By snoadmin
A crowd surrounded San Diego’s Qualcomm Stadium on Aug. 5 as thousands of fans came to the second day of the 22nd annual Street Scene festival.
Many flocked to the concert to see headliners Tool and Snoop Dogg, but fans were excited to see acts like The Shins, Sean Paul, and last-minute addition The New York Dolls. Those who wanted to meet performing bands got their wish, as several vendors at the concerts had scheduled bands to sign autographs for fans.
British Rock band The Subways performed early in the evening at the Zarabanda Stage. The trio, consisting of lead vocalist and guitarist Billy Lunn, bassist Charlotte Cooper and drummer Josh Morgan, started off their set with high energy songs like the title track off their album, Young for Eternity. Cooper played energetically for a screaming crowd, while Lunn, dressed in a Batman T-shirt and jeans, sang and moved with ease. At one point, Lunn raced across the stage, grabbed a guitar stand and threw it off the back of the stage, to the delight of fans.
U.K. band The Editors played to a crowd at the Time Warner Stage. Because of a cancellation by My Chemical Romance, acts on the stage were pushed back an hour. However, fans anxiously waiting for The Editors to begin were not disappointed. While drummer Ed Lay, bassist Russell Leetch, and guitarist Chris Urbanowicz remained stationary, lead singer and guitarist Tom Smith was a blur on stage. Smith was crawling and dancing on stage when he was not playing songs like “Blood,” “All Sparks,” and “Someone Says.”
Indie rock band The Shins followed The Editors. By comparison, The Shins’ performance was rather low-key, with singer James Russell Mercer perched on a stool near the stage’s edge. A mellow crowd listened as the band started its set, and many people in the audience swayed easily to the music. Although some fans were disappointed by the band’s live performance compared to their CD, the audience still danced and sang along with, “Caring is Creepy,” a song featured in the movie “Garden State.”
The Yeah Yeah Yeahs performed on the Zarabanda Stage in place of My Chemical Romance. Singer Karen O came on stage wearing a black leotard and tights accented with gemstones. She moved effortlessly around the stage, contorting her body and dancing. She took time between songs like “Fancy” and “Honeybear” to sip water and spit sprays of water into the air.
Long Beach native Snoop Dogg headlined the Captain Morgan Stage. A huge crowd surrounded the stage, and security was swamped with people trying to secure a position backstage. Snoop Dogg came out on stage dressed all in white with a blinged-out microphone covered by a giant sparkling marijuana leaf. He walked back and forth across the stage while performing, stopping at times to talk to the crowd. At one point in his set, Snoop Dogg pulled out what he identified as a blunt and asked the audience if he should light it up. The crowd went wild and clouds of smoke were visible above the audience for the duration of the performance. Although he did recognize the San Diego crowd quite a few times, Snoop Dogg also paid homage to his hometown, calling out to the “L.B.C.” The stage itself was covered with performers and security people, and smoke machines created a cloudy atmosphere cut by pink and purple lighting in the background.
