On a day that featured typical Pittsburgh weather (Mother Nature couldn’t make up her damn mind), fans came together for what Stephen Jenkins of Third Eye Blind described as proof that music can still bring people together.

The day got underway at the Amphitheater at Station Square at 12:30 p.m. Seven bands played 25 minute sets on the Bamboozle Roadshow’s 2nd Stage, including Mercy Mercedes, The Ready Set and Stereo Skyline. Kids surrounded the stage and merch tables in 88 degree weather, though the blazing sun made it seem more like 98 as the sweat poured from the jumping fans and singers alike. 

Upon entering Millvale's Mr. Smalls concert venue something hit me like a truck. Not a body moshing through the pit or the metal music blaring from the pa system, but the horrific smell. Never in my life have I been in a place that wreaked as much as that one room, but I guess that is what I get for going to see Gwar, “the scumdogs of the universe,” who came to Pittsburgh for their 25th anniversary “Lust in Space” tour to promote their new album of the same name. Those not familiar with the group usually recoil in fear when an average Gwar show is described to them. The band members, with names such as Oderus Urungus, Beefcake the Mighty, Flattus Maximus, and Balsac the Jaws of Death, all dress in elaborate stage costumes that spew blood and other fake bodily fluids at enthusiastic fans. The two eighteen wheeler trucks parked beside Smalls that are used to transport all of Gwar's props and tanks of stage blood gave me some idea that I was about to see a memorable show, but I don't think anything could have ever prepared me for what would be the most intense concert of my life. 

When it comes right down to it two and a half hours is a lengthy duration for really any type of entertainment. Sporting events, movies and drinking binges can all take up about that amount of time and no one would feel short changed. Concerts on the other hand are expected to take a little longer. Generally there will be at least three bands playing, starting around 7:00 or 7:30 and going until roughly eleven. Much of that time is spent waiting for the next band to come on or waiting in line for a bathroom but still, at the end of the day, no one really remembers the pauses between sets. All anyone thinks about is how “f’ing sweet” or “f’ing gay” a show was. So there only being two bands, Interpol with special guests Twin Tigers, performing at the sold out show at Mr. Smalls on Wednesday that was supposed to start at 8:00 says a lot about the popularity of one of those two bands…

The CMA Music Festival is country music’s showcase, a week-long event that treats the world’s best music fans to up-close and personal interactions with their favorite artists, as well as star-studded performance lineups night after night at LP Field, home of the Tennessee Titans.  The nightly concerts at the football field have historically been the highlight of the festival, and this year was different, which each of the four lineups offering sets by the genre’s biggest stars.

Thursday, June 10:

Former American Idol finalist Danny Gokey not only kicked off Thursday night’s lineup, but he was also the first performer of the entire festival on LP Field.  Gokey delivered a predictable, corny, well-sung 15 minute set which only include 4 songs, including his chart-climbing single, “My Best Days Are Ahead Of Me.” Gokey’s good guy personality and still inspiring-story made his otherwise mediocre set somewhat memorable.  

Whenever I see a show anymore, it’s always the end of the night that sticks with me.  Last Thursday at Club Café, the lights were on (pushing 1 AM) and the crowd was thinning out.  Ed Hamell, a.k.a. Hamell on Trial, was out by the door, doing the meet-and-greet, hoping to sell a few CD’s, for which no one can blame him.  I had never in my life seen an eight-year-old child sitting at the merch table, certainly not at one in the morning.  “Buy some shit.  Meet my kid,” said Ed, as his show was drawing to a close, so I did.

I certainly don’t want to sound like I’m passing judgment.  It’s none of my business whether or not it was a school night, or how much sleep the kid had been getting.  I will say that while I didn’t talk to the kid while I bought a CD from him, he did seem sufficiently friendly, well-adjusted, and medication-free, at least in pantomime.