synonymous with their name.

After graduation, the group made the pilgrimage back to their home of Miami, the city that directly influenced the sound of their early shimmering singles “Younger” and “Stay,” debut EP He Seems Upset (2020), and the subsequent Alive in Strange Ways (2021). 

Firing the starting pistol of their current chapter, The Hails began rolling out singles from their debut album in October 2022. Recent highlights of the road include holding court at festivals like III Points, WonderStruck and Okeechobee, interspersed between sold-out shows, and tour support for WILLIS, The Happy Fits, The Beaches and the moss. Now with their debut album What’s Your Motive out in the world, The Hails will bring their new music to the road on their first ever headline tour, play at Governor’s Ball this June, and continue creating and releasing new music all the while. 

Photo credit: Luke Rogers

To post a comment, you must register and login.