Saturday, June 12, 2010

The Bamboozle Roadshow 2010


I didn’t anticipate much going to the Bamboozle Roadshow because I’d already been to Bamboozle in New Jersey and Warped but it completely exceeded my expectations.

First off, I want to talk about the venue. I’d never been to the NC Music Factory in Charlotte before, but let me tell you it’s now my favorite venue. It’s literally an old mill that was divided into bars, music clubs, and the Fillmore Ballroom with an amphitheatre in the back. The Fillmore is actually a pretty decent size while still having that intimate feeling. The first half of the festival was in there (which was great because I was able to escape the brutal heat outside), then it moved outside in the late afternoon to the amphitheatre which is was a lot smaller than the Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre in Charlotte but I enjoyed it a lot more.

The band that opened the festival was the California-based Drive A. I’d never listen to them prior to their performance but they were fantastic, the best band to play that stage in my opinion. Going back to some true punk roots with songs like “Take a Side” and “Can’t Sleep It Off.” I highly recommend if you like hard and loud punk to check them out (drivearocks.com). They’ve also opened for HIM, one of my all time favorite artists, so that just makes me like them even more.

Upon leaving the ballroom to move out to the amphitheatre I bumped into former-My Chemical Romance drummer, Bob Bryar, and he was just a delight. I’m assuming that he is back working in sound tech now that he’s left My Chem because he said he was “working.” I got an autograph and a blurry picture but I was content.

Despite not being familiar with Forever the Sickest Kids latest album they definitely gave the best performance out of the three times that I’ve seen them. They’re so energetic, and I love how Jonathan swings his mic around in a very Adam Lazzara-esque fashion. They’ll be putting out their next album The Weekend: Saturday at some point this summer and maybe by that time I’ll have picked up a copy of The Weekend: Friday.

While trying to get a drink and avoid the heat I met Good Charlotte’s Benji Madden. I thought it was very cool that a celebrity of his status was simply walking around the venue passing out Good Charlotte stickers to kids. It just goes to show you that there really are bands that are still in it for the music and the kids and not just the fame and money.

Good Charlotte. Amazing. I’d never had the opportunity to see them before and they completely blew me away. They played a pretty great setlist in just 40 minutes consisting of some of my favorites like Girls & Boys, and I Just Wanna Live.

Benji then came out and played with All Time Low. I’ve always ended up missing All Time Low’s sets at other festivals, though I did catch Alex singing with Sing It Loud at Warped last summer. I thought they were fantastic, even though they talked way too much and as a result had to shorten their set. Jack at one point got up and walked all the way out to the lawn with his guitar. I would love to see them again. By the way, if you have yet to see their dvd which just came out recently, I suggest you do so because it’s freakin’ hilarious!

Boys Like Girls was great despite the fact that I was not impressed with their second album. I saw them last year at Bamboozle in New Jersey and let me tell you (and don’t laugh), that was the roughest crowd I’d ever been in! I actually fell and couldn’t get back up because of the masses of teenage girls pushing, someone had to pick me up and put me on the barricade. Anyway, this performance was a far better experience than the last. We all bombarded the GA section for the final song, The Great Escape, although it took some people jumping over the fence to convince the security to let us down there. All in all it was a terrific show, and if your date hasn’t already passed I hope you’ll go because I had a wonderful time, and I would go as far as to rate it better than Warped Tour. If you went to the show, leave a comment and tell me about your experience.





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