Cheer Up Charlie Daniels is off to see the ‘roo after playing a raucous set Monday night. Round two had its good, bad and ugly along with lots of extra people cluttered onstage for many of the sets and the usual desperate theatrics. It began with The Pink Spiders‘ infuriatingly infectious pop rock hooks. They shredded with a flashing sign behind them bearing their moniker and welcomed onstage tambourine-toting minions who danced through the crowd on the last song. The dreadlocks and wild arm flailing of Born Empty shattered that vibe and plunged us into a heavy, Incubus-like sonic stupor that would have been well-suited to Bonnaroo before Cheer Up Charlie Daniels piled onstage to deliver their musical variety show.
Keegan DeWitt managed to walk away as first runner-up, either because of some hooky songcraft or a shower of shiny, cheap confetti. Leroy Powell, the second runner-up, took the stage next, and hidden under a hat and dark shades, delivered enough heated blues riffs to cut through anybody’s drunken warm fuzzies. Here comes the bad – sadly, Brandon Jazz and His Armed Forces had to forfeit due to an untimely computer crash. Rotten luck, especially considering the time and effort he put into the show’s preparation.
As for the ugly, that could easily be the hideously awesome pants worn by The Captain Midnight Band during their strange and gritty funk rock. Finally, Big Surr‘s itty frontwoman closed with a big bang; though they were last, the band still had a loyal cluster of fans up front for four songs of revving, punkish indie rock. – Jessica Pace