Hey everybody. I am taking over for the day, contaminating the blog with all things shiny. Anyway, I’m gonna talk to you today about 97x Next Big Thing, a rock concert event that took place on Sunday of this past weekend. I was one of the thousands in attendance for the show, so I’ll give you a play by play of the 14-hour long event.
The gates opened at 10 AM and we all filed in to see two local bands on the second stage. Set it Off and Not Tonight Josephine were both fairly good and got everybody ready for the real deal. The first band to rear its head was American Bang, a new hippie style rock band with ferocious guitars shredding through their set in the vein of good old fashioned southern rock. The frontman’s voice was somewhat drowned out by the instruments, but it really wasn’t important as the guitars and drums ripped through the crowd anyway.
Next up was Finger Eleven on the main stage, one of those bands no one thinks they know, but in reality you’ve heard at least one of their songs on the radio at one point or another. There set was enjoyable, if not the most energetic, and they played the two songs that I knew, so I was happy.
Then came Neon Trees, a new band whose massive hit single Animal is ruling the airwaves right now. They emerged on the second stage and despite initial technical difficulties the lead singer, Tyler, owned the crowd within minutes. With his incredible vocals, mike spins, jokes and theatricality, Neon was immediately a standout best of the day-so-far to me and my group. Tyler even went so far as to call out audience members who began to leave after Animal was belted out- in his own unique hysterical way.
Switchfoot (the biggest name so far) was then on the main stage. Switchfoot has been around for a few years now, and it shows, in a good way. They not only executed hit songs such as Meant to Live and The Sound with precision, but also definitely got the crowd into it, with Jon Foreman entering the crowd for a full two songs of the set.
Next on the second stage was the hard rock group A Day to Remember. This was definitely the set with the most moshes so far of the day, considering that they are basically a scream-o band. Not exactly my cup of joe, but it was a good, fast paced set and they were definitely pumped to be here.
The new group founded and produced by Randy Jackson, Paper Tongues, was up next on the main stage. Lead singer Aswan North emerged in all leather and owned the stage, reminiscent of a very young Freddie Mercury. He was very crowd friendly and interactive and able to hit notes that others there couldn’t even dream of. The highlight of the set came with their hit single Get Higher, when Aswan told us all that their bassist had just had a relative die and that it was our heavenly mission to reach said relative by breaking the sound barrier. EPIC.
Against Me! was next, but sorry, I missed out on their set. The Dirty Heads, reggae rockers were up next. In my humble opinion, they sucked. It was only reggae for one song, the rest was white rap that would make Vanilla Ice cringe.
Then came Sick Puppies, rock regulars at NBT. I know their name may make you laugh, but they are actually quite the talented group with a wide range of song types. They definitely got the crowd going in the amphitheater and considering that from here on out, all bets were off, they kicked the second half of the day off with the bang.
They were followed by Cage the Elephant. I knew a few of their songs going in and thought they could do very well. I very much enjoyed their set, but it was only because of how awful it was. The lead singer was clearly tripping on something. The entire set I couldn’t make out a single word, much less even find a song I recognized. He fell of the stage at one point and seemed to be having seizures the entire time, screeching into the microphone.
Next was Chevelle, a finely tuned alternative band that was very enjoyable with a good set list. At this point, the pit, where I was, was pushing forward so much that my group couldn’t really move the whole set. However, the NBT regulars were a very solid act and extremely enjoyable. The Black Keys emerged next and offered a much needed change of pace. The two man band made up of a drummer and a singing guitarist put out a psychedelic, mellow kind of show that wasn’t well-received by some of the wilder audience members- but I loved it. They definitely earned the Grammys they are currently nominated for.
Then came the time the world was waiting for. Just from looking around hours ago, at 10 AM. It was clear who the thousands had really come to see. From their killjoy masks and laser beams to their MCR shirts, My Chemical Romance was clearly the anticipated fan favorite, and I can’t say that I wasn’t among those super pumped for them to close out the incredible day. My Chemical Romance entered to their brand new hit single Na Na Na… -and the second lead singer Gerard Way even appeared, the crowd was up off the floor. For the rest of the hour and a half long set, the crowd did not stop moving, jumping with every command. At times the crowd’s cheering was so loud that you could hardly hear Gerard. Thongs were thrown on stage. Fan-made shirts and banners were risen all over the amphitheater. It was clear that the crowd was having the time of their life, and so was the band. Blasting through old and new hits, MCR owned the stage and owned the festival, making everything else look like an opening act in comparison.
It was an awesome day and MCR offered up a fantastical, other-worldly, amazing finale and it was well worth it to be one of the thousands packed into the amphitheater. Thanks for coming along for the ride.
Hahahahaha! The Vanilla Ice cringing comment made me laugh. Thanks for the review Will. Have a great weekend!
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