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EndFest 2000 - "Whoever
That Girl is: You Rock!!!"
By Les Thomas
(Complete
Photo Menu Below)
This is for all
those poor, broken-hearted souls out there who,
through tight-fistedness (too cheap to pay the
"paltry" $45 for tickets to the concert
of the century?!) or just plain laziness, missed EndFest 2000. You know who you
are.
What better way
to spend a saturday morning than to hop a ferry
and shuttle-bus to the Kitsap County Fair Grounds
to see Harvey Danger, Seattle's favorite
One-Hit-Wonder-Band (give 'em time, folks, their
new album, hopefully with hit #2, will be out
soon!) open EndFest 2000? I couldn't think of
anything, obviously, because that's exactly where
I found myself On August 5.
Taking the stage
looking sharp as tacks, the boys from Harvey politely talked to the
crowd and proceeded to bounce around the stage as
if there was no place else they'd rather be,
doing their damndest to give the crowd their
money's worth. Aside from the jocks i overheard
saying "hey, we dont care if you have a new
album, 'cause we Don't LIKE YOU!" in answer
to singer Sean Nelson's announcement of the new Harvey album, crowd response
was generally positive. Indeed, many people were
seen singing along whole-heartedly to
"Flagpole Sitta". Sound-wise, Harvey Danger sounds much better
indoors, due to the fact that despite an extra
axe-man, the guitar sound is still muddy and
Nelson's rapid-fire high-brow musings were often
drowned out in the mix.
Over at the
second stage, the kids of Dynamite Hack were tearing up the
stage, sounding like Eve 6 or Blink 182 with balls, if you can
imagine. They had a lot of fun, and performed
their hilarious, Bloodhound Gang-inspired
"Boys in the Hood", as heard (by those
who actually listen to Corporate Radio) on 107.7
the End. They flubbed the chords a few times,
making yours truly wonder if someone other than
the band recorded the acoustic guitar parts on
the album: these guys looked like they'd never
touched an acoustic guitar in thier short lives.
Checking out the
Mainstage again, it appeared Mxpx was, as usual, keeping
the punk rock world safe for christ-core
teenagers the world over, with their super-slick
"Christian" pop-punk. I think I'll move
to Bremerton.
Just when I
thought I would choke on super-sweet bubble-gum
rock, Seattle's reigning attitude kings, the Murder City
Devils, came onstage, bringing as many
kids as security would allow onto the stage with
them. The Devils kicked ass all over the
place, making up for a lack of originality (an
organ heard on barely three songs does not an
original concept make--but damn, is that girly
cute--but i degress!) with an enthusiasm and
energy matched only by the sadly uninvited garage
kings, the Makers. During the last song,
singer Spencer Moody put his arm around a clearly
star-struck girly and sang (er, screamed) a duet
with her. How cool is that?! By the way, whoever
that girl is: you rock!!!
Everlast opened
with a re-worked version of his House of Pain hit
"Jump Around", to the obvious delight
of everyone in attendance. Cheese is necessary
every once in a while! His band even had a
stand-up bass player! However, it only took
untill the second song for Mr. Everlast to begin
sucking in earnest, as the awful "Ends"
had his crappy acoustic guitar stumblings amped
to absolutely ear-splitting levels. I left,
desperately fleeing the hideous sounds of a band
completely out of their element.
The Electronic
Pavillion offered "live" electronic
music. I stopped by several times, and the
numerous dj's were cranking out,
well...electronic music. Only the trip-hop/techno
sounds of Bowery Electric offered any relief from
the generic bumpin' beats. Someone please explain
to me why all the kids were so into DJ Dan: I
didn't even know that the band had changed untill
i heard the shouts of "we love you DJ
Dan!" coming from seemingly every cute
high-school-age girl in attendance, as well as a
couple of large, jock-like guys. DJ Dan, whatever
your actual talent level, you are loved.
Now consisting
of only two members (a dj and a female singer),
Bowery Electric were a breath of fresh air in a
festival overrun with mediocre talent. Offering
up danceable pieces of ethereal beauty, the
talented twosome staved off the hunger pains for
those of us left empty by the long wait between
Portishead albums. And their light show was
first-rate!
I completely
missed Powerman 5000, but I caught 3 Doors Down and Papa Roach on the second stage, as
well as a few songs from Third Eye Blind. I honestly am unable to
say anything bad about either 3 Doors Down or Papa Roach's performance: they are
decent live musicians. However, neither band was
very interesting, with 3 Doors Down managing to sound like
both Candlebox and Creed, two of the cheesiest
bands the nineties ever spawned. Of course, they
are probably going to become a huge commercial
success. Head for the hills, kiddies: the end of
the world is near!
Where to begin
with Third Eye Blind? A band with so much pop
sensibilities should surely manage to put on a
capable live set, right? Uh, not quite!
Unquestionably the worst live act since Poison, Third Eye Blind energetically stumbled
their way through an absolutely poverty stricken
performance. The band was usually out of sync
with each other, the guitarist was sloppier than Art Alexakis back on caffeine, and
the singer sounded utterly tone-deaf. And the
clincher was their encore, where the band barely
pulled off a cover of "Should I Stay Or
Should I Go?". Please guys, next time you go
on tour--stay on the bus and have studio
musicians go on stage and impersonate you; do it
for the fans; do it for the music: just DO IT!!!
Finally, the Deftones took the stage, backed
by a beautiful red and white tapestry bearing the
horse and star emblem which graces the cover of
their new album, aptly titled White Pony.
Starting the show off with a bang, singer Chino Moreno walked out into the
crowd, standing on the shoulders and hands of
eager fans. He even managed some impressive
head-banging while atop his precarious perch! And
the band was incredible!
Taking songs
from each of their albums, the Deftones stole the show. Chino
Moreno managed to form a rapport with the
audience I have seldom witnessed, looking out at
the crowd and seemingly boring his eyes into our
very soul. Everywhere I looked there were guys
and girls singing along, with a passion that was
almost frightening in its intensity, to even the
most rage-choked vocals spewed by Mr. Moreno.
Despite only having one guitarist (except when
Cheno helped out) the Deftones managed to get the crowd
into a frenzy of pogoing heads and sweat-drenched
backs.
One thing that
sets the Deftones apart from other
talented bands is the charisma and intensity of
singer Chino Moreno. Chino posesses the ability
to move his voice instantly from a sweet harmony
to throat-tearing primal bellow of rage--and back
again--seemingly effortlessly. It is this strange
dichotomy of sound styles--the sweet and
harmonious, and the harsh and dissonent--somehow
meshing together that further separates the Deftones from their peers in the
world of heavy rock. And unlike most ass-kicking
bands, Moreno and company are equally adept at
soaring vocal and musical harmonies as they are
at down-and-dirty, head-banging rock. That is not
to say that the Deftones don't rock--because they
ALWAYS rock. Even when sliding into a quieter
part of a song, the Deftones manage to convey a
sense of heaviness that many loud-all-the-time
bands (Helmet, etc.) would kill for. For my
money, the Deftones are the best of the best
in heavy rock of any variety. And this year's EndFest show is just the latest
example of why this is true. My condolences if
you missed their set: help is available--I
suggest counseling.
And last but not
least, there was KOrN. Due to a very late KOrN, sun-addled, bored fans
began throwing plastic bottles into the air. The
sky was raining plastic bottles--and they HURT!
Taking refuge under my backpack, I waited out the
20 minute storm of flying projectiles with
several girls, managing to get beaned several
times by flying plastic debris despite my best
efforts. Only the threat of ending the show
before KOrN's set calmed the
maddened fiends!
Once KOrN took the stage, the
crowd took out their pent-up frustration at their
tiny allowances and inability to pierce their
genitalia untill they move out of their parents
houses on each other, and I was left to enjoy the
show.
KOrN turned out to be a
pretty damn decent live band, and every bit as
loud as I had expected. Just like the Deftones before them, KOrN mixed old and new songs
in their set, emphasizing their new stuff, but
certainly not at the expense of the old. KOrN songwriter and singer
Jonathan Davis earned my respect by actually
playing the bagpipe intro to one of their songs!
Who cares if he knows folk songs like "Danny
Boy" on the pipes--he got the job done at
this show, and the fans loved it! How many rock
bands can claim a bagpipe player in their midst?
(and no, Jethro Tull doesn't count, their singer
played flute, not pipes!)
Stumbling home
after KOrN's devestatingly loud
set, I began to feel guilty about the sad state
of my eardrums--or lack of said hearing
instruments. After a day-long salute to jock-rock
and extra-loud techno, I told myself that
henceforth, I would attend every future concert
with earplugs. But I must admit I lied!
Email Les Thomas
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