Monday, August 24, 2009 3:12PM - By Winnie Jaing
Apparently there was an earthquake this past weekend…
Epicenter? Pomona Fairplex in California. Cause? Tool, Linkin Park, and Alice in Chains, among others. August 22, 2009 marked the “first annual” KROQ Epicenter Festival, fondly referred to as KROQ‘s Inland Invasion in past years.
This year’s stellar lineup consisted of bands both new and old: After Midnight Project, Sonny, Paper Tongues, Aesop Rock, Atmosphere, Street Sweeper Social Club, Hollywood Undead, Atreyu, Wolfmother, Alice in Chains, Linkin Park, Dead by Sunrise, and Tool. Even as weather reports threatened Thunderstorms, they didn’t stop concert-goers from flocking to the Fairplex to have a good time. The gloomy morning turned into baking temperatures in the mid-afternoon, but 11 solid hours of music made up for the lack of shade.
After the jump, check out pictures and my experience at Epicenter’09.
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Monday, August 24, 2009 1:00PM - By Winnie Jaing
Tool‘s set was hands-down the most anticipated of the night at this weekend’s KROQ Epicenter Festival. Fans clad in Tool T-shirts, hoodies, and hats walked around the fairgrounds shouting for bands to get off the stage so Tool could go on. It was very obvious that many of the concert-goers for the festival came specifically for this band, and Maynard James Keenan & Co. did not disappoint. Wielding crutches, he apologized for injuring his leg while harvesting grapes recently. The crutches inevitably became a good prop as Keenan used them throughout his set.
While Keenan’s band-mates basked in the limelight, he stayed in the shadows. The band’s first song, “Jambi”, lasted quite a while, but familiar songs like “Vicarious” and “Lateralus” were played as well.
Check out more photos of Tool in our photo gallery below…
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Monday, August 24, 2009 11:44AM - By Winnie Jaing
During this weekend’s KROQ Epicenter Festival, a small plane flew around the fairgrounds trailed with a large banner stating, “WHO IS DEAD AS SUNRISE?” For the daft and unaware, it was a grammatically incorrect banner that caused people to question who really was as dead as the sunrise. For the fans, however, Dead As Sunrise represented the highly anticipated debut of Linkin Park vocalist Chester Bennington‘s side project.
Linkin Park‘s set seemingly ended when the band suddenly stopped playing, but members of Dead By Sunrise filed out, using what appeared to be the same equipment LP had used earlier. Though only few songs were played, it was clear that the audience was receptive of the band’s southern California debut.
Check out more photos of Dead As Sunrise below…
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Monday, August 24, 2009 9:34AM - By Winnie Jaing
Wolfmother‘s set during this weekend’s KROQ Epicenter Festival marked two things: One, the setting of the sun, and two, a HUGE surge in the attendance rate at the festival itself. What once was a sea of emptiness turned into a gathering of thousands of people – to the point where I had to weave in and out of groups in order to get to the photo pit. Nonetheless, Wolfmother’s set blew me out of the water. The mix of guitars, drums, and lead singer Andrew Stockdale’s vocals make this band unique, and judging by the size of the audience, I’m sure they thought so too.
Check out photos of Wolfmother below…
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Monday, August 24, 2009 9:26AM - By Winnie Jaing
Atmosphere‘s interactive set at KROQ‘s Epicenter Festival this weekend included soul clapping with the audience and invitations to sing along at the Monster Energy Stage. Though the set was a good amount of time (45 minutes), Atmosphere left the crowd yearning for more. Good thing Wolfmother was set to perform right after on the main stage.
Check out photos from Atmosphere’s set below…
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Monday, August 24, 2009 9:17AM - By Winnie Jaing
The members of Atreyu are no strangers to the alternative rock scene. At KROQ‘s Epicenter Festival in Pomona, Atreyu took the stage just before 4pm, while the sun was shining brightly and even though people were looking for shade in the sparsely covered areas around the fairgrounds, many ventured out into the hot sun to catch the band who had wonderful stage presence and catchy songs that managed to stay in your head for hours after the performance.
Check out pictures from Atreyu‘s set below…
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Monday, August 24, 2009 9:09AM - By Winnie Jaing
Aesop Rock invited special guest Rob Sonic onto his stage to help with his set this weekend at KROQ‘s Epicenter Festival in Pomona. Both artists, with the help of a backing band, belted out tunes and rap-rocked their way through a strong 30 minute set.
Check out the photos of their show below…
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Monday, August 24, 2009 9:03AM - By Winnie Jaing
At KROQ’s Epicenter Festival this past Saturday, BeatCrave Fav‘s Paper Tongues played their set at the hottest time of the day and still managed to get through it just fine. Unfortunately, the heat must have gotten to them, because the singer started to air his dirty laundry regarding being arrested and having his friend’s mother bail him out of jail. The set was not up to par, but we’ll just say it was because of the heat.
Check out photos of Paper Tongues below…
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Monday, August 24, 2009 8:57AM - By Winnie Jaing
Though Tool and Linkin Park were both slated as the headliners of KROQ‘s Epicenter Festival, Linkin Park’s performance blew many of the day’s openers out of the water. The uproar of screams started as DJ Joe Hahn took his place behind his turntables. The band slowly filed onto the stage and peformed old hits as well as new, including “From the Inside,” “Points of Authority,” “Lying From You”, and “Leave Out All the Rest.”
Epicenter marks Linkin Park‘s last show of 2009, last show of Minutes to Midnight, and their ONLY North American show in 2009.
Check out photos of Linkin Park’s set below…
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