Concert review: 30 bands and three stages – it’s Summer Fest at Palladium (July 25)

Turn it up. This teen frenzy was loud, proud, and rowdy.

DALLAS — Hundreds of over-energized teens crashed into one another with reckless abandon as a few went crowd surfing – or perhaps crowd flailing is more like it. The guy next to me was about three violent head bangs away from causing some serious brain damage. On stage was post-hardcore band Emery, fanning the flames of insanity. And for the first time in my life, my father’s favorite phrase, “you kids and your damn music” made sense.

That was the scene on Sunday evening at The Palladium in Dallas for Summer Fest, presented by Third String Productions. It was also the latest notch in the belt for the production company’s founder, Mike Ziemer.

He and his team have been taking care of the young, suburban music fans in DFW for years now, giving the under-18 crowd a place to enjoy music. He’s done a remarkable job finding bands and venues that appeal to that crowd, most notably with recurring mini-fests like Unsilent Night, South by So What, and now his biggest venture yet, Summer Fest. What Ziemer has done in the past few years is nothing short of outstanding. He’s only 24 years old, and his events are getting bigger and better each time around. So remember that name, Mike Ziemer, especially all you high school kids who I saw at The Palladium on Sunday night. You can thank him.

Photo by Josh Hogan

Mosh pit!

Now onto the show itself. As I alluded to earlier, being of the over-18 crowd made this concert not exactly my typical scene, not anymore at least. Still, I can still appreciate the young and the young at heart who were right in the middle of the pit for most of Summer Fest. I arrived a little after 7 p.m. in time to see the bigger names on the bill, but to my surprise, most of the people I asked said they had been there since the doors opened.

“Oh yeah, we’ve been here since 1 [p.m.],” said a shirtless 19 year old guy smoking a cigarette on the venue’s patio. “All these bands [expletive] rock, man!”

Indeed.

The bill was chock full of post-punk acts that occupied three stages and pretty much did exactly that, [expletive] rocked!

Photo by Josh Hogan

Emery at Summer Fest

The first band I saw was Emery. The South Carolina natives had been on stage for about half a minute before the first crowd surfer popped up and clumsily rolled their way to the front of the stage – a trend that extended until the end of the night. The security guards certainly earned their paycheck, having to catch many people being tossed their way.

Another theme of the evening was volume, very loud volume. After Emery, the next band on stage was Senses Fail. Now, The Palladium is already a pretty loud venue, but I doubt it’s ever been louder than during this set. I don’t think I’ve ever heard a bass guitar pop monitors with as much force before. Every so often, the bassist would hit the right note and it was like a kick to the solar plexus. A slightly older gentleman standing next to me (I suspect he was a parent of a crowd surfer) had to give up his spot overlooking the pit after a few songs to take refuge in a quieter area. As he turned to walk away, he looked at me with a genuinely beaten down demeanor, shaking his head.

He was one of the few that seemed to mind, though. In fact, as I looked around, no one else seemed to even notice the powerful sound punches being hurled their way.

Photo by Josh Hogan

A huge number of teen attendees arrived right when the concert began -- at 1 p.m. on Sunday.

Heavy music, loud screams from both the singers and fans, and overall sensory overload continued through most of the sets. My favorite group of the night, however, was the one respite we got from heavily distorted guitars and rock-and-roll yells. The So Cal group Shwayze got up and performed a very laid back set in comparison to the other bands on the bill. They took the stage in ultra-chilled-out mode and performed their not-quite-rap, not-quite-pop-tunes to perfection. The girls swooned, the guys took notes, and for the first time all night, the volume knob was not on 11.

Forever The Sickest Kids, the local headlining band, went onstage around 11 p.m. I stuck around for a few of their power-pop songs, and upon leaving, the venue was packed and still gyrating with energy. Sorry Forever The Sickest Kids fans, but my pounding head and bleeding ears just couldn’t handle it anymore.