The Bamboozle 2009: A Music Potpourri With
Plenty for Everybody
by Jim Testa
The Bamboozle isn't cheap - a one-day ticket
went for $68 after Ticketmaster fees - but
it certainly offered plenty of band for the
buck on Saturday, May 2. Mother Nature kept
away threatened showers and an estimated 30,000
or so enjoyed a warm, sunny Spring day that
was part state fair, part carnival midway,
and part shopping mall, with nine stages of
live music running almost 12 hours.
Amusement park rides, games of chance, band
tents, and dozens of vendors - almost all
for clothing and jewelry, with just a few
kiosks actually offering CD's - vied for fans'
attention with 90 musical acts that ranged
across the entire musical spectrum.
Granted, much of the music followed in the
tradition of headliners Fallout Boy and main
stage favorites like New Found Glory, All
Time Low, and Cobra Starship, as dozens of
bands in skinny jeans, feathered hair, and
full-sleeve tattoos played variations of generic
emo-pop. There were so many lookalike, soundalike
baby bands playing on the side stages that
members went to extraordinary lengths to 
bring
fans to their performances: Banners, signs,
flyers, costumes... everywhere you looked,
there was a band (or its street team) in your
face trying to get your attention. Also noted:
Headbands on boys are back big-time as a fashion
accessory, more teen girls dress like Katy
Perry than like Hannah Montana, and there
were a ridiculous number of guys running around
with "Free hugs" or "free kisses"
magic-markered all over themselves.
Happily, Bamboozle is a lot more than a day
at Emo Nation. Musically, choices included
hip hop, spoken word and poetry, bludgeoning
hardcore, indie rock, and a few unexpected
ringers. Bloodhound Gang added frat-boy metal
thud, while hardcore main-stagers We The Kings
inspired the most violent moshpit of the day.
Former Bush frontman Gavin Rossdale threw
in a few old hits from the grunge-rock era
as well as songs from his new adult-alternative
solo album, and Nineties one-hit wonder Third
Eye Blind shilled their upcoming comeback
CD on the main stage.
But the strangest moment of the day came
when a band that looked and sounded a whole
lot like Seventies rock gods Journey played
a 30-minutes greatest hits set that had everyone
from parents to pre-teens swaying together
and singing along. The thing is, was it really
Journey? That guy in the tux tails and long
hair certainly looked like Steve Perry - but
Perry isn't touring in the current version
of Journey. Were tens of thousands of fans
Bamboozled into cheering for a Journey cover
band? It certainly seems so.
Here are some of the highlights
from my day at Bamboozle:
Cage The Elephant
CAGE THE ELEPHANT - A frenetic post-punk
combo that belongs in a sweaty Brooklyn basement,
the band raged through a steamy, high-energy
set that attracted more scenesters and industry
people than I saw at any other stage.
ACE ENDERS & A MILLION DIFFERENT PEOPLE
- The former frontman of Jersey emo pioneers
The Early November made a triumphant return
to Bamboozle, drawing a sizable crowd singing
along to favorites from his new album, When
I Hit The Ground. Bassist Sergio substantially
ups the cheese quota with his "Hey there
New Jersey, let's see you clap your hands!"
shtick; I actually preferred Ace's acoustic
solo set at SXSW earlier this year to this
full-band performance. But Ace Enders has
a charisma that's almost palpable; you just
can't not like this guy, and he more than
won me over. The singalong finale "Bring
Back Love" perfectly matched the sunny,
cheery good vibe of the entire day.
THE GET UP KIDS - Picking right up from where
they left off, the Get Up Kids reunion sounded
amazing, the songs fresh and so much more
fleshed out and meaningful than what "emo"
has become in their wake.
COBRA STARSHIP - Gabe Saporta's mix of pop-punk,
white boy hip hop, and arena rock may not
be everyone's cup of tea, but you've gotta
admit it is entertaining. Best joke of the
day: Gabe introducing a new song as "The
Only Reason Anybody Knows Us Is Pete Wentz"
METRO STATION - A pretty horrible example
of the crap you can shove down the throats
of 14 year old girls. Guitarist Mason Musso
actually does most of the singing; skinny,
shirtless, tattooed Trace Cyrus (Miley's big
brother) poses, raps, and sort of plays guitar.
Everything you'd expect, and less.
ALL TIME LOW - Granted they've become the
archetypal Alternative Press-adored emo boyband
on the planet. But let's give them props:
They tour relentlessly, they write great bubblegum
pop, and they can actually carry a melody
and hit a harmony without autotune.
GWAR - The music's always been noise-metal
rubbish but the costumed invaders from Antarctica
still put on a helluva show. This performance
included oversized rubber figures of President
Obama and Hilary Clinton being decapitated,
disemboweled, and spewing various fluids all
over the crowd.
NEW FOUND GLORY - I never got this band and
I guess I never will. If you gave NoFX a lobotomy...
DAYS DIFFERENCE - I've been MySpace friends
with this Virginia band forever so I thought
I'd actually see them live. Very handsome
dudes playing very pretty piano-based pop.
The melodies were very nice but overall I
couldn't get into them.
BOYS LIKE GIRLS - How to be really loud and
fast and jump up & down and still be really
really boring.
GAVIN ROSSDALE - Totally out of place, at
least he played a couple of Bush hits while
trying to get kids who didn't know who he
was to buy his new adult-alternative solo
album. Kinda pathetic, I thought.
THIRD EYE BLIND - You have to wonder if Live
Nation owns this band. Why else would they
play next to last? New album coming in July
and absolutely nobody cares. I hate has-been
bands who save their one hit for the last
song of the set -- such a cliche.
The Bamboozle started on Friday, May 1 with
the Hoodwink Festival, with bands playing
cover sets of their heroes, and concluded
on Sunday, May 3, with headliners No Doubt,
Rise Against, Face To Face, Sum 41, and Disney
teen idol Demi Lovato.
