Instruction

The first band to play on stage was a rock band named Instruction. The band all together was pretty energetic. Their music, though, was mediocre; nothing horrible, but also nothing too impressive. I figured since the elections were over, I would not be subjected to band’s political views anymore, but I was wrong. The lead singer said that American Idol sucks and George Bush could blow him. Their set seemed about 20 minutes along, and played about 5 or 6 songs.

Skindred

I knew beforehand that I would not like this band because I find their music is just plain annoying. I decided to listen and watch anyway, so I could give them an honest chance. The sound is a mix of reggae, rap, rock, and metal. If you could imagine the sound that instruments would make while being raped, that’s what Skindred sounds like live. My ears were ready to commit suicide. Cop sirens and a lot of other odd noises usually started their songs, and then the guitar and bass parts would come in with the vocals.

The lead singer is the reggae part in the group, and he has an English accent. It might actually be Australian or South African, I have no idea really. When he was yelling at the kids in the pit, he was extremely hard to understand. A lot of people in the audience were booing them. Skindred just sounds like crap live. They might be before their time, but I sincerely hope they never have a time.

Breaking Benjamin

I had wanted to see this band for quite some time. I did not even know they were going to playing, until about three days previous to the concert. So, to say the least, I was excited. The band came out and not many people cheered right away. It was a little hard to tell if the guys on the stage were indeed rock stars, or if they were just some roadies testing the equipment.

After two or so minutes, the lights were going around the stage and Braking Benjamin started their first song of the night. They opened with “Home” which makes sense because they were in their home state, but “Home” has just enough Wizard Of Oz references to make it creepy. About half their songs played were off their debut album, “Saturate”, and the other half off their latest album, “We Are Not Alone”.

Chevelle

My reason for coming was finally on stage. I was excited beyond excitement. Too bad everyone else around me was being a bunch of ‘stick in the muds’ still, and were not even standing yet. Instead, it was like ‘smoke if you got it’ time. When the lights for Chevelle came on, it was like a signal for everyone to start smoking marijuana.

Sitting two rows ahead of my mom, brother, and me, were three total fat rednecks who had just slipped into the seats since no one else was sitting there. They smoked blunts and pipes the entire set of Chevelle and Korn. It was to the point of being disgusting and annoying. I still sang along and went about my concert business, but it pissed me off that they were doing so much of it. I do not care about like one joint, but when my hair smells like it on the way home, it angers me.

The stage was set up with modern-looking squares and rectangles which lit up and changed colors during the performance. For their song “Seeing Red”, the lights alternated between red, white, and black (yes, black lights, but not the purple kind). Starting after about six songs, there were like 30 second recorded skits that would play with all the lights in the amphitheater off. So, the crowd was cheering and in total darkness with the skits going. It was as if they were done playing, and then decided to go back and play one more song, except this happened like seven times.

Chevelle played all their instruments and songs fantastically. When I saw them at Ozzfest in 2003, I was super far away and everyone around me was booing, so this time there were no haters nearby to ruin the sound. There was so much emotion in their music. The lead singer pretty much stayed in his designated spot, but emotions just came pouring out of his voice. Every song was at least ten times better live than recorded. Like with Break Benjamin, Chevelle’s set was split between their previous and latest album.

Korn

Like with Chevelle, I had seen Korn at Ozzfest 2003. They had just released their Greatest Hits album, so this was the tour to support it. To put it simply, they were really good at everything they did. Superb. About three-fourths into their set, the Bagpipes were brought out, and the crowd went bezerk. During songs, you could just look at the crowd and see everyone rocking out. During the heavier parts of songs, it was like a sea of head banging with the metal hand sign up in the air.

The stage was unique in that it had tons of kids on it, but not just running around hither and yonder (or as I like to call it, New Found Glory Style, since when I saw them at Warped Tour, there were kids all over the stage the entire show). There were tables with the “Parental Advisory” banner hanging from them, but it was weird because then there would be a person in a fold-up chair just chilling behind the table. Okay, so what is the point of the tables? Are we registering voters or playing some music? Against the wall in the background was a jail-like scene. It was a long cage, minus actual cells, and it looked pretty damn cool. Kiddies rockin’ out behind bars. Not even prison can take away their fandom. Of course, the crowd cheered ‘til we got an encore. They played two songs for the encore, “Blind” and “Faggot.” The whole show was awesome!

Review by: Candice