Thursday / Circa Survive / The Gaslight Anthem / Innerpartysystem @ Sayreville 12/31

New Year’s Eve began formally by meeting up outside Sayreville’s Starland Ballroom with a handful of friends from around the country; this was quickly followed by happy hour with the guys in Thursday. It wouldn’t be for a few hours until the show began, but it was relaxing sitting at the bar for a bit while the bands soundchecked and set up on stage.

Philadelphia’s Innerpartysystem opened the evening, setting the tone for what would quickly become an incredible New Year’s Eve party. Best described as some sort of hybrid between Head Automatica (vocalist Patrick Nissley could be mistaken for Daryl Palumbo) and Men, Women & Children–somehow mixed with a heavier dance and electronica influence–the band didn’t interact with the crowd, instead focusing their brief time slot entirely on a light show-induced dance party with catchy hooks, pulsing beats, and surprisingly strong vocal deliveries.

Set changes were brief, and New Brunswick’s The Gaslight Anthem took the stage shortly after. Fans of older Alkaline Trio records take note, this could be your new favorite band. I had only briefly listened to the four-piece going into the evening, but their incredible live performance convinced me to pick up a copy of their debut, Sink or Swim. Lead vocalist/rhythm guitarist Brian Fallon’s stage presence was incredibly strong for such a young band, and the rest of the band locked together tighter than any other band of the evening. Choruses became immediately crowd-singable the second time through each song, a remarkable feat considering most of the crowd was experiencing the band for the first time. Near the end of their set, they kicked into a solid rendition of Tom Petty’s classic “American Girl” before closing with “We’re Getting A Divorce”.

Circa Survive, Equal Vision Records’s progressive-rock tinged five-piece featuring ex-Saosin and This Day Forward members, came out as direct support to Thursday. The band played ten songs:

Wish Resign
Living Together
Mandala
Oh, Hello
In Fear and Faith
The Only Difference
Holding Someone’s Hair Back
Semi Constructive Criticism
Stop the Fucking Car
Kicking Your Crosses Down

A great setlist mixed evenly with tracks from Juturna and On Letting Go, vocalist Anthony Green engaged the crowd the entire performance albeit stumbling through a few lyrics from time to time. A band I’ve seen quite a few times, this was easily their strongest performance, though–it was nice to see them stick to their strongest older songs as well as mix in cuts from their latest effort. Songs like “Semi Constructive Criticism” come off as tame on the album when compared live, and “Kicking Your Crosses Down” received incredibly delicate treatment. On Letting Go songs translate so much better live; I’m now rethinking which Circa Survive album is actually my favorite.

Hosts Thursday took the stage around 11PM, their first New Year’s Eve show in exactly one decade; fans of the band will quickly recite that Thursday’s first show ever was in vocalist Geoff Rickly’s basement, December 31, 1998. Much has changed in ten years, and this particularly evening the band kicked off with Kill The House Lights’s “Dead Songs”, an interesting (but more importantly, refreshing) take on opening a Thursday show. Newly rejuvenated and reinserted into live shows, “Between Rupture and Rapture” followed, and anyone who didn’t know band’s new lyrics on the previous song certainly woke up to the War All The Time track.

“The Other Side Of The Crash/Over And Out (Of Control)” followed, and I quickly realized that the only people in attendance were actually Thursday fans–unlike many concerts where it’s something to do on a bored evening, or fans who enjoy one album or one single, the entire crowd sung along to a track that normally only saw limited audience engagement on previous tours. Met with interesting responses, A City By The Light Divided divided Thursday’s fan base; on this New Year’s Eve, however, it was the true fans who passed up other parties and attended the show, singing every word of the newer songs.

Partner to “Other Side”, “Understanding In A Car Crash” was next (as always), and the fans were treated to the first of three Full Collapse songs that evening, though unfortunately, staple-songs like “Paris In Flames” and “How Long Is the Night?” didn’t make it.

Eerie sounding, faith-questioning “Sugar In The Sacrament” came next, and it’s no question Geoff feels every haunted word sung. In contrast, the brash and abrasive “At This Velocity” kicked the crowd into a frenzy; the final drum roll segwayed into the pounding drums of “Division. St”. Not one of my favorite Thursday songs–I find it too personal and direct–I did listen to Geoff speak candidly about the song (and how important it is for him) for some time earlier in the evening, and it’s not shocking the band plays it at every show.

The first surprise of the evening came with “War All The Time”, a song Geoff often cites as too personal/emotional to play live. It’s been some time since I’ve heard the track live, and the band did absolute justice to the song. It tends to drag a little on the album, but live the song is explosive and more emotional than can be explained in text. There’s something defining about Thursday being a true “live band” with the lines “all those nights in the basement, the kids are still screaming: ‘on and on and on and on’” being screamed by everyone in the venue.

“Ladies and Gentleman: My Brother, The Failure”, a song featuring Cursive’s Tim Kasher on the album, comes off unfortunately weak live, though it could easily be one of Thursday’s strongest live tracks with an improved performance of Kasher’s lines live. As it stands, guitarist Steve Pedulla seems to handle the lines, but his delivery isn’t right, and his microphone is way too low. Perhaps letting keyboardist Andrew Everding handle the duties would fit better, though I’m not sure the band even realizes that it’s coming off so weak; someone should tell them.

By this time, Thursday is more than halfway finished for the evening, but it feels like they’ve just begun. Indeed, time flies when the band is on stage; there is never a dull moment.

Before kicking into the sexually charged (and setlist staple) “Signals Over The Air”, Geoff wished everyone a happy new year, and reasserted Thursday’s beliefs that every human being is equal: gay, straight, black, white, male, female, or otherwise; that to party with the band this evening should convey those thoughts. Like many Thursday songs, “Signals” comes off more powerful than could ever be recorded in the studio.

Two numbers from Full Collapse followed; “Autobiography of a Nation” first, one of the most intense tracks of the evening. The energy builds with a long instrumental before the crowd kicks off with “Write these words back down!”, and it immediately feels like 2001 again–and that’s a good thing.

“Cross Out The Eyes” featured Nathan Gray, vocalist of the now-defunct, but quite important post-hardcore outfit, boysetsfire (a band Geoff proudly joked that Thursday ripped off when starting out). Gray didn’t do much to help the song, and in fact routinely butchered the chorus. His talents would have been properly served screaming the song’s final lines, but instead the lines were omitted entirely.

“The Lovesong Writer” was the last song the band played of 2007; interestingly, I had a long conversation with Geoff about the song earlier in the day during happy hour. To get to that point, however, it requires a little back story:

Always puzzled by the first few lines of “I Am The Killer”, I asked Geoff what exactly is being said. He chuckled, but then began to think about it and in fact had no idea. He said that he was working out lyrics in the vocal booth during the recording of Full Collapse, and that he was mumbling them softly, and it was actually caught on tape. The lines were sped up, and eerily inserted into the beginning of the track–the band loved the unplanned result, and it remained during the song’s final mix.

I was forced to comment on my love of “Oh Comely”, the important eighth-track on Neutral Milk Hotel’s In The Aeroplane Over The Sea, and the nearly inaudible “oh shit!” being yelled at the song’s close, and how it seems quite comparable to the first seconds of “I Am The Killer”. Getting Geoff started on Neutral Milk Hotel (and consequently Jeff Mangum) was more insightful than possibly imaginable (or writable here, in fact, at his request).

I learned that “The Lovesong Writer” was Jeff Mangum; with a few more private facts in place, and another listen to the song, it’s undeniable. Geoff’s stream of consciousness in the song is undeniably Mangum-esque, and even its first lines draw reference to “Oh Comely”.

Concluding our discussion on a subject that we could have talked about for hours was Geoff’s recommendation of Zach Condon (as Beirut)’s Gulag Orkestar–he compares Zach to Mangum; I’m actually a few clicks away right now from seeing if I can get it on iTunes.

Cut back to Thursday’s show, and “The Lovesong Writer” hit me in an entirely new way that evening when the band closed the year with it. Taking a brief break (read: encore), they came back moments before midnight to countdown the new year.

As the the clock struck midnight, the unmistakable “Jet Black New Year” riff kicked in, balloons fell, and the Starland crowd exploded. For the first time in years, the song felt fresh, and important. The night–well, the concert portion, anyway–finished with the second part to “Jet Black New Year”: “Tomorrow I’ll Be You”, a song that the band attempted a few years ago during their annual holiday shows.

Once again, unfortunately, the band didn’t do the song justice. Not to lay the blame on drummer Tucker Rule (whom I consider an excellent drummer), but the song’s timing was completely off the entire song, and it was quite unfortunate that one of Thursday’s best live shows ended on that note. The song itself is one of the band’s best songs; if they manage to get it down, however, it could be one of their best live songs. The setlist at a glance:

Dead Songs
Between Rupture and Rapture
The Other Side of the Crash/Over And Out (Of Control)
Understanding in a Car Crash
Sugar in the Sacrament
At This Velocity
Division St.
War All the Time
Ladies and Gentleman: My Brother, The Failure
Signals Over the Air
For the Workforce, Drowning
Autobiography of a Nation
Cross Out the Eyes
The Lovesong Writer
Jet Black New Year
Tomorrow I’ll Be You

After the show, Starland held a 21+ party until 2AM. The DJs spinning left much to be desired, but the party was a nice way to still have the “out at a bar on New Year’s Eve” experience after the show. Watching the lightweight girls (and guys, surprisingly) take drunken spills was funny, and I had a few good conversations with fellow Thursday fans.

The shenanigans began quite informally after 2AM, though. After a short drive from the venue, we arrived with the guys in Thursday to party at their nearby hotel. Drinks, wildness, and discussions about a wide array of topics (Sailor Jerry, Hillary Clinton, Led Zeppelin vs. The Who, Zeitgeist, Idiocracy, world-wide currency, Zodiac signs, Prince, and everything in between) highlighted the hotel party that spanned many rooms and, later, a nearby Wawa.

An excellent concert turned into a fun after-party is certainly my preferred way to ring in the new year. Thanks to Jess Garcia for greatly helping me out earlier in the afternoon, and special thanks to Geoff, Steve, Josh, Joshie, Tucker, and Dave for being especially hospitable and kind that evening. To everyone I met for the first time, it was fun, and I hope you all have a great 2008.

The Bamboozle 5/5 & 5/7

Every year, northern New Jersey hosts a festival currently known as The Bamboozle, a multi-day event. It’s origins lay in mixed areas: The Great Bamboozle and Skate & Surf, festivals started in the early 2000s. Last year’s The Bamboozle was the first to settle down in East Rutherford at Giants Stadium with a giant bill of primarily punk, hardcore, ska, indie, emocore, and alternative-influenced acts. The Bamboozle 2007 would be the second year of the two twelve-hour day events.

I’ll preface this review of the evening by noting that I tend to get up close for most of the bands, usually near the rails or in the closest pit possible–so the reviews you’re getting are, for the most part, up-close-and-personal, not written from a hundred yard away point of view. Also, I will acknowledge missing a lot of bands–a lot of good bands, actually. Unfortunately, due to scheduling, there were a lot of overlaps. I made game-time decisions and picked the bands I wanted to see when conflicts arose.

I arrived early Saturday to scout the area, locating each stage. A similar setup to previous years, there were two main stages, and two areas of two sets of of side stages. Additionally, there was a small MySpace-sponsored stage and a stage inside the Giants practice dome that was filmed all day. I met some AbsolutePunk.net forum members at their tent, and scored whatever free samplers and stickers I could from the tents around the premises.

Main stage act The Receiving End Of Sirens kicked the day off for me, and they played exceptionally well. This was my first experience with the band since the departure of vocalist/programmer Casey Crescenzo. Brian Southall, his replacement, competently fills in however, and the band rocked through songs from their debut LP, Between the Heart and the Synapse, and their upcoming follow-up, The Earth Sings Mi Fa Mi. The set’s highlight was “Planning A Prison Break”, my favorite song from their debut. The Boston act set the tone for the day well, attracting a surprisingly large number of fans and playing near flawlessly for thirty minutes.

Texas’s Daniel Hunter, and his project PlayRadioPlay! were next on my list, so I wandered away from the main stage to the Macbeth side stage to check him out. They played well, though I didn’t know much of his material (to my knowledge, he only has a handful of songs posted online) and left to meet up with some friends. I ran into Kenny Bridges of Moneen and got his autograph on my ticket. Unfortunately, their set time conflicted with Motion City Soundtrack and I didn’t get to see them.

Bayside played next, and their set was quite solid as to be expected. One of the few main stage acts to draw out primarily hardcore fans, they played a nice mix of older material and some new songs. They didn’t play my favorite songs from the new album, unfortunately, but they did play “Duality”, “I And I”, and “Dear Your Holiness”. “Montauk”, “Blame It On Bad Luck”, “Existing In A Crisis”, and “Devotion and Desire” from their 2005 self-titled album rounded out a great set from the boys from Queens.

I elected to see Oakland’s The Matches at 3PM next, in part because I forgot they’d be playing tomorrow and in part because I was hoping to be up front for Thrice’s s 3:50 set. In doing so I missed out a handful of bands I would have liked to have seen including Paramore, Men Women & Children, Silverstein, and Manchester Orchestra, although there was practically a four-way conflict there anyway. Under their old name, The Locals, The Matches performed a set primarily of songs from E. Von Dahl Killed the Locals, an album recorded under that previous moniker. Shawn Harris is one of the most passionate frontmen in the genre, and he truely showed it during this performance, which was taped for Bamboozle TV. I managed to catch his guitar pick, and briefly spoke with him afterward to get it signed and congratulate him on the great set while he epitomized the punk DIY scene they rose from, walking about the crowd selling copies of their album for $10 from a cardboard box.

Thrice was due next, and though I was stoked to be in front on the rail for their performance, security quickly whisked me away, claiming they had to evacuate the bubble before Thrice came on. I re-entered for their set, showing my credentials (which were required for this set and also for Jack’s Mannequin’s set the next day), and sat down on the Astroturf, learning that Dustin Kensrue and Teppei Teranishi would be playing an acoustic set. When they finally took the stage, though, I stood up and watched what would be one of the best sets of the weekend. The duo kicked it off with The Artist In The Ambulance’s “Under A Killing Moon” and also played two others from that 2003 release including the title track and “Stare At The Sun”. More importantly, they played a couple of brand new songs (which were absolutely stellar) from the Earth-themed disc of their upcoming four-disc album. They closed the set with a solid cover of The Beatles’s “The Ballad Of John And Yoko”. Afterwards, I got to speak with Dustin and Teppei, who signed the back of my ticket and assured me they would be playing another new song on Sunday from the Fire-themed disc. Due to complications with Thrice’s equipment, their set ended much later than scheduled and I crossed Cartel off my list of bands to see.

I stuck around inside the bubble to The Sleeping under their Biker Women guise. The crowd was made up primarily of die hard The Sleeping fans, which made songs like “If Your Heart Was Broken, You Would Be Dead” even better. As Biker Women (dressed in Harley-influenced garments you’d expect), the band put on an interesting “show”, singing about whiskey and biker girls breaking their hearts in between “covers” of songs by The Sleeping. They joked about “emo bands being pussies” and “The Sleeping suck[ing]“–it was entirely comical, but the actual The Sleeping songs were solid. Other bands would get into their secret names somewhat, but The Sleeping certainly went above-and-beyond.

Thursday was due up next on my list, so I rushed across the parking lot to the Saints And Sinners side stage to catch the end of Hit The Lights and gain a rail position for Thursday. Hit The Lights closed with “Bodybag”, one of the few songs I somewhat enjoy by them, so it wasn’t too bad sitting through their set to get a rail spot for Thursday. After listening to This Providence play the side stage to the left (from what I heard of their set, they played pretty well; at the end of their set they even proudly proclaimed themselves true Christians, unlike many other Christians who give true ones a bad name).

Wearing bear masks, and under the codename Bearfort, Thursday took the stage opening with “Autobearography Of A Nation”. They followed into “Understanding In A Bear Fort“, and continued their flawless performance with one of my favorite live songs, “How Long Is The Night?”. Geoff Rickly noted that this was the first show of their new lives (now being without a record label) and that they couldn’t be more excited to start fresh. They played “Signals Over The Air” next, and then gave shoutouts to their friends on stage. Geoff kept repeating/asking if his friends we’re “okay” before kicking straight into “At This Velocity”. “Divison St.” followed before the band closed with “Jet Black New Year”. Thursday performed extremely well and put on what I consider the best performance of the weekend.

Motion City Soundtrack played the side stage to the left, and came out to Trey Parker and his band, DVDA’s “America, Fuck Yeah”, the theme from Team America: World Police. As The Great American Freedom Machine, Motion City Soundtrack came out describing themselves as a band from Mexico City, New Mexico, at one point and Paris, France, at another. They played a set primarily of tracks from Commit This Memory: “Attactive Today”, “Makeout Kids” into “Time Turned Fragile”, “LG Fuad”, and “Everything Is Alright”; they also played a brand new song that was much mellower than their older material. They closed their great set with “The Future Freaks Me Out”.

My Chemical Romance and The Black Parade was next on my list, so we took a little break before their set and checked out various merch tents and scored free Monster beverages. At the end of Hellogoodbye (who were horrendous), we rushed to the front of the main stage to wait for My Chemical Romance. A little after 9PM My Chemical Romance took the stage as The Black Parade and performed that album spot-on from start-to-finish, including the Monty Python-influenced hidden track, “Blood”. The set include no shortage of stunning pyrotechnics and a rotating drum platform. Their encore was a short set of five Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge tracks, finally ending Saturday evening with “Helena”.

Sunday began slightly earlier, with Long Island’s Brand New taking the opening slot at 12:05 on the main stage. The band kicked off with “Degausser” and then lead into “Sowing Season”. The band appeared to be upset at playing this festival, or at least playing so early, making remarks along the lines of “there must be some better way to spend your Sunday mornings” and “there must be some better way to spend your money”. “Luca” followed, and the band seemed to be playing pretty well, despite their attitude towards the set. I was actually somewhat proud of the band for a moment–they appeared to be playing what they wanted to play, despite the crowd wanting only to hear “Seventy Times Seven”.

This took a turn in the wrong direction though when Jesse announced something like, “I think I want to play this one again”, and performed “Degausser” once more, this time changing the lyrics and replacing the words with drug-related themes, such as “goodbye to drugs” as the first line of the song. It was apparent he didn’t want to be on stage, clearly messing around with the song this time around. “You Won’t Know” followed, but it was hard to respect the band at this point, even though their performance was still pretty spot on. The band moved on to “Welcome To Bangkok”, performing their ritual and destroying the set and banging on drums with their friends as the song climaxed. The band left the stage, but returned a minute later with “Seventy Times Seven”. Jesse laughed while playing the song, apparently disgusted that this is still the band’s most requested tune.

I had wanted to see Jedi Mind Tricks, but opted to see Anberlin instead. Anberlin was a polar opposite to Brand New, very grateful to be on stage and energetic through their entire set. The band opened with “A Whisper And A Clamor” and then followed with their punchy 2005 single, “Never Take Friendship Personal” which energized the crowd. The band continued with songs from their most recent albums, including “Adelaide” with its huge chorus and the sing-along “Dismantle.Repair”, closing with “Godspeed” to end their extremely solid performance.

The Matches were next, and I nearly caught guitarist Shawn Harris’s pick for the second day in a row. The band played a similar set to Saturday’s TV performance, and they played just as well this time.

Drive-Thru Records’s Halifax were next on my list–a band I’m not necessarily a big fan of, but I was very impressed with how fun their live show was at last year’s Bamboozle. They played well, with the crowd certainly getting into it. The set consisted of staples from The Inevitability Of A Strange World but also mixed it up with old songs such as “Sydney” from their debut EP.

I left Halifax’s set a bit early to see Circa Survive, who put on a solid live performance. The band played primarily songs from Juturna, but vocalist Anthony Green announced midway through the set that they would try out some new material (which sounded great) from their upcoming full-length, On Letting Go. The band closed their set with “In Fear And Faith”, my personal favorite Circa Survive song.

I ventured over to the bubble, showed my credentials to enter the “private” performance, and relaxed to check out Andrew McMahon and Bobby Anderson of Jack’s Mannequin play an acoustic set for BamboozleTV. Before playing, though, vocalist/pianist McMahon was interviewed for the television segment, and the crowd go to ask him some questions. Unfortunately, the questions were either softballs (how do you feel today?) or irrelevant (will you donate money to my charity?).. I would have liked to asked him if bassist Jay “Dr. J” McMillan is indeed a doctor or holds a PhD (McMahon once stated that Dr. J was “the only man on stage with a degree in medicine”).

The interview aside, Jack’s Mannequin played an absolutely stellar acoustic set. McMahon noted that since they were playing electric later, they’d use this more intimate set to play some cover songs. I’ve had the pleasure of seeing the band perform nearly ten different covers over the past few years at different shows, so I was hoping they’d surprise me with something new, and they didn’t disappoint. They covered Bruce Springsteen’s “I’m On Fire” (a song they originally tried at the Stone Pony in Springsteen’s home town, Asbury Park) much cleaner, and even threw in “A Friend Of The Devil” by The Grateful Dead, a song I hadn’t heard them do yet. A cover of “The Astronaut”, from Something Corporate, was also thrown into the set. It wasn’t just covers, though, as the band performed songs from Everything In Transit such as “Rescued” and “Holiday From Real”.

Jack’s Mannequin’s performance ran late, so the next band I was able to catch was Yellowcard on the main stage. Props to this band for playing exactly the kind of setlist a festival like Bamboozle demands: their punk-pop sing-a-longs, such as “Ocean Avenue”, “Breathing”, “Rough Landing Holly”, and “Way Away”. The band also played “Fighting” off their upcoming follow-up to Lights And Sounds, a track that would fit more into the Ocean Avenue-era of the band.

Perhaps one of the highlights of the second day is Thrice, who played next on the opposing main stage. With only an acoustic tease the day before, I was heavily anticipating the return of Thrice full-band and electric. The band kicked off with “Under A Killing Moon” from The Artist In The Ambulance, an excellent live song that showcases the band’s ability to write meaningful lyrics and mix melody with hardcore. Vheissu’s “Image Of The Invisible” followed. The crowd was certainly getting into things with some of the best pits of the weekend.

Title track from their 2003 LP “The Artist In The Ambulance” was next, and the band performed the song near perfectly. The tightly wound, speeding guitar riff is no small feat, but Teppei Teranishi makes it look all too easy. As promised, the band played a new song from the Fire-theme disc, and it did not disappoint. The set slowed down for only a few moments with “Atlantic” before kicking back into the heavy hitting riffs of “Deadbolt”, a fan favorite that always receives extra treatment live during its outro.

“Stare At The Sun” was next, and it was nice to hear this song performed electric for the first time in many years. Usually performed acoustic to slow down their set, the band opted to perform this song full-force. Epic “Red Sky” calmed the crowd, and Dustin Kensrue’s voice haunted those who listened during the final chorus and key change. Closing with prison-break inspired and chain-gang chanting “The Earth Will Shake”, Thrice whet the appetite for more but that would be their last song of the evening.

It would be nearly impossible to follow such an incredible set, but Jack’s Manequin did the best anyone could do all day. Also one of the finest live acts to be playing this weekend, the band didn’t hold back and captivated the crowd with their pop driven piano-rock. Although the band could pick nearly any combination of songs from their catalog (essentially just their debut LP, Everything In Transit) and still play an amazing set, the songs they chose were excellent and executed flawlessly. “Dark Blue” was in full form, including the extended introduction. “La Lie Lie” was the perfect sing-a-long, and it was great to hear the original version of this song (with harmonica bridge) after hearing the band perform its demo “West Coast Winter” most of the past year. My favorite from the record, “Bruised”, was spot-on, and it was great to see the fans (and the parents!) jumping along to the chorus.

The band closed with “MFEO”, and it was about this time that Jack’s Mannequin took full control of the Bamboozle crowd as if they were the show’s headliner. Andrew McMahon is unquestionably one of the most powerful and charismatic frontmen the weekend would see. Playing both halves to “MFEO”, with the standard mini-U2 cover of “With Or Without You” thrown into the mix, drummer Jonathan Sullivan pounded the skins during the song’s final minutes while McMahon held the crowd’s attention perfectly with his spot-on vocal delivery.

Next on the list, and last band of the weekend I truly wanted to see, was Taking Back Sunday. Interestingly, the band’s songs have gotten weaker in time (2002’s Tell All Your Friends is arguably their best work from start to finish), but their live show was improve greatly: gone are the immature and sloppy vocals of Adam Lazzara, a vocalist who has improved his live show immensely since earlier in the decade. The set was primarily a Louder Now showcase with half of the songs coming from their latest album, though they did manage to throw in the obligatory “Cute Without The ‘E’ (Cut From Team)”, “You’re So Last Summer”, and “Set Phasers To Sun”. It’s unfortunate that so many great songs from their younger years are excluded to make room for new material, but the band did perform their chosen material quite well live. “Error Operator” is a blast live, and the band executes the driving riff pretty well. Taking Back Sunday closed with what is perhaps their biggest radio hit (as “Cute” would be their biggest “fan hit”), “A Decade Under The Influence”.

Weird Al Yankovic performed on the opposing stage; I caught parts of it as I picked up some t-shits from the SSE Tent (the Syrentha Savio Endowment non-profit organization provides financial assistance to underprivileged women who cannot afford the expense of fighting breast cancer–it’s a great cause and many great bands put out some cool looking shirts for charity).

Around 9PM Linkin Park arrived on the now-heavily decorated main stage and closed the evening and the entire Bamboozle affair. The band played many songs from their first, and strongest disc, Hybrid Theory, including opener “One Step Closer”. The band played a few new songs from Minutes To Midnight, as well as from Meteora. The band slowed down the setlist near the end, with a keyboard-only version of “Pushing Me Away”; unfortunately, Linkin Park excels when they are fast and brash, so the set suffered during these slower moments. The band did pick things up with songs like “Crawling” before leaving, to encore with their biggest hit, “In The End” and then closing with “Faint”.

The entire weekend was a great time, with many great performances by some of the best bands in the scene today. Unfortunately, I missed a lot of bands due to scheduling conflicts, but I did manage to catch all of my favorites. Any comments, suggestions, corrections, or questions about this article are welcome.