So yesterday myself and some buddies Hurl, A-Bomb, Ryan, Leo and Craig went to the third annual Sonic Boom Festival in Edmonton put on by local radio station Sonic. When they announced the line up for this years fest, I was intrigued. A pretty decent line up with Janes Addiction headlining as well as Social Distortion and Cake, those were the bands that I wanted to see. That, and it was an outdoor show, the last big festival of the summer, and my first time going to the Sonic Boom Fest this was shaping up to be a good time.
The problem is, they moved the show indoors to the Expo Centre a few weeks before the show. That was a let down, as the ticket said "rain or shine", outdoor show. Why they moved the show inside, I have no idea, my belief is,it was because of slow ticket sales. Maybe 6,000 people at the show. Because the Rolling Stones have played outdoor shows here in October,it couldn't have been because of weather fears.
Anyways, we got to the show in time to get a few beers in us before Cake hit the stage. This was my second time seeing Cake in concert and was really looking forward to seeing them again. They were alright, nothing special, but having said that, they were probably the highlight of the day. The best song they did was the Black Sabbath cover "War Pigs". But wow, the sound was absolutely terrible, it was tolerable if you were up close, but if you were in the bar area, fuck me, it just sounded like mud,loud and echoing. My thinking was, the sound can only get better with each band. Well, I was wrong. Social D didn't fare any better with the sound. The whole time we were there, the sound sucked beyond belief. By far the worst sound I have ever heard in my life. The Expo Centre is basically a big tin warehouse. No atmosphere at all, shitty beer gardens, expensive beers. I think there were more people outside taking in the beautiful weather then there were inside. All and all, this was the worst concert experience I have ever had. It was so bad, that we left even before Janes Addiction came on. Now I like Janes and really wanted to see them again, but I just couldn't do it anymore, the night seemed to drag on and on. Social Distortion, a band I love,and being the fourth time seeing them in concert and really liking there live performance,I couldn't get past the awful sound, just noise. I know there music very well, but when it takes half a song to realize what the hell they are playing, it's time to bail. We tried to stick it out for Janes Addiction, but half way through Metric, we gave up and left. We all left very disappointed. And as we were leaving, it looked to me, like we weren't the only ones. The place seemed to empty right out. I heard a lot of grumbling from people. The biggest mistake they made was moving this show indoors. I don't think I would ever go to another show at this venue. Absolute shit.
Cake pics.
Social Distortion pics.
Metric pics.
If you were looking forward to this show as much as I was with the line up they had and didn't make it to the show, don't feel bad, cause you missed nothing but a loud muddy sounding venue which lacked any kind of fun atmosphere. Fucking awful!!!
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