Summer Concerts, In Review

What a summer this was. Concerts galore, which each one being better than the last. I am shocked that I absolutely loved every concert I went to this summer, especially watching bands I've never even heard of before.

My concert season started off with Three Days Grace and Breaking Benjamin. The opening band was Puddle Of Mudd, who were not that great. Then Breaking Benjamin came on and played all the songs I actually knew, plus, of course, songs from their CDs that I did not know. I was really happy when they played "Blow Me Away" which is the theme song from Halo 2. I did not expect them to actually play that song, it was a nice surprise. Three Days Grace were the headliners and they did a good job of keeping the attention of my drunk ass. They played most of the songs I wanted to hear, and as much as I can remember, they played them well.

The next grouping of concerts came about from the music and arts festival called Bonnaroo. I did not know what to expect when I arrived at the campgrounds in Tennessee, as it was my first time at that event. I did not see any concerts the first night, mostly because I was tired and wanted to wander around instead. The first day of concerts really showed me how much I missed air conditioning. The sun beating down on you was an incredible feeling of heat that you couldn't get away from. You sweat constantly. While the heat was unbearable, the bands played anyways, and you have to at least give them credit for that. The first band I was shown was Apollo Sunshine, who I have never heard of. I was not able to see their whole set and I was still getting accustomed to the heat, so I did not enjoy myself as much at their set, but they were still good. Then, regrettably, I skipped the other concerts during the day in order to prepare myself for the night. And what a great night it was. One of the best concert experiences of my life. Now, I was never into Tool until I saw them at Bonnaroo. Holy fucking hell they blew me away. I was so into the music, I loved every minute of it, except some of the visuals were creepy but the other ones were a visual feast for the eyes. Sadly, the concert ended about a half hour or so early, which gave us time to walk to our next venue which was STS9. I didn't know what to expect with them, as I never heard about these guys before. They are an amazing jam band. I danced like a fool to every song and had the most fun I've ever had at a concert up to that point. We left their concert after about an hour and a half to go see DJ Shadow. This guy is one awesome DJ. He loves what he's doing and involves the crowd into quite a few of his songs. Some of his visuals for his songs were rather frightening, but also added to the experience. My favorite part was when he played fan favorite "Organ Donor." He toyed with us at first, then he went into a sweet version of the song and suddenly I wasn't so sad that I left the STS9 concert.
Day 2 started off with Xavier Rudd. This was another band I knew nothing about, but he still put on a good show. He even played an Ozzy cover, though I do not remember exactly what song it was. I then moved on to see Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals, who I never liked...until I watched their show. Ben Harper is an amazing guitarist and all around musician. Which made me extremely pissed off to leave his concert to watch Franz Ferdinand, who to my surprise, sucked ass. They were not as good as I thought they were going to be and after about 20 minutes or so I went back to the Ben Harper concert. This then brought us into the night, where the headliner was The Police who played many fan favorites and did an amazing job at keeping me entertained. After they ended, about an hour too early, we went to go see The Flaming Lips, who luckily were playing at night, because they had the best openings to their show that I've ever seen in any concert. It all started with a light show, then the lighting display turned downwards to reveal a spaceship. After a long musical opening, the lead singer comes out the top of the spaceship in a giant balloon (sort of like a hamster ball) and they go straight into a song. While the concert was an awesome spectacle of lights and sounds, we decided to leave early to get some rest, and since we could hear the concert from our campsite.
Day 3 was the last day, but still had some great shows. It started off with Wolfmother who reminded me that they would be able to do great covers of both Led Zeppelin and Ozzy Osbourne songs. I loved listening to their live version of "Woman." Their other songs kept me captivated and I forgot how hot it was. The next stop was Detroit's own, The White Stripes. They had some fun with their song "Icky Thump" and went on to play one great set. I truly enjoyed that one. The last concert I went to was Widespread Panic, who I did not care for that much. I left after about 30 minutes because I was getting bored. Then it was time to pack up and go home.

The next 3 concerts were especially important to me, because they are 3 of my most favorite bands. First up was the lovable Incubus. They played an extended version of "Pistola" that jammed out like no other. When they played my favorite song, "The Warmth," I was blown away with sheer excitement. They came out of left field when they decided to play "Stand By Me." I love that song and they did it more than justice, they gave me a newfound enjoyment for the song altogether. If anyone has a version of that song, please give it to me. As always, Incubus was amazing in concert.

Next up on the list was 311. They played about everything you could dream of. Every song you wanted to hear, they played. As always, they bring an energy to them in concert that just isn't duplicated. They also played my favorite song by them, "Beautiful Disaster," and they played it above amazing. Super awesome amazing, perhaps? This is definitely a band I'll see every time they come to concert. I would love to go to their 3/11 concert in New Orleans if they still do that. Someone told me they play for 6 hours. If I saw a concert like that I'd love them forever.

The end of the summer concerts came about yesterday with the Projekt Revolution tour, which consisted of many opening bands we did not see do to tailgating/pre-drinking. The main bands were Julien-K, HIM, Placebo, Taking Back Sunday, My Chemical Romance, and Linkin Park. The first band that was playing when we got to the lawn was Julien-K, who reminded me a lot of Nine Inch Nail (who I'd love to see in concert). I was actually enjoying that concert and I will probably look into their band some more. The next band that I remember seeing, I was sleeping for most of the 4 hours we had to wait for Linkin Park to go on, was HIM, who played "Wings of a Butterfly," the only song I know by them. They put on a decent set. I fell back to sleep again. The next thing I know, My Chemical Romance was starting their set, so I decided it was time to get up. I actually liked some of their stuff, well live at least. They played "Dead" the song I first heard in Guitar Hero 2. It was some good times.
Linkin Park came out to roaring applause. They played everything, from their first CD to their newest one. They used crowd interaction and brought an incredible amount of energy to the stage. They go down as my favorite concert of the summer, because it was the first time I saw them live. They also get points for playing my favorite song, "Numb." They are loved by everyone at the concert, with everyone waiting impatiently for them to come back for an encore and they came back and rocked out. They just didn't let up. I loved every minute of their set. I cannot wait to see them again.

Where there you have it. My review of the concerts I saw this summer. It was a great summer, I don't know if it will ever be topped.