Date: June 9, 2002
Location: CMGI Field - Foxboro, MA
Bands: Various Bands
Every year, Boston’s most popular alternative rock station books rock’s most notorious hit-makers and buzzworthy up-and-comers for its huge summer festival. This year, acts ranging from pop-punk metalheads Sum 41 to angst-ridden rockers Papa Roach to flamboyant rappers Outkast played the main stage to an enthusiastic crowd of thousands. I saw sets from The Kickovers, New Found Glory, Simple Plan, and Sum 41, as well as the very end of sets by Jimmy Eat World and The Strokes.
Local band The Kickovers, which featured ex-members of Weezer and The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, played an early set on the smaller pit stage. They tore through songs from their debut disc ‘Osaka’ and were quite impressive for a newly formed group. However, they were not able to get the small crowd of about thirty kids into it, and even I wandered off halfway through the set to talk to the nice guys of Simple Plan.
Next up was New Found Glory, a band whose style is like that of the established and immensely popular acts Blink 182 and Green Day, only with a little more heart. They played mostly songs off of their 2001 self-titled album, which included the single ‘Dressed To Kill’ and the minor radio hit ‘Hit or Miss’. It was disappointing that they did not play more new songs from ‘Sticks and Stones,’ their latest album which was released two days after this event. However, they did find time to play the new songs ‘My Friends Over You’ and ‘Its Been A Summer’.
Around three o’clock, while the majority of people were pouring in, Simple Plan played the pit stage in the festival area. Like most bands new to the scene, they had more energy and enthusiasm than any of the bands playing the main stage. Led by charismatic frontman Pierre Bouvier, Simple Plan got the steadily growing crowd jumping and singing along to the songs off their debut album ‘No Pads, No Helmet...Just Balls’. Catchy songs like ‘One Day,’ ‘I’d Do Anything,’ and ‘Addicted’ proved that it won’t be long before Simple Plan graduate to the main stage. They ended the best set that I was able to see that day with an encore of ‘I’m Just A Kid’ and ‘Grow Up’ from the Scooby Doo soundtrack.
Later, Sum 41 played a rather disappointing stripped-down set on the main stage. The band is known for their fun shows that usually incorporate lots of crowd participation, solos, and jokes. However, this time, perhaps due to time-constraints and the visible inebriation of Sum’s vocalist Deryck Whibley, the band didn’t deliver. They played hits from their successful album ‘All Killer No Filler’ like ‘Fat Lip’ and ‘In Too Deep,’ and their latest single ‘What We’re All About’ from the Spiderman soundtrack, which was the lone highlight of their show. They ended on a low note by playing their homage to metal, ‘Pain For Pleasure’ twice.
Despite Sum 41’s mediocre performance, I still went to the signing booth to meet the band. Apparently, their fans aren’t a very high priority to these guys because they showed up an hour late for the signing, causing all of the fans in line to miss highly anticipated sets from Tenacious D and Jimmy Eat World. After waiting in line for at least an hour and a half, only guitarist Dave Baksh was sociable and somewhat apologetic. I got back to the stadium in time to see the last two flawless songs from Jimmy Eat World, ‘Sweetness’ and ‘The Middle.’ Later, I caught the end of The Strokes’ show, which was good although I don’t consider myself a fan of their raw sound. It was quite impressive how their frontman Julian Casablancas was able to stare straight ahead without blinking for three consecutive songs. Afterwards, the terrible noise coming from Papa Roach and the promise of more crap to come from P.O.D. prompted my party to leave the festival a couple hours early.
If you live in the New England area, you should definitely think about taking a trip to the River Rave next year. There’s something for every fan of alternative rock and I guarantee you’ll have a great time.
For More Information:
• WBCN Official Site: www.wbcn.com