epicenter: n: point on the Earth’s surface that is directly above the focus, the point where an earthquake originates.
It’s about one o’clock in the afternoon on Saturday just outside of Los Angeles (Fontana, CA, to be exact). It’s over 100 degrees, easily. Cars are backed up all along I-15 as the heat just bounces off their metal plates and onto our faces. We will stop for ice, water, and other cold things in the midst of everything, but not too far away, something wild is brewing.
Epicenter Festival 2010 is just beginning, and it’s exactly how a festival representing the Los Angeles district of California should be. It’s hot, for one, and as a result, people are stumbling around in the sun, dehydrated, and splurging five dollars for a mere Aquafina, or buying the high-pressure spray bottles that, at any given moment, you could get doused by. The home of the show is the Auto Park Speedway parking lot, which resembles a prison yard more than it does a live music event. With the high tower spotlights, a giant wall to one side, fences, and minimal amount of room, it’s like we’re trapped in together, and at any moment there could be a riot a la Natural Born Killers.
With most sets scheduled short, the majority being roughly a half hour, people are here to see a wide variety of bands, as Epicenter seems to cater to a wide assortment of music fans, which in turn creates a strange, mixed bag of vibes. Nu-metal fans roam zombified (for bands like Papa Roach and Smile Empty Soul), hip-hop fans chatter all day (for Big Boi, Big B, and Marshall Mathers’ return to LA), the checkered shoes Warped Tour crowd frolic around (for Against Me, Bad Religion, and Blink-182), and, of course, the KISS Army stakes its land.
Now that I’ve painted that picture for you, it’s easy to see why Epicenter Festival appeals to the masses. It’s accessible, it’s relatively cheap, and it’s chock-full of mainstream acts. That being said, it’s hard to talk about whether or not it was a comfortable experience. The jury’s still out on that one – at least right now.
Saturday, September 26th
Crash Kings Main Stage, 2:30 p.m.
Our timely arrival allowed us to see Crash Kings (from very far away) for about the second half of the show. They were starting as we drove through the festival, but they were definitely rocking out up there in the sun and heat with their take on rock and roll. The band’s drums and bass were shaking the crowd from afar, with shrill guitars ripping through the air. Patrons enjoyed it, but the heat slaughtered them. Still, there’s little room for complaint when a band can pull off a stellar cover of [Black Sabbath's] “War Pigs”. Sun-baked or not, that left the crowd genuinely pleased – myself included.
Smile Empty Soul Monster Stage, 3:05 p.m.
This was the first experience with the side stage for the day, and it was tiny. I’m talking smaller than any tent stages at your Coachellas or Bonnaroos. Smile Empty Soul, the one-hit wonder from the decline of nu-metal days, played at about three o’clock that afternoon. The pavement shook as the grubby trio dished out their songs on this minuscule stage. The crowd was no bigger than a college party, and everybody within it stood there like zombies gazing at the band. Some people were into it, singing every word along with a band whose other material I was unfamiliar with, but overall it seems like the nu-metal craze is winding down with every day. For those interested (if any at this point), the band debuted its new single, “We’re Through”, to a slightly excited crowd. And, of course, they indulged in their smash hit, “Bottom of a Bottle”, where everybody in the crowd sang along for the “I do it for the drugs” chorus. The thing was, though, that this wasn’t the end, but to the majority of the audience, it sure was. Smile Empty Soul played one final song as the morose crowd trudged on into the heat. Ouch.
Big Boi Main Stage, 3:40 p.m.
“For those who don’t know me, I go by the name B-I-G B-O-I!”
Prior to Big Boi‘s arrival, a full band took the stage to start up the sunny, afternoon performance. There was a dreadlocked guitarist, a couple of DJs, a drummer, and an entire horn section ready to back up one of hip-hop’s greatest MCs of our generation. As the opening riffs to the Speakerboxxx classic “Bust” rang out, Big Boi emerged, and not surprisingly, the crowd went apeshit. Wasting no time, the ATL legend tore through (his) verses of several Outkast classics such as “Ms. Jackson”, “Ghetto Musick”, “Bombs Over Baghdad”, and personal favorite, “ATLiens”. Though the crowd chanted “Water!” the majority of the time, they were incredibly into it. The thing is, though, they weren’t alone. Even Big Boi pointed out the sun’s wrath. At one point, the heat turned so ugly that the turntables actually shut down. To everyone’s surprise, however, Big Boi improvised in a bit of ad-libbing by spitting verses from “SpottieOttieDopaliscious” and even delivered on the crowd’s call for a freestyle. He wasn’t a messiah to bring in the cool air, but, for most, his set was the next best thing.
Papa Roach Main Stage, 4:45 p.m.
I was a bit hesitant about what Papa Roach was going to be like. I mean, all I could imagine was them playing “Last Resort” for an hour straight, but obviously other people had different ideas about that. Singer Jacoby Shaddix wasted no time being a lead-singer asshole type, by dedicating the song “Hollywood Whore” to none other than jailbound Paris Hilton. The fans tried to start a pit to the song “Scars”, but it inevitably collapsed as the other hungry fans just used the opportunity to move forward. Around this point, fights broke out; meanwhile, the band continued to pummel into their catalog. The one major “duh” moment came when the band closed with their radio gem, “Last Resort”. Of course, everyone sang all the words, finishing off just another chaotic inclusion to Epicenter.
Bush Main Stage, 6:05 p.m.
“I hope you’re all wasted!” –Gavin Rossdale
Standing next to me in the crowd before Bush was a small boy, who couldn’t have been older than 10 or 11, screaming for the recently reunited quartet. While I did own Razorblade Suitcase on cassette in fourth grade, I couldn’t believe Bush has been able to resonate with the younger generation after all these years. But it didn’t matter. While it was only Gavin Rossdale (he’s so handsome in person) and drummer Robin Goodrich from the original lineup, that didn’t stop Bush from both a.) rocking and b.) pleasing the crowd. They accomplished both with ease.
Just before they hit the crowd, stagehands arrived with a hose of some kind and doused the dehydrated with water, which was absolutely necessary. People were melting, after all. Moments later, Bush took the stage and tore through arguably their biggest hit, “Machinehead”. Like clockwork, the crowd shrugged off the heat and sang every note. Fortunately for everyone, the sun slowly packed its bags as the band raged on, causing people to finally enjoy a breeze and one hell of a reunion. By the time Rossdale removed his shirt, just prior to playing “Everything Zen”, a few more fights broke out, which seemed highly tongue-in-cheek given the lyrics (“There’s no sex in your violence!”).
Enjoying the set the most was the band itself. Stepping up for Nigel Pulsford, guitarist Chris Traynor sounded like a buzzsaw, working off of bassist Corey Britz and Goodrich’s tight, tight rhythm section. What started off great, finished off epic. Adrenaline-fueled renditions of “The Chemicals Between Us” and “Greedy Fly” just owned the crowd, the latter of which had everyone shouting lyrics mercilessly. To finish things up, though, the band played an emotional, sunset version of “Swallowed” and a solo rendition of “Glycerine”. Once Rossdale approached the last verse, the band returned on stage to play a high-octane finale, unlike the studio version. Yes, it’s safe to say Bush is back alright, and they’re certainly off to a fantastic start.
Eminem Main Stage, 7:45 p.m.
“Son of a bitch. I’m back! Did you miss me?!” -Eminem
I had seen Eminem once before, on his last full US tour. Of course, things were much different back then. To get the obvious out of the way, he was on a lot of drugs, but he was still a little happier since Proof was on stage with him that night. He played hardly any older songs. His album Encore was hailed as a success, but it was at this point that a lot of the hardcore Eminem fans began to see that his title as the MC of the Y2K era was winding down. And then everybody thought he was retiring and that this show would be one of the last. But in 2010, in Los Angeles, things were certainly different.
Right off the bat, it seemed a majority of the crowd was there for Eminem’s big return. Everybody was of the mindset to get as close to the stage as possible. Once Tupac Shakur’s “California Love” hit the PA and the lights extinguished, the crowd violently erupted, making it no secret that, yes, this had been the set on everyone’s mind that day. Behind the stage, a video of the stars played, announcing how tonight, this night, Eminem was returning to the stage for us all to see. His backing band, the Recovery Band, played an all-out metal introduction as Marshall Mathers, looking angrier than ever, walked onstage to “Won’t Back Down”. It’s apparent that sobriety has reminded him that the name of this game truly is performing to the masses.
Hunched over his microphone and roaming around the stage like a madman, Eminem spit verses from “Square Dance”, “3 A.M.”, and “White Trash Party”, eventually rocking a rendition of the classic “Kill You”, which had the crowd singing along. By the time he stirred up the Weezy-featuring, “No Love”, thousands ambitiously chanted, “Free Weezy!”, leading all the way up to an emotionally charged cut of “Cleaning Out My Closet”.
The Detroit rapper kept it old school, however. “The Way I Am” turned into another sing-a-long, this time accompanied by a stellar jam session via the Recovery Band. Then Eminem really turned back the clocks by bringing out his friends D12 with whom he played classics like “Fight Music” and “Purple Pills”. And, of course, there was the live gem, “My Band”, in which the entire crowd filled in for Proof’s verse, and Bizarre removed his shirt to reveal his large chest, as Eminem repeatedly slapped it. Soon everybody had chills as Eminem spit verses from his more emotional tracks like “Stan”, “Like Toy Soldiers”, and “Sing for the Moment”, where he revealed a bit more of his vulnerable side. But after that, he asked us so politely, “Do you want me to take you back?” Of course we did, but what did that entail?
A Slim Shady marathon followed, with verses from “My Name Is”, “The Real Slim Shady”, and “Without Me”, all numbers of nostalgia from a different time in Marshall’s career. People continued to freak out to the older numbers, and girls screamed louder than ever, some even holding up signs that read, “Marry Me.” Fittingly, Eminem knocked out hot single, “Not Afraid”, while everyone swayed together in unison and belted out the uplifting and powerful new chorus. Then Eminem left the stage, and the lights went out. No reason to fear, though, because after that, he returned to play his biggest hit to date, the Academy Award-winning anthem, “Lose Yourself”, which finally drew the proverbial curtains.
DMX VIP Lounge, Sometime between 8:30 and 9:00 p.m.
While people talked about being interested in seeing DMX, nobody knew where and when this would be. After Eminem, though, the sounds of the New York dog-style rapper emanated from the VIP lounge, a small bar on a raised platform in the middle of the festival. Inside the small lounge were a bunch of shiny lights, couches, and sporadic fighting. Nobody could really get anywhere within the lounge, as DMX spit bits of songs like “Ruff Ryders Anthem”, “Where the Hood At?”, and “Party Up”. But seeing X now was more ridiculous than awesome. The short (so weird that he’s that short) MC kept his performance curt as well, skipping a lot of verses and just rambling DMX dribble into the microphone. Eventually, though, a piece of the VIP lounge platform collapsed (not injuring anybody), and the show was cut short right there as DMX was escorted out. Oh well.
KISS Main Stage, 9:35 p.m.
“KISS does NOT fuck around.” –My friends after KISS left the stage.
Is KISS really still that great? I mean, for all I know, they’re like the dreaded pirate Roberts in Princess Bride; they could be totally different guys with the same moniker. Now, don’t get me wrong, they do have their share of followers and the KISS Army maintained its sense of space. However, they hardly made up the majority of the audience. Out of the 25,000 people there on Saturday, maybe only half, if not less, stuck around to see the “hottest band in the world”. Even when the band’s giant flag descended upon the stage, you could have run up close. Regardless, what little audience they maintained they still “got the best.”
The show started with one of their newer tracks, “Modern Day Delilah”, off of last year’s Sonic Boom, exclusively available at Wal-Mart, which singer-guitarist Paul Stanley advertised. Those worried of receiving a set filled with new material were quickly pacified when the band kicked out “Calling Dr. Love”, “Let Me Go, Rock N’ Roll”, and “Shock Me”. Stage antics aside, the group worked off some fantastic musicianship that helped soundtrack one of the best live shows you could ever see. Say what you want about their lyrics – it’s schlock, they make no secret of this – but these boys still know how to fucking play.
And if you don’t believe it, see a show. Sure, it’s the same gimmicks: Gene Simmons still blows fire from a sword (and spews blood from his mouth), Stanley flew above the crowd with his guitar on a zip-line, and guitarist Tommy Thayer and drummer Eric Singer ripped solos together while too getting hauled high above the stage. But it’s wonderful. It’s grinding on the limits of rock ‘n’ roll, highlighting what makes it so damn sexy in the first place. Plus, you can’t hear “Detroit Rock City” or “Love Gun” without wanting to rock out, as well. You just can’t.
Prior to their encore, Stanley brought out a $501,018 check to donate to the Wounded Warriors Care Project. Once he signed the sucker, he launched straight into “Lick it Up”, the song that once took the make up off the boys in black and white, as well as the gem, “I Want to Rock and Roll All Night”, for the closer. Of course, given the 11 o’clock curfew, we could not rock and roll all night, but for the five or six minutes…we sort of pretended we could.
Face paint doesn’t hide age though. Stanley and Simmons look extremely worn out. After all, constant touring and anonymous sex has to take its toll on you eventually. However, they still put on one hell of a show. While the music may not resonate as well with today’s generation, the show is something that will stand the test of time. Much like the few hundred or so without make up on Saturday, I’m glad I can cross KISS off my list of things to see before I hit the ground.
Sunday, September 27th
Without a doubt, Saturday delivered one WTF of a bill. However, Sunday kept things tight by focusing solely on punk rock. As a result, people came from all over California to brave another excruciatingly hot day in the sun (107 degrees). The crowd appeared 100% different, as well. Unlike the aggressive rap and modern rock fans, Blink-182’s core audience doesn’t necessarily push, shove, and pack in like sardines prior to a show. People also seemed generally more friendly, sporting Blink-182 bunny masks, chanting to the lyrics of 30 Seconds the Mars, and even helping each other out when falling in the pits for Rise Against or Against Me. Talk about a 180, huh?
Black Veil Brides
Monster Stage, 2:50 p.m.
Upon arriving to the festival Sunday, crushing guitars echoed from just over yonder. It turned out this was the music of Black Veil Brides, the Hollywood California hardcore quintet who looked like a bunch of Nikki Sixx replicas and/or Gothic David Bowie’s. They dressed like Motley Crue, played bone shattering hardcore-metal, and were littered everywhere with pentagrams. They introduced their new drummer, asking him to play whatever songs he wanted, as they tore through track after track, scaring audience members left and right with their antics, music, and costumes. “We’re going to bring rock and roll back to you folks,” singer Andy Six (no relation to Nikki) told the crowd earnestly. They’re certainly rocking their hardest, but I wouldn’t count on a band this scary to save the world….except maybe during the apocalypse. Definitely odd men out here.
Against Me! Main Stage, 3:25 p.m.
I’m not sure when Against Me! became the coolest band in the world, but they’ve sure snagged a following. It certainly showed during their highly-attended Sunday performance. Songs like “Pints of Guinness Make You Strong” and their pro-choice anthem “White People for Peace” went over well as frontman Tom Gable led a rambunctious crowd. The band closed with “Sink, Florida, Sink”, and during the final moments of the show, the band tossed some bottles of water into the crowd for us. Yep, pretty cool.
New Politics Monster Stage, 4:05 p.m.
What are New Politics all about? This Copenhagen trio came all the way from Denmark to play the small stage at Epicenter, but they used all the energy wisely. Their three-piece band could really throw down with their odd breed of punk, rap and pop. The vocals were fantastic from non-foreign named singer David Boyd, as he spit fast-witted verses over songs “Dignity” and “Die for You”. Guitarist Soren Hansen was fantastic as well, as he and Boyd both ran around stage like wild men, not stopping for more than a few seconds at a time to catch their breath. Although the crowd was genuinely small, they still gave it their all. Wild yet unheard.
Bad Religion Main Stage, 4:35 p.m.
“Nevermind making it another 30 years, every day is pain.” –Greg Graffin
Bad Religion. The name says it all. The Los Angeles punk outfit has been rocking for almost 30 years and hasn’t stopped for five minutes. As soon as they arrived, Greg Graffin announced their new album coming out in just two days, which really proves they’re still kicking it. Speaking of which, they tore through two-minute opuses for the entire duration of their set, playing songs like “Sinister Rouge”, “Struck a Nerve”, and a full version of the classic, “Generator”. They also tried out new songs like “The Resistance”, a title which only proves the band’s still iffy on authority. On the topic of punk, Graffin commented on how the scene has changed in the past three decades, and how he honestly enjoys seeing more girls slam dancing nowadays. For an older punk outfit, it was pleasant to see how musically eclectic they’ve become, especially their ability to jam off of solos. Even if everyone didn’t buy the new sounds, “Infection” sure enough rekindled anybody’s love for old school punk with just a few simple chords.
30 Seconds to Mars Main Stage, 6:05 p.m.
“It’s 106 degrees right now, but that’s not going to stop us from having the best day of our lives!” –Jared Leto
I honestly had no idea what to expect from 30 Seconds to Mars. Sure, they’re more geared towards teenage girls, but in the end, it’s not too shabby. Frontman Jared Leto seems more like Jack Hayes (nicknamed the God of Fuck), his character in the movie Highway, with his calling out crowd members, getting people to rock out with him, and just being an all around jokester. The band opened up with a series of banging tribal drums, which cued Leto’s appearance on stage. “Night of the Hunter” opened the show, which had Leto insisting the crowd to jump up and down with him, “The Kill” turned up the volume, and “Kings and Queens” brought a party on-stage as Leto invited dozens of fans to come on up. He wasn’t always so inviting, though. At one point in the set, he called out a few folks; for example, a couple of “white trash mother fuckers,” next to some, “Abercrombie and Fitch kids,” and, “a guy with his finger in his girl’s cooch.” Classy.
Suicidal Tendencies Monster Stage, 7:05 p.m.
My driver’s education teacher once told me that the Suicidal Tendencies were “gang affiliated.” I’m not sure about the legitimacy of this statement, but they certainly were a crew you did not want to mess with. And they brought a crowd of a thousand or so friends to rock out with them. The band played faster, harder, and louder than I ever remember their records being. It was almost scary. The circle pits opened up for the first time I had seen all weekend, in a fashion that made me want to stay away from the crowd, rather than join in. The band thrashed through hard numbers like “War Inside My Head” and “Institutionalized”, while the crowd pumped their fists and proceeded to beat the shit out of each other. And even at a speed like that, they were still able to shred bass and guitar solos while the crowd continued to rumble. It was the type of situation that anybody fragile should stay away from.
Rise Against Main Stage, 7:40 p.m.
“Seeing all you people out here to see bands like this restores my faith in humanity.” –Tim McIlrath
This was the last show of Rise Against’s Appeal to Reason tour, so they clearly wanted to go all out. Well, as luck would have it, the crowd wanted to engage in that activity. The band walked out to a creepy introduction of a girl stating, “I am not alright,” and I could relate at this point since the crowd was starting to swell a little bit. Once they rolled out “Collapse (Post-Amerika)”, circle pits immediately formed and people were now on the defensive side of their well-being. To make matters for the stomach worse, guitarist Zach Blair hocked loogies up into the air, letting them splash about the stage, and singer and guitarist Tim McIlrath constantly poked and prodded the crowd to keep moving.
Like any modern punk rock band, eventually things slowed down a bit, and that moment came during “Audience of One”, as people were able to catch their breath. Towards the end, however, they sped things up again with tracks like “Swing Life Away” and “Hero of War”. When they retired from the stage for a moment, people demanded them back, which just goes to show how devoted their following has become. Naturally, they returned to the stage to play pulse-raising versions of “Give it All” and “Ready to Fall”, while the crowd slammed, sang, and spit for the final moments of their show. Punk rock is certainly not dead, and I don’t think it will sleep anytime soon.
Blink-182 Main Stage, 9:20 p.m.
A year or so back, when it was first stated Blink-182 would reunite, it didn’t seem like the excitement was widespread. A comment online read something along the lines of, “Why would anyone want to see them now? It’s just a bunch of 12-year-olds.” No…it’s really not. Blink-182’s fanbase is now all ages 18 to 30. The people who like Blink-182 are not middle schoolers who like to pogo, but drunk assholes who like to slam dance. There has never been a better time in history to see Blink-182 right now. The shows are gigantic sing-alongs, packed full of energy and nostalgia, and just an all-around good time. This show was the type of Blink-182 show any young child back in the day would have wanted to see (despite the lack of material off Cheshire Cat and Dude Ranch).
Once the band strolled out from behind stage, and a large black curtain dropped, the opening notes of “Dumpweed” chimed in and the crowd, well, went just as you would expect them to: They turned it into a skanking, dancing, arms flailing punk rock show. It became a fight for survival. When Blink chanted out, “She’s a dump! She’s a fucking nightmare!”, there was hardly a soul silent. And this was only the beginning.
The classics (“The Rock Show”, “What’s My Age Again?”) rolled out, one after another. As if they were still supporting their 2003 self-titled effort, the trio went into a long block of “newer” material, which included “I Miss You”, “Violence”, “Always”, and “Down”. Somewhere in there they plucked out “Stay Together for the Kids”, which they dedicated to us, the audience. Things remained rather mature throughout this time, and it wasn’t until “First Date” that everyone went back to a pogoing frenzy again.
Believe it or not, but it’s been over a decade since Enema of the State. If that doesn’t make you feel old, then try and listen to it again and remember where you were when you first bought the album. Yeah, exactly. While Tom DeLonge, Mark Hoppus, and Travis Barker are visibly older too, they’re still the foul mouthed teenagers of yesteryear – which is a good thing. DeLonge still shouts out ridiculous remarks about wanting to have sex with people’s fathers, Hoppus continues to rip on him ad infinitum, and Barker still shreds drums like it’s nobody’s business. What more do you want?
As with any old singles, they still get the crowd going the most. But that seemed to ring true for all of Blink’s back catalog. When they launched into live-album single “Man Overboard”, the crowd opened back up into a circle pit, which continued (and only got crazier) during oldies like “Don’t Leave Me” and “All the Small Things”. When people coaxed them to play “The Party Song”, a hilarious number off Enema of the State, Hoppus replied, “We haven’t played that song in 12 fucking years.” He tried it, but instead they played, “Reckless Abandon”, and there wasn’t a single complaint. so nobody complained.
After a brief break, Barker returned to do his flying drum solo thing, which of course left the crowd in awe, as always. Blink then returned to the stage and did two minute melodic jam session which faded right into the beginning of “Carousel”, opening the door for all-time crowd favorite, “Dammit”. In those three to four minutes, maybe less, never has the song sounded so good in my entire life. All the angst from back in the day had faded at this point, and it was now just sheer pleasure. Nothing could top that, but Blink tried and surprised everyone with a quick version of “Family Reunion”. It wasn’t as rousing as “Dammit”, but regardless everyone sang along as the final moments of our teenage years faded away into the night.
Nobody likes us when we’re 23, except for maybe Blink-182. After years and years of worshiping them, this was the experience any fan wanted to have. With the exception of possibly Eminem or Bush, this was more than likely the show of the weekend. What does that say for the younger acts? Ouch. Bottom line: We love these bands, rock to these bands, and will always enjoy them as long as we have ears and stereos, no matter how old we get. How’s that line in “Dammit” go again?
epicenter: n: point on the Earth’s surface that is directly above the focus, the point where an earthquake originates.
Standing next to me in the crowd before 
