Edgefest 2004
The lineup: The Salads, Jersey, Something Corporate, Alexisonfire, Jet, Billy Talent, finger eleven, Good Charlotte
Carley and I went to our first Edgefest on Friday, at the Molson Amphitheatre. It used to be at Molson Park in Barrie, but that's basically a parking lot right now. Anyway, our seats were great, right under the roof so we weren't bothered by the sun until it was just going down, and right in the center.
It was very crowded, mostly with stupid teen girls all yammering on their cell phones to the friends they had lost on the way to the bathroom. Did you know that teen girls can't walk and talk at the same time? It's really quite amazing.
And why is it that "goth" girls still think they're all edgy and cool when they're buying their chunky jewellery at a booth sponsored by a radio station? How exactly is that edgy, even if the station is Edge 102? And why is that particular age of girl always so melodramatic? Case in point: As Good Charlotte was playing "Hold On", the threesome in front of us (Carley and I had taken quite an interest in them because they seemed to fit every stereotype of silly teeny-bopper/edgy girls you could imagine) we holding one another and (probably) weeping uncontrollably. YOU'RE 14!! You don't have jobs and your mum is going to pick you up once the show is done! Get over yourselves! Which, amazingly, they did, two songs later.
It was also a lot of fun to watch the guys (it always seemed to be guys) who were obviously far more inebriated than they should have been -- assuming they pat you down at the entrance -- try to dance to the incredibly long guitar solos that f11 guitarist James Black played. And none of them had their shirts on, but you'd better believe they were sporting those oh so sexy trucker caps that (WARNING: The following could harm your sense of fashion) have never been cool.
There was also far too much smoking being allowed in the seats, assuming there were signs on every wall that you couldn't. I will say, one guy who sat beside Carley and I actually asked if it would bother us if he smoked, and then made a point not to blow the smoke near us. Yes he was smoking, but at least he was considerate.
As for the concert, here goes:
Loudest performance: Jet, who really said absolutely nothing to the audience except "Thank you", but ran through about 10 songs and absolutely belted out every one.
Least audible performance: Jersey, but that's OK because they suck.
Most audible performance: Something Corporate, who, even though they put on a slighty rockier edge for the show, still had their emo vibe to them and you could clearly make out all the words.
Performance we skipped: Alexisonfire. If they'd get rid of the screamer, the band would be good.
Song I was glad a band sang: "Riot Girl", Good Charlotte
Song Carley was upset a band didn't sing: "Konstantine", Something Corporate
Most energetic performance: Billy Talent, but only a slight edge over Something Corporate
Best reception for a band that's not Good Charlotte: Billy Talent
Most disappointing performance: finger eleven. It wasn't bad by any means, but it really seemed like they were tired and didn't really want to be there. They saved it, though, and did a really high energy job on "Good Times"
Worst performance: Jersey, the only band we didn't want to see but stayed for. All their songs sound alike! And that's not good!
Best bouncer moment: The first crowd surfer who got thrown out of the pit got caught upside down by the angry looking, 275-pound bouncer.
Longest wait between bands: Well, Good Charlotte, but they were the headliners. The second longest was between the Salads and Jersey. We managed to get up, look at merch, get back, sit down, and still watch them play.
Best performance: Tie - Good Charlotte/Something Corporate, with Billy Talent coming in a very close second. They probably would have won, but Ben kept pulling his shirt up and showing off his belly, which was just strange. Both GC and SC had amazing energy, good sets, and interacted with the crowds better than anyone else.
Best solo: Something Corporate's piano solo
Worst solo: James Black's guitar solo, which went on. And on. And on. And made the stoned guy dance a lot.
I think that pretty much sums up the best and the worst. We had a little trouble finding parking due to the complete lack of noticeable signs for parking lots. And we had to chug our water outside because we made the mistake of opening them before we got inside, which meant we could not bring them inside, should we have filled it with outside (read: not $6) booze.
We did notice a couple of things, other than the teen girl problem. One is that every punk band had a chubby guy, usually the bassist. Really.
Another is that a crowd of drunk people will cheer for anything. Including oatmeal. And these same people will also cheer every single time someone asks if the crowd's OK. Like the seven or eight times Benji from Good Charlotte asked during their set.
A fourth point: we saw more shirts for bands that weren't playing than ones that were. Carley spotted a boy of about 10 wearing a Rage Against the Machine shirt with Che Guevarra on it. Not only does this kid not know who Che is, but he doesn't even know what machine he's raging against.
Anyway, it was a ton of fun, really good for a first time, and Carley finally got to see Something Corporate.
Carley and I went to our first Edgefest on Friday, at the Molson Amphitheatre. It used to be at Molson Park in Barrie, but that's basically a parking lot right now. Anyway, our seats were great, right under the roof so we weren't bothered by the sun until it was just going down, and right in the center.
It was very crowded, mostly with stupid teen girls all yammering on their cell phones to the friends they had lost on the way to the bathroom. Did you know that teen girls can't walk and talk at the same time? It's really quite amazing.
And why is it that "goth" girls still think they're all edgy and cool when they're buying their chunky jewellery at a booth sponsored by a radio station? How exactly is that edgy, even if the station is Edge 102? And why is that particular age of girl always so melodramatic? Case in point: As Good Charlotte was playing "Hold On", the threesome in front of us (Carley and I had taken quite an interest in them because they seemed to fit every stereotype of silly teeny-bopper/edgy girls you could imagine) we holding one another and (probably) weeping uncontrollably. YOU'RE 14!! You don't have jobs and your mum is going to pick you up once the show is done! Get over yourselves! Which, amazingly, they did, two songs later.
It was also a lot of fun to watch the guys (it always seemed to be guys) who were obviously far more inebriated than they should have been -- assuming they pat you down at the entrance -- try to dance to the incredibly long guitar solos that f11 guitarist James Black played. And none of them had their shirts on, but you'd better believe they were sporting those oh so sexy trucker caps that (WARNING: The following could harm your sense of fashion) have never been cool.
There was also far too much smoking being allowed in the seats, assuming there were signs on every wall that you couldn't. I will say, one guy who sat beside Carley and I actually asked if it would bother us if he smoked, and then made a point not to blow the smoke near us. Yes he was smoking, but at least he was considerate.
As for the concert, here goes:
Loudest performance: Jet, who really said absolutely nothing to the audience except "Thank you", but ran through about 10 songs and absolutely belted out every one.
Least audible performance: Jersey, but that's OK because they suck.
Most audible performance: Something Corporate, who, even though they put on a slighty rockier edge for the show, still had their emo vibe to them and you could clearly make out all the words.
Performance we skipped: Alexisonfire. If they'd get rid of the screamer, the band would be good.
Song I was glad a band sang: "Riot Girl", Good Charlotte
Song Carley was upset a band didn't sing: "Konstantine", Something Corporate
Most energetic performance: Billy Talent, but only a slight edge over Something Corporate
Best reception for a band that's not Good Charlotte: Billy Talent
Most disappointing performance: finger eleven. It wasn't bad by any means, but it really seemed like they were tired and didn't really want to be there. They saved it, though, and did a really high energy job on "Good Times"
Worst performance: Jersey, the only band we didn't want to see but stayed for. All their songs sound alike! And that's not good!
Best bouncer moment: The first crowd surfer who got thrown out of the pit got caught upside down by the angry looking, 275-pound bouncer.
Longest wait between bands: Well, Good Charlotte, but they were the headliners. The second longest was between the Salads and Jersey. We managed to get up, look at merch, get back, sit down, and still watch them play.
Best performance: Tie - Good Charlotte/Something Corporate, with Billy Talent coming in a very close second. They probably would have won, but Ben kept pulling his shirt up and showing off his belly, which was just strange. Both GC and SC had amazing energy, good sets, and interacted with the crowds better than anyone else.
Best solo: Something Corporate's piano solo
Worst solo: James Black's guitar solo, which went on. And on. And on. And made the stoned guy dance a lot.
I think that pretty much sums up the best and the worst. We had a little trouble finding parking due to the complete lack of noticeable signs for parking lots. And we had to chug our water outside because we made the mistake of opening them before we got inside, which meant we could not bring them inside, should we have filled it with outside (read: not $6) booze.
We did notice a couple of things, other than the teen girl problem. One is that every punk band had a chubby guy, usually the bassist. Really.
Another is that a crowd of drunk people will cheer for anything. Including oatmeal. And these same people will also cheer every single time someone asks if the crowd's OK. Like the seven or eight times Benji from Good Charlotte asked during their set.
A fourth point: we saw more shirts for bands that weren't playing than ones that were. Carley spotted a boy of about 10 wearing a Rage Against the Machine shirt with Che Guevarra on it. Not only does this kid not know who Che is, but he doesn't even know what machine he's raging against.
Anyway, it was a ton of fun, really good for a first time, and Carley finally got to see Something Corporate.
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