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Big Giant and the Extravaganza - Allentown, Pennsylvania
by Music Vice contributor Alison Killian - October 29, 2008
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Gig/Concert: |
Big Giant and the Extravaganza |
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Venue: |
Crocodile Rock Café, Allentown, Pennsylvania |
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Date: |
Ocober 25, 2008 |
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| Headliners: |
Casualties, Mae |
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In one word: |
"FAKE!" |
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Your say: |
Were you here? Talk about it |
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As I walked beneath the “Under 21” entrance of the Crocodile Rock Café, I could feel my heart pounding. The pre-show adrenaline was kicking in, but also I was just in a hurry to get inside because the rain was coming down hard outside. The warm building was a relief, and so was the sound of a lively rock music as I could already hear drum sets rumbling and people screaming.
The Crocodile Rock Cafe has two floors, and it's very spacious - perfect for an intimate indoor festival like this. First off I went down to the bottom floor which had a very mellow vibe; until you hit the stage at least. I walked through a long hallway of merch tables and groups of people, and walked up to the Tragic Hero Recordings Stage. The band playing was Geronimo, and from what I heard, they weren’t half bad. But I didn't stick around for too long either - I wanted to scope-out what was happening upstairs.
Upstairs there were two more stages: the main stage and the Sam Ash stage which was outside under a tent in the parking lot. The second floor was much more crowded than the first, but it was still early doors for this elaborately named 'Big Giant and the Extravaganza'. After a quick glance at the posted list of bands and times, I decided to go outside to the Sam Ash Stage to watch The Great American Soundtrack, an old favorite of mine.
Philadelphia rockers The Great American Soundtrack have been known to put on a great show, and this was my first time seeing them live, so I was really excited. When the show started, lead vocalist Kurt was full of energy and got the crowd going. The band had strong stage presence and was really entertaining. They played some old favorites, like Lines, and some brand new songs. I was hooked for their entire performance, and I ended up buying their demo.
After TGAS, I headed downstairs and on my way I was stopped by a member of a Boston-based band called The Fury Coast. He said that they were just about to play and was inviting people to come check them out. Curiosity led me to follow him to the stage where I heard an incredible performance by his band. Their songs were very catchy, but also hard enough that a mosh pit broke out in what little space where I was standing with friends. The whole crowd seemed to love this band, and I was pretty disappointed when they had to end their set.
"It turned out that a tree fell on a power line which caused the entire block to black out. But this lack of power did not stop Kelsey from rocking out."
At around 3 PM I hit the Main Stage and caught a couple songs from Kelsey And The Chaos!; that is until the power went out. Yes, the power actually went out. The Croc Rock wasn’t the only building to lose power, though. It turned out that a tree fell on a power line which caused the entire block to black out. But this lack of power did not stop Kelsey from rocking out. She started a sing-a-long to some well-known songs like Sir Mix-a-Lot's Baby Got Back and Katy Perry's I Kissed A Girl. The power eventually came back on, and normal service was resumed but with everything pushed back about a half hour.
After hours of waiting and watching, the first act that I was truly ecstatic to see was about to play: Just Surrender. I was about five feet away with a growing crowd of people behind me. You could feel the anticipation in the air as the band set up. They started off strong with Body Language and Bad Habits, and continued with Your Life and Mine, my favourite song of theirs. With every song you could hear the crowd screaming the lyrics back at the band. There was such a high energy coming from both the crowd and the band that I forgot about everything else except the epic performance going on in front of me. It's always great to see one of your personal favourites - if you like their sound then you have to see them.
"...one person dared to taunt the band by shouting out 'YOU GUYS ARE FAKE PUNK!', which ended with Rick dropping his bass and chasing the kid all the way out of the venue."
The energy kept up and then went a few notches higher as The Casualties came on next. The entire crowd turned into one giant circle pit of skanking and moshing. While there were a lot of people making up the circle pit, there were some, like myself, who preferred to watch the performance from the sides of the room.
The Casualties put on nothing but a straight-up, hardcore punk show and nobody would expect anything less from them. Or so you would think...one person dared to taunt the band by shouting out 'YOU GUYS ARE FAKE PUNK!', which ended with Rick dropping his bass and chasing the kid all the way out of the venue. It was hilarious. Maybe that kid was trying to be ironic, because the Casualties were the most 'real' band at this event, where they'd been surrounded by a lot of pop rock bands. Anyway a lesson was learnt: you do not mess with The Casualties.
Then it was time for the final act of the night: Mae. There weren’t a lot of people left, seeing as it was 11pm and that was past the curfew for a lot of the largely teenage audience. Nonetheless, Mae put on an incredible show. The only light they used came from the projector that was showing scenes of their travels on a white sheet behind Jacob, the drummer. The atmosphere and the performance as a whole were very tranquil and calming. I was very glad that we decided to stay until the end. Singing along to Suspension with the 25 people around me was a perfect way to end the festival.
© Alison Killian
The Casualties- www.myspace.com/thecasualties
Mae - www.whatismae.com
