X96 Big Ass Show (USANA Amphitheater-5/8/15)

I have been listening to X96 for as long as I can remember, because it is- by far- the best alternative rock radio station in the state of Utah. I have gone to the Big Ass Show for the past four years; it has been rainy as fuck at the last three. This year had a pretty good line-up, especially considering the many different types of rock, from different eras that were present there (mostly 90s, early 2000s, and now, but still a lot better than years past). There was a local opener called Weedilla, and I did not have the joy of witnessing their performance; from what I heard from others they were what you'd expect from a young local band (immature, slightly uncomfortable on stage, and pretty decent music, with a sound they haven't quite figured out). Also, we missed Wolf Alice. I had listened to some of their stuff leading up to the show, but we just had a lot happening the day of the show and got a late start. It didn't help that X96 never released a list of start times for each band.

The first band I was actually there for was New Politics, who are one of my favorite bands. They started out with some technical difficulties, which wasn't really their fault, but they skipped "Tonight You're Perfect" and replaced it with David Boyd (lead singer) breakdancing for a couple minutes with Louis drumming for him. Once Soren got his guitar working then they continued their set which was, for the most part, a condensed version of their set for the Everywhere I Go tour. The highlight of my show was Soren playing ukulele during Fall Into These Arms, then David stood up in the crowd and fell into their arms. My one complaint would have to be the fact that they kept the Louis drum solo with the assortment of rap songs instead of using that time to play another song. Also David didn't take of his shirt because it was raining!
:(

The Airborne Toxic Event went on next and they put on a great performance. I had seen them a couple years earlier at the BASH and wasn't really impressed; their show got delayed because of rain and when they finally did go on they didn't seem to have any energy. But they redeemed themselves and then some with the show they did! They had a lot of energy and were interacting with the crowd; they seemed to love their music, and that made everyone else want to love it, too. They made their songs something that people could move and get into, even though they're slower than other bands'. Mikel (vocals, guitar, and keyboard) and Anna (violin, keyboard, tambourine, and backing vocals) have such an amazing chemistry on stage that makes each of their songs have so much more emotion and meaning. I have honestly never heard a song by them I haven't liked, and that's really difficult for me because even my favorite bands have songs I just can't stand. Each song is so unique and they all have such amazing lyrics. This band is so great to watch simply because of the fact that each member is so talented and it's very difficult to find a band where each member can come together to create something so beautiful.

Panic! At The Disco have always been one of my favorite bands, and it was so great to see them live again (I saw them at the BASH two years ago, where I saw Airborne). Brendon Urie (vocals and keyboard) is just a born performer, and he puts his heart and soul into every show. They make the stage and audience their own and they are able to own everything that happens around them, if that makes sense. Anytime you see them they are a little different than the last time, it seems, but even with the many line-up changes they've gone through they are able to keep their distinct and amazing sound. P!ATD were one of the best performers at the BASH this year, even my dad agrees with me on that and he's not into pop punk. My favorite part was when they played Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, because it just brought everyone together in a way I've never seen at a concert; the security guards, the screaming pop punk girls, and the moshers there for Rise Against and 311 were all into it and singing along. Their performance was beautiful. Panic is one of those bands that give you a better understanding and feeling for their music after you see them perform it live.

Rise Against came on after that, and they're so fucking badass. I've always had a not-so-secret love affair with hardcore rock and metal (which you can thank my father for) and Rise Against is a band I've always loved listening to. Their crowd is a lot like the people that congregated at The Used, but these people were so hardcore and no matter what happened they just kept moshing. They moshed for about 95% of their set and it was pretty awesome. Like P!ATD, they made the stage their own; they brought so much energy and charisma to their music and made everyone get into it. One of my favorite parts of the show had nothing to do with the music, but off on the side of the stage was Branden Steineckert (current drummer of Rancid, formerly of The Used, and writer of Real Salt Lake's "Believe" song) and before the show Rise Against's bassist, Joe Principe, asked if he was good where he was at and made sure he had a good spot for their set. The thing people don't understand is that you may think metalheads and punks are just hooligans that want to hurt people and fuck with 'squares', but I have never met people that genuinely take care of each other and want the best for each other than people in the hardcore rock community. People love each other when they have such a deep-rooted common interest like that, and I think it's just beautiful. Each song by Rise Against has so much meaning, talks about so much suffering; they have created an environment where people don't have to go through those things alone and it makes me so happy.

The main headliner, and last band, was 311. I've listened to a lot of their stuff over the years, and "Amber" is even one of my all time favorite songs, but they weren't one of the groups I was particularly excited to see. But my little brother wanted to see them and I was curious, so we stayed and got the required contact high. They put on a lot better show than what I was expecting from a group of middle-aged guys from Nebraska, but it still seemed like they were having trouble coming to terms with a few key things about them and their lives: their age, their level of attractiveness (more like lack-there-of), what clothing should be worn by people their age, and the fact that they couldn't dance (mostly meant for Doug, their backing vocalists, rapper, and turntablist). The musical aspect was wonderful though. At one point they brought out a set of drums and all of them were drumming in unison and it looked so cool to me and was kind of badass. I was a bigger fan of 311 when I left the show than I was when I arrived, so I think they did their job as performers.
Overall, it was an amazing show and met or exceeded most of my expectations. I will most likely see all of these bands again if they come to town again. It was a great atmosphere crowd-wise, but personally I'm not very fond of USANA as a concert venue. I just don't like how broken up the fans are from one another based on ticket prices. I like just being in one GA venue all together with people who paid the same amount as me a lot better, but that's just my personal opinion. It was an amazing night of music and I was so close to the stage that I was covered and hardly even got rained on; it was a really good day for me (mostly because of the music though).

X96's Website
Wolf Alice's Website
New Politics' Website
The Airborne Toxic Event's Website
Panic! At The Disco's Website
Rise Against's Website
311's Website