I ventured to Irvine, California Saturday to see what the buzz surrounding the KROQ Annual Weenie Roast was all about and stepped outside of LA to catch a concert for the first time since Coachella. After making the traffic-infested trek on a day that finally felt like summer, I entered a world of fohawks and tank tops as Orange County gathered to support an unorthodox variety of artists featured on KROQ Radio. I arrived at the venue shortly after it opened at 2:00pm as Young the Giant warmed up a decent-sized crowd and opened the show on one of two Bud Light side stages.
Only about thirty percent of the eventual capacity crowd was fortunate enough to see every act on the side stage, which offered a much more diverse and attractive lineup than the punk-dominated main stage. As a 28 year old dude, I was a bit put off by the crowd of fans consisting mostly of Orange county kids who swiped their parents credit card. But Young the Giant worked with what they had and impressed with songs like My Body and Cough syrup. This wasn’t an easy show to open, and they did more than their fair share to set the tone. But it was evident within the first hour that this was no Almost Acoustic Christmas, nor any talent-packed festival for that matter.
Foster the People was hands down the best act of the day, and with Lykke Li cancelling they got to showcase the majority of their recently released debut Torches. They opened up with Warrant and did what they could to energize a crowd which lacked fans from their steadily growing Indie Electronic Dance demographic. The band traded off instruments and Mark Foster danced and jammed like a wild man, although few audience members embraced the vibe besides myself and a handful of others. He traded off between guitar, keyboard, and occasional drumming as the rest of the bad showcased their diversity with songs like Don’t Stop, Houdini, and I Would do Anything for You. Unfortunately the only song the entire crowd got into was their single, the catchy but overplayed Pumped up Kicks which doesn’t hold a candle to the majority of the tracks on the album. The crowd clapped and sang along as Foster performed a respectable variation and slowed it down to switch it up. They closed with Helena Beat, and Foster showed the small gathering that he’s a performer with unquestionable stage presence that came to play. If you’re not a fan already, get on board.
Unfortunately the very-talented Swedish vixen Lykke Li cancelled due to laryngitis and Airborne Toxic Event opened their set strong with the catchy, radio friendly Changing. The rest of their set didn’t live up to their opener, but they proved that they have talent and are worth paying attention to at a festival but probably not as a headliner.
Neon Trees closed the side stage before the focus shifted to the much larger pavilion which hosted mosh pits, and a number of drunken underage sun-soaked zombies wandering aimlessly in search of a different decade. Tyler Glenn did his best to impersonate Anothony Kiedis (to no avail) as he exaggerated pretty much everything he did. He tries a little too hard to be a rock star and should get back into whatever mode he was in when he wrote Animal because it’s the only song that really explodes. This was one of the catchiest songs of the year, but I wouldn’t expect greatness from them. The set was mediocre at best.
As the sun bore down on the day a strange mixture of festival participants herded up the hill to enter the pavilion. Face to Face kicked off at 5:15 and a fan base consisting of people far too young to know much about them acted like they did and started moshing and yelling almost instantaneously. They closed the half hour set with a bang and celebrated the overwhelming punk following. A Day to Remember followed them and kids begin head banging as lead Singer Jeremy McKinnon hurled blood curdling screams to the surprising pleasure of the majority of people filtering onto the lawn and into their pavilion seats. I breathed a sigh of relief as they announced that they would be returning to Warped Tour, popped two Tylenol, and prepared to attempt to enjoy the rest of the show.
