With cloudy skies, cooler temperatures and a chance of rain, this past Saturday was probably not the ideal day to spend 12 hours standing outside, but that’s exactly happened. Bamboozle was this past Saturday, May 3, and although it was hectic and exhausting, it was an amazing concert overall.
For those of you who have never heard of Bamboozle, it’s a two-day outdoor concert in Meadowlands Parkway in East Rutherford, N.J. There are usually at least 100 bands playing throughout the day on nine different stages, spread out across the parking lot next to Giant Stadium. There were also several different vendors, tents with people selling band merchandise such as t-shirts, hoodies, stickers, pins and CDs. There were also charitable organizations such as To Write Love on Her Arms and Keep A Breast were selling stickers and t-shirts. On Saturday, Jimmy Eat World, Paramore, Secondhand Serenade, Aiden, Story of the Year, Jack’s Mannequin, Alien Ant Farm, The Bravery, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, Snoop Dogg, and many others performed.
The doors opened around 11:30 a.m. and to energize the crowd, the band Say Anything started a 20 minute set on an elevated stage away from the main entrance. It was pretty evident that the crowd’s momentum was high after seeing their reaction to Say Anything’s performance. It was 11 a.m. and people were already moshing and screaming at the top of their lungs, a sign of what was to come throughout the day.
Once the doors were opened, massive amounts of people rushed into the venue like herds of cattle. There were long lines on everything from food to merchandise. By midday the floors were covered with empty beer bottles, half eaten food, paper, and even articles of clothing.
Getting around was difficult as the day progressed because more people were coming in. It was like trying to walk through a maze where you just hoping to somehow make it out unscathed, reunited with your group.
With so many bands playing, it was inevitable to not discover a few new bands throughout the day — specifically, Sparky’s Flaw which performed a 35-minute set on one side of a two sided stage, divided by a black, mesh curtain.
While I was waiting for The Morning Of to perform their set, I heard Sparky’s Flaw performing on the stage to the right. I found myself in a trance, watching across at their stage at this group of five musicians I had never heard of before. I was really intrigued with their sound, especially since one of their keyboard players played saxophone for a couple of their songs. I never would have imaged hearing a saxophone on an alternative rock band’s set. It was different. In their song “Under Control,” the saxophone provided a nice soulful sound and blended with the lead singer’s vocal surprisingly well.
Although the day was long an exhausting, the experience of going to a festival is unforgettable. There’s something about listening to live music that nothing else seems to compare. There’s an energy and adrenaline when you see a band perform on stage just a few feet away from you, especially if you managed to make it to the front of the stage without getting crushed, which is rare.
