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07/31/2010 KROCKathon 15: Limp Bizkit, Flyleaf, Avenged Sevenfold, Hollywood Undead, Ed Kowalczyk, All That Remains, Halestorm, A Day To Remember, Smile Empty Soul, Crash Kings (Syracuse, NY @ New York State Fairgrounds)
By Eric | August 5, 2010 3:50 pm
[New Politics and Hail The Villain were also on the bill, but I didn’t get there early enough to catch them.]
Since I knew I wasn’t interested in seeing any of the first couple bands, I made it easier on myself by getting there a little later. Getting in was no problem, I had to park out in the North 40, but that part was quick. Got in, and they oriented the two stages so the crowd stretched parallel to the (unused for this event) grandstand. As I walked in, Crash Kings were playing on the left-side stage, and sounded okay, but I confess I didn’t really pay attention. I got my beer tickets and milled around the various vendor tents that lined the venue. Smile Empty Soul was up on the right-side stage next, and I wasn’t that impressed with them when I saw them six years ago, and I wasn’t this time either. Their bass player looked like he was just going through the motions, but I read elsewhere that he wasn’t feeling so good, so I can give him a pass on that one. A Day To Remember was up on the other stage, and they reminded me a lot of New Found Glory with more screaming. They were decent, and seemed to have the shrieking female fan market cornered.
At this point the first band I actually wanted to see, Halestorm, was up. Lizzy Hale came out and started by slowly belting out the opening line to “It’s Not You” before the rest of the band joined her and got into it full-on.
They also played, among a short drum solo, What Were You Expecting, Dirty Work, Familiar Taste of Poison (before which Lizzy brought out a giant wine glass, dumped probably half a bottle of red wine into it, and *consumed* haha), Innocence, and naturally the closer was I Get Off. The band was tight, Lizzy’s voice didn’t show too much strain considering all the touring they’ve been doing (she hit the high notes in I Get Off fairly strong), and they were plenty interactive with the crowd. A strong festival set.
Over to the other stage, for All That Remains! Easily the heaviest band to this point, and my first band worth wading into the pit for. They wasted no time whipping everyone up, opening with Six, and then into Not Alone. They kept the music rolling, not too much banter, continuing with the slower Forever In Your Hands. (Phil’s quote: “this song is for all you guys who have vaginas out there, so your girlfriend can pet it!”) I think The Air That I Breathe was next, then This Calling, Chiron, and a new song called For We Are Many that RIPS. If this song is any indication of what the upcoming album is like, ATR isn’t going anywhere. The closer was Two Weeks. As far as I could tell, the band sounded fine, but I was way too close and more concerned with jumping, moshing, singing along and not getting creamed by crowd surfers. Great fun though!
For We Are Many
The Air That I Breathe
This Calling
Ed Kowalczyk (from Live) was next on the opposite stage, and he got quite the reaction. He played a mix of stuff from his new solo album, plus a couple Live hits (All Over You, Selling The Drama, Dolphin’s Cry, I Alone, Lightning Crashes). Can’t say much else except that his backing band was very good, Ed himself sounded damn good, and the crowd was surprisingly into it. Good show!
Up next was a band I was interested in seeing, Hollywood Undead. Almost party rap, with a couple guitars thrown in, the live show was a bunch of guys running around on stage, wearing masks half the time, and rapping. What surprised me though, was that each member rotated around playing the electronic drum kit, keyboard, and guitar depending on which song they played. It wasn’t all samples/DJ’ing behind them. They also had a full-time drummer on stage. That actually made it a little better for me, that ALL of these guys can actually play something. As for the songs themselves, their stuff is just fun! They started with Undead, and also played Sell Your Soul, Bottle and a Gun, City, Young, California, Black Dahlia, No. 5, and of course closed with Everywhere I Go. (That song is completely stupid, but fun as hell!) The set was also great for watching all the wannabe hood rats in the crowd act all gangsta. What a riot.
The first of the “headliners”, Avenged Sevenfold came up and put on a hell of a show. It was obvious that a lot of people were there to see them, as the crowd response was huge. Not knowing a lot about them, I was very impressed. Even more impressed when during one of the songs, they stopped dead in their tracks because someone got hurt (knocked out?) up front, and got the crowd to separate to get the EMT’s in there. Great move. Since I couldn’t tell you any song titles, I’ll thank setlist.fm for the setlist: Nightmare, Critical Acclaim, Welcome to the Family, Beast and the Harlot, Buried Alive, So Far Away, Afterlife, God Hates Us, Unholy Confessions, Almost Easy.
The next “headliner” was Flyleaf, and between the couple songs I knew and what I checked out prior to the show, I was very interested in seeing them. They put on a great show, and while I was camped in front of the other stage, so I didn’t have a direct line of sight, I could see their bass player was easily the most engergetic person up on the stage. Lacey Mosely’s voice was strong, the band sounded fine, and they had a good mix between the two albums as far as song selection.
Among others (and probably not in order), they played Fully Alive, Beautiful Bride, Cassie, All Around Me, The Kind, and I’m So Sick. Pretty sure the closer was Arise. Interestingly enough, there was little to no talking to the crowd between songs at all. Just a brief pause, and right on with the next song. In any event, I think I’ll be checking them out if/when they come back around to give the set my full attention. I was a bit distracted, because I was too antsy waiting for…
LIMP BIZKIT. YES. Twelve years later, I finally got to see them again. Hell yeah, I was excited! Did it live up to expectations? Yes! They sounded great, the crowd was into it, Fred still dances like an idiot white-boy, DJ Lethal was hyping the crowd up, Wes had some crazy costume on, Sam’s bass still has the LED’s in the neck, the usual stuff you’d expect from the Bizkit. Freakin sweet. In a some-good, some-bad kinda way, there was nothing off of $3 Bill (save for Faith) in the set. Which means every song I saw was something I hadn’t seen before, but Counterfeit woulda been really cool. No matter. Fred came out to the barrier on the left side for a song (Eat You Alive I think?), off to a perch on the right for My Way, all the way on the left side stage for another song. All over the place. I think the crowd got tired, because after about the 4th song, the pit calmed down some, and we could actually breathe for a song or two. Even after that, I had room! Amazing! The closing stretch was pretty good, with Nookie, Take A Look Around, and Rollin’, and they brought it back old-school for the closer, bringing all the ladies up on stage for Faith. Right at the end of the song, they shot a ton of gold “flakes” (like cellophane ribbon hacked up) into the crowd, and those suckers were insidious. They went EVERYWHERE. (Even found some in my clothes when I got home!) Cool ending! Even if I never see them again, I’m glad I got to see them this time around, because dammit, I was a fan then, and I’m fan now! Setlist: Hot Dog, My Generation, Livin’ It Up, Eat You Alive, My Way, Break Stuff, Behind Blue Eyes, Nookie, Take A Look Around, Rollin’, Faith
The entire day was a success, the crowdsurfers weren’t too too bad, it wasn’t overly hot, while there were some fights in the crowd, there was nothing near/involving me, so that’s always a plus! Getting out of the parking lot however, well, not so much. Since I was way in the back and around a corner, I changed my clothes, sipped a bottle of water, put on some tunes, and napped in the car for an hour, because traffic didn’t move an inch. I didn’t even bother pulling out to get in line. Shoulda brought a whole cooler and tailgated some more. After that hour I got right out though!
Someone has a “highlight” clip video:
Topics: Concerts | Tags: 2010, A Day To Remember, All That Remains, Avenged Sevenfold, Crash Kings, Ed Kowalczyk, Flyleaf, Halestorm, Hollywood Undead, KROCKathon, Limp Bizkit, New York State Fairgrounds, Smile Empty Soul, Syracuse | 1 Comment »
August 6th, 2010 at 12:58 am
saw flyleaf a few years ago on family values with korn and deftones and was completely not impressed. and songs i’ve heard since have not impressed. i just can’t stand her style of singing, where the end of every line goes up and her voice cracks. hah i dunno, hard to explain, but it bothers me.