The tribal drums were beating furiously as fans anticipated Coldplay, Incubus and The Offspring. What they did not expect was the opening riff to “Spoonman” by Soundgarden, who amped up an already pumped and drunk crowd.
KROQ hosted the 20th Annual Weenie Roast and Fiesta, selling out the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, with more than 20,000 guests in attendance. The festival had a Mayan theme throughout, creating an energetic ambiance, encouraging irrational behavior.
Fans celebrated Cinco de Mayo with beer and music, while the bands seemed to take a difference approach. Almost every performer paid tribute to Adam Yauch, better known as MCA, of the Beastie Boys, who died the day before.
With Pennywise and Coldplay playing two completely different versions of “(You gotta) Fight for your right (to party),” fans and musicians joined to together to mourn the loss of MCA the best way he would want them to – by partying hard.
Opening up the festivities on the second stage were Of Monsters and Men and Grouplove. AWOLnation had the crowd roaring with excitement as front man Aaron Bruno crowd surfed throughout their performance.
The sun wasn’t even close to setting when Garbage came out with a bang as the first band on the main stage. Although all of the bands scheduled on the line-up were Weenie Roast veterans, the ’90s alternative band hadn’t played the festival since 1996. A fan showed the red-headed Shirley Manson love by giving her a bouquet of flowers during the song ” Stupid Girl.” It’s been five years since Garbage has released an album, but May 15 marks the debut day of their new album, “Not Your Kind of People.”
Once Angels and Airwaves took the stage, it seemed like most of the crowd decided to go on a beer run since the stands cleared out just a bit. Even with all the different colored guitars set up on their stage, none of them had the power to correct Tom De Longe’s out-of-key vocals.
Pennywise rocked the stage next, with punk-rock hits like “Society” and “F*** Authority,” getting the crowd amped-up that it was only 6 p.m., and there were still three incredible headliners left to perform.
Although Silversun Pickups may have had slower vocals then Pennywise, they were just as loud and vibrant. “Lazy eye” was a drastic tempo change from Pennywise, but they blasted everyone’s ears with “Panic Switch” and kept the show alive.
Surprise guests Soundgarden appeared for their first performance at Weenie Roast. Although it took a while to recognize Chris Cornell (vocals) – with long locks resembling the grunge-looking hair of Brandon Lee (vocalist of Incubus) – his voice sounded like no other and everyone attempted to sing along with his screaming yet powerful lyrics. Unfortunately, their biggest hit “Black Hole Sun” was absent from the set list.
Next was The Offspring, a band who to no surprise had every single person in the crowd on their feet, jumping and singing along to raging hits like “Bad Habit” and “Come Out and Play.” It was like everyone had built up all their emotional anger until this moment so they could burst it out while singing along with Dexter Holland.
Incubus and Coldplay were equally as talented, and fans all around were betting to see who would close the show. With Coldplay’s three recent sold-out Hollywood Bowl shows attracting, they easily won the top headliner battle.
Aside from Brandon Boyd (vocals) of Incubus causing every female fan to swoon once he took off his shirt, his voice is what originally attracted them all. Boyd’s voice blended perfectly with Mike Eizinger’s (guitar) funky frets and booming bass and drumbeats in songs like “Switchblade” and “Nice to Know You.”
As if Coldplay’s amazing music hits like “Clocks” and “The Scientist” were not enough, they also opened with a confetti explosion during “In My Place,” and then had balloons bigger than beach balls fall from the sky out of nowhere during “Yellow.”
With the Mayan theme, it appeared as if the fans wouldn’t have cared if the end of the world was, in fact, occurring because great music was still very much alive.
