Spring break in the City of Trees can only mean one thing: it’s time for Boise's Treefort Fest. The fifth iteration of the sprawling multi-day festival went off without a hitch this year. While the weather wasn’t quite as summer-like as it was last year, festival goers and bands didn’t let that stop them from soaking up all the music, food, and booze in sight.

Unlike a standard weekend festival, Treefort's five-day run time means it needs to be taken as a marathon rather than a sprint. While the desire to indulge in the sweet nectars of the festival spirit right out of the gates will be strong, you're going to need to pace yourself if you want to remain standing at the finish line.

While the festival's structure calls to mind the old MusicfestNW, Boise's compact clustering of venues makes Treefort feel closer to the Bridgetown Comedy Festival. That means that over the course of the week, you’re going to run into friends and acquaintances at random on the street. Since the majority of the venues are within a five minute walk from the main stage, it makes it manageable to pack your schedule tight, and still get from one venue to another in time to catch the bulk of an act.

Wednesday night brought early festival goers a set from Acid Mothers Temple at the Neurolux Lounge. As one of the main hubs of Treefort, the Neurolux remained busy the majority of the week, and with Wednesday starting a little slow as far as late-night show options went, the legendary Japanese psychedelic-rock had no problem packing the venue to the gills.

While on the subject of Acid Mothers Temple, I feel the need to address the family-themed booking streak that seemed to run through the Treefort lineup this year. We had Sisters, Mothers, Fog Father, Great Grandpa, Western Daughter, Modern Kin, Mommy Long Legs—these are just the few I can rattle off the top of my head. Oh! Who could forget the pairing of Acid Dad and Meth Dad on the Saturday night bill at The Olympic. Great work to whoever ran with that! Not only did you get a chuckle out of me, you booked some fantastic bands in the process.

The Portland presence at Treefort this year was as strong as ever. You couldn’t make it through the weekend without catching a Portland act if you tried, and each one I caught delivered a festival-stealing set. The always-excellent Divers were in fine form when they took the stage at the Shredder late Thursday night. They played a few new songs, including the A-side off their new 7-inch, “Achin’ On.” The pin drop silence that overtook the crowd during quiet portion of set-closer “Montrose” left me with some serious shivers.

Chanti Darling’s appearance at main stage on Sunday afternoon, complete with a full band and choreographed dance routines, had the Treefort crowd buzzing for the remainder of the festival. Earlier that day, indie-rock trio Sioux Falls, who were late additions to the fest, gave their all in front of a sizeable audience at the Linen Building to catch the band. Frontman Isaac Eiger thanked everyone for showing up early, and he proceeded to shred, on both his guitar and his vocal cords, in a performance that would have knocked the crust out of the eyes of even the sleepiest in attendance.

If I were to give a spirit award to a band, it would go Denver rock 'n’ roll quartet, Bud Bronson and the Goodtimers. The band hit a deer on their way over from Colorado, totaling their van and cutting their tour short. Fortunately, they were unharmed, and managed to get their van towed into Boise. Given the circumstances, they kept their spirits extremely high for the duration of their set. With vocals that channel the speak-sing storytelling of Craig Finn from the Hold Steady, and flashy guitar work that set the stage perfectly for the likes of Summer Cannibals and Diarrhea Planet (who would played later that evening) Bud Bronson and the Goodtimers delivered one of the weekend’s more memorable sets.

Once again, Saturday’s Band Dialogue played a huge role in making this year’s Treefort something special. The sheer spectacle of witnessing 20 bands form a large U-shape and converse with one other around a closed-down stretch of road in downtown Boise is enough to make Treefort a festival worth checking out. Conductor Seth Olinsky, who again gave participating bands direction from the center of the street, has latched on to something special here. The logistics in getting something so large, loud, and unique scheduled and coordinated seems staggering, and given the need for a rushed preparation, the results are quite fantastic.

The following day, I witnessed Olinsky waving his arms again, only this time from the audience. While his Akron/Family bandmate Dana Janssen was busy piloting his band, Dana Buoy, through a set of sincere and genuinely uplifting cosmic-pop, Olinsky was front and center waving his arms around like one of those inflatable advertising figures you see outside of gas stations and shopping malls. It was heartening to see Olinsky supporting his long-time, but recently relocated bandmate (Olinsky lives in Los Angeles, while Janssen currently resides in Portland). That said, Dana Buoy’s sound seems more than capable of eliciting this kind of overwhelming response from just about anyone. Think Twin Shadow’s “To The Top,” and mix in some of Animal Collective’s more anthemic moments. You’ll want to be sure to catch them next time they play here in town.

Elsewhere on that final day, back-to-back sets from All Dogs, Pinegrove, and the Sidekicks at the Linen Building made mapping out Sunday evening a breeze. The twangy indie-rock quartet Pinegrove brought the kind of set you would expect from a band who've already delivered an album-of-the-year contender. Frontman Evan Hall had a sizeable chunk of the audience hanging on every word that he delivered with his distinctive drawl, all while the band flawlessly powered through a set of songs that drew heavily from the band’s sophomore album, Cardinal.

Given the fact that pop-punk quartet All Dogs and indie-rock outfit the Sidekicks both originally hail from Columbus, Ohio, it’s safe to say that this wasn’t the first time the two bands have shared a bill. Heck, All Dogs' Maryn Jones and lead Sidekick Steve Ciolek even play together in the folk-rock band Saintseneca. That said, catching the All Dogs crew front and center for the Sidekicks, head-banging the entire time, and later shouting along with Ciolek on “1940's Fighter Jet” in the closing moments of the set was a delight, and it echoed that uplifting scenario I observed earlier in day with the Akron/Family boys. Later, via Twitter, All Dogs issued a friendly reminder that the Sidekicks are still the greatest underground American rock band, and after witnessing a set like that, I wouldn’t disagree.

It just wouldn’t be Treefort without Built to Spill, and what better place to close out the weekend than front and center for a stripped-down, three-piece performance from Doug Martsch and Co. at the El Korah Shrine. The band ripped through a set that mixed in classics, a few tunes off their latest album, Untethered Moon, and a couple of new songs. As good as Built to Spill pulls off their act as a 5-piece, seeing Doug give his chops a bit of an extra workout as the only guitarist onstage was a real treat. The highlight of the set came when Doug’s old Treepeople bandmate, Scott Schmaljohn, joined the band on stage and lent some killer guitar-work to the punked-up ripper, “Pat,” a song that eulogies their fallen bandmate, Pat Brown.

Once again, Treefort delivered in every aspect. It makes me pine for a similar festival to return to Portland one day, or for Elon Musk to hurry up and make this Hyperloop technology a reality to cut down on the drive-time to Boise. Cutting-edge rapid transportation system or not, I can picture myself returning to Boise every March for the foreseeable future.