X Fest in Baton Rouge

Saturday, I took my daughter and a friend of her's to Baton Rouge to "X-Fest" — a six-band concert promoted by a Baton Rouge radio station (104.5/104.9 "The X") at the River Center (formerly The Centroplex).

The bands we saw were: Sayosin, Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Pappa Roach, Jet, AFI (A Fire Inside), and The Killers.

The sound system was tuned for The Killers, but the only band among the opening bands that was even a bit interesting was Jet. The sound was too muddy to make a real assessment of what Jet show might sound like, though they are heavy on guitars, use a keyboard player sparingly, and generally know how to play.

The rest of the bands (except The Killers, which I'll get to in a minute) seemed to be covering ground between speed metal and, well, speed funk metal (like they might try to sound like Red Chili Peppers if only they knew how to play better).

I was familiar with at least one song from every band that played, because I listen to KLSU and to The X stations when I'm in the Baton Rouge area, which is frequently.

Very little dynamics in the music, but the kids (and there were a lot of them there, parents in tow) loved them, equating aerobic stamina with energy and skill. I tried explaining to my daughter and her friend how the bands were good in their own ways, but that — for the most part — they weren't good musicians. I didn't think they could play anything but what they were playing. I tried explaining this a couple of different ways and, I think, they kind of got it after the second (or maybe it was the third) try.

The Killers, though, are for real! I have a couple of their songs from "Sam's Town" and have heard a good bit of them on the radio. They can play AND they put on a good show. Light on the aerobics though. They had a five-piece lineup. The lead singer plays a little bit of keyboards (primarily some synthesizer, with a couple of piano intros and segments on a couple of songs). He also played bass on one song. The primary bass player played guitar on the song that the singer played bass on. There was a drummer and a lead guitarist, plus a guy who played guitar and keyboards, but hung back in the shadows.

I don't think I've ever heard/felt as much low end as I did over the seven-plus hours (uh-huh!) we were there. It was loud, but not painfully loud, primarily because so much of the power was in the low end and thanks in part to the fact that no one played really piercing guitar solos. It would have been interesting to have been outside the arena to see if it sounded like it felt — like being inside one of those cars with the massive sub-woofers rattling hood ornaments and dental bridges within a multi-vehicle/multi-lane range.

It was an interesting evening from a sociological standpoint as the age mix at the event was pretty broad. Clearly, the younger kids like the neo-headbanger stuff and their parents didn't want to send them off on their own to a concert on their own for what amounted to a full day. I know that's how I ended up being there for the entire show.

But, I would pay to see The Killers again and would encourage you gents to do so if you have the chance. I think they're going to be around for a while (at least by industry standards).

The Baton Rouge Advocate had a story on the concert, but I don't have that link.