LIVE SHOW REVIEW: Great South Bay Music Festival
LIVE SHOW REVIEW: Great South Bay Music Festival
Words & Images By: James Dicks
Returning to Long Island for its 13th year, The Great South Bay Festival is a 4 day music fest that showcases an array of artists from all walks of life. This year’s line-up headlines included Frank Iero, Glassjaw, WAR, Sublime with Rome, America – and of course – Long Island icons, Taking Back Sunday. From July 18 through the 21 – dozens of bands made their presence known for all to hear on this tiny island. I had the pleasure of attending the first and final day of this iconic Long Island festival.
Whatever We Are kicked off the main stage with an incredible genre blended performance. This four piece act serves up a blend of pop, rap and punk rock creating one of the most unforgettable sets of the day. Whatever We Are may have been one of the smaller acts of the day, but they are without a doubt going to become a household name very soon.
Next to the stage was everyone’s favorite former emo kid, Frank Iero and The Future Violents. Frank and the Future Violents have been keeping busy since putting out their latest album, Barriers – from headlining tours to playing the final Vans Warped Tour – Great South Bay Festival was just another day in the life of a rockstar. While his band’s career may have started with the cult following of MCR fans, it’s become quite obvious that Frank has come into his own as a musician and artist – from the moment the first note hit. Fans lost their god damn minds, and that energy never stopped.
Pop-punk icons, The Menzingers, made their way to the stage with such ease – making themselves right at home front and center. The stage was their playground as they hopped around and laughed and giggled between tracks. But these Philly Fellas know how to keep the crowd begging for more as they teased a few tracks off their upcoming album, Hello Exile, due out this October.
Before we knew it, it was time for some Long Island Hardcore Legends – who helped paved the way for so many bands – Glassjaw. The moment they stepped foot on stage the circle pit grew three times its size – with zero indication of shrinking. Glassjaw’s passion radiated off the stage and fueled the crowds’ excitement. Everyone feeding off the energy around them until it was illuminating off their bodies. It becomes more evident each time I bare witness to the phenomenon that is Glassjaw as to why they’ve been able to survive in this cut throat industry for the last 20+ years – there will truly never be another like them.
But of course we couldn’t have a Long Island music festival without inviting the other legends of the island – Taking Back Sunday. Playing Tell All Your Friends in its entirety, fans were definitely here for it. The only downside to having your favorite bands play festivals is the time crunch they are under – anyone that has seen TBS live before knows that frontman, Adam Lazzara, loves to dive into stories about their tracks. While they may have been pressed for time this time around, Adam promised fans he’d get into detail about everything when they swing back around this November. As they closed out their set they payed a proper homage to Glassjaw, stating without them there wouldn’t be a Taking Back Sunday.
With day one over I couldn’t wait to get my ass back their for the final day of this incredible festival. I started my day with Brandon “Taz” Niederauer – a real life ‘dream come true’ kind of guy. At the tender age of 8 he got into Rock n Roll after watching Jack Black‘s iconic, ‘School Of Rock‘. Fast forward a few years to him actually being casted at the lead in the Broadway production of the movie. The shock and awe of his own accomplishments clearly still ring fresh in his ears – but then again who can blame him, in less than a decade he’s accomplished more than many hope to dream of. Regardless of what Taz thinks of his rise to fame his musical skills speak for themselves – this kid is next level, easily on the same tier as child prodigies. He may be fresh in the business but he’s not going anywhere but up.
Keeping the rock n roll scene, Edgar Winters and his band graced the stage. They played all their hits including, “Free Ride”, “Keep Playing That Rock n Roll” and even did a cover of “Tobacco Road” before closing out the set with “Frankenstein”. Edgar Winters has been in the business a long time but man does he still got it.
Finally it was time for a band we were all dying to see –WAR. Of course they blew fans away with not only their amazing stage presence but hugely because of the way they interact with their fans – from dad jokes to kicking beach balls into the crowd, there wasn’t a dull moment in their set. Even though they’ve been a band for 50 years, there is no plans on slowing down – and why should they? These musical legends have influenced and continue to influence bands of the present and future – without a doubt this is the best type of any WAR.
The final act of the night was AMERICA – playing not only their original songs but also throwing in a few covers for the kids who may not realize that they were in the presence of greatness. AMERICA is yet another band celebrating 50 years as a band – showing us all that it’s completely possible to make this incredibly wonderfully insane music life a career. The brought us on a trip on the “Venture Highway” while showing off stunning visuals in the background. Despite having to cut their set short by a song due to impending thunderstorms – AMERICA helped create an unforgettable night and yet again a Great South Bay Music Festival one for the books.
