I really wanted to follow up with JOON @ Annie's Café to start the whole festival off, so Amber and I descended upon Downtown early in the afternoon to eat and relax before the mayhem started. Originally, Joon was supposed to start @ 8pm and after 8:15 rolled around and the first band hadn't even started, I figured we'd better introduce ourselves to the band to find out what was going on. They had been bumped to 9pm. So off we went to see if we could catch The Strangers @ Tanquerays
-- A.L.
THE STRANGERS @ TANQUERAYS
The band was still soundchecking and setting up their liquid light projector when we settled in and noticed many other industry folks and media were piling into the room. Cute, Twiggy like girls with tambourines dressed like they were about to appear on an episode of Laugh-In walked through the crowd as the other band members piled into the corner that doubles as a stage.
With some great feedback, a vintage 60's Jimi Hendrix-esque shirt and Fender, the guitarist started off their set by setting the vibe for the rest of their performance. With the liquid light projector and tunes reminiscent of The Verve's first album A Storm in Heaven, these guys and tambourine girls brought everyone back to the psychedelic era for sure.
-- A.L.
FAIRWEATHER FRIEND @ VOYAGE
We hadn't planned to cover these guys, but I had heard of them before, and thought we'd sneak in since we had some time to kill before the Ravi Fernandez Band back @ Tanquerays. Whoa...holy overly ripped pectoral muscles, overly emphasized by a red & black striped v-neck.
I don't claim to be the fashion police because I'm sure I make violations all the time, but his chest was the only thing I could look at...which acted as a pretty good distraction to their rather sloppy and discombobulated musicianship. I'm sure their recordings (if they have any) sound all artsy, pretentiously geeky and great, but upon leaving Voyage, Amber and I looked at each other in horror because whatever was coming out of the singers mouth sounded like an animal dying.
-- A.L.
SAVI FERNANDEZ BAND @ TANQUERAYS
After our experience at Voyage, I was a little scarred and kinda felt bad for Fairweather Friend hoping that it was just an off night, but thankfully Ravi Fernandez and his band busted out the jamz right of the bat.
Funky, groovaliscious jamz ranging from a Caribbean vibe to Latin inspired percussion and Bluezy guitar solos that made me want to shake my booty instead of work! Ravi really tore up his Gibson Les Paul and showed of his skills enough where others in the room did get up and dance right as Amber and I had to head over to Wall Street.
-- A.L.
THE OAKS @ WALL ST II
Amber and I had just gotten front of stage @ Wall Street II when I saw Mel, LT and her husband Mike from the WJRR family and was excited that Mel was going to introduce the Oaks. She does a lot of charity work with the Bad Girls Club and Rock Pink, so she and The Oaks Frontman Ryan have that in common because he spent a few years in Afghanistan doing charity work himself.
A lot of his lyrics on their album Songs for Waiting are about that experience. They as a band care about humanity, the current state of the world and its future probably more than any politician actually does...and their music is just so beautiful. *Sigh* I got into documenting bands and their progression as artists because I used to believe that music could change the world for the better, and these guys and gal help me keep that dream alive.
-- A.L.
THE MAJESTICS @ CENTRAL STATION
When listening to the songs they had on their myspace page before the festival, I came to the conclusion that they seemed like what it would sound like if Sonic Youth had a bastard child with Neutral Milk Hotel. I'd say that I was pleased to find out that they kind of were.
These young whippersnappers were intensely energetic and maybe not all that tight with the musicianship, but they rocked out to a crowd that was just as energetic. The bass player was rockin' out so hard that he tripped and fell backwards over his monitor and off the stage to the delight of his fans. They helped him back on his feet where he continued to play and the crowd ate it up.
-- A.L.
BLUE MAN GROUP @ WALL ST MAIN STAGE
Well, I'll probably never be able to take the time off from my crazy schedule or to afford a ticket to the Universal Studios Aquos theatre where the Blue Man Group perform on a daily basis, so it was cool to see them downtown on Wall Street.
Although the opening was a conglomeration of images and sounds we've all seen in their promos, sticking a little camera down an audience member's throat and making it into music was definitely something I wasn't expecting, and I'm not sure he was either.
-- A.L.
SAM RIVERS @ THE SOCIAL
It was announced that Sam Rivers had recovered from a bout of Pneumonia and for everyone to extinguish their cigarettes just before the legend took the stage, and everyone obliged with the utmost respect. The roar of the crowd as he took his time getting to his stool was such a warm and welcoming cheer that it just warmed my heart.
He jumped right into the jazz fusion with a nice flute solo and the other members of his orchestra followed suit when cued by the 2 time Grammy nominee like they had been playing together for decades. This performance gave true meaning to what musicianship is all about and the talent displayed throughout was so scrumptious you could just eat it up.
-- A.L.
AFTERGLOW RADIO @ CENTRAL STATION
These guys just get better and better every time I see them perform live. They've got beautifully well crafted songs that are epic and contain a hint of everything that's good about classic, grunge, psychedelic, modern and balls to the wall rock n' roll. I witnessed many people in Central Station who hadn't heard of them before asking others who they were they were because liked what they were hearing so much.
Central Station is such a hard place to play for any band because of the design flaws in the venue, from the bar taking up almost the entire room to the stage being shoved back in a little corner on the way to the bathrooms, these guys didn't let it throw them and they played a flawless set...I wouldn't have wanted to be the follow up act, that's for sure.
-- A.L.
MUNK TUNG @ BACK BOOTH
There's a reason Godsmack hand picked Munk Tung over 30 some odd other bands to open for them last May at Hard Rock Live. Songs like Problematic and Somebody Else contain clever lyrics that are ready to go mainstream and are so infectious, that they'll get stuck in your head for days.
Even though they had the latest slot on the festival, they kept the night rockin' and gave one of their best performances ever despite frontman Ethan recovering from surgery not even a month ago. They were the perfect way to end the first night of this crazy festival and I still have their song Part of the Wave stuck in my head as I write this.
-- A.L.
HYDROSONIC @ BACKBOOTH
After a rough start to the first night of the festival, I was completely
overjoyed to end my night at Backbooth catching the last three bands performing
there. Hydrosonic was the first to go on and they set the bar pretty high for
the acts following them. A vast crowd seemed to start growing as they took the
stage and began their first song. As their set continued, the band seemed to
feed off of each others energy as well as the fairly rambunctious crowds nonstop
energy. Fans had the opportunity to sing along with front man Anthony Furtney as
he placed the mic in front of them getting a significant response. If you missed
this show, worry not because you have the opportunity to catch these guys at
BackBooth again this Sunday at 6 p.m.
--A.W.
--A.W.
FALL OF ENVY @ BACKBOOTH
While researching bands for the festival, Fall of Envy was one of the bands
that stood out to me. I had high hopes for their stage performance and I was not
disappointed. The energy that started with Hydrosonic still lingered in the air
and was passed onto these guys. The vigorous guitarists, thrashing drums, and
strong vocals fit together seamlessly throughout their set. Greg surprised fans
as he left the stage and walked into the crowd while still playing guitar. Fall
of envy will be performing in Gainesville on May 20 with The Exies and Nonpoint.
If your not up for the road trip, they will be back at Backbooth on June
20.
--A.W.
--A.W.
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