KROQ Almost Acoustic Xmas Night One
December 11, 2010
Gibson Amphitheater
It doesn't feel like the end of the concert year until KROQ throws their annual Almost Acoustic Christmas shows at the Gibson Amphitheater. Embarking on their 21st year, KROQ brought out bands new and old to appease their listeners and raise some money for charity. Night one is the hard rock night consisting of Smashing Pumpkins, Social Distortion, Bad Religion, My Chemical Romance, Jimmy Eat World, and somehow Cake!
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Smashing Pumpkins wasted no time living up to the hard rock vibe of
the night with the slashing guitars of their new song “The Fellowship.”
Billy Corgan was vicious on his Fender Stratocaster ripping off a solo
during “Drown” and tossing his guitar pick into the crowd in the middle
of the solo. The highlight of their set undoubtedly was their acoustic
cover “Landslide” off the overlooked Pisces Iscariot. The Pumpkins closed their set with a bombastic rendition of “Heavy Metal Machine” with a swirling guitar phaser outro.
the night with the slashing guitars of their new song “The Fellowship.”
Billy Corgan was vicious on his Fender Stratocaster ripping off a solo
during “Drown” and tossing his guitar pick into the crowd in the middle
of the solo. The highlight of their set undoubtedly was their acoustic
cover “Landslide” off the overlooked Pisces Iscariot. The Pumpkins closed their set with a bombastic rendition of “Heavy Metal Machine” with a swirling guitar phaser outro.
Orange County's finest punk band Social Distortion took no prisoners with a tune off their upcoming new album Hard Times and Nursery Rhymes.
Mike Ness still has one of the best punk rock snarls in the business as
he ripped through “Sick Boys” and “Through These Eyes” while strumming
his gold top Les Paul guitar adorned with a black Orange County sticker.
Social Distortion will return to destroy the House of Blues Anaheim on
Jan. 12 in case you missed them.
My Chemical Romance had all the boys and girls cheering for them as they are supporting their latest release Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys.
Lead singer Gerard Way knows how to captivate and engage an audience as
he worked through “Welcome To The Black Parade” and “I'm Not Okay (I
Promise)”. Bonus points to My Chemical Romance for borrowing James
Dewees of the Get Up Kids on keyboards.
Lead singer Gerard Way knows how to captivate and engage an audience as
he worked through “Welcome To The Black Parade” and “I'm Not Okay (I
Promise)”. Bonus points to My Chemical Romance for borrowing James
Dewees of the Get Up Kids on keyboards.
Jimmy
Eat World made the most of their time sticking to radio friendly hits
like “Bleed American,” “Pain,” “The Middle” and “Sweetness.” Jim Adkins
did grab an acoustic guitar and got the audience in the holiday spirit
with a glowing rendition of “Last Christmas” that was featured on the
Kevin N Bean Christmas albums which unfortunately have been
discontinued for a few years.
Bad Religion are
true punk rock icons that seemingly play at every KROQ show whether
they have a new album or not. It so happens that their new album The Dissent of Man
shows that Bad Religion won't be slowing down anytime soon. Greg
Graffin still patrols the stage spewing his highly intellectual lyrics
while Greg Hetson leap frogs across the stage with his Gibson SG. Some
of the highlights of their set included “American Jesus,” “Infected,”
“Sorrow” and “Los Angeles is Burning.”
true punk rock icons that seemingly play at every KROQ show whether
they have a new album or not. It so happens that their new album The Dissent of Man
shows that Bad Religion won't be slowing down anytime soon. Greg
Graffin still patrols the stage spewing his highly intellectual lyrics
while Greg Hetson leap frogs across the stage with his Gibson SG. Some
of the highlights of their set included “American Jesus,” “Infected,”
“Sorrow” and “Los Angeles is Burning.”
Cake
would have fit nicely on the second night but was a welcome change of
pace to the evening with their quirky guitar riffs and John McCrea's
deadpan vocal delivery. Their cover of Black Sabbath's “War Pigs” was a
nice subtle jab at fitting in with the other hard rocking bands on the
line up.
would have fit nicely on the second night but was a welcome change of
pace to the evening with their quirky guitar riffs and John McCrea's
deadpan vocal delivery. Their cover of Black Sabbath's “War Pigs” was a
nice subtle jab at fitting in with the other hard rocking bands on the
line up.
Local Huntington Beach Boys The Dirty
Heads proved their mettle by working through a head bobbing set that
pleased most of the fans. Their cover of “Paint It Black” impressed
along with the requisite cameo by Rome of Sublime for “Lay Me Down.” Anberlin is still riding the strength of their song “Impossible” marking
two consecutive years in a row for playing the year end KROQ bash.
Switchfoot pulled off a daring cover of “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys.
A Day To Remember played their screaming metal core to a half full
audience.
Heads proved their mettle by working through a head bobbing set that
pleased most of the fans. Their cover of “Paint It Black” impressed
along with the requisite cameo by Rome of Sublime for “Lay Me Down.” Anberlin is still riding the strength of their song “Impossible” marking
two consecutive years in a row for playing the year end KROQ bash.
Switchfoot pulled off a daring cover of “Sabotage” by the Beastie Boys.
A Day To Remember played their screaming metal core to a half full
audience.
Personal Bias: I love the Smashing Pumpkins like it was 1992.
Crowd: KROQ winners, staff and those lucky enough to purchase tickets.
Overheard in the Crowd:
“Let's Go Lakers!” was chanted in retort to Billy Corgan mocking Los
Angeles since the Lakers were recently beaten by his Chicago Bulls.
“Let's Go Lakers!” was chanted in retort to Billy Corgan mocking Los
Angeles since the Lakers were recently beaten by his Chicago Bulls.
Random Notebook Dump: Not as many celebrity sightings as you would think on this particular night.
