Sorry for the delay folks, Blogger decided it didn't feel like posting for a bit.
Venue(the First Midwest Bank Amphitheater, Tinley Park, IL):(2.5/5) I personally am not a big fan of large amphitheaters, but they’re a necessary evil sometimes when you need to house 28,000 fans. They aren’t as obnoxious as arenas and centrally help facilitate outdoor events, but they tend to be lesser sound quality and overcrowded even for someone who has tolerated arenas.
The sound system was well balanced for a larger venue, but the microphone quality was simply put sub par. I’d expect this from an arena show, where the venue is not meant for music, but if you’re designed for music the vocals should be clear not distorted. It’s unprofessional.
The festival line up was wonderful but the festival itself was a little below average. There was nothing entertaining outside of the music and the random strippers, who weren’t doing much. For a radio-sponsored festival I expected more than ridiculously over priced food. Luckily, my reason for going was the music.
Audience (3/5): typical festival audience not really active until the headline act showed up. However, for Three Days Grace and Papa Roach, they were on fire.
Now on to the reason the rain, really expensive food, (seriously I’ve paid for 2 people on what it cost me for one) and shoddy mics: the show.
It started off with a bang, and kept going. At festivals there is a distinct difference in the treatment/ set length and often quality of the day acts versus the night acts. I was anticipating sitting through shitty music for a few hours.
What a pleasant surprise.
(Due to the shorter sets and a very long day some of these reviews are shorter and hazier than my usual work.)
Story of the Year-- (3/5)(alternative rock) I admit I was still settling in during this set, so my focus wasn’t perfect. I spent as much time listening to front man’s vocals and watching his own energetic dancing as watching the guitarist run full tilt around the drum set, through the back stage and back out front again. It was hilarious, and wonderful.
The music itself was decent, not quite buy the album worthy but good enough for a day act.
Janus-- (4/5)(alternative rock) Exceptionally unexpected amount of energy and outright force on stage. Curiously, unlike many other bands the energy wasn’t exclusively from front man, the entire band was positively electric. I was blown away to the point that I don’t actually remember the visual elements that well. I do remember my hair standing on end and the guitar work being articulate and impressive.
(Lunch break doing the majority of Saliva’s set)
Coheed and Cambria-- (4/5)(other--see below) As a friend put it front man, Claudio Sanchez, is a tiny robot built to rock. Their music is a combination of progressive rock, metal and alt rock. Sanchez’ vocals are, frankly, insane. Strangely intoned, both in pitch and tenure, his voice draws the listener in and made me stop and take a solid listen, a hard thing to master when I’m as tired as I was. The guitar work was wonderful as well. Sanchez also never held still, he was a ball of energy and preformed outstandingly.
Puddle of Mud --(3/5) Being only a casual listener I spent the bulk of their set thinking, “Oh, that’s them?” Puddle of Mud was decent live, very hard to see at that juncture so it’s hard to comment on the performance itself. From an auditory standpoint they were a solid, often nostalgia-inducing band. Lots of energy from these guys, the audience was finally starting to warm up and get into it. They also knew how to balance the set between the songs that every one knew and the lesser-known songs.
(Dinner break during Hollywood Undead, from what I overheard I didn’t miss much)
Papa Roach--(3/5) I admit I lapsed into a food coma and sleep deprivation induced nap during half of their set so no full review. However, I had very low expectations of them based on the few songs I knew. What an improvement! Still the same things for the most part (Teenage angst filled rap-rock), however, they had very good energy and the crowd was really into their set, especially when they played their old stuff. I’d forgotten how much I secretly liked “Last Resort.” They also played “Dead Cell”, which was a nice hat tip to the older fans.
Seether --(2/5) I have two of their albums (Karma and Effect and Disclaimer II) and they are solid, though they sound the same much of the time and I keep confusing them with Hinder (a better band with a very similar sound). I’ve also seen them live before and they weren’t half bad then.
This set however, was different. Somehow they managed to suck the majority of the energy out of the audience. Half the audience was sitting. After the kind of show Papa roach put on, there shouldn’t be people sitting. The front man also has apparently lost his sense of aesthetic entirely.
And did I mention he actually messed up some of the lyrics? Only slightly mind you, but I noticed. I even sat down and watched the screen. Front man, Shaun Morgan just seemed tired for most of the set and the only songs that had energy were covers (although, I do encourage checking out their rendition of “careless whisper” its a wonderful angry version)
And then the amphitheater exploded.
Three Days Grace --(5/5): Three Days Grace hales from Ontario, Canada, so they aren’t often in the US and I’ve wanted to see fro some time now so there was major anticipation. However, after Seether I wasn’t holding out for a high-energy performance.
Some of the Radio crew came out to talk at us while they adjusted the pyrotechnics due to the wind.
Then they hit the stage.
From opening siren to final note, Three Days Grace was a force on stage. With the often-depressive tone of their music I’d expected some lulls when the inevitable slow numbers came up. The energy never stopped. (At some point before they came out I’d managed to climb onto a seat so I could see all of the stage. Not a task for the faint of heart, or poorly balanced, my shins still haven’t forgiven me) Front man Adam Gointer also never stopped, weather singing or talking to the crowd, Gointer putt of a charisma and energy that you don’t see often. It wasn’t that he was an arrogant front man, or that the rest of the band was sub-par (on the contrary the guitar work was wonderful) far from it. It was that Gointer was a force all on his own. The way he worked the audience was amazing and his encouragement of the audience made for an unreal amount of participation (when the kids in the seats in the second tear are slam dancing, you know you have something powerful indeed) At one point about half way through the show Gointer actually made his way all the way back to the lawn to perform in the crowd. How he came back with his hat intact I’ll never know.
The music itself was a powerhouse of rock and occasional moments of very deliberate stillness timed perfectly with a brilliant light and pyrotechnic. Show that brought the house down.
For a festival show, that was unreal. Seriously, these guys are artists both in performance and in musical talent.
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