FridayAXIS STAGE Wanton Look This was an all girl band!! How cool is that?? They were actually pretty good! They knew how to make their music enjoyable and moved on the stage which makes them much more interesting to watch. Kick Tree During Wanton Looks, the lead singer of this band was running around the audience and getting everyone riled up. This says a lot about their intense energy! Each band member had a different super hero shirt...Batman, Superman, Flash, and Captain America. They were definitely heroes too; any money paid for their merchandise was donated to the Oklahoma Tornado relief efforts.Their music was really great! They were giving their CDs away for free so we took one. I'll definitely be listening to that soon. HARD ROCK STAGE The Sword The Sword was not my style of music, but it still was really great. Their tempo moved at less that 58 clicks per minute and the bass line inched along just as slowly and rhythmically. For those who love Black Sabbath and want to listen to knew music, The Sword is definitely for you. They recently released an album called Apocryphon. Although this music isn't the kind you get to mosh and crowd-surf to, they still rock and are worth checking out. Clutch The Clutch, also not really my type of music, still brought in tons of people to listen. The Clutch were like a modern-day Led Zepplin. Escape The Fate Escape the Fate was a huge style jolt on the Hard Rock Stage, transitioning from The Sword and The Clutch. This was, however, my kind of music. I really love the scream with singing punk kind of music and ETF fit that perfectly. This was a totally enjoyable concert for me. During the performance by ETF, the crowd went absolutely wild and moshing and crowd-surfing were not a rarity. Device Sorry for there being no pictures, but we were all to into David Draiman's new band to bother taking pictures. We were there for the music! As expected, Device was a massive hit. The audience loved it! Draiman brought on guests lead singers of Papa Roach and Otherwise to sing with him on a couple of songs. This, too, the crowd loved. When he sang "Close My Eyes Forever," everybody wanted Lzzy Hale to come on the stage and sing with him, but no such luck. It was still an awesome performance! MAIN STAGE All That Remains Yes, All That Remains played! Probably highlight of the day other than Device. Now, when I see ATR perform, usually I end up spending an unhealthy majority of the time staring at how awesome their bassist is and daaang their guitarist has a lot of hair. Sometimes it takes away from me actually listening to the music, but you have to admit, both observations are undeniably true. All That Remains can always put on a great show, and they definitely did so at Rocklahoma. Sadly, the microphone was too quiet so we couldn't hear the beautiful screaming (and singing) as loudly as I wanted, but that didn't take away from the awesome experience. Great job ATR! Ratt I am not a Ratt fan, so this was not as awesome. However, there were a LOT of Ratt fans in the audience. The singer definitely had too many cigarettes when he was younger (young enough for it to be normal to tour, that is) and his voice was not as great as it had once been. They were too old to be touring, that's for sure. (It is here where my dad interjected with They can't help being old! True as that may be, they CAN stop touring.) Enough with the insults though. They still put on a good show and worked hard and well. Ratt may not have impressed me, but they did not make me want to leave once they started, which is good. Papa Roach I can't say I was looking forward to hearing Papa Roach, because I am not a huge fan of their music. They let me walk away becoming one. The lead singer had this intense charisma that any music critic loves. He ran around the audience, head-banged, and made full use of the stage. That really enhanced the music. I was incredibly impressed with Papa Roach. I will now definitely have to go listen to their music on a more frequent basis. Bush I've seen Bush in concert once before, opening for Nickelback with Seether and My Darkest Days. The lead singer of Bush also has admirable charisma and energy that I am genuinely jealous of. The lead singer has an amazing voice, and every time he sings "Glycerine" I want to fan girl my heart out over his great voice. He also will sing a cover of "Come Together" by the Beatles while running through the crowd (something he does every concert he performs in). This band, like ATR, had the problem where the microphone for the lead singer was a tad too quiet. Sigh. With such a great voice like that, his mic should be louder than all of the amps! Guns 'N' Roses OMG!!! Axl Rose came on only 40 MINUTES after he was supposed to! That MUST be a personal record. I can't say I was impressed with these guys either. They may be famous as can be, but I just didn't like them. Axl's voice is wearing out and the band as a whole just is not as good as it used to be. In the middle of the concert, Axl walked of the stage and changed from one shirt with a naked woman on it, to another. Hmmm.... Not my favourite group, but oh well. I also was extremely tired by the time they played, so I nearly slept through the part of their performance that we stayed for. Sorry, there was no light so I didn't take any pictures (I couldn't figure out how to work my camera very well...). | SaturdayAXIS STAGE Well Hung Heart (Sorry, a lot of the pictures I took magically erased from my camera, so there are no pics for WH<3) I honestly do not remember much about this band, but they were pretty good and seemed just a bit phased by the crowd and atmosphere. ViliFi I was talking on the phone for a while during this band, and kept stopping in the middle of the conversation to listen because they were SO GOOD. For a small band on the smallest stage, you would not expect much. But VILIFI totally awed the audience. Their music is a hard-rock version of the blues, and they totally rocked it. :) They needed another guitarist though so that the singer could move around more. After the performance, people crowded the merch table to get autographs, CDs, and t-shirts. Vilifi looked like their birthday had come early. They'd created a fan base from just one short performance. *Main Stage next year!!!* cross your fingers :D For The Broken FTB did fine, they really did, but everyone was SO into Vilfi that nobody paid any attention to FTB. I wish I could write a great FTB review, but I was too caught up in the Vilfi scene. Sorry! But they did a great job, I can ensure that! RETROSPECT STAGE Emerald City This Australian band had some odd outfits going on, with leopard-print spandex and fancy hats. There are, it turns out, tons of bands named Emerald City, so it took some serious research to actually find them online. They should consider a more original name. I hate to say this but I honestly have no idea what Emerald City sounded like. They had great energy, though! Sorry bout this EC... Black Tora Black Tora played old-style rock 'n' roll. Skillet played right after them on the Main Stage, and I REALLY wanted to see them, but I couldn't make myself leave. Black Tora was too good to walk out on. This was an awesome performance! They should've been on the Hard Rock Stage. Sunset Riot Technically they played at Sunday, 2am, but it counts as Saturday night. At this point, I was so tired that I was about to fall over. Right before SR, I went to go take a shower because we figured that the only time when there wouldn't be a line would be at midnight. In the middle of showering, a bunch of guys walked in and said they were going to shower in the women's showers because there wasn't any hot water in the men's. I was glad that I was in the way back. After that odd event, we trouped over to the Retrospect Stage to watch these guys. We were so exhausted that the music didn't process really well, but I remember that they had excessive energy for two in the morning. The lead singer was running around the crowd and jumping around on all the giant speakers. It was tiring just watching him. Mystery I know you're probably thinking, someone played even later than that?? Yeah, well somehow everyone was so drunk they didn't notice the time, and stayed for Mystery. We stayed for Mystery because our neighbours in the campground told us we HAD to see them because they were all incredibly young and talented. They were right about that, too. This band had REALLY young members, it was actually impressive to see people only a few years older than me rocking out on the Retrospect Stage at Rocklahoma. It was really cool. Mystery played really well and I was just too tired to get into the music. But they were very good. HARD ROCK STAGE O'Brother O'Brother was a big favourite of my dad's. I actually really liked them too, even though they were one of the very slow metronome beat kind of bands. We may be doing some research on them later, you never know! They fell somewhat along the lines of The Sword and Clutch (and Black Tora or Vilifi a bit...). Young Guns This was the 3rd time I'd seen YG in concert this year. It seems that every time I see them, they get better. Is that possible? One thing about YG that is really great is that they can rile up the audience incredibly quickly, and it's not like their music is what does it, it's their own energy. They can work magic on the crowd. One thing that YG does at every concert is have everybody put their arms around the people one each side of them, whether or not you know them. It's a really interesting thing to have people do (especially in America, the home of unfriendliness). It was an amazing show. After that, I got a picture with the drummer (it's on my dad's phone, not the camera, so I don't have it to download onto TeenView). Asking Alexandria I had been looking forward to AA all day because so many of my friends at school are (unhealthily) obsessed with them (along with Pierce the Veil, Black Veil Brides, Suicide Silence, Motionless in White, Of Mice & Men, and Dr. Who). I was not disappointed. They were all that they had been cut out to be and more. I loved the performance and was quickly converted. Their screamo/punk music is a genre I am starting to really like, and enjoy a LOT in concert. The energy that AA had was really awesome. I always love a bad with energy, and was glad to see that AA had plenty of it. They did a great job! MAIN STAGE Big Wreck Ummm...why were they on the big stage? I hate to say it, but they kinda sucked... Halestorm Halestorm rocked the house just like everyone knew they would. Lzzy definitely was feeling sick that day; you could tell by how tired she looked. But she played amazing anyways. Arejay came onto the stage--despite the heat--in his Sgt. Pepper outfit. He always is an amazing drummer to watch. His energy is so intense that it almost is scary. Usually only 2 year olds have that much energy. Joe tossed me his pick during the last song. It was the one that he had been playing the whole concert! Everything about Halestorm is amazing! Skillet I was really looking forward to Skillet because this Christmas I bought myself their album Awake. That is a really great album and ever since I've been wanting to see them in concert. They had a great set up, and a really elaborate stage. They had helium containers blasting into the air and these platforms that rose and fell that one could stand on (so cool!). Both the men in the band were all formal and wearing ties. They had a cellist and violinist play with them on the stage. The lead singer was super into the music and was literally dripping sweat all over the stage. Bullet For My Valentine BFMV, it is official, is just a million times better on CD than in concert, It's sad, but true. I could listen to their album Fever over and over (which I do), but in concert they are just boring. They lack energy on stage. They are just playing their music because they have to.It's disappointing when bands do that.BFMV is still amazing--don't get me wrong--they just need more passion and energy. Alice In Chains Okay, before I say anything, I just want to make it clear that I was exhausted when I was them so my judgement was fairly poor.I really like AIC, but it really wasn't my kind of music. The new lead singer that AIC has is a really good replacement. They made a good choice. This was a really great performance, but I knew none of the music and was super tired, so they didn't stand out to me as the best band of the day. | SundayAXIS STAGE Framing The Red There were actually quite a few FTR fans at the axis stage, which surprised me. They weren't the most...original...band ever, but they were really good despite that fact. I really enjoyed this one song by FTR that they played called "Break Me." It was a really great song. Meganaut Strange name but a good band (I like the drummer's shirt :). I stayed for only about half of Meganaut's performance because my dad and I really wanted water, but we did like their sound. They definitely were the one of the tiniest of the tiny bands that played at Rocklahoma; absolutely NOBODY had any idea that they existed. RETROSPECT STAGE Wicked Upon walking up to see Wicked, my first thought was What gender are they??? Supposedly all the members in the band are guys, but.... They played good music, but I spent most of the time trying to figure out if the bassist was female or male. HARD ROCK STAGE Scorpion Child We had only heard a bit by them before we came, so we didn't know much. People kept telling us we HAD to go see them, and so we took some advice and were not disappointed. For those who love Led Zepplin and Aerosmith but are done listening to the same songs over and over again, SC is for you! It was great that there music was good because they didn't move around much on stage so it wouldn't have been very interesting otherwise. This was a really great performance. Because of it we've been keeping our eye out for upcoming concerts with them. Heaven's Basement This British band came to Rocklahoma and rocked the house! They were a lot like YOUNG GUNS that played the day before. HB managed to get everyone jumping around and the energy of the crowd and the band became a whole atmosphere static with energy. I honestly cannot wait for a chance to look into their music. They were awesome! Red Line Chemistry After hearing the last two bands, I thought, can the Hard Rock Stage pull off getting a third amazing band??? Apparently so. They upheld the trend of awesome bands on this stage. Thousand Foot Krutch 1FK also rocked. They were like a kind of hip-hopish rock, a lot like SKILLET but not as repetitive. 1FK were a very popular and well-known band, so it was impossible to get close enough to take good pictures. Motionless In White I took no pictures for MIW because I was too busy moshing up front to take any pictures. My dad tried to, but it was too dangerous because of the violent mosh pit. MIW brought the house down with the single "America," and pretty much every song before and after it. They were just so good! Throughout Rocklahoma, this guy kept hitting on me: blowing me kisses, mouthing words at me, and generally staring at me in an all around creepy way. In the middle of MIW, my dad was moshing and having a blast when someone gets thrown while crowd-surfing and lands directly on his head. Both stumble and the crowd-surfer falls. My dad helps him up and in a moment of recognition realizes that the guy who had been hitting on me the whole time came out of the sky and FELL ON HIS HEAD. I think there are better ways to meet someone's parents... My dad also got the MIW guitar pick! And a ripped up t-shirt that wathrown into the audience. It was a great show! MAIN STAGE Dokken These guys were...old. It seemed pretty amazing to see them up there, still jamming. I don't actually know Dokken, so I can't say much. Steel Panther Yes, my dad took his 14 year old daughter to see Steel Panther. Father of the Year! This was like taking 7th grade health all over again! The bassist at one point eagerly explained (scientifically) what 69 meant. The band played songs like "My Cock Is Community Property," "Asian Hooker," and "I Wanna Be Like Tiger Woods." It was super entertaining to watch this spoof band checking their makeup in the middle of a song and fighting to get recorded by the stage cameras. Hollywood Undead I have some really good friends who are obsessed with HU, so we made sure to take plenty of pictures of them, so there will be a lot of pictures! Everyone in the band came onto the stage wearing these odd masks. They had 2 drumsets, one with these synth drums, and the other one a traditional one. One of their speakers had a doll hanging from it. I have no idea why. This band was along the lines of the Beastie Boys and Limp Bizkit. They were the mix of rock 'n' roll and rap. In the whole band, they had 1 guitarist, and no bassist. At one point during the concert, one of the singers brought this young kid onto the stage with the band. He looked like the happiest person in the world. Also, two of the singers took their pants off and ran around on the stage in their tighty whities (my dad wouldn't have appreciated me taking any pictures of that :). They put on a really energetic and fun performance. I'm not a huge lover of rap, but I still really enjoyed them. Cheap Trick I was expecting a performance a lot like Dokken's when I walked over to the main stage again for CT. Although CT is old like Dokken, they were still actually really good! I was expecting a performance a lot like Dokken's when I walked over to the main stage again for CT. Although CT is old like Dokken, they were still actually really good! Korn I didn't really know Korn, but I had been told repeatedly that they were really awesome.My sources were not wrong. They played some really interesting music that I actually really liked. (I tend to be very skeptical of bands the first time I see them.) After Korn, my dad and I ran to our car and drove to the airport to catch our flight home. |
 | Zoe Adler is a music journalist from Long Beach, California. Besides her website, which is her pride and joy, she works with the GRAMMY Foundation and the Long Beach Independent. Additionally, Ms. Adler is a musician, spending half of her time playing the flute, piccolo, trombone, and marching baritone. She has been with TeenView Music since the very start and hopes to make something of it in the future. |
RSS Feed
