Buzzfest 3 - AM South Amphitheatre, Nashville, TN (9.21.02)
Posted by Jeff Modzelewski on 10.01.2002
Nickleback, Filter, Default, Tonic, and on and on and on…
Hey everyone! I’ve got a couple of things to chat about before we get started with the review. First off, I want to thank a couple of people for comments about my Unified Culture review. I got emails from Kay Martini (Craig’s mom) and Mike Martini (Craig’s brother and the guitarist for Unified Culture and the Alter Boys.) I have to say that knowing that my review made them happy was awesome, and I’m just amazed that people actually read this stuff! It’s good to know that writing about what I love affects other people. Thanks!
Second, I want to start writing a fairly regular column here at 411mania. The only problem is, I don’t have a title, or much of an idea for a topic. If anyone has any bright ideas for a column I could write, I’d appreciate it. Yeah, stealing ideas from my minuscule audience. I know it’s cheap, but damnit, I want to write!
Third, I’m always looking for new stuff to review. If you have a CD that you want me to review, let me know. Send me an email here. I’ll review just about anything. Just know that I may write a review bashing your favorite band!
Fourth, Go Browns! I was AT that amazing Tennessee game on Sunday, and I totally expect the Browns to beat the crap out of Pittspuke this Sunday. The Brownies are playoff bound, baby!
Ok, on to the show. My brother works for 102.9 The Buzz down in Nashville, and his birthday was on the 21st, which is why we ended up there in the first place. Let me first say that Nashville is a pretty awesome city, and everyone there was really nice to me. Well, everyone other than the girls at Bar Nashville on Friday night. I must put off some crazy stalker vibe or something, cause I couldn’t get anyone to dance with me. I’m engaged, but I just wanted to go out and have a good time. I wasn’t looking to get laid or anything, but girls are scared of me anyways. Oh well. Anyways, we spent over 12 hours at the show, and I’m not a big fan of most of the bands that played, so if you expect this long detailed review, too damn bad. I’m gonna touch on what I remember, and you’ll all deal with it, because that’s just the way it is damnit! OK, starting off with the bands that nobody knows. Greenwheel, Epidemic, and Atticus Fault were all forgettable. I didn’t know anything by these guys before the show, and none of them gave me any reason to remember them after the show. They were there, and that’s about it. Unwritten Law was pretty good, with some heavy stuff, but nothing that sticks out as great. My cousin and I were hanging out with some girls who really wanted to see The Doves. Why, I don’t know. These guys were probably the worst band of the night. They were boring, repetitive, and untalented. Audiovent was pretty bad, also. The only song I recognized was their single “The Energy,” which was much better as a studio track. I know that it’s tough for bands to play these festival shows, but “The Energy” had no energy, and sounded pretty much like crap. The lead singer was off for their whole set, and no one else in the band impressed me.
Stroke 9 and SR71 were both pretty good, even if they’re practically interchangeable. I didn’t recognize much from either band, but they played fun, high-energy music. This was about the first time all show that the crowd seemed at all excited. Can’t say I blame them, though, because most stuff up to these guys sucked.
The more popular bands got started with Default. In my opinion, these guys stole the show. I don’t own their album, but, after their set, I’m hoping to get my hands on it. They put on a really good set, getting the crowd involved, and showing off much more talent than I realized this band had. They closed out their set with their two singles, Wasting My Time and Deny. Everything they did sounded good, which is more than I expected from a band that is getting way overplayed. Hopefully these guys can avoid radio burnout and continue to be more than a 2 hit wonder.
Tonic followed, playing all of their radio hits and a few songs off their new albums. I enjoyed their pop-rock stuff a lot more than I expected. They weren’t anything to write home about, but if you like their radio songs, you’ll like everything else they do. It was fluff stuff, but it was well-done fluff stuff. The type of music that my fiancé and I could agree on, with neither of us loving it but neither of us hating it.
Filter was the one band I was really looking forward to seeing. I’ve been a big Filter fan since they came out of Cleveland, so I was hoping to see an amazing show. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed. They opened up with Hey Man, Nice Shot, and I could tell that there was something off there. I don’t mind a band improvising and changing things around, but when you do it at every opportunity in every song, that’s a problem. There’s a reason that the song was written and recorded in a certain way. The timing for the entire song was off, and Richard Patrick just didn’t sound too good. They played Take a Picture, Welcome to the Fold, and Where Do We Go From Here, which all pretty bad compared to the album versions. The highlight of the show for me was Dose, a pretty heavy track off of their first album. It’s my favorite Filter song, and the only song that sounded better live than it did on the album.
Nickleback headlined the show, and with good reason. Now, I’m not a big Nickleback fan, but they put on a hell of a show. They played all of their hits, and sounded really good doing it. They were much heavier than I expected, and succeeded in scaring the crap out of pretty much everyone in the pavilion with some great pyro. The highlight was the encore, where the Chad and the guitarist channeled their inner-Bon Jovi by doing some good acoustic stuff. The encore opened with Hero from the Spiderman soundtrack, which sounded really good, and showed that Chad does have a voice on him. They played the first verse of How You Remind Me acoustically, also, before bringing the whole band out to finish it. Overall, they put on an amazing live show, which is much more than I expected. While they are extremely overplayed on the radio, they do have some good songs, and they deserve most of the exposure that they’ve gotten so far.
Overall, I gotta say that Buzzfest was a great time. Got to see some good bands that I’d never seen before, most of which I wouldn’t buy a ticket to go see on their own. Also got to do some smokin’ with one of the bands, but that’s a whole other story. Definitely a festival that was worth the time and money. If you live in the Nashville area, be sure to check out The Mo Radio Show weeknights on 102.9, The Buzz. Yeah, Mo may be an asshole on the radio, but I had to live with that asshole for most of my life! Again, let me know if there are any CD’s you’d all like to see me review, and get ready for my review of the Disturbed show from 9/26.
The 411: Festivals are rarely “concert of the year” material, but this one was fun, with some exciting bands that put on good shows. A great way to spend a Saturday.
