Despite a dreary forecast for Charlotte on September 16, droves of rock fans braved a little rain to enjoy 13 set lists of ‘90s nostalgia to modern rock for 106.5 The End’s resurrected “Weenie Roast” at Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. As with any monster rock fest such as this one, fans may experience some difficulty catching all of the bands, but with a little creative hoofing it, I was able to catch at least a couple songs from every band there.
Charlotte band VESS sounded the heralding trumpet for the beginning of the aural action with their retro-inspired indie rock. Their short-but-sweet set felt like a party with the vocals of U2, riffs from Franz Ferdinand, and backbeats by Muse as the guests of honor. Between the soulful lyrics belted in artistic anguish and the dance-worthy rhythmic landscape, I couldn’t help but bob my head along with VESS’s grooves.
Kicking off the main stage acts, Eve 6 delivered a somewhat sleepy set to the wet Weenie-goers. Singer Max Collins even prompted the audience to “poke your neighbor in the ribs to make sure they’re still of the living,” because apparently the crowd wasn’t giving back a whole lot of energy to drive the band. Granted, a 1:00pm set time on a rainy Sunday isn’t the pinnacle of awesome circumstances for performance, but about the only time the band and the crowd showed palpable energy was during the new single, “Victoria.” Several fans — myself included — had hoped to hear “Open Road Song” from the band’s major label debut album, but our hopes were dashed, as “Inside Out” was the only track from that record that they performed. We pretty much knew they would play that one, though. The set wasn’t really bad or anything—just really low-key.
Due to the rainy trek from the main stage, I only managed to catch “Purple Heart Queen” and “Passed Out on the Floor” by Charlotte band Drop D, who hit the side stage moments after Eve 6’s conclusion. It was interesting to see the band with their semi-new lead guitarist, and they certainly had a lot of onstage energy.
Anberlin vocalist Stephen Christian came out swinging—the mic, that is—on the main stage, and the band followed suit with what was the most enthusiastic performance of the day to that point. Even as unfamiliar as I am with Anberlin’s catalogue of songs, I still thoroughly enjoyed every one they played. Early-set-be-damned, the guys of Anberlin chugged out oscillations between grinding, alternative-metal riffage and super-fast powerpop choruses. Their two guitar players, who bore matching Cherry Sunburst Les Paul axes for their new song “Someone, Anyone,” executed each arpeggio and palm-muted chord with expert precision, and the vocals maintained power and control over those soaring high notes from start to finish.
Unsure what to expect next, I headed out to the side stage, hearing the new single “Holy Touch” from Foxy Shazam blaring as I rounded the corner. From the threatening announcement that greeted my arrival to the pack of people at the front of the stage, it seems like this band has received some bullying criticism—that the singer sounds like a girl and the keyboard player looks like a terrorist. I wouldn’t make those comments to them unless you’d like your face shoved into the pavement. Sounded a little extreme to me, but, hey; regardless, the vigor with which singer Eric Nally delivered his speech proved pervasive throughout the performance, leaving the fans thirsty for more of the bar fight between Queen and Red Hot Chili Peppers that was Foxy’s stage show. Also of note, they have an actual trumpet player to play those licks in songs like the increasingly popular “I Like It.” Good to know that wasn’t just keys or a sample, in a world where the fake stuff is so common. These guys definitely fall into my category of “Weird as Shit, but Incredibly Entertaining.” My opinion, to quote the band: “I like it.”
Back under the cover of the main area, Our Lady Peace took the stage like a mighty wind, bringing in smiles to all the faces singing along with their classics. The set list ran the gamut on the timeline of their music, from new songs like “Heavyweight” and “As Fast As You Can” to the old classics “Somewhere Out There,” “Superman’s Dead,” and the crowd favorite “Clumsy,” all the way back to their breakout hit “Starseed,” from way back in 1995. Raine Maida on lead vocal and Steve Mazur on lead guitar took turns wailing out the raw power of their instruments and energizing the onlookers as everyone began to dry out from the early afternoon’s drenching. It pleased me to see that a band can still obviously enjoy playing a song they wrote almost twenty years ago. While not as over-the-top in energy of some of the other bands of the day, Our Lady Peace put on a solid, powerful performance.
Next came Evans Blue, who delivered some of the heaviest riffs of the day to some of the drunkest bitches who obviously didn’t pace themselves and were trying to booty dance to heavy metal at 4:00 in the afternoon. I’m glad they had a good time, at least, as long as they weren’t throwing up on MY shoes. Drunk bitches notwithstanding, the crowd loved Evans Blue. Singer Dan Chandler and guitarist/screamer Parker Lauzon really brought the horns up across the crowd landscape in between songs, and the band’s glorious cherries of brilliance topped off a sundae of a set.
Switchfoot surprised me with their comeback after a flat first song. Perhaps the slow beginning was an intentional budgeting of output to allow for a real ramp-up later, but after their opener, “Afterlife,” I thought, “Well, this is going to be a snoozer.” The band happily proved me wrong as “Meant to Live” and “Mess of Me” gained strength within the band and traction with the growing crowd, and then—BAM!—a great cover of “Sabotage” by The Beastie Boys took hold and threw the whole amphitheater into a frenzy. Singer Jon Foreman ran down the aisle of seats and sang the second half of the song from the lawn, much to the delight of the grass-goers who don’t often get to see the band members up close like that. He slowly made his way back toward the stage while singing “Dare You to Move” with plenty of unofficial backing vocals from the crowd he just finished visiting. Clearly the close-up with the crowd was a pleasure for Jon, too, as he told the rest of the band “you guys might have to start this one without me,” while he mingled with excited fans in the front row. The band finished up the set with “Dark Horses,” and a particularly explosive “The Sound,” where the band went absolutely wild during the guitar solo. These guys definitely exceeded my wildest expectations and made some fans’ day by breaking out of the band cage.
I wasn’t able to catch most of Paper Tongues’ set because it was wicked crowded at the side stage by that point, but I did catch a couple of songs, like their radio single “Get Higher” and one I hadn’t heard before that involved floor toms triggered with super-low bass sub-drops. The audience definitely loved Paper Tongues, and the band clearly had a lot of fun up on stage.
Of all the bands that played the Weenie Roast ’12, I would have to say the one with the most rabid—I mean, loyal—fans was Coheed & Cambria. Despite not getting a lot of radio airplay around Charlotte, these guys had a ton of people singing along to every word of every single song they played. While most of the other bands had that simplistic pop edge, Coheed & Cambria stuck to the technical side for their music, producing the perfect marriage of rock and classic metal with just enough catchiness to suck you in, much to the screaming delight of their fanbase. As each song began, the first few notes drew excited screams from the throngs of hardcore fans, before the noobs could even name that tune. Though mostly music-focused, the band was not devoid of stage antics, as singer/guitarist Claudio Sanchez hoisted his double-necked guitar to the top of his head to play a few licks of their final song with the guitar as a crown.
Though Flogging Molly fans might not have known as many of the words to the band’s songs as the Coheed fans did, they certainly expressed their die-hard love for the band via rowdy, drunken jig dancing. The pit was a constant kettle of shirtless moshers, and people were dancing clumsily in the aisles and on the lawn. It’s amazing how riled up a person can get with just the sound of an electric banjo. During “Drunken Lullabies,” the rowdy crowd was happy to help deliver the backup gang vocals on the chorus. After that raucous number, singer Dave King made a dedication of the next song to those who died in the attack on the American Consulate in Libya, and his bandmates raised their Guinness tallboys in somber respect. The song, “If I Ever Leave This World Alive,” is what Dave calls a sort of “friendship song,” and features a heart-rending lullaby of the less-drunken variety. It was just plain beautiful to experience that one with everybody. Not to end on a quiet note, Flogging Molly ramped it back into high gear with “Saints and Sinners,” a super-heavy jig that offers lyrical commentary on the judging of other people. Then, into a timeless cover of Bob Dylan’s “Times They Are A’Changin’” and finishing strong with “What’s Left of the Flag,” each of which started off sounding soft and sentimental, then bursting into that full-on, Celtic-punk fury for which Flogging Molly is iconic.
It had been way too long since we heard anything from goth rock band Garbage, but they sure did come back with a vengeance for this show, starting off with a killer track, “Automatic Systematic Habit,” from their new album called “Not Your Kind of People.” Sultry singer Shirley Manson pranced out onstage like a macabre Madonna, and gave a performance on par with a Top 40 pop diva, but a lot heavier-sounding and more industrial. From the tracks performed from the new record, I could definitely see it absolutely exploding in the club scene, especially in Europe. For long-time fans, the set list satisfied, with plenty of the older tracks, like “Paranoid,” “Cherry Lips,” “Stupid Girl,” and “#1 Crush,” among others.
I loved the newer, heavier take on these tunes compared to the studio versions, and watching Shirley’s interpretive dancing only added to the fun, as she lived up to the reputation of that fiery red hair. Despite my absolute adoration for the classic Garbage tracks, the new song “Control” got my vote, hands down, for their best of the night. Wow. Amazing. An aptly-named closing number for the evening, “I’m Only Happy When It Rains,” started out with a slower, quieter couple of lines, showcasing Shirley’s vocals, then erupting into full-strength for an audience-accompanied “Pour your misery down” that set pace to carry us all to the end of the set. Welcome back, Garbage; we missed you.
Offspring popped out last, LED lights blaring, to “All I Want” from the “Ixnay on the Hombre” record—one of my personal favorites—that hyped up the well-rocked audience right from the get-go. Next came the ever-popular “Come Out and Play,” where guitarist Noodles got a solo spotlight for every “You gotta keep ‘em separated” line, which I thought was a nice touch. The light show really amped up the level of excitement in comparison to the other acts—and everybody knows drunk people love pretty lights—with some mesmerizing sequential swirly lights attached to their logo backdrop piece. They took a break from the retro vibe to drop in the title track from their new album, “Days Go By,” which was significantly less exciting than I might have hoped. They redeemed themselves shortly thereafter with a rousing rendition of “Gone Away” with had a cool new outro drum beat that mimicked the intro beat and faded out instead of the album version’s distorted guitar chord sustain at the end of the song. I thought that really capped off the song perfectly.
After the new song “Turning Into You,” I heard the unmistakable bass intro to none other than “Bad Habit” from the “Smash” album—and my night was officially MADE. As we got through the road-rage-inspired first verse and chorus, I wondered how singer Dexter Holland would handle the über-profane, vocals-only break to the song that has gotten many a teenager grounded for playing it. When that part came up, Dexter stopped and asked the eager fans how we were doing. Ha! Then he asked us to help him out and “sing along” for the next part. I’m pretty sure he backed off the mic for the actual profanity, but I couldn’t hear over my own screaming along. What can I say; I try to help when I can. From then on out, it was a well-planned, “greatest hits” kind of set, appreciated enormously by all ears around. Even the barely-21 nerdy guy in front of me who soberly sang every word to Coheed & Cambria’s set had progressed to shirtless nerdy-kid dancing and throwing horns in a drunken fit of rock enjoyment during The Offspring’s set. By the time the band had hit the last chord in their final encore of “Self-Esteem,” the rock fans could all hit the parking lot with satisfied smiles from the wonderful Weenie they’d just experienced.
We can’t wait for an even bigger and better Weenie for next year. At least that’s what she said.
