Concert Review: The Edge Hullabaloo

by Kenneth Smith of of 2K7 Photography

I'm still not too sure what exactly a Hullabaloo is but whatever it's supposed to be, it was at the Nokia Theatre on Friday night in Grand Prairie. Presented as the "1st Annual" by 102.1 The Edge, it was slow to start but ended up being quite an enjoyable evening. Upon arriving to the venue around 4:30 when the doors were scheduled to open, I quickly realized that starting a weekday show this early might not be the best Idea ever, considering there looked to be about 40 people outside. Anyone who has been to this venue knows that isn't even enough people to fill one of the bathrooms. Once I got inside, I also noticed that the pit area of the venue had been filled with seats. This was an odd sight and certainly the first time I have ever been to the Nokia Theatre with no pit (standing) area.

At around 5:00 the show opened with Cleveland Ohio's Lovedrug. As they walked onto the stage (which was barely accessible due to the fact they they (the production folks) seem to have crammed every instrument for all 6 bands onto the stage at once), one of the members could be heard saying, "This is gonna be awkward", presumably referring to the fact that the venue literally seemed empty. It was at this point that I realized that this was probably the most bizarre situation imaginable: playing to a massive venue with all of 30 people spread out everywhere (the other 10 were getting concessions or something). Regardless of the circumstances, they made the best of it and played a great set.

Shiny Toy Guns were next and by this time the crowd had swelled to about 80 people instead of 30. Still quite awkward, and with audio problems to boot, I would say that they managed to put on a nice show. Of the sparse crowd there, it was obvious that many were indeed Shiny Toy Guns fans because they kept yelling out song requests between songs which could be heard loud and clear. I began to wonder if someone had made a huge mistake by holding this show in such a large venue. Sick Puppies were next. For those that might remember, they were just here 3 days earlier with Evanescence, and, actually have been here about 4 or 5 times since May alone. Hailing from Australia, this band never seems to disappoint. By the time they took the stage, the audience was rapidly starting to grow to a respectable number and my worries that the entire show would be as bizarre as the beginning began to fade away.

Toronto's Evans Blue opened their set with a newer, incredibly popular single "The Pursuit" and the audience could finally be heard in a manner in which I'm used to hearing at this venue. I found myself oddly captivated by the fact the drummer Davis Howard could be seen playing standing up at many points in the show. Despite extremely low lighting (which was not only highly annoying, but made photographing them all but impossible) and some obvious audio issues (for the second time of the night), they managed to get through the set with the crowd screaming all the way to the end. By the time Yellowcard went on, the venue was getting close to packed and it was definite that the "First Annual" show would be a success. As direct support for headliners Blue October, the Yellowcard guys did a phenomenal job in getting the crowd going. At the very beginning of the set, vocalist Ryan Key quickly let the entire venue know that "Just because there are seats, doesn't mean that you have to be sitting in them" and everyone could be seen immediately rising to their feet.

Last to play was Houston's Blue October. It was clear that the majority of the fans in attendance had come to see them, as the mass of "Hate Me" shirts could be seen speckled throughout the crowd and the piercing screams were almost unbearable as the band took the stage. Dressed in his usual suit, Vocalist Justin Furstenfeld said that it was certainly weird to be playing a show with seats and "guys selling the neon bracelets and necklaces" walking up and down the isle. It reminded him of the "circus". The performance was stellar and capped off what was overall a great show.

Hopefully, next year's show can be held on a Saturday to allow folks to get there at the beginning and maybe everything will go a bit more smoothly. Also, I feel I must mention that to the fuzzy hat (and other doo-dads) vendor who set up shop outside the bathrooms with his booth blocking the water fountains, great job buddy! Thumbs-up to you, genius. Now on a serious note, I want to give kudos to The Edge. I definitely feel lucky to live in a city that has a radio station that puts on so many great "festival" style shows. First "How The Edge Stole Christmas" and "Edgefest", now "Hullabaloo" too, I definitely believe a "Thanks!" is in order.

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