Sign number one that you’re at a giant, corporate music festival: bottled water costs the same as Red Bull. Only at a Live Nation venued concert festival would a small can of energy drink be given equal footing with life giving bottled water. Furthermore, both cost more then gasoline, which is an interesting economic model which brings to mind some futuristic, post World War III society. Maybe I should have tried the Soylent Burger.
Regardless of economics, the Bamboozle Left Festival on the grounds of Verizon Wireless Amphitheater was a noteworthy affair, full of impressive performances, emo-tastic merchandising and a crowd full of so many underage concert goers that you half expected Chris Hanson from Dateline NBC to drop in and ask you what you were doing there. With a line-up chalked full of fifty bands spread amongst six stages in three different areas, the festival featured a Coachella type feel where at the end of the weekend you felt like you only saw a fraction of the bands listed on the marquee.
Saturday saw most of the big action on the main stage. While Paramore might have had the biggest crowd of the night (Hayley Williams is a dynamic lead singer, but I could have sworn the band was more punk then the pop-rock sound they presented on Saturday night), it was Chicago punk-stalwarts Alkaline Trio who stole the show. Re-emerging from a two year bubble of label changes and electro-punk side projects, The Trio presented a set that showed why their rabidly devoted audience doesn’t just sing along to every word, but do it with such feeling that it rivals any church audience you might encounter. The band played a WAY to brief 30-minute set of old favorites (“Private Eye”, “This Could Be Love” and “Radio”) and new songs from their upcoming summer release “Agony and Irony”, including their new single, the impressive Ian Curtis tribute “Help Me”. While I could throw a bunch of verbs, nouns, adverbs and probably some Egyptian hieroglyphics at you to tell you how great the Alkaline Trio’s sundown set was, all I have to say is that, pound for pound, the Trio made the rest of the festival seem somewhat irrelevant.
Although, the Trio might have stole the show, that doesn’t mean that Saturday didn’t feature some very memorable performances. Though never the main attraction, New Found Glory always puts on a solid, enjoyable show. The bands energetic 30-minute set was one of the best of the weekend, keeping the audience enthralled with their hits. Three ska/ reggae performers also put on enjoyable performances. Streetlight Manifesto, RX Bandits, and (especially) Reel Big Fish all did their best to get the crowd moving with all three bands never taking themselves too seriously.
For the hardcore kids, Story of the Year were a passable choice. While I fundamentally have nothing against the band (they are musically pretty strong), I just get tired of lead singer Dan Marsala telling us to jump or scream or mosh or whatever DURING… EVERY… SINGLE… SONG. Seriously, dude, we get it. WE…GET…IT…
Unfortunately, due to our parking situation and the promise of another long day on Sunday, I had to leave before Jimmy Eat World or The All American Rejects hit the stage. Unprofessional: yes. A good idea for someone who was parked on a one lane dirt lane parking lot in the back of Verizon Wireless: also, yes.
After a night of aching feet and REM sleep, I found myself back on the grounds of Verizon Wireless Amphitheater for another dose of punk-poppiness. Sunday’s main stage action started with screaming sets (and I do mean lots and lots of screaming) by Schoolyard Heroes and From First To Last before giving way to electro-popsters’ Metro Station. The four piece from Hollywood were the first band of the day to get the kids shrieking with pleasure. And while I wasn’t shrieking, per se, I was impressed with the bands performance, as well as their very nice pop sound. I predict those kids are going to be big. Snapple big.
Armor for Sleep put on what was the arguable the best main stage performance of the day. The bands half- hour set (see a pattern here) was sleek, powerful, and showed some real emotion which sometimes seems to be missing from other bands in the genre. Not to be outdone was New York City’s The Bravery. One of the most reliable live act’s playing today the band was very impressive during their sundown set. The band engaged the crowd with danceable tunes while lead singer Sam Endicott moved around the stage with the energy of a wind-up doll.
Other main stage highlights included the reunited Finch and political punk rockers Anti-Flag, who both were very good in what was probably the hottest hours of the weekend. My favorite performance on Sunday (well, except for maybe Suburban Legends rendition of The Lion Kings “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King”), was Cincinnati’s Foxy Shazam. Although I couldn’t actually SEE the bands performance, thanks to a tent that blocked my view (I was in line to meet a band with my significant other), what I heard was more than enough to get my heart racing. Full of hard guitars, classical piano and insane rants from lead singer Eric Nally (“I was the only black kid in my high school” stated the very white frontman), Foxy Shazam was kinda like Andrew W.K. had too much Manishevitz before heading on stage.
In other words: it was magical.
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