Epicenter Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Irvine, CA 9/11
Epicenter 2011 Verizon Wireless Amphitheater Irvine, CA 9/11
By Jeffrey Easton
Epicenter is supposed to be the go to Rock Festival in Southern California and for the first two years it was. Who could beat the likes of Tool, Street Sweeper Social Club, KISS, Black Veil Brides etc..? This year, the ball was somewhat dropped and what is supposed to be a Festival 2011 looked more like the class of 2001 on the Main Stage. The Monster Energy Drink Stage was filled with hopefuls and bands that should have been main stage material with the likes of Drive A, Asking Alexandria, Crossfade amongst others. Drive A is a young band with a mound of potential and a few albums to prove it. They come across with tremendous power and with the records they have dropped they back that up. The World In Shambles is the new record and it’s a direct missile strike to the heart of their fans and they have plenty of them. Their efforts to market themselves at that show were second to none. Their talent on the stage was amazing as they drove their hard driving punk influenced rock with amazing musicianship. Check out the new record, very much worth your attention!! Crossfade is a band that blew me away with what they deliver and that’s pure hard rock. They took the stage and proceeded to convert anybody that wasn’t a fan into one. Their new record, We All Bleed, is a dark affair with music and art and that oozed from their stage presence. Killing Me Inside and Prove You Wrong just obliterated the fans and every female within the sound of their voices was singing along to them. Their massive hit single from a few years ago, Cold, brought the show to a close and the fans screaming along. They drive hard and deliver the goods, period. Middle Class Rut and Redlight King took up space after the fact but it’s not what we do and they delivered anemic sets anyway, no matter what you play. Asking Alexandria is the head scratcher here. Why were they not on the main stage? This is a serious buzz band with a massive groundswell of fans. Their shows sell out, their records sell enough to put them in the TOP TEN on the Billboard Top 200 and they can’t bump Skillet? They deserved main stage status above most any band on the other side of the wall. The only advantage to the side stage was being closer to the fans, on their level and sharing the sweat. You feel the vibe better that way and this is a band that feeds off of that dirty energy. Reckless And Relentless is the new record and its massive, deserving of any accolades it heaps to its credit. Their set was massive with the new record, Welcome, Reckless And Relentless, Closure and Morte Et Dabo, holy shit they killed the stage and the crowd. This band has a future and there is no looking back. The main stage, the thing I was complaining about earlier, had the likes of Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Puddle Of Mudd and Stained, four bands to me that had relevance to certain members of our society a decade ago but, again, to me, they have not had any relevance in a long time. The records don’t sell like they used to, it was just a particular sound and an era that’s done. Skillet? Ok, if you say so. Buckcherry were fine for that stage, they still bring it and they continue to release great records that sell. I was just hoping for a set of bands that made sense for now, not somebody’s high school reunion where you talk about how cool that band was when you were a senior.
Epicenter Official Site
Asking Alexandria Myspace
Drive A Official Site
Crossfade Official Site
By Jeffrey Easton
Epicenter is supposed to be the go to Rock Festival in Southern California and for the first two years it was. Who could beat the likes of Tool, Street Sweeper Social Club, KISS, Black Veil Brides etc..? This year, the ball was somewhat dropped and what is supposed to be a Festival 2011 looked more like the class of 2001 on the Main Stage. The Monster Energy Drink Stage was filled with hopefuls and bands that should have been main stage material with the likes of Drive A, Asking Alexandria, Crossfade amongst others. Drive A is a young band with a mound of potential and a few albums to prove it. They come across with tremendous power and with the records they have dropped they back that up. The World In Shambles is the new record and it’s a direct missile strike to the heart of their fans and they have plenty of them. Their efforts to market themselves at that show were second to none. Their talent on the stage was amazing as they drove their hard driving punk influenced rock with amazing musicianship. Check out the new record, very much worth your attention!! Crossfade is a band that blew me away with what they deliver and that’s pure hard rock. They took the stage and proceeded to convert anybody that wasn’t a fan into one. Their new record, We All Bleed, is a dark affair with music and art and that oozed from their stage presence. Killing Me Inside and Prove You Wrong just obliterated the fans and every female within the sound of their voices was singing along to them. Their massive hit single from a few years ago, Cold, brought the show to a close and the fans screaming along. They drive hard and deliver the goods, period. Middle Class Rut and Redlight King took up space after the fact but it’s not what we do and they delivered anemic sets anyway, no matter what you play. Asking Alexandria is the head scratcher here. Why were they not on the main stage? This is a serious buzz band with a massive groundswell of fans. Their shows sell out, their records sell enough to put them in the TOP TEN on the Billboard Top 200 and they can’t bump Skillet? They deserved main stage status above most any band on the other side of the wall. The only advantage to the side stage was being closer to the fans, on their level and sharing the sweat. You feel the vibe better that way and this is a band that feeds off of that dirty energy. Reckless And Relentless is the new record and its massive, deserving of any accolades it heaps to its credit. Their set was massive with the new record, Welcome, Reckless And Relentless, Closure and Morte Et Dabo, holy shit they killed the stage and the crowd. This band has a future and there is no looking back. The main stage, the thing I was complaining about earlier, had the likes of Limp Bizkit, Papa Roach, Puddle Of Mudd and Stained, four bands to me that had relevance to certain members of our society a decade ago but, again, to me, they have not had any relevance in a long time. The records don’t sell like they used to, it was just a particular sound and an era that’s done. Skillet? Ok, if you say so. Buckcherry were fine for that stage, they still bring it and they continue to release great records that sell. I was just hoping for a set of bands that made sense for now, not somebody’s high school reunion where you talk about how cool that band was when you were a senior.
Epicenter Official Site
Asking Alexandria Myspace
Drive A Official Site
Crossfade Official Site
