DUZZITROCK

_ This was my first year attending the Extreme Thing Festival in Las Vegas, NV. While I thought the lineup this year was quite good, I’d heard countless complaints about how the lineup didn’t compare to past years. One of the main issues I had was the venue – while quite beautiful and open it was way too spaced out. Many of the bands started about fifteen minutes apart, so that would be enough time to photograph a band for the first three songs and get to the next stage and take pictures right? Wrong! The distance between the upper stages and the lowers stages was ridiculous, coupled with a mass amount of people and poorly made traveling paths, it took fifteen minutes in itself just to get from one end to the other. There was very little shade (coming from Oregon to Nevada I almost cried) and the only source of running water was the bathroom sinks.

The next big issue I had was with security – They had no idea what they were doing! Upon entering the venue (which didn’t have single file lines and instead was a giant crowd attempting to push their way to the security check) it was a typical security check with guards patting down patrons and checking bags. However their setup was so disorganized that I got through completely without being check at all while my assistant (lacky), who was carrying my laptop, got her bag ripped from her and slammed down on the table. On one hand I understand them being rough, it is Las Vegas after all, but on the other hand, they obviously didn’t do that good of a job. There were kids openly smoking weed and snorting cocaine. While the weed I can understand at a festival, who goes around openly snorting coke?! After that though, my next issue was that I was unable to take photos for about two hours while PR and security got things sorted out. While my photo pass was on my shirt and plainly visible, it matched the one on the picture given to security in every way except for the color, theirs was scanned black and white while mine was a pinkish purple color. So because mine wasn’t the right color they weren’t letting me back to take pictures. The security men posted as the stages didn’t know their job! While they got better with the photo thing, they didn’t seem to get better with their job as the day went on. When I was waiting at one of the main stages for Less Than Jake to end so I could go backstage and interview The Used, the security guard posted at the stage was letting random pretty girls back. I’m not sure what they said to get back there, but you know they weren’t supposed to as one came over to her group of friends right in front of me and said, “We’re getting back, Squeeeeeel.” Yet when I was actually back there, still waiting for my interview, Austin Carlile from Of Mice & Men was trying to get backstage. He didn’t have his pass on him but he’d performed earlier in the day. The security guard wouldn’t let him back even though people, even me, kept telling him that he was in a band.

Time for my press complaints – I’ve done a couple interviews (not many because of my location and very few concerts near here) and this is the first time I’ve ever had a “handler” of sorts. My first interview with The Word Alive I was backstage and interviewing Telle when one of the women from the press agency called me asking where I was so she could take me back for the interview… oops. The next was where the interviews were, right next to the stages. Fortunately for The Word Alive we didn’t have a band playing during the interview, but when The Used came back for the interview they came back like twenty minutes later than scheduled and since I was the last one interview them Underoath started during the middle of our interview and the sound interfered with so much of it that I missed chunks.

While the things I’ve said are negative, the music itself was awesome. I hated that some of the best bands were put on the smaller stages because they weren’t “huge” bands. I definitely enjoyed the music – Transit, The Word Alive, The Wonder Years (better live), The Used, Less Than Jake was fantastic and very funny.

I’m mixed with my feelings of Extreme Thing Festival and not sure if I’m going to make the trek to Vegas so I can attend next year, we’ll see I guess.

I had the pleasure of seeing Skrillex live in Eugene, OR on September 26, 2011. Let me tell you, it was no small thing either. The tickets to the show sold out so quickly that by the time I found out they were playing near here, they were already all gone. I wasn’t gonna pay $90+ on Stubhub or that much to someone on Craigslist. But I actually found a friend that couldn’t make it and sold their ticket at face value.

Eugene, however, is still a 2.5 hour drive which is about $50 round trip. So a $22 dollar ticket plus gas, we’re just north of $70 to see Skrillex. Now I’m going to tell you a bit about my concert experience and give my conclusion on whether or not it’s worth the effort and money, because these days $70 is a lot.

I got to the McDonald Theatre at about 7pm, show started at 8. Surprisingly, there weren’t many people there, even once the show started it seemed incredibly small for a sold out show. It wasn’t until 12th Planet came on that I saw the crowd really grow, though it had been steadily growing until that point.

The first act, Nadastrom, was a charming duo. Though their songs were pleasant for about the first 10 minutes, they all sounded incredibly similar, you couldn’t tell where one song ended and the next began. I did however like these guys, they had a fantastic stage presence and one was wearing a poncho, you can’t dislike someone in a poncho.

The next act was Two Fresh a group consisting of twin brother DJs and a live drummer. When they came on it sounded really great, their music different from the first group (at 45 minute sets, we were thankful it wasn’t the same thing again) turned into the same problem. While Two Fresh are undeniably talented, their set once again sounded great for the first 10 or so before we realized that it once again sounded like one really long, never ending song. While the crowd went in and out of jumping and dancing, many were zoning out or talking to others in the crowd.

It was during Two Fresh’s set that I left the crowd to sit in the back against a wall. The crowd at this show was terrible, seaming to consist mainly of high school students thinking they are cool because they’re doing drugs and at a Skrillex show. The crowd was so bad that despite the music, I almost left early, before the man I went to see even came on.

Third to play was 12th Planet and let me tell you, his set was fantastic. He played a full set of great songs that were distinctly their own songs, what I mean is you could tell the songs apart from each other, it was nice. His stage presence is great, he’s full of energy on the stage and even jumped off and crowd surfed twice. He threw out a couple remixes, including All I Ask of You by Skrillex (ft. Penny), getting the crowd pumped up for the next and final artist.

So really this is it, my conclusion where I will tell you if seeing Skrillex is worth the money, the time getting there, and dealing with the crowd.

Setting up Skrillex’s stage took a big longer than the other acts, but once the curtain was pulled down you could see why, he had a full stage set up and during his act projected things on to the set. It was, to say the least, really cool. He also had motion detector (things) attached to him so one of the projections behind him (be it a robot, alien, or something else) was mimicking his actions. At the beginning of his set I was in the crowd excited to see him, but strangely enough I then chose to watch from the back. One thing I have to say is Sonny Moore, please grow! The man is short, I’m sorry but it’s true. I spent the first 10 minutes of the set on my tiptoes throwing my head back and forth to try and see him, which is why I ended up moving to the back, which had a much better view. Musically I was not disappointed. One thing I was worried about, which might worry you as well, was that because he is essentially a DJ that he’d just be playing his songs just like off the CD so you’d be pretty much paying to hear a CD you already own. Let me tell you this though, I’ve heard a lot of remixes of his work, but no one does it like he does. He remixed songs, mixed some together, and all around pulled off a really great show. There was even a bit of comedy with his Mac Book froze and we got to hear a little cursing from the man.

I know this was long and drawn out, but it’s a FULL concert review, all the bands, everything. After everything, I’d have to tell you seeing Skrillex was definitely worth it, the man puts on a great show. I’d definitely see him again… just probably not in Eugene.

So this year I decided to attend the Vans Warped Tour and one of the bands was Bowling for Soup. They only played the last three stops of the tour and they weren’t on any of the online lists or anything, so no one knew they were attending until we got there. Unlike many of the bands though, when they weren’t playing or at the scheduled signing, instead of hiding out in their bus or backstage, they spent the whole time in their booth talking and hanging out with fans.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I decided to watch the Bowling for Soup set. Sure I remember some of their songs from back in the day, but I figured they must be old and washed up by now. At the very least they are old. I can concede that at the beginning of the set it was awkward listening to older men singing about high school, haven’t they moved past that by now?

These guys though, they put on a better set then any of the other bands I saw perform. They were really funny and they engaged the crowd a lot more than most bands.

You guys ever notice those kids that crowd surf, whether or not a song is playing? Well these guys noticed, and in order to help these kids not feel stupid, they played a song called “Between Song Surfing,” which also happened to be all the lyrics of the song.

Another never released song they played was “Chris’ Warped Tour Girlfriend,” cleverly enough it was about Chris… getting his Warped Tour girlfriend.

Another special thing about this set that’s different from anything I’ve ever seen before was that during Punk Rock 101 they paused in the middle and did a photo shoot for the fans. They posed on different sides of the stage and fans had out their little point and shoot cameras and iPhones, taking pictures of the band.

This was one of the last sets of the day and after standing in the sun for 8 hours, completely drained, I still had a blast. Fans were jumping around and singing along to all the songs. Anyone who missed this show really missed out and if you have a chance to see these guys, take it!

Go to our gallery to check out more pictures from the show!