Soft and Music

With a only a few dates left in this grueling summer festival, the Family Values Tour 2007 brought its brand of rock ‘n’ roll to Phoenix’s Cricket Pavilion in an all day, balls-out assault on the populace. Even the nearly 110 degree desert heat wasn’t enough to slow a steady crowd that filtered into the spacious surroundings of the Cricket at an ever increasing pace.

With so much going on and so many bands on the bill, let’s break them down main stage and second stage (in two different reviews) in the order they appeared. My only concession going to second stage performers Droid, who through a serious of circumstances, I didn’t catch – my apologies.

Main Stage

Through You – Yet again, I missed a memo.  I hate it when that happens. See, on the bill I saw these guys were on the second stage but there they were, opening the show. I only wished there would have been a larger crowd to take in this Orlando based outfit.

Lead singer Mike Kirkland screamed and bounced his way through a 45 minute set with enough energy to light the City of Angels. Nothing complicated about their sound, a straight-ahead rock band with strong metal influences in the neighborhood of Iron Maiden. Definitely worth checking out once they’re off the tour and you can catch them in a smaller, intimate environment.

Neurosonic – If, as Andri Agassi so plainly put it, “Image is everything” these guys had everything to spare. With enough metal chic to punch the tough-guy aesthetic and enough brooding style to make the ladies quiver, Neurosonic delivered a set pumped full of adrenaline. It has to be tough being the opening few acts in a tour where the vast majority of folks in attendance are there to see those who go on much later in the evening. Neurosonic seemed to know the score, going for broke and delivering the goods. I have to say, of the bands I knew little about, this band placed a close third in the “list of those who impressed me.”

Trivium – So unless you’ve been under a top-40 rock for the last few years, you no doubt know of this Orlando (what’s going on in Florida?) band. Rising to metal ascendancy with their 2006 release The Crusade (peaking at #25 in the billboard 200), Trivium, is not so quietly making a name for themselves. Starting around 4 pm, a fair amount of the concertgoers had made their way to their seats to take in the act. Lead singer, Matt Heafy (I’m sure he’s tired of hearing this) bears a striking resemblance to Metallica’s guitarist Kirk Hammett but that’s where the similarities end. As with fellow Orlando breathern, Trivium has a heavy Maiden influence… oh wait, that’s what’s going on it Florida.

Hellyeah – What do you get when you cross Lynyrd Skynyrd with Nashville Pussy? Hellyeah – southern metal at its finest. Ok, to try and label this super-group with such a moniker is probably a discredit but I mean it as high compliment – these guys rocked. Jumping between main stage and second stage meant I didn’t get to hear as much as I would have liked, but in that “list” I mentioned before, the members of Pantera, Damageplan, Mudvayne, and Nothingface now known as Hellyeah made number two.

Flyleaf – Beautiful young lady does metal… oh wait Evanescence comes later, this is Flyleaf. But seriously, not to take anything away from Flyleaf, this band is certainly worth the price of admission. I swear, lead singer Lacey Mosley is an enchantress of Bjork caliber only crunchy guitars and pounding drum lines back up this chanteuse. Probably the oddest fit on the bill, Flyleaf come across more alt-rock then metal to me though the band had no problems with an audience ready to turn it up to eleven.

Atreyu – Allright, so I’ll admit I originally had misgivings about a band who named themselves after a character in a movie I grew up with. That said, there’s nothing fleeting about this Orange County, Calif. outfit. Like Trivium, you’ve been living in a cave if you haven’t at least heard of this band who put on a show worthy of their stature.

Evanescence – Full disclosure, I, like many metal fans out there of the XY chromosome persuasion am in love with Amy Lee. Ok, I admitted it and we’re moving on with it, I swear my review has absolutely nothing to do with that fact, honest. Evanescence came out a delivered a highly energetic set that included all of the bands hits. With a crowd broken down two to one in favor of the males, this was definitely a band that most of the women in attendance were there to see as the barricades had as much estrogen smashed into it as testosterone. Nothing lacking in the set, Evanescence certainly did not disappoint.

Korn – Ahh, the band we’ve all been waiting for, the tour headliner, the mighty, mighty Korn. Hitting the stage at nearly 9:30 pm, Korn had the most complicated stage layout of any band on the bill. Two sets of stairs near the back of the stage leading to catwalks on the right and left side that band members took turns showcasing on. One weird thing I noticed, lead singer Jonathan Davis stopped about four songs into the stage and took what looked liked a breathing treatment. No idea what was going on there, but I hope all is ok. Not wanting to disappoint, Korn brought the packed pavilion crowd to a slithering, moshing free for all as they metal-funked their way through an hour and a half set hitting the highlights of an eight record career. While no longer spring chickens, the band showed no real indication (minus that whole breathing treatment thing) that they’d lost a step.

So next up is the second stage performers which had its share of standouts as well as some well intentioned flops. Five Finger Death Punch, you made number one on my list of bands to check out further.