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Permalink Reply by Michele Keifer on July 13, 2009 at 11:32am

I thought Shinedown was awesome- as was Chevelle. I was a little disappointed in Staind, I personally though (and I don't know the proper terms)-- but thought the music was too loud, and you really couldn't hear the vocals very good. I was right up front, so maybe that was it??. But, I still love the band, and love to see them perform. Offspring was really good, I agree!

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Permalink Reply by stacey♥ on July 13, 2009 at 12:05pm

in the beginning aaron sounded like he was sick, but when he did outside and its been awhile, OH MY GOD!!!! he actually went into the crowd and sang. the way he sang those two songs were amazing!!! i felt like he was singing them with love rather than sadness.

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Permalink Reply by Steve on July 13, 2009 at 12:10pm

yea i also have to dissagree, i thought all the bands had an amazing set, specially shinedown. the only one that i didnt enjoy watching was sum 41. but i thought shinedown really got the crowd going and set a great tone for the rest of the bands. staind was great even though aaron did sound a little sick at some parts. wish they would of threw some more songs in there for a longer set. overall this was an amazing show, loved every part of it.

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Permalink Reply by harrison on July 14, 2009 at 7:15pm

SD tanked?

Impossible...

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Permalink Reply by Xdog on July 14, 2009 at 9:01pm

OK, I'm home, the car's unpacked, beer in hand, let me continue...

First, in response to above: Yes Michele, if you are right up front, especially at the SPAC, you cannot accurately guage sound quality. They are trying to reach people all the way out on the lawn, and in the balcony, so naturally you are going to get blown out in front. From the balcony, All the acts sounded loud, but balanced. I heard a few people say Offsprings vocals were too high, but I couldn't really tell.

Stacey: Compared to the last few Staind shows I've seen, Aaron was absolutely on fire. I'm not sure why you thought he sounded "sick", except if you're using "sick" as a synonym for "awesome"!!!

Steve and Harrison: I LOVE Shinedown. Really. But this was not one of their better sets. I don't know what you heard, but Brent couldn't hit ANY notes during Save Me. It was actually painful to watch. And he struggled terribly with Fly From The Inside. He is just really having difficulty singing pre-S.O.M .songs. He seemed to recover a bit during the second half of the set, but the damage was done. I've seen Shinedown on top of their game several times, and that was not it. If you enjoyed it, that's great, but I had hoped for better. The setlist was pretty generic too. No Left Out, no Call Me, no Breaking Inside, etc.....

The band did their part though, but when your frontman falters...nuff said.

And now, from the beginning:

Halestorm played a short but strong set to a nearly empty inside. Lots of folks on the lawn, but no one was really paying attention. I'd hoped to hear What Were U Expecting, but no dice. Lizzie's voice was 100%. Grade= A-

Sum 41, no comment. I can't stand them, so I won't be a good judge of their set. We heard it from out by the F.Y.E. tent where we were waiting to meet Shinedown, and it just sounded like a drunken frat boy talking about getting drunk, and dropping dozens of F-bombs. Thankfully, it didn't last long. Grade= No Comment

Chevelle: Second time I've seen them live, and it was better but still not great, IMO. It seems like they are a far better studio band than a live one. The singer seems to struggle with singing and playing guitar, starting verses late, and not really carrying a lot of notes properly. I acknowledge that it is an amazing amount of noise for three guys to crank out, but the quality just isn't there. Their setlist was not the best either AFAIC, no Get Some, no Closure, no Saturdays, etc. On a positive not, they played a track from their upcoming album that sounded really good, and they closed with one of my favorite songs, I Get It! Grade= B-

Shinedown: See my comments above, that pretty much covers it. Their energy was good, their musical performance was good, but vocalsand setlist choice both fell short. Did not satisfy. Grade= B-
(They were cool as shit to my 4 year old boy though, high fiving him and making him laugh when they signed our disc!)

The Offspring: I consider the Offspring kind of a 90's joke band, so I didn't go in with high hopes, and viewed it as more of a Buzz-Kill between 2 of my favorite bands. But I will grudgingly admit that they had far more decent songs than I remembered, and had me singing along with a big smile on my face! They also had a LOT of local support, as many peole were sporting their shirts, and split after their set (bewildering the shit out of me). Technically, they were excellent. The singer hit all his notes, and had good stage presence. The band was on point as well. I walk away with a bit more respect. Grade= solid A

and Staind: Awesome from the word go! If I had to lodge one complaint, it would just be that I didn't get a few of the songs I'd seen on previous setlists (Come Again, Just Go), but that's what I get for being nosy! Otherwise, they fucking blew it up. Aaron seemed like he was 25 not 37 up there. Mike slayed it, and Old Skool was there on the backup like ol' faithful. Jon was doing it as well as I've ever seen it done. They really put 110% into it, and Aaron made sure in his very brief commentary to keep the folks out on the lawn included in the show. Highlights for me were Raw and Spleen, which I'd previously never seen live. I always give props to a band that doesn't phase out, and can actually still SING their early material live!!! I could go on, but you get the gist. They made my night. Grade= A+

Last comments, directed at the venue: I fucking hate that beer garden (aka: beer jail)! Fucking $10 for a small import beer, or a large domestic tap beer! Long ass lines, and you have to finish it there in the beer jail! C'mon people, we're fucking adults! Filthy ass port-o-sans in there too! Not cool.

Place was no where even close to sold out either! I don't know why with that great lineup, but there were crazy amounts of empty seats inside, compared to 2 years ago when Daughtry/Staind/Nickelback competely oversold the venue. I guess the stimulus was not quite enough!

Anyway, great show. If you don't already have tix for a future date, make sure you scoop some up. Hopefully you'll get a better Shinedown performance, but you'd be hard pressed to get a better one from Staind!

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Permalink Reply by Stephenie on July 14, 2009 at 9:11pm

It was a great show! I was in the front row of section 5 and I was SO UPSET when Aaron went into the crowd to sing "Outside" and "It's been awhile" I paid more money then I should of to get a really good seat for that one and only person and my 2 favorite songs, he's so far away!
I LOVED that I was able to meet him and get his autograph though, so I guess it evens out. The only thing that would of made it better is if I could of gotten a picture with him, possibly even one with his arm around me! Better luck next year.

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Permalink Reply by harrison on July 15, 2009 at 10:12am

Very nice review man. Thanks. And if brent was off, and u are used to what they SHOULD sound like, then that's understandable I guess if they just didn't reach par. U and I both know they can bring it...hopefully that's just an off night for brent. And what has their setlist been like the rest of the tour? As an opening act, u can't expect anything TOO cool ya know

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Permalink Reply by Xdog on July 18, 2009 at 10:15am

Definitely man, these guys work hard, and an off-night is inevitable here and there. It just blows when it happens to be MY show!!!
(Just a LITTLE selfish?)

Yes, Brent can definitely bring it, there's no question. And I know if not for The Offspring, I would've gotten a longer set out of them!

During the past year they've been playing a kickass version of Left Out, a really cool Brent/Eric only Call Me, Breaking Inside, and I've even heard of them doing What a Shame.

harrison said:

Very nice review man. Thanks. And if brent was off, and u are used to what they SHOULD sound like, then that's understandable I guess if they just didn't reach par. U and I both know they can bring it...hopefully that's just an off night for brent. And what has their setlist been like the rest of the tour? As an opening act, u can't expect anything TOO cool ya know

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