mtvU Ulalume Festival w/Paramore, AFI, Dead By Sunrise & Kid Cudi, Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD – 10.23.09
Posted by Mitch Michaels on 10.29.2009
It’s a Halloween celebration featuring sasquatch, Misfits covers, music and lots of screaming teenage girls…
Sometime in September, I heard about the inaugural mtvU Ulalume Festival, a Halloween-themed show that was set to feature rides, costume contests and a bunch of college-appropriate music. Being a 411 writer, my mind singled out one thing – hot college age girls in costumes. Surely, this was a must-see event for the Halloween season.
So, I got together with a friend of mine and we took the trip last Friday afternoon from NorVa to Merriweather. Let me first say this – the idea for an outdoor Halloween festival is inspired. October is generally still decent enough weather to be outside and have fun. However, whoever decided that this festival should be on a Friday should be shot in the balls. And whoever decided that start time should be 6 PM should be forced to remove the buckshot from said balls with a pair of pliers and no anesthesia.
Traffic getting there sucked majorly (Friday afternoon, DC area – sure, let’s have a concert), but we managed to make it there right after six. I was actually a little interested to hear Kid Cudi after seeing him do a good 15 seconds at the MTV VMAs last month. The guy didn’t go on stage until a little after 6:30 – it seems that Asher Roth, originally scheduled for the show, was forced to cancel at the last minute due to strep throat. So sorry anyone who wanted to hear “College” – you’re fucked.
Anyway, with Kid Cudi going on late, we took some time to roam the grounds, anxious to see all of these hot chicks in costumes. What did we get? Clowns.
Clowns, rides and very few people in my already promised costumes. This was not shaping up to be promising. In fact, not only were most of the girls not wearing costumes, but the majority of them were a pretty far cry from college age – this was a teenage extravaganza kids, and the promise of Paramore and their Twilight mojo had brought the screaming girls out in droves.
But whatever, the crowd was hot (with anticipation for Paramore) and the bands seemed to be solid. The rides and spooky decorations added to the Halloween vibe, and even the stage was dressed for a Halloween show, featuring a full moon, creepy tree branches and plenty of black and orange.
Kid Cudi ran through a very brief set, but I did hear “Day N Nite”, so I guess I can die happy (if I die within the next few days anyway). Compared to the hot fire he was spitting at the VMAs, Kid’s whole performance was pretty subdued. Maybe it was because he was worried about Asher Roth’s throat. Who knows.
Let me also say, setup between the four acts was ridiculous. I guess the fact that this was being recorded for MTV made details more important, but nothing kills a hot set like waiting around for 45 minutes for the next song.
Dead By Sunrise followed Cudi. DbS is the new band featuring Chester Bennington from Linkin Park. The band played approximately every single one of their songs in their 45 minute set, seeing as how they only have one album out. I was excited to see the band, but wasn’t too into their sound at first. They don’t sound much at all like Linkin Park, after all. But about half way through the set, when the band kicked into “Let Down”, it all started to groove. By the time they hit their single “Crawl Back In”, the crowd was feeling it.
Dead By Sunrise also provided my highlight of the night – a set closing cover of the Misfits’ “20 Eyes”. How can you have a Halloween show without a Misfits cover? Chester and the guys tore through the track and wished us a goodnight. It was definitely a winning performance – I’ll be checking out Out Of Ashes the first time I get the chance, to be sure.
Up next was AFI. Let me just say that I have never been a giant AFI fan, but, of everybody on the bill, I knew their stuff the best. If you have any interest in this rock act, they really have a killer live show – and they didn’t let up any here just because it was a festival.
The band drew exclusively from their last three studio albums, including five tracks from the recent release Crash Love. The two girls standing beside us – who were luckily not screaming teenage Paramore fans – hadn’t seen the band in several years. If it was before 2003, then their show predated every song AFI ran through at Ulalume.
That’s not to say I was disappointed (nor were they). AFI tore through nearly all of their singles (minus “The Missing Frame”). Lead guitarist Jade Puget laid down some scorching solos and frontman Davey Havok bounced around the stage like a mad man. He’s also the first singer I’ve ever seen come out in a jacket, take the jacket off and then put the jacket back on. I hope Kat Von D asked if he was cold.
Speaking of Kat Von D, she was scheduled as Ulalume’s host. That’s accurate – if you’re watching the show on TV. For the live crowd, we didn’t lay eyes on her once. Just another hot chick that no-showed.
Anyway, AFI pleased the crowd with hits like “Girl’s Not Grey”, “Miss Murder” and “Love Like Winter” before closing with alt rock favorite “Silver And Cold”. An intense show, but I was sad to see they didn’t follow Dead by Sunrise’s lead with a Misfits cover. AFI has, afterall, put down their own versions of “Halloween”, “Last Caress” and “Demonomania”.
Another long wait followed AFI, but this one was much more tension filled. See – the kids knew it was time. Time for their heroes Paramore to come out and rock and remind them of Twilight. To kill time, we got to see the winners of the costume constest (only one of them female – a fucking SASQUATCH won!)
Paramore’s stage was decorated with cool lights and hanging pictures, and when they finally took the stage at 10 PM, my brain shut down. The screams pierced my jejunum. Is that in your brain?
Hayley Williams (not that hot in person, unfortunately) and her band took the stage like a house of fire – every word, every movement illiciting cheers. And you know what – that’s awesome for the fans, even if I’m a jaded asshole.
The band tore through the material from all three of their albums, launching into new hit “Ignrorance” right out of the gate. They followed that up with (omg) “I Caught Myself”, a non-album track from Twilight, and the crowd went wild.
Most of Paramore’s set drew from their new album, Brand New Eyes, but, as you’d expect, it was the hits that brought the biggest reaction. Fans ate up Hayley and the boys’ take on radio singles like “crushcrushcrush” and “That’s What You Get”. The band closed it out with the triumvirate of Paramore awesomeness – Twilight’s “Decode”, Riot!’s “Misery Business” and the brand new single “Brick By Boring Brick”.
All in all, it was a fun night. If you’re putting together a 18-25 aimed Halloween festival, putting a band known for its association with a vampire movie, a gothic punk-leaning rock act and a group called “Dead By Sunrise” together seems inspired. And while the night may have been more satisfying for the teenage Robert Pattinson fans, we all went home with a little something.
mtvU ULALUME SET LISTS
Kid Cudi
Already Home
Cudi Zone
Make Her Say
Up Up & Away
Day 'n' Nite
Pursuit Of Happiness
Dead By Sunrise
End Of The World
Condemned
Morning After
Fire
Let Down
Walking In Circles
Too Late
Crawl Back In
My Suffering
Inside Of Me
20 Eyes
AFI
Torch Song
Girl's Not Grey
The Leaving Song Pt. II
Too Shy to Scream
Veronica Sawyer Smokes
Dancing Through Sunday
Death Of Seasons
Beautiful Thieves
Kill Caustic
Medicate
Love Like Winter
Miss Murder
Silver And Cold
Paramore
Intro
Ignorance
I Caught Myself
That's What You Get
Looking Up
Emergency
Crushcrushcrush
Here We Go Again
Careful
Where The Lines Overlap
Decode
Misery Business
Brick By Boring Brick
The 411: Ulalume was the final show of the year for Merriweather Post Pavilion as the weather becomes less and less optimal for outdoor shows. The Halloween fest closed the summer with a bang. With mtvU’s involvement, the show was more aimed at the 18-25 set (and brought out plenty of the younger), but it was still a cool night if you’re into Halloween and rock music. If you’re interested in catching the show, it airs this Friday, October 30th, on MTV at 9 PM. Hopefully they keep this one up!
