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You can never go wrong, putting the word “party” in your band name. Satellite Party was no exception. The onstage antics of legendary Perry Farrell made for a party to be had by all, complete with a backup dancer whose microphone was most unfortunately malfunctioning through much of the set.
Personally, I dislike the Used and had this opinion reaffirmed as front man Burt McCracken spit a cup of x beverage over the photo pit, the mist of it swirling into our very faces and lenses. The guy is a total sleaze. However, the myriads of teenage fans remained transfixed and appeared to have a good time. Again, this is never a bad thing.
Don’t get me wrong, Conor Oberst of Bright Eyes is one handsome and talented man, but he is one handsome and talented man in desperate need of a trimming. With a voice that encompasses all that is tragic, free, nocturnal in Omaha — and the appearance of Professor Snape — he effectively mellowed out the crowd just in time for Social Distortion to get them all riled up again.
I felt almost… wrong… watching Social Distortion, knowing that within the course of an hour or so, I would be witnessing two of the most quintessential rock bands of the 1990’s. Wrong, like my parking ticket stub expired five hours ago and I still hadn’t been fined. Wrong, like I walked in on Eddie Vedder taking a whiz in a Honey Bucket. Wrong, like a 12 year old watching a rated R movie. Wrong like “How is it even possible that I’m seeing this band and then Smashing Pumpkins live,” two shows I never should have been able to see?
I’ll admit, though I'm a Smashing Pumpkins lover, my expectations for this show were low. I was blow away.
Billy Corgan took the stage with no visible arrogance or cockiness, but rather a sense of curiosity at the audience to behold. I’ll say now, the lighting was quite difficult — though abundant in quantity, it seemed the faces were purposefully concealed in shadow. Come on! It’s not like they’re that ugly!
Nonetheless, this added effect made for a mysterious and slightly ambiguous comeback. I spied, in the brief moments of light, the aging of Mr. Corgan, and was flabbergasted by the quality of his voice in juxtaposition to the album versions of the songs performed. The renditions of “Drown” and “Tonight, Tonight” were absolutely gorgeous and were surely sonic treats for everyone present. Overall, I loved the set, and am sure that the majority of skeptics in the audience were won over by the end as well.
There you have it! Endfest 16. Happy Birthday, dude. Drive safely!
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Endfest 2007: Page 1 >> | Page 2 >> | Page 3
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