The Jamoree Review

The Tickets:
Being a member of the 101 club certainly didn't hurt when it came to the purchasing of tickets for this one. Doc's Hard Lemonade offering them as a buy one, get on free deal meant that the lawn seats were going for approximately half the price they normally would. With service charges and convenience charges and all the other stuff they tag onto it, they ended up coming out to $25 a ticket, which, when all was said and done, was certainly worth while.
Rating: A

The To-ing and Fro-ing:
Being the wonderful people they are, Pace were running a transit bus to the Tweeter Center from the Rosemont CTA station, for $7.50 per person or $30 for a group of six. Parking at the CTA station is only $1.50 for 18 hours, and whilst they want you to pay that in change, everyone else I saw was just using a dollar bill and a couple of quarters. Whilst parking at the Tweeter Center is included in the price of your tickets, there is the minor inconvenience of tolls, and of finding the blasted place to being with. Not to mention that we didn't get back out to Rosemont until midnight, by which time I would probably have been way too tired if I'd driven the entire way.
Rating: B+

The Venue:
Ah, the Tweeter Center. Possibly one of the silliest names for a place to have. I don't think there's actually a bad seat in the house, including anywhere on the lawn, but the sun does set behind the stage, resulting in difficulty seeing much while it's actually setting, and then being plunged into the shadows after it has. On this particular day, it was pretty cold, so this wasn't the nicest thing that could have happened. That said, the people inside of the pavillion were in shade almost all the time, and were probably freezing. So, if you're going to go, and it's going to be cold, bring lots of blankets and layers of clothing. The lawn also tends to get rather muddy as things go on. The side stage, actually located outside the center's gates, making croud surfing allowed again, was actually much better in a way. It allowed those poor lawn ticket people to get much closer to the artists, although you did have to be standing at the time. Everything inside of the center you might actually have wanted to buy, like food and t-shirts, was a total rip off though, as is to be expected.
Rating: B

Local H:
I wasn't all that familiar with Local H, knowing only a couple of their songs before the start of the concert, but I have to say, I was reasonably impressed with what they did play. Not all that much energy, and possibly not the best band that could have been chosen for a opening act.
Rating: B

Our Lady Peace:
I'd only heard one song by them before coming to the concert (Somewhere Out There), which I did really like, and whilst the other stuff that they played wasn't much like it, it was very good. Again, not too much energy, but they did get a few people up on there feet and singing along.
Rating: B+

Quarashi:
The next band on the side stage, I didn't see all that much of them, but what I did see and hear was very much like their single "Stick 'Em Up". They made a lot of use of the ego ramp (see Thursday's review for an exlanation of the ego ramp). More energy that everyone else so far, but I think the crowd had pretty much energized itself with the fact that they could now crowd surf. And they certainly were.
Rating: C

Hoobastank:
This was probably the band I wanted to see the most, and their performance certainly lived up to my expections. Running back and forth all over the stage, getting a lot of crowd interaction, to the extent that they actually picked two people out of the audience to sing the verses to "Crawling In The Dark," although one of them really didn't have a clue what he was doing. They performed most of the album, and were probably one of the best performances there.
That said, when it got time to do autographs, they showed up ten minutes late, and left when there was still a very long line of people there, some of whom had been waiting as long as 45 minutes.
Performance rating: A+
Public relations rating: F

Trik Turner:
Don't be fooled by "Friends and Family," this third second stage band are not half as soft as they sound. In fact, they sounded almost exactly the same as Quarashi, and made as much use of the ego ramp. Not anything particularly special, but not anything bad.
Rating: C

The Strokes:
I missed most the Strokes performance whilst standing in line for the autographs that never came, but I could hear them. Most of their stuff was not that dissimilar to the last to singles, which is pretty good. When I did get back to my seat though, I fell asleep and got sunburned rather that watching the performance though. It was good music to fall asleep to though.
Rating: B

X-ecutioners:
Ugh... This would be the biggest let down of Jamboree, without a doubt. Originally supposed to be perfoming in the Sonic Boom tent, with a collection of DJs, these guys somehow got moved onto the main stage to play at the same time as Unwritten Law were playing on the second stage. Basically, they sounded like someone had scratched a CD, put it in a player, and left it to skip. My ass has made nicer noises. Their 'announcer' yelling into the microphone "Wassup, y'all! X-ecutioners!", every thirty seconds, didn't exactly save the performance either.
Rating: F

Tenacious D:
The D. What can I say? They were good. Rude, obnoxious, and downright weird at times, they were very good to watch. They had almost all of the crowd up and singing along or cheering along, or basically whatever they wanted them to do. Very good at involving the with their usual hilarious repetoire. Definitly see them if you get the chance, next time they're back in "Chicy-G."
Rating: A

Thursday:
A band that used the second stage to it's full potential. This involved never going on to the ego ramp. That would be one of those catwalks that sticks out from the stage and, to quote the lead singer of Thursday, "if you've go a big ego and a small dick, you can walk out onto it all the time." They also complained that the crowd were far too far from the stage. So much energy you could practically see it radiating off them, they had almost everyone there moving the music. A great performance, and some amazing tunes.
Rating: A+

Zwan:
Take half of the Smashing Pumpkins, and add a spattering of other guitar players, and you have Zwan. I'm not all that familiar with the Pumpkins, but I'm told that Zwan don't sound much like them. They did have some really awesome songs, and this was their debut performance, I believe. They didn't really do anything but stand their while they played their songs, and had virtually no interaction with the crowd. A good band, but not particularly good performers. Also, someone in charge decided it was a good idea to give Zwan an hour on stage, instead of the half hour almost all the other bands got. Seeing as all of their songs sounded very similar (and went on for about eight minutes each, as far as I could tell), they got a little boring towards the end.
Rating: A-

Dashboard Confessional:
The final band on the second stage, consisting primarily of one man and eight different guitars. One for each song. Making just as much fun of the ego ramp as Thursday, and wanting its removal just as much, he managed to interact with the crowd a lot, whilst at the same time keeping talk to a minimum and playing as much music as possible. He had a backing band who managed to blend in the scenery rather well, all things considered. Also dealt very well with the morons in the crowd who were throwing glow sticks at him. Got even more energized towards the end of the performance, jumping up on the speakers and drums, and even crowd surfing for a moment before the park security grabbed him and dragged him back on stage. A very varied repetoire too, with some really great songs.
Rating: A+

Kid Rock:
The closing act, and a very good choice for one too. From riding onstage on a Harley, to playing every single instrument on the stage at some point the other, to getting the whole crowd to chant along, this guy was very good. It almost certainly helps that he has an almost obscene amount of experience with concerts, but he did an amazing job of getting the crowd with him and behind him. He also highlighted each of his backup band individually, giving them each a chance to show off their talents, before taking over for each one and playing some astonishing solos on each instrument. He did a much better job on the turntables that the X-ecutioners, I might add. When he finished his regular time on stage, he and the band all left and, as was only to be expected, there was cheering and applause until he came back on the stage to do an encore of "Bawitdaba." An amazing end to the concert.
Rating: A+