Comeback Kid, Rise Against, Silverstein, Sum 41 more mall punk then you can shake a stick at.

Last night was the first time I had attended a concert at Red Rocks. I have to say that I had heard of Red Rocks several times in the past, and own a few DVD’s of some concerts that were shot at Red Rocks. From what I had seen on the DVD’s it looked like an amazing concert venue. This round I was slated to see few bands that I haven’t seen before. The four band scheduled to play were Sum 41, Silverstein, Rise Against, and my personal favorite Comeback Kid. I haven’t seen any of the other bands before, but this will be my third time seeing Comeback Kid. I will say that it was my first time seeing them outside of a club setting where everyone is ear to ear with one another.

 

 

 

 Red Rocks is about 15 miles from my doorstep and is really not to difficult to get to from where I live. The parking lot that is outside of the amphitheater is nestled in between the surrounding areas natural rock formations which look like something out of an old star trek episode, which would technically make it look like a part of the California desert, but who is counting. The entrance to the park is a winding road that leads to a mess of stairs which take you into the seating area. The tickets I had been given were nothing special. They were something like 85 rows back from the stage, which to be honest put a black mark on the evening early out. Before plopping down on the benches I decided to grab a beer. No surprise the cost was 6.50 for a 12 oz. Coors light. 

Sitting in my seat I took in the natural setting that Red Rocks provided. In the distance I could see the outline of Denver and the surrounding area. The show kicked off with Comeback Kid, which is a personal favorite of mine. This time around it was weird seeing them from so far away. The other two times I have seen them they were packed into a club with a capacity of no more then 300 people. This was a change to say the least, but as always they delivered. Most of the crowd was unfamiliar with them, but there were a few people singing along like me. After there set more people started to pack the place.

 

The next band to hit the stage was Silverstein, and post hardcore copy of everything I have heard for the last 2 years. I wasn’t impressed and the 14 year olds sitting around me were more star struck then I would ever be. But the way I look at it, metalcore is the new boy band. Trust me it will be out the window as soon as they become Juniors in high school. After there set was over the night had fallen on the show, I have to say about that point I was starting to get a good buzz on, but since I was out of money, there was no more chance of me really getting into the show, if you know what I mean. The next band up was Sum 41. I hate to admit it, but I was into Sum 41 when I was in high school. So I sang along with a few songs.

 

I will give it to Sum 41, they do put on a good show and know how to work a crowd. In the middle of the first song they stopped and Derrick invited 8 people up on stage to watch from the side, As well as provoking the crowd to tell them to “Fuck off” several times. There antics only elevated when Derrick announced that he felt like Elvis and ran behind the risers and grabbed a pair of Elvis style shades, a scarf, and a pillow to put under his shirt. He then broke into a rendition of heartbreak hotel as well as a few other Elvis standards. I can’t really say that I found it all to amusing but different none the less. After they finished there set it was Rise Against that was up.  I’m not the biggest Rise Against fan but I do respect them and think that there music is catchy.

 

I was really surprised by how energetic they were, and treated the show like any other. It reminded me of going to a punk rock show when I was 13, but in a large arena. Between songs Rise Against praised Colorado as well as the kids who came to the show for keeping it “Punk Rock”, and even giving praise to Chicago’s Alkaline Trio. I have to say that the band jumped up a peg when they played a Minor Threat cover song of the same name. Most people liked it but a select few, including me, freaked out. Being a Minor Threat fan I think it was a fitting song to cover. Also the band incorporated two violins and a chelo for two of there songs. It showed that the band had there stuff more together more then pop punk sound would let on.

 

Wanting to get out of the show before I was slammed with traffic I took the queue from the singer that it was going to be the last song and started heading for the exit. I hopped into the car and headed back to the highway. Overall I was impressed by the show and it made me think this new wave of punk ain’t so bad, true it’s not a smelly punk club, but it was enjoyable none the less, and I made it to bed in time to catch the last few minutes of Conan. So a good night overall and not a bad close to my Summer.

The Taste Of Colorado… Now With 50% More Suck

This weekend I attended the taste of Colorado. This is my first year attending the event and needless to say it was a big let down. I have attended several similar events in other major cities, and the vibe of the old ones was coming together of sorts. I remember when I was younger and I attended The Bite of Seattle. It would take part in the later part of July and would go for three days. One thing I can remember is that there were literally hundreds of food venders from around the city. Now if you have never dinned in Seattle you will find that there is every kind of food for every type of taste.

One thing that is interesting is that it’s free for the venders to set up there booths and sell food, the only stipulation is that they have to have an established restaurant and sell samples of there food at a set price of 3 dollars, hence the bite idea. That way if you just wanted to sample the food you could do so, and buy a full plate of food if you wanted to. More so then that, their was a feeling of the city coming and grabbing a bit of culture from the city and its inhabitants. And not to mention a bunch of killer local bands to help the week along.

After I entered the Taste of Colorado the air seemed a bit different. I noticed the way they set up the booths was in a giant circle around civic center park. This was a great idea because if gave everyone a chance to hit all the food vendors as well as the people selling merchandise. I soon found out that in order to buy food you needed to buy tickets and redeem them for food. I was ok with this because I literally wanted to sample as many places as I could.

I dropped 20 bucks on a pack of tickets and went on my way. As I got closer to the food vendors I saw that there was a decent variety of food. The first vendor I stopped at was a rib vendor called Famous Dave’s, I grabbed a sample of there ribs for three tickets, which at 5 dollars for eight tickets goes for about 62 cents a ticket, which is 1.62 for a sample. So overall not to bad, since the cost for a rack is somewhere around 15 dollars. I have to say I was impressed with Famous Daves. There ribs were pretty tasty and they had a good variety of sauces to choose from.

After I was done woofing down the rib I moved on to the next food vendor. The next stop was at a both that has kicken chicken wings, or so they advertised. As I looked up at the prices for a sample I saw a blank. This told me right away that they didn’t offer a sample, which was ok, but next available dish was a 6 piece of wings for 10 tickets, which equaled 6 bucks. I wasn’t really in the mood to blow six bucks, when all I wanted was a sample, so I moved on.

When I walked to the next vendor I saw that they two did not have a sample. This continued on till I got to last vendor who offered a sample of wheatgrass for 4 tickets. Needless to say I passed. With my stomach empty I decided that I would grab a water and head to the merchandise vendors. Which came to 4 tickets. I dared not even buy a beer, with every brand offered being 10 tickets which is six bucks if your counting at home.

When I reached the vendors tents I saw a mixed amount of local and national vendors. This really didn’t bother me, because any local event that I have been too there was a group of national companies trying to pimp there wares to the people. As I moved from tent to tent I became increasingly surprised how pricy everything was. I expect things to be a bit more if they are not retally available in stores, but paying 25 bucks for a red t-shirt that said U.S.S.R. was out of the question for me. And everything else I saw could be bought on overstock.com for not even half of what they were offering.

When I had completed the circle I was left with 10 dollars worth of tickets and eager to hear some music. So I blew all 16 tickets on a soda and a plate full of Mexican goodness. This I have to say was not bad, but really after eating it I wasn’t that full and felt I could have gotten fuller on the number 1 at taco Bell. I walked to the main jazz stage and caught a local act. The crowd seemed to be less then impressed and most people were sleeping in the sun then actually listening to the music. That really didn’t bother me, because had I gotten my fair share of food, and or, drinks, I would have had a Siesta as well.

After being there for a little under 3 hours, it was time to pack it up and go home. I grabbed the light rail back to my bad and called it a day. My overall impression was that of a half assed attempt to throw a decent city event. I felt like I paid 20 bucks for a small plate of food a sample of a rib and water. I know that may be silly to bitch about, but I found out the reason that most places didn’t offer a sample of their food is because vendors had to drop almost a grand to participate and the event got a cut on food. So I sat at home thinking that if I want to go to a good food festival, I will wait till Octoberfest or hop a flight to Seattle or Chicago.

So I’m left with a sun burn and a lesson, and that’s not to trust an event that doesn’t charge at the door, because chances are they are going to make there money regardless.