Imagine 95-degree weather, a seven-hour-long day, no sunscreen, and some of the grandest new rock bands in America. Who gives a shit about the weather?! This is Locobazooka. It rocks! So, the heat sucked. The wait to get in the venue was the most annoying thing ever. It was well worth the wait. After seeing all the bands, I decided to briefly review each band separately instead of the show as a whole.

In A Trance - This band was the first that I was privileged to see. These guys sure did a bang up job opening on a day like this. One didn't have to wait that long with the group's metallic edge and extreme music for his/her eardrums to disintegrate.

Rearview Mirror - Like always, these Iowa raised chaps got us pumped for the show to come. As openers they were only given a 15-minute time slot, so they really didn’t have a chance to fully mature into their sound on stage.

Dragpipe - The lead singer is a mirror image of Chester Bennington of Linkin Park. He knows how to get the pit excited. Also, with a guitarist that has the reflection of Vin Diesel, I could see this band go far simply because of their female fans, and those that like rock acts simply based upon sex appeal.

Mad At Gravity - This was the first semi-headlining band that had a popular single and intermittent radio play that I knew of. They were impressive, but not overly impressive. The group is going to have to get a little more attitude and stage magnetism if they want people to remember their name. I had a hard time.

Dry Cell - Separate Review.

Audiovent - This set is just a dim, distant memory for me. My attention was on far more important things: my life. Meeting Jason and Ben after the show was interesting and enjoyable. One would think, though, that Brandon Boyd’s younger brother would have attempted to develop more of an appealing aura. I don't know, but 70’s style clothes and “Jesus hair” don't really received high marks in my book of aplomb.

Mushroomhead - These revolutionary rockers caused a riot. Need I say more? The bodies were flying and the mosh pit was jumping until the final guitar chord was jammed. With such stage likeness and driving rock uproar, it is no wonder that Mushroomhead won the CH award for most interesting act on the Locobazooka tour.

Nonpoint - I got less and less into the music as the day drew on and became more and more concerned about my frying skin and parched vocal chords. Sitting as close to the drink station as possible was a necessity. I moved one time during the entire Nonpoint set to take two pictures. The crowd didn’t get into them as much as some of the other acts, but it is hard to follow all stars like Mushroomhead in the moshing world.

Sevendust - They were, by far, the most arousing act of the entire day. Playing their solid rock singles and others off their ‘Animosity’ release, they rocked La Crosse on its ass. Every time I hear ‘Crucify’ on the radio now I picture L.J. shirtless with his dreadlocks flopping all over demolishing us with his powerful voice. He also explained how much he loathes Canada, but that’s another story…

Earshot - I know and loved the songs I had heard by Earshot on the radio and ‘Queen of the Damned Soundtrack,’ but had never seen what the looked like. Mystery is sometimes one’s friend. Freaky ass shit. I now have a completely different perspective of the band. It felt as though they were trying a little too hard and if they would have let go and just enjoyed themselves, their set would nave been much more believing and engaging.

Filter - I was more than ready for Filter to finish the set so CH could get the show on the road after a long day of picture taking and meeting the performers. The final act of the day pulled everything together and finished it off with a set full of melody and verve. It concluded the day well. So, as one can see, Locobazooka was hot, humid and splendid. The majority of those on the tour performed seamlessly and the crowds were very involved in making the tour great the entire day. Hopefully, the tour will continue annually and they will continue with new bands with bright horizons.

Review by: Gabby