The GREAT Bamboozle.

The decision has been made.  I WILL be attending this year’s Bamboozle tour. Call me an emo-scenester all you want, but it will be me who has the last laugh while I am watching Weezer, Saves the Day, MGMT, Motion City Soundtrack and Minus the Bear (among many others) rock the f*ck out at the Meadowlands in NJ on May 2nd.

Courtesy of TheBamboozle.com.

What started as a three-day music festival in Asbury Park, NJ in 2003 has now evolved in to a country-wide tour. In addition to New Jersey, The Bamboozle roadshow now stops in Chicago and California. The line-up varies from state to state, and to be quite honest, New Jersey has the best line-up. I’m not just saying this because I’m partial to New Jersey (it’s my home-state and I first started going to The Bamboozle there in 2005), take a look at the line-up and decide for your self:

May 1st:

Saves the Day

Paramore

Drake

Angels & Airwaves

Bullet for my Valentine

Relient K

(This is just a list of my personal favorites, click here for the full line-up.)

May 2nd:

Weezer

MGMT

Girl Talk

Say Anything

Motion City Soundtrack

Kevin Devine

Piebald

Hey Monday

Minus the Bear

OK Go

(This is just a list of my personal favorites, click here for the full line-up.)

When I first started going to The Bamboozle in ’05, my friends and I would get tickets for all three days. Decked out in our studded-belts, converse and band-tees, we would hop around the festival seeing all of our favorite musicians, chasing cute boys in bands and trying to get autographs and pictures with as many band members as we could. Right before Fall Out Boy became huge, they performed at The Bamboozle in 2005. It was easily one of the best performances that I have ever seen AND I somehow managed to get a picture with drummer Andy Hurley.

Andy Hurley from Fall Out Boy. Courtesy of FriendsorEnemies.com.

Gosh I was so much cooler back then than I am now. Too bad I lost the picture, though.

Not wanting to (completely) relive my punk-kid days, I am only going to this year’s Bamboozle on Sunday, May 2nd. I don’t think my body can handle mosh-pits and crowd-surfing to that extent anymore.

I must stop and vent for a second though- it really bothers me when people won’t go to concerts of bands they love because of the “young punk-kids” that are going to be there. Yes, middle-schoolers with multiple piercings and mohawks are annoying, but should that stop some one from seeing a great performance? NO.  Just throw blunt-objects at them, sit back, relax and enjoy the show like I do!

Despite the masses of black-nail polish-wearing 14 year-olds who can’t even tell you what I Am The Movie is, I still plan on having a great time and seeing all of my favorite bands.  Check back in May for a full Bamboozle report!

And, for your viewing pleasure, I have included a few select pictures from my High School band-stalking days:

Motion City Soundtrack Concert in 2005. Me and my friends Ali, Lauren and Jackie with Justin Pierre, lead singer of MCS.

Me with Matt Watts and Tom Gryskewicz of the Starting Line at the Nokia Theatre in 2005.

Ben Jorgensen of Armor For Sleep and I outside of the Surf Club in Ortley Beach, NJ summer 2004.

Music Saved The Morning

 

I have never heard of him before today, but I have a new favorite radio DJ. His name is Kaiser from WMRQ 104.1 and he transformed my terrible commute to Hartford this morning in to pure alternative-rock bliss.

Expecting to have the day off from work due to the alleged “severe winter storm” that was supposed to hit all of New England today, I did what any other college senior would have done last night. Stay out partying until the crack of dawn knowing that it didn’t matter because I could just sleep the whole next snow day away.

No such luck.

I set my alarm for 7 am to check the weather just incase. Good thing I did because when I awoke at that un-Godly hour and looked out my window, not a single snow flake had fallen. As I flicked on the weather channel I was informed by the obnoxiously-chipper weather man that snow would not be hitting the Hartford area until later that afternoon. I shoved a couple Advil down my throat, muttered a few choice words at the TV and hopped in the shower.

As I scanned through a few radio stations to find a weather report on my way to work, I heard a familiar tune when the dial hit WMRQ 104.1. It was Glycerine, by Bush. My mood automatically changed from miserable to absolutely rapturous! I am a complete sucker for 90’s British alternative.

Courtesy of RollingStone.com

The next four songs that followed could not have happened by coincidence. It was as if this Kaiser dude could read my mind and knew exactly what it would take to make me happy on the cold Connecticut morning. Each and every song he played in that five-song rock block was exactly what I was in the mood to listen to. If you love alternative rock, like I do, and love listening to a variety of beats from the 90s and today, then listen to Kaiser in the Morning, Monday- Friday, 6am- 9am. The portion of Kaiser’s show that I tuned in for was so epic that I am going to have to replicate it right here, right now:

1. Glycerine- Bush. The band was started by Gavin Rossdale (also of No Doubt, another 90s classic) and Nigel Pulsford in London in 1992. Glycerine is also featured on the album Buzz Ballads, a compilation of about 20 great 90’s rock ballads.

 

2. Float On- Modest Mouse. Excellent song from an excellent album, Good News For People Who Love Bad News. Modest Mouse was started in Seattle in 1996 but didn’t hit the main-stream scene until they released The Moon and Antarctica in 2000. Another stellar album to check out is We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank.

3. Stir It Up- Bob Marley. This artist needs no explanation. If you do not know that Marley is the King of reggae-rock, get off my blog!

4. Again- Flyleaf. This group from Texas is fairly new to the rock scene and has a female lead-singer, Lacey Mosley, which is always a fun change. Flyleaf’s self-titled album debuted in 2005 and the group has since been featured in many major music festivals such as Bonnaroo and The Bamboozle.

 

5. She- Green Day. Twenty years after their first album was released, Green Day is still making constant hits and are featured in the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame. She, a track from Green Day’s 1994 album, Dookie, is accompanied by many other hits such as Longview, Chump, Welcome to Paradise, Basket Case and When I Come Around on the album. Lead singer and song-writer, Billie Joe Armstrong, is still cranking out the hits with the band’s new album, 21^st Century Breakdown. Check out the song 21 Guns.