This was quite the day. We were scheduled to interview St. Louis based Adair at 3pm. Of course anyone who knows traveling to Orlando via I-4 knows that you have to leave early. We started our trip around three hours before the interview, giving us plenty of time (or so we thought). Due to an accident where I-4 turns to 2 lanes, we did not arrive in Orlando until almost 5pm, after the show had started, missing our interview.
Archers New Rival were the first band to play, after winning a contest to open the show. They were not too impressive. The way the stage was set up was that it was split into 2 stages. Both were one stage though, except the second stage bands only got to play in the corner. It was odd. It also went second stage band, main stage band, and back and forth, forcing many good bands to play way to early into the day. The only second stage bands to stand out were Adair, and another whom we were not able to catch their name (of course). All of the other second stage bands lacked presence and the ablilty to produce good sounding music.
The main stage bands were quite the letdown as well. Funeral For A Friend were the first main stage band to play, and they were amazing. Screaming drummer, and a main vocalist. During their set, someone was injured and they stopped playing to assist. Anyways, they had amazing stage presence, and worked the crowd very well, despite it only being 5pm.
As I Lay Dying were the second main stage act to play, and it was quite the set. Playing a great collection of songs from their last two cd's. During their set(and song I was video taping) it started pouring. This only gave the crowd more of a reason to get into it. As I Lay Dying were brutal. Check them out as they headline this summers Sounds of the Underground Tour.
Story of the Year are a band I have never seen play their own tour. I have only seen them play festivals. I have now seen them five times. Just like every other time I have seen them, they had great energy and worked the crowd well. With more guitar swinging and backflips you could imagine. If you enjoy a crazy live set, see Story of the Year live.
Atreyu are one of my favorite bands. This was my third time seeing them live, and they are yet to dissapoint me. They played a great variety of songs, including hits from Suicide Notes and Butterfly Kisses, as well as The Curse. They even played three new songs from their upcoming Victory Records release "A Deathgrip on Yesterday". I was fortunate enough to catch a new song (Creature) on video. Check the video section soon for it. They had the passionate live set as always, and closed with "Lip Gloss and Black" and their signature behind the head guitar/bass playing.
I have only had one opportunity to see Thrice in the past, and I was only able to see two or three songs. Rest assured, I will never see them in concert again. In their first five songs, the only played one song from their first two cd's, and the newer material is just horrible. I honestly wanted to go back to my car and sleep after hearing them.
We left after about five Thrice songs. Neither myself, nor Sam wanted to see the Defones. After speaking with two people we know who stayed for the Deftones, they were disappointed, as they only played for around twenty five minutes.
The car ride home proved to be just as eventful as our trip there. Missing our exit we somehow ended up 100 miles out of the way.
It was a decent show. Funeral For A Friend, As I Lay Dying, and Atreyu made the show worth it. The other bands were simply disappointing.
