inTuneMusic

The Gaslight Anthem / Pela / Good Old War @ Asbury Park 5/9

June 23, 2009

For the second night in a row, The Gaslight Anthem played the sold out Stone Pony in Asbury Park. This would be the final date on a tour that began in March for a band that has been on the road non-stop since issuing The ‘59 Sound last summer, which was in fact their second release of 2008. Needless to say, The Gaslight Anthem should look tired and fatigued–but that simply was not the case.

Good Old War's Keith Goodwin, ready to play a second standing guitar.

Good Old War's Dan Schwartz, ready to play a second standing guitar.

Opening act Good Old War took the stage at 6:30PM. Joined by the boys in The Gaslight Anthem, the Pennsylvania indie/folk trio opened with a cover of “Way Over Yonder in the Minor Key”. Originally penned by Woody Guthrie (but performed on Mermaid Avenue, a joint album by Wilco and Billy Bragg), the song was immediately recognizable as the basis for The Gaslight Anthem’s own “Red at Night”.

Good Old War’s remarkable voices and musical ability were immediately apparent; the band harmonized with ease, transforming good songs from 2008’s Only Way To Be Alone into great live performances. Drummer Tim Arnold kept guitarists Keith Goodwin and Dan Schwartz in perfect time, even as they switched instruments–or as Schwartz played two guitars at the same time, one of them on a special stand allowing him to do so–throughout the set.

Pela's Billy McCarthy and Eric Sanderson.

Brooklyn’s Pela followed, working hard to reach the extremely high bar set by Good Old War. The band’s vastly different style (loud and fast) was a perfect segue from the more mellow Good Old War into The Gaslight Anthem. To say frontman Billy McCarthy poured his heart into the band’s performance would be an understatement; the puddles of sweat left on stage had to mean he gave more. Never still for even a moment, McCarthy ran, jumped, and fell all over the stage–all while playing guitar and delivering a strong vocal performance. Pela combined classic rock and roll with punk energy, and although Good Old War is clearly the more talented band (those harmonies!), Pela was excellent, and each band cannot be complemented enough on their live performances. Indeed, on any other night either opening act could have stolen the show from most headliners.

Still, hometown favorites The Gaslight Anthem had no trouble trumping both openers. The band cut through The ‘59 Sound for most of the first half of their set, lightly sprinkling in more punk-inspired songs from Sink or Swim. Effortlessly moving between full-blown singalongs (”High Lonesome”) and quiet ballads (”Navesink Banks”), the band also covered Tom Petty (”American Girl”) by the night’s end. (Please check out my review of the band’s performance just six weeks earlier on the beginning of the tour for more details, as the songs and performance was generally the same. The previous review offers additional insight into some of the songs, as well.)

The Gaslight Anthem hardly stood still all evening.

The Gaslight Anthem hardly showed signs of touring fatigue.

Late in the band’s setlist the band touched on Senor and the Queen EP. During “Blue Jeans & White T-Shirts”, as frontman Brian Fallon was about to sing about “buying..that house on Cookman”, he paused; Cookman Avenue is across the street from the Stone Pony. He acknowledged how surreal it has been to be singing songs about Asbury Park to thousands of people around the country.

The Gaslight Anthem were constantly gracious the entire night, sensing that at any minute the band wouldn’t be that small anymore, assuring everyone in the crowd that they would always remain true to their punk-rooted ideals and their fans. With critical acclaim and incredible live performances gaining mainstream attention–not to mention a spot opening for a little known artist known as Bruce Springsteen–it shouldn’t be too long until they are put in position to defend that assertion.

All photos by Bob Sanderson.

Leave a Comment » | Asbury Park, Good Old War, New Jersey, Pela, Stone Pony, The Gaslight Anthem | Permalink
Posted by Anthony Charles Ambrose

Bamboozle Day 2 @ East Rutherford 5/3

June 22, 2009

Rain welcomed the second day of Bamboozle on Sunday, but it luckily never got worse than Friday’s Hoodwink downpour. A brief recap of the weekend so far, in case you missed it:

On Friday, the Hoodwink festival featured twenty bands performing full cover sets. Highlights included New Found Glory covering Green Day, Anti-Flag covering The Clash, and Push Play covering Muse.

Saturday–the first day of The Bamboozle–featured nearly one hundred bands; stellar reunion performances by The Get Up Kids and Edna’s Goldfish, in addition to great performances by Bayside and New Found Glory, set the bar high for Bamboozle Day 2.

Sunday began with a host of punk and hardcore acts on two neighboring sidestages. I caught performances by The Scandals and Outbreak before walking to another stage for Inward Eye, a Canadian trio that draws heavily from bands like The Who–a band they’ve actually toured with. Inward Eye sounded extremely tight acted quite grateful for the fairly small audience they drew.

I walked to the main stage area to catch another Canadian act, the four-piece Billy Talent. Always full of energy and quirky behavior from frontman Ben Kowalewicz, the band satisfied my hunger for new-school punk rock and rocked the packed crowd across seven songs. “Devil on My Shoulder”, from their upcoming Billy Talent III, sounded solid. Before the band finished, Kowalewicz announced that Billy Talent would be opening for Rancid and Rise Against in July in New York City, a show I am excited to attend. The full set:

Billy Talent

Devil in a Midnight Mass
Line and Sinker
This Suffering
Devil on My Shoulder
Try Honesty
Fallen Leaves
Red Flag

I wandered around a bit, passing The Sounds (who didn’t sound too impressive) and the pre-teen Jerzey Kids (who show promise as pop musicians). Arriving at the hardcore sidestages, I chatted with security about their relationship with various hardcore bands. It was certainly interesting to learn that most of the bouncers knew exactly what to expect from each of the bands, consulting the schedule to identify how difficult work would be for them at various times throughout the day. Upon informing the security team that A Day to Remember would be the day’s secret performer, a series of groans could be heard from the middle-aged bouncers. From working enough shows, each of the bouncers knew exactly what bands produced violent crowds.

This is Hell would be one of the groan-inducing bands for security. The Long Island hardcore act is loud, fast, and abrasive. Guitarist Rick Jimenez rarely let up over the band’s half-hour performance, and when he did, it was only to let bassist Johnny Moore step forward. Not to be confused with a plethora of metalcore and punk-pop styled bands marketed as “hardcore”, This is Hell left no doubt that they are a top-notch hardcore-punk band. Travis Reilly’s cry over Dennis Wilson’s raucous drums kept a tightly packed crowd moving for the set’s entire duration.

Australia’s Closure in Moscow played next on the adjacent stage. Drawing immediate comparison to Circa Survice, the band layers post-hardcore guitars over progressive-rock song-writing. Indeed, vocalist Chris De Cinque comes off as a tamer, less experienced Anthony Green; with more time in the role, De Cinque has potential to become one of the most prominent rock frontmen in the genre. With rock-solid drumming laying a concrete foundation for the guitars and bass, Closure in Moscow sounded great and likely picked up many new fans.

The band’s brightest moment came between songs, however, when De Cinque spoke on behalf of the band denouncing the nearby Banana Derby. A racetrack for monkeys, it is embarrassing to know that the Banana Derby was allowed to exist at an event like The Bamboozle where animal rights are often a subject of attention. PETA was notably absent at the weekend, but it is hard to believe that the animal rights extremists are not aware of the Banana Derby; certainly they should be.

Silverstein

Even more impressive were the acts of two concerned concert-goers: a guy and girl who skipped seeing their favorite bands in order to peacefully protest the monkey races. With makeshift signs constructed on the spot, the two stood in front of the collapsible racetrack attempting to raise awareness of the gross acts. I spoke with the one of the protesters briefly and left contact information; inTuneMusic is very interested in interviewing these two individuals–if they are reading, please contact inTuneMusic! We would love to tell your story and spread awareness!

Next on the mainstage was another Canadian act, Silverstein. Guitarist Neil Boshart drives the band, allowing the quintet to break free from what could otherwise be a fairly generic post-hardcore sound. Sticking mostly to singles and a few cuts from their latest offering, A Shipwreck in the Sand, the band engaged the crowd for thirty minutes before closing with “Bleeds No More”.

All the Day Holiday

All the Day Holiday, a four-piece from Ohio, happened to be playing a side-stage as I wandered around the parking lot looking for the next band to check out. Drawing heavily from Sunny Day Real Estate, the band layers thick guitars with soaring pop melodies. The band’s familiar, yet strikingly fresh, sound grabbed my attention and kept me intrigued for the duration of the excellent set.

The Used played on the mainstage at 6:30. Not expecting much, I stood on the outskirts of the crowd to catch the Utah quartet. Even with exceedingly low expectations the band managed to disappoint. The setlist featured some of their stronger cuts (including a three song Taste Of Ink/All That I’ve Got/Buried Myself Alive medley), but the band sounded awful, largely due to frontman Bert McCracken’s awful performance. The full set:

The Used

Take It Away
Bird and the Worm
Hospital
Blood On My Hands
Medley
Pretty Handsome Awkward
Box Full of Sharp Objects

Not too far away on a nearby sidestage, Valencia were next on my list; due to the mainstage being backed up by about twenty minutes, I got a chance to catch a bulk of the pop-rockers’ set before heading to the obligatory Face to Face reunion performance. Valencia passed out branded balloons before the set; little touches like this go a long way in adding a pleasant ambiance to the band’s set–which was unfortunately heavy on We All Need a Reason to Believe, accounting for all but two of the songs (”3000 Miles” and closer “The Space Between”). The full set (acquired from a friend, as I left early to catch Face to Face):

Valencia

Holiday
Safe To Say
3000 Miles
Better Be Prepared
Where Did You Go?
The Good Life
The Space Between

Face to Face’s performance on the mainstage marked their first time in the New York City area in nearly five years. The “punk” music scene was a different monster then–one of the biggest “punk”-styled bands in the world right now (My Chemical Romance) was their opening act in 2004. Now, in 2009, Face to Face returned to the scene to find a tiny crowd awaiting them; earlier pop acts, such as The Maine, outdrew Face to Face by an enormous amount. In a festival filled with auto-tune, vocoder, and boybands, there was hardly any country for these old men. Still, none of this stopped the California four-piece from giving their all through an explosive forty-five minute set. Side note, this may have been the first audience all day composed almost entirely of kids old enough to purchase alcohol.

One of my favorite live bands, Rise Against, was up immediately following Face to Face. On most nights, the band is excellent: frontman Tim McIlrath’s stage presence is demanding, and his voice is powerful. Unfortunately he sounded fairly weak at Bamboozle, and Rise Against didn’t live up to their incredibly high standards. Still, through the eleven-song setlist (which banked heavily on Appeal to Reason–nearly half of the set came from their latest effort), the band executed their music with precision, moving from radio-friendly (”Ready to Fall”) to acoustic (”Hero of War”) to brash (”State of the Union”) with ease:

Rise Against

Collapse (Post-Amerika)
Give It All
State Of The Union
Ready To Fall
Long Forgotten Sons
Re-Education (Through Labor)
Chamber The Cartridge
The Good Left Undone
Hero Of War
Audience Of One
Prayer Of The Refugee

The band announced that they would return to the area with punk veterans Rancid (and Billy Talent) in July, so hopefully McIlrath returns to form. With a stronger setlist and a tighter vocal performance, Rise Against could compete with any band in their genre for best live band. It’s just too bad that they didn’t showcase that side on a rainy Sunday night.

Taking Back Sunday, in contrast, sounded the best they ever have. Regularly a band that struggles through their live set, the Long Island five-piece (with an added sixth touring member as a third guitarist) was on point during their hour long Bamboozle performance. Opening with “You Know How I Do”, the band exploded out of the gate, stopping only to introduce songs from their latest full-length, New Again. Sadly, those new songs aren’t as good as their older material, so while the band is finally shaping up into a strong live act, the setlist is declining:

You Know How I Do
Error: Operator
Set Phasers to Stun
Carpathia
You’re So Last Summer
Cute Without the ‘E’ (Cut from the Team)
New Again
Liar
Sink Into Me
A Decade Under the Influence
What’s It Feel Like to be a Ghost
MakeDamnSure

No Doubt closed The Bamboozle Weekend a little after 9PM Sunday night. Gwen Stefani’s solo career certainly improved her stage prescence; she moved and danced like the veteran pop star she is. I didn’t stay for the entire performance, but the full setlist follows:

No Doubt

Spiderwebs
Hella Good
Bathwater
Underneath It All
Excuse Me Mr.
Ex-Girlfriend
Simple Kind Of Life
Hey Baby
New
Different Kinds Of People
Running
Don’t Speak
It’s My Life
Just A Girl
Stand And Deliver
Sunday Morning

Like the previous day, Sunday’s Bamboozle featured a plethora of throwaway acts including, but most certainly not limited to Family Force 5, The Maine, Hollywood Undead, The Used, Tinted Windows, 3OH!3, A Day to Remember, Brokencyde, and Owl City. However, strong performances by some newcomers (Closure in Moscow, All the Day Holiday) and the reunion of one of the best 90s punk acts (Face to Face) made Bamboozle Sunday a great day, capping off an excellent weekend.

Valencia balloons

Photos by incredible photographers: angelxshoe, lullabysounds, n1njadrum, catchphrases, ilikehugs, waitingforconcerts, boycottlove, AlysonElizabeth, abearcostume, Shawna Adams, Amanda Courtemanche

1 Comment | All the Day Holiday, Bamboozle, Billy Talent, East Rutherford, Face to Face, Giants Stadium, Inward Eye, New Jersey, No Doubt, Rise Against, Silverstein, Taking Back Sunday, The Used, This is Hell, Valencia | Permalink
Posted by Anthony Charles Ambrose

Jack’s Mannequin @ NYC 6/19

June 19, 2009

EXCLUSIVE! Download the full show right now!

On a warm Friday afternoon, Andrew McMahon headed into Midtown’s City Winery to play a handful of Jack’s Mannequin songs acoustic in front of a private audience. I was seated for lunch at the lovely restaurant around 12PM, ordered a glass of wine, and waited until McMahon came on stage near 12:30. Mixing up a set of old favorites, new songs, and even a cover of New York’s MGMT, McMahon sounded great. The full set:

Andrew McMahon

The Resolution
The Mixed Tape
Hammers and Strings (A Lullaby)
La La Lie
Kids (MGMT cover)
Swim

Even without the rest of the band, the songs sounded big; a few hitches aside (an improvised “La La Lie” solo fell apart), the performance was near perfect and showcased exactly why McMahon is one of the strongest pop songwriters alive. I spoke briefly with McMahon after the set; we discussed his first tour, which I caught in Philadelphia before he was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Sparked by the news that Jack’s Mannequin recently played the Something Corporate b-side “Watch the Sky” for the first time, I let Andrew know that my iPod was filled with his b-sides, acquired illegally. Without hesitation he smiled, put his arm around me, and said “as long as you’re listening, man”. He then signed my iPod, signing off that he was okay with that fact–not too surprising, since he angered his own record label by releasing a holiday EP for free on his website a few years back.

Jack’s Mannequin will open for The Fray in New Jersey at the PNC Bank Arts Center later tonight. The show is not yet sold out, and lawn tickets can be acquired from LiveNation’s website for about $25. Black and white photograph of Andrew McMahon is courtesy of the lovely Sara Brodster, who provides many pictures to inTuneMusic.

Jack's Mannequin

16 Comments | City Winery, Jack's Mannequin, New York, New York City | Permalink
Posted by Anthony Charles Ambrose

Bamboozle Day 1 @ East Rutherford 5/2

June 9, 2009

With Cartel’s “Luckie Street” bouncing off the Giants Stadium parking deck walls, I walked with anticipation to the first day of The Bamboozle, returning to East Rutherford just hours after Hoodwink had ended. Arriving slightly late to the festival, I unfortunately missed The Cab (who surprised me with an impressive Queen cover-set last night) and The Ataris.

I did catch the tail end of Cartel’s set, which included “Say Anything (Else)” into “Honestly”. Along with “Luckie Street”, these are three of Cartel’s bests songs, epitomizing the band’s penchant for punk-pop influenced pop-rock. Vocalist Will Pugh sounded great, and the guitars were bright and crisp. Although their sophomore full-length–a self-titled Dr. Pepper sponsored debacle–would indicate otherwise, Cartel can write tremendous hooks with songs begging to be played on a summer day. It was great to hear a nice selection of Chroma cuts during the brief time I caught the band.

Edna's Goldfish

The reunion performance of Edna’s Goldfish was next. The Long Island ska band hardly missed a beat, even if frontman Brian Diz was noticeably short of breath through most of the set; he joked that the entire band was out of shape from their decade-long hiatus. In a weekend that would be overrun with techno beats, auto-tune, and neon boy bands, Edna’s Goldfish was a nice glimpse into the pre-MySpace past. Songs including “I’m Your Destiny”, “Story”, “Avoiding the Swerve”, “This is Not Here”, “Invincible”, and “Veronica Sawyer” made up an excellent set.

Bayside

Opening with “Masterpiece”, Bayside sounded great. Sticking to mostly singles (such as The Walking Wounded’s title track, the newer “Boy”, and the obligatory closer “Devotion and Desire”), Bayside played a predictable but enjoyable set. The band’s sound is clearly built for intimate clubs, but they always manage to sound great outdoors–a good thing, since the band tends to play summer festivals every year.

I wandered over to catch a bit of Bloodhound Gang who played essentials like “Fire Water Burn” and “The Bad Touch”. The Pennsylvania natives traded dares and Jackass-inspired acts (such as drinking vomit) throughout the set. Unfortunately, the mix was poor, and it was hard to make out anything being said throughout the set. I caught a bit of These Green Eyes; the band doesn’t do anything new or groundbreaking, but they were enjoyable enough to listen to while waiting in line for the restrooms.

I met up with my friends in Latin for Truth, a punk-pop/punk-hardcore hybrid band from Alabama. The band wasn’t billed for the weekend–they ventured all the way up to New Jersey just to promote their new record, a DIY tactic right out of the Lifetime playbook (a band who’s sound they attempt to channel on their debut, Eleven Eleven). The band actually suffered a bit of bad luck recently and totaled their van and all their gear; I’d encourage you help them out or at least check out their record if you’re into bands like Set Your Goals or Kid Dynamite.

Gavin Rossdale performed on the mainstage around 2PM. I walked over to find him covering a few cuts from his old bands Bush and Institute, in addition to his new solo material. The crowd clearly went for the Bush cuts; the full set:

Gavin Rossdale

Machinehead (Bush cover)
Frontline
Boombox [Institute]
Love Remains The Same
Everything Zen (Bush cover)
Adrenaline
This Is Happiness
The People That We Love (Bush cover)
Comedown (Bush cover)

Boys Like Girls took the opposite mainstage, amassing the biggest crowd thus far into the weekend. The band sounded spot-on, but their songs lack any punch; they are not a gripping live act and ultimately remained forgettable. Worse, the band stuck strictly to cuts from their lone album, a 2006 self-titled debut. Four years as a band, I expected to hear something new: the band’s excuse for their meager four song acoustic offering the night before was that they were too busy in the studio to learn any full-band cover songs. The band’s six-song Bamboozle set:

Boys Like Girls

Hero/Heroine
5 Minutes To Midnight
Dance Hall Drug
Heels Over Head
Thunder
The Great Escape

Stripping down from their International Superheroes of Hardcore outfits, New Found Glory topped Boys Like Girls’s crowd size, drawing most of the Bamboozle attendees for their 3PM set. At one point the band stopped to “Tweet”; interestingly, this was about the same time I was updating my own Bamboozle Twitter account. The band sounded great, playing obligatory singles (”Hit or Miss”, “All Downhill from Here”) and new songs from Not Without a Fight (”Don’t Let Her Pull You Down”, “Listen To My Friends”) before closing with the crowd-arousing fan-favorite from Sticks and Stones, “My Friends Over You”.

New Found Glory

Hit Or Miss
Understatement
Listen To My Friends
All Downhill From Here
Failure’s Not Flattering
Don’t Let Her Pull You Down
Sincerely, Me
Forget My Name
Kiss Me
Intro
My Friends Over You

Set Your Goals

New Found Glory tourmates Set Your Goals played on a sidestage across the lot. The thirty-minute Bamboozle set appeared to be my last chance to see a bulk of their excellent debut Mutiny, and I couldn’t miss this set. I’ve seen the California punk-pop band a few times, but never as themselves for a full set (caught them once performing The Movielife songs, once performing Dave Grohl songs, and once in part opening for Paramore). The band played well, tossing in “Goonies Never Say Die!” and a new song into the Mutiny-dominated setlist. Still, I was expecting the something more from the band. I’ll have to reserve judgement until I see them headline, because their Bamboozle set just didn’t click like I expected it to.

The Get Up Kids returned to New Jersey with a triumphant nine-song setlist celebrating the band’s entire career, digging back to 1996 with “Woodson”. The first crowd of the weekend not packed with girls still fighting to reach puberty (and a spot on the front rail), it was a nice change of pace to stand and enjoy the Kansas City Kids with a respectful audience. Vocalist Matt Pryor sounded tight, and the entire band clicked in a way that few of the weekend’s acts would match. In a catalog filled with incredible songs, the band managed to pick nice set of songs, although “Out of Reach”, “Overdue”, and “Campfire Kansas” seemed to be glaring omissions. The full set:

The Get Up Kids

Coming Clean
Action and Action
The One You Want
Holiday
Woodson
Mass Pike
I’m a Loner Dottie, A Rebel
Don’t Hate Me
Ten Minutes

I passed All Time Low and caught a bit of Parkway Drive. Night began to fall, so I decided to shop for some discount merchandise, always a highlight of the Bamboozle experience. The Eyeball Records tent had boxes of great shirts for just five dollars; I grabbed a rare Thursday (Bearfort) shirt and some New London Fire tees (what happened to that band?). I looked for United Nations merch with no luck.

Razia's Shadow as performed by Forgive Durden

At some point Journey joined the festival as a secret guest; I learned of this midway through their brief set, catching the mega-hit “Don’t Stop Believing”. With nothing else going on I walked to Razia’s Shadow as performed by Forgive Durden. I’m admittedly unfamiliar with the album, but the concept intrigued me. I sat down and caught the show, enjoying myself for the next hour as ringleader Thomas Dutton paraded guests onto the stage:

Greta Salpeter (The Hush Sound)
Bob Morris (The Hush Sound)
Dan Young (This Providence)
Casey Crescenzo (The Dear Hunter)
Fred Mascherino (The Color Fred)
Sierra Kusterbeck (VersaEmerge)
Dave Melillo (Cute is What We Aim For)

Dutton is working around the clock to promote his musical; community centers and schools can even perform Razia’s Shadow royalty-free by signing up here.

The final band Saturday was Fall Out Boy, who took the stage at 10PM with an elaborate setup. I stuck around for a few songs, but ultimately decided that Fall Out Boy is not a band with an extensive catalog of good songs. They have a few shining moments spread thin throughout their discography (”Dance, Dance” is likely the best song they’ve penned, and most of Infinity on High is fairly strong), but to stand through a twenty-song setlist seems somewhat unbearable. That’s not to say the band didn’t play well and sound tight; it’s clear they are a top-notch pop-rock act. The full set (with two covers):

Fall Out Boy

Disloyal Order Of Water Buffaloes
Thriller
A Little Less Sixteen Candles, A Little More Touch Me
Sugar, We’re Goin Down
I Don’t Care
I Slept With Someone In Fall Out Boy And All I Got Was This Stupid Song Written About Me
This Ain’t A Scene, It’s An Arms Race
Headfirst Slide Into Coopestown On A Bad Bet
What A Catch, Donnie
Coffee’s For Closers
Grand Theft Autumn / Where Is Your Boy
She’s My Winona
Beat It (Michael Jackson cover)
America’s Suiteharts
Thnks Fr Th Mmrs
Tiffany Blews
Hey Ya (Outkast cover)
Dance, Dance
Saturday

Concluding the first day of Bamboozle, it was quite apparent than most of the bands performing were completely throwaway (a list that includes a barrage of auto-tuned atrocities and fad-act failures such as Cash Cash, Forever the Sickest Kids, Metro Station, We the Kings, Cobra Starship, Attack Attack, The Friday Night Boys, NeverShoutNever!, Shwayze, Asher Roth, and Sonny). Still, the festival managed to stay strong with two excellent reunion performances (Edna’s Goldfish and The Get Up Kids) and quality sets from some veterans (Bayside and New Found Glory).

More veterans, and some up-and-coming acts, would play on Sunday. That review is coming up next.

Photos by incredible photographers: angelxshoe, lullabysounds, n1njadrum, catchphrases, ilikehugs, waitingforconcerts, boycottlove

5 Comments | Bamboozle, Bayside, Bloodhound Gang, Boys Like Girls, Cartel, East Rutherford, Edna's Goldfish, Fall Out Boy, Forgive Durden, Gavin Rossdale, Giants Stadium, New Found Glory, New Jersey, Set Your Goals, The Get Up Kids | Permalink
Posted by Anthony Charles Ambrose

Hoodwink @ East Rutherford 5/1

May 11, 2009

“When it rains it pours” is not just a clever jibe at the weekend’s wet weather. Rather, it references a plethora of shows in the New York City region on Friday night; to name a few: The Get Up Kids and Brand New in Manhattan, Taking Back Sunday on Long Island, and Rutgersfest featuring NERD and Motion City Soundtrack. That’s not to mention the Hoodwink Festival, featuring nearly twenty bands performing full cover sets.

The first band I caught was Push Play, performing a set featuring music of Muse. Skeptical of any band being able to do Muse justice–let alone a seemingly generic punk-pop/pop-rock band from Long Island–I approached with caution. To much delight, the band played extremely well, touching on songs like “Time is Running Out” and “Hysteria” throughout their half-hour set. The band exuded confidence–frontman CJ Baran encouraged YouTube bootlegs, letting the whole world judge just how well the band payed tribute to one of England’s best acts–but did not come off as arrogant.

NeverShoutNever! performing one of Christofer Ingle's older songs.

Speaking with Baran after the set, he remarked that Muse is Push Play’s favorite band; he did his best to hit Matt Bellamy’s notes, and succeeded more often than not. It was perhaps bassist Nick DeTurris and guitarist Steve Scarola that solidified the performance, however, with trembling bass lines and piercing guitars on songs like “Starlight”.

The same praise cannot be bestowed on NeverShoutNever!, a band tackling another British act–The Beatles. With less than impressive takes on “Hey Jude” and “I Wanna Hold Your Hand”, the band threw in one of their own disappointing songs yet still only played for about half of their scheduled thirty minutes. Luckily, this gave me a chance to check out another 1960s set across the parking lot: Inward Eye tackling The Who, complete with Pete Townshend windmills. I only caught a few songs, but the band sounded very good.

Set Your Goals performing Nirvana and Foo Fighters material as "Set Your Grohls".

Set Your Goals, as Set Your Grohls, took on Nirvana and Foo Fighters for one of the more interesting sets of the evening. Vocalists Matt Wilson and Jordan Brown traded lines from Dave Grohl’s catalog. On tracks like “In Bloom” it was refreshing, breathing life into a song two decades old; one would start the verse (”He’s the one!”) while the other finished the line (”Who likes all our pretty songs!”). Definitely a good performance, with the emphasis on “having fun” over the exact recreation of some of the radio’s biggest hits.

We the Kings failed to capture Jimmy Eat World's incredible stage prescence.

We the Kings followed, paying tribute to Jimmy Eat World. Having seen the Clarity Tour just a month ago, I wasn’t expecting a bland pop-rock band to do justice to the Arizona quartet, and, unfortunately, I was correct. I’m not exactly sure where the problems stemmed from, though I’d tend to place it on their drummer–Zach Lind’s drumming is spectacular, and We the Kings’s Danny Duncan just couldn’t keep up. The vocals presented another problem: Travis Clark tried, but he just didn’t deliver like Jim Adkins (but, then again, I’m not sure too many can). The setlist focused on the twenty-first century Jimmy Eat World, beginning with “Pain” and ending with “The Middle”, tossing in other hits like “Sweetness”, “Bleed American”, and “Big Casino” along the way.

The Cab's Ian Crawford

I didn’t expect things to get any better on the next stage, as The Cab was set to cover Queen. If Jim Adkins is a difficult vocalist to pull off, then can Freddie Mercury even be attempted? Luckily, Alex DeLeon didn’t try to be the Queen vocalist and instead the band did it’s own take (and even a few medleys) of the 1970s rock legends. Taking liberties on nearly every song (on “Bohemian Rhaposy” the entire “Galileo” verse’s vocals were replaced by guitar voicings), The Cab managed to make the set enjoyable at the very least, which is likely more a testament to how good Queen’s songs are more than anything else.

I caught brief snippets of Mercey Mercedes performing Midtown, Bayside performing NOFX, and Boys Like Girls taking on four Coldplay singles acoustic (”Viva La Vida”, “The Scientist”, “Yellow”, and “Fix You”). From across the lot I could hear Forever the Sickest Kids whining about their Avril Lavigne set (vocalist Jonathan Cook: “this will probably be the shittiest thing you hear all weekend”).

For some reason I passed up The Ataris performing The Misfits in favor of Sum 41’s Metallica setlist, which was being professionally filmed for perhaps a DVD. Sum 41’s Deryck Whibley spent an equal amount of time “interacting with the crowd” (read: dropping f-bombs) and playing Metallica songs (including staples such as “Enter Sandman” and “Master of Puppets”), none of which came off with the intensity necessary to pay proper tribute to metal’s most important band.

Some of the songs were just parts (”Battery”), and Queen’s “Stone Cold Crazy”, the b-side of Metallica’s 1991 “Enter Sandman” single, was also tossed into the mix. Whibley’s vocals weren’t up to par, and the guitars just didn’t crunch like they needed to. The band finished with their own “Still Waiting”, a song they described as “definitely influenced by Metallica” before getting off stage. The full set:

Deryck Whibley doing his James Hetfield.

Battery
Blackened
Enter Sandman
Motor Breath
Where Ever I May roam
For Whom the Bell Tolls
Stone Cold Crazy (Queen cover)
Master of Puppets
Still Waiting

Now living in Green Day’s home state, but originally based out of South Florida, New Found Glory played next, performing as pre-American Idiot Green Day. Jordan Pundik appeared to channel a younger Billie Joe Armstrong, the band faithfully reproducing songs not even Green Day has played in years. Aside from a few songs sliding away from the California punk-pop vibe and into a more punk-hardcore vibe that Green Day certainly never intended, each song paid excellent tribute to the Berkley trio. The setlist consisted of fourteen songs, including “J.A.R.”, from the Angus soundtrack:

Burnout
Welcome to Paradise
Nice Guys Finish Last
Armatage Shanks
The Brat
Longview
Waiting
2000 Light Years Away
She
Geek Stink Breath
J.A.R.
Basketcase
When I Come Around,
Jaded
Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)

The band effortlessly recreated Green Day’s early sound, and it was clear that they loved playing these songs. Some songs came with a story, often an introduction of why they chose to play a particular song or how the song had impacted their life. Pundik spoke briefly about Cartel’s earlier set–the Atlanta pop-rock group covered the Floridians–praising their live harmonies. After finishing up the electric portion of their set, Chad Gilbert and Pundik returned, taking on “Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)”–the perfect way to close a near-perfect set.

Anti-Flag's setlist of The Clash songs.

I hurried over to see Anti-Flag’s The Clash set, well across the parking lot. To perhaps the best crowd of the entire evening, Anti-Flag delivered stellar covers of the English punk band. No set all evening was more sincere, with Justin Sane, Chris #2, and Chris Head constantly showing appreciation for the ability to play the “songs they grew up listening to in their bedroom” to an audience. Essentials like “I’m So Bored With the USA” and “White Riot” were phenomenal. Covering a song that The Clash themselves covered, Anti-Flag finished with “I Fought the Law”, a perfect fusion of both Anti-Flag and The Clash’s messages. The full set:

London Calling
Police on My Back
Career Opportunities
Bored with the USA
Clash City Rockers
White Riot
Janie Jones
Should I Stay or Should I Go
Safe European Home
The Guns of Brixton
I Fought the Law (Sonny Curtis cover)

The final act of the night was already twenty minutes into their setlist when I got to the stage. Nationally renowned tribute act Badfish’s mission statement is simple: “Keep Sublime Alive”. Too young to have seen the So-Cal trio live–frontman Bradley Nowell died of an overdose before I was even a teenager–I can’t compare Badfish’s live act to Sublime’s. I can tell you that Badfish sounded absolutely phenomenal, however, tackling not only the band’s biggest singles with spunk (and precision, down to Nowell’s signature voicings) but also many older, lesser known cuts.

A surprisingly strong take of “Ramble On” and a rant to check out Led Zeppelin preceded “Smoke Two Joints”, which was packed with brass and guitar solos. “Date Rape”, Sublime’s first radio hit, was worked out masterfully. The band’s final song was a Pennywise jam, “Bro Hymn”. For over an hour on a wet Jersey night, Sublime was indeed alive.

Though cold and wet for most of the night, Friday’s Hoodwink Festival was excellent, and many of the bands had special merchandise for the event (Bayside’s “It’s My Job To Keep Punk Rock Elite” shirt or Set Your Goals’s Nevermind-type shirt). The crowds were extremely small, making it not too difficult to get up close for any of the bands. New Found Glory may have had the biggest audience, and they certainly stole the show, but Anti-Flag’s set was also great.

Continue to check out inTuneMusic for reviews, photos, setlists, and more from the two-day Bamboozle festival.

If you would like to contribute a video, setlist, photo, or anything else, please do not hesitate to contact us! We are always looking for contributors!

Photos by incredible photographers: angelxshoe, lullabysounds, n1njadrum.

3 Comments | Anti-Flag, Badfish, Bamboozle, East Rutherford, Giants Stadium, Hoodwink, Inward Eye, NeverShoutNever!, New Jersey, Push Play, Set Your Goals, Sum 41, The Cab, We the Kings | Permalink
Posted by Anthony Charles Ambrose

inTuneMusic

The Gaslight Anthem / Pela / Good Old War @ Asbury Park 5/9

Bamboozle Day 2 @ East Rutherford 5/3

Jack’s Mannequin @ NYC 6/19

Bamboozle Day 1 @ East Rutherford 5/2

Hoodwink @ East Rutherford 5/1

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