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Walking into Wall Street, I could hear Big Lo doing his thing by preaching to the people and was concerned that they wouldn't get it. His politically driven and thoughtful flow is backed up by some of the most unique tracks in hip hop that will appeal to fans of A Tribe Called Quest, Pharcyde and Wu Tang, but it the intensity of his message unfortunately might have been a little too "heavy" for the Wall St. crowd at 8:30 p.m.
Even he mentioned between songs that the crowd needed to drink more, and then later asked if anyone out there smoked weed. Only a few admitted openly and he encouraged them to fess up despite the police presence in downtown, and finally those that were paying attention and not already in a drunken stooper started to warm up to him a little more. His crowd control tactics I have to say were slightly genius. He's another act I feel is powerful enough to change the way people think and will have a positive impact on those that come across his rhymes.
Charetta @ Central Station Bar
Arriving at Central Station, I bumped into a few friends and noticed that there was an intensely powerful female voice and echoing off the brick walls so I tried to politely plow my way through the bar patrons and was happy to catch the NYC band Charetta. There were quite a few fans lined up in the front despite the band being from out of town, and I'm sure that on top of the straight forward rock her band was pumping out, Angelina being as beautiful as she is attracted some new fans.
As almost every critic does when trying to describe a band with a front-woman, if I had to compare them to others in the mainstream, I'd say they're a little bit of the rockin' side of Evanescence and the ballad side of No Doubt mixed together. I wish they had gotten the opportunity to play a different stage because I'm not sure Angelina and the rest of her band displayed as much confidence as they seem capable of, so hopefully they'll get the chance to come back and rock everyone's faces off.
Emperyan @ Central Station Bar
Well, these guys were pretty much the only band to represent the metal side of the festival and man did they kill it. Although the acoustics in Central Station were almost to brutal to bear whenever frontman Adam would belt out a certain note, it kind of felt good to test my ears' decibel intake limit.
Picture the progressive metal of Tool, southern hardcore of Pantera and rock opera of Dream Theatre or Queensryche and then that's somewhat of a comparison, but they definitely have their own sound and are one of the most exciting local acts to watch perform.
I=nterlaken @ Central Station Bar
Reminescent of Echo and the Bunnymen, and Night Kills the Day, I=nterlaken would've been better suited performing on a stage with lots of crazy lights and a better sound system like Voyage as opposed to Central Station to enhance the moodiness their music creates.
I really like the songs they've written, but these guys are kind of like a lil' gem or diamond in the rough that needs polishing. Their banners with cool logos that they perform with on stage help attract attention and add to the look, give 'em a little more time and they'll be the full package.
Forsythe @ Central Station Bar
Oh these boys were F-U-N! Shredding, speed demon guitars, power pop punk and plenty of attitude - they hit all the right poses and proved they were talented beyond their years. This Tallahassee group evidently has been playing together off and on for the last four or five years but their musicianship was so tight it seemed like they must've popped out of the womb playing together!
Pras @ Wall St. Plaza
Waiting 20 minutes for Pras to hit the stage really put a dent in my schedule and was afraid I was going to miss Thomas Wynn & the Believers because they were all the way over at the Cheyenne Saloon but I loved Pras in his former group The Fugees and was eager to see what the set would turn out like, so I stuck it out and was surprised to hear tracks like "Fu-Gee-La," and the epic "Ready or Not" all mixed into each other within the first several minutes of his set. I had to take off to try and catch at least one more band since I was probably not going to have the time to get to the Cheyenne Saloon.
AM Conspiracy @ The Social
Realizing that it probably wouldn't be the smartest idea to end my night at the Chyenne and walk solo with my cameras to my car, I decided to go rock out at the Social where I'm friends with the security guards and AM Conspiracy was going to wind up the festival. Basist Kenny Harrelson and drummer Dean Andrews have been rocking our scene in various other bands throughout the years, but teaming up with Drew Burke and Mike Farole on guitars and former Drowning Pool frontman Jason "Gong" Jones these guys are a force to be reckoned with.
With many other scenesters like Cori Yarkin, and Thatcher from Junkie Rush in attendance and support, the band plowed through a most rockin' set while Jason proved why he's one of the best rock vocalists out there. Everyone found themselves singing along, head banging and pumping fists in the air to Dean's solid beats so it was the perfect way to wind up the 2008 Florida Music Festival with a bang!
