Last Sunday at the Ford Amphitheater, 97x hosted the seventh annual “Next Big Thing Concert”.
The concert, which could actually be called a festival, hosted 16 musical acts such as: The Used, Rise Against, Angels And Airwaves, Paramore, Saosin, The Almost and more. This was the ultimatum of concerts and alternative music.
There were no wife beaters, Boston hats, or basketball shorts on Sunday, but there was a plethora of kids in tight jeans, band t-shirts and vans shoes. This was my kind of place.
The Ford Amphitheater was swamped at eight in the morning for tailgating all the way to the end of the night, a little past midnight. The day was filled with kids all over, chanting the anthems to their favorite songs.
The day began with a smaller stage that accompanied acts such as the Starting Line and Saosin.
The “Discover New Rock Stage” was packed with kids around as the venue slowly started to fill up. At around 1 p.m. the main stage was opened up and The Almost came out pumping the crowd up. Aaron Gillespie came out prancing around and swinging the mic to amp the crowd up for the long day ahead of them.
Silversun Pickups and Against Me! Got the crowd really moving, especially when Against Me! played their ever so popular “Thrash Unreal.” Next up after Against Me! was Flyleaf who got all the 14 year old girls standing and chanting.
Coheed ‘ Cambria showed their craft by being completely perfect on their instruments. Their guitar solo’s brought back the classic rock vibe and Claudio Sanchez’s hair was longer and goofier than ever.
Next up, around fiveish, came the ever so popular these days, Paramore. Hayley Williams strutted around the stage ever more convincing every man in the arena that she would be theirs one day. Paramore played a wonderful set list combing old and new material.
Chevelle and Angels ‘ Airwaves were the next two acts up and keep the heartbeat and adrenaline pumping. Tom DeLonge (AVA lead singer) was him usual self, acting like a completely pretentious idiot while dancing like an idiot pointing up and down and all around. Although AVA were good, I really wish that Tom was a better singer and would have put on more of a show vocally.
Looking back I was glad Angels and Airwaves didn’t get me stoked as much as they could of, because the best set was on its way.
The third to last band, Rise Against was the definition of a live band Sunday night. Singer Tim Mcllrath was absolutely pinpoint on his vocals and him and his punk rock band got EVERYONE moving. From moshing in the pits, to kids moshing on the lawn singing their hearts out, it was apparent Rise Against was the best of the night. Playing crowd favorites like “Ready to Fall”, “Give it All”, and “The Good Left Undone” got my heartbeat pumping faster than it’d beaten in a while.
As Rise Against made their exit we were all waiting for the next band that ultimately had one of the worst showings all day.
Jimmy Eat World was the second to last band, just proving why they haven’t had a hit in ages. There live show was decent, but just went to show how outdated they are in a scene that they helped bring to the mainstream. After a let down though, it could only go up hill from here.
The headliners of “The Next Big Thing 7” was the one and only The Used. Bert McCracken(The Used lead singer) was the epitome of a lead singer, showing great stage presence that only helped liven up the crowd. He was in great attire with a shirt sporting the slogan, “girls like you die every day,” which brought humor to myself.
The Used got the blood flowing for one last time, late Sunday night. The Used showcased their music abilities playing songs from their debut self titled album all the way to their new album, Lies For The Liars.
“Next Big Thing 7” was an incredible show of how alive rock n’ roll is in this day and age. It’s always there, and bands like such in the “NBT7” just go on to prove it.