Monday, April 23rd 2012

Festivals:  Edgefest

The Black Keys and Garbage Deliver at Edgefest 22

By Steven Anthony

One of Dallas’ biggest rock stations 102.1 The Edge hosted their annual Edgefest on Sunday, featuring headline performances by both Garbage and the Black Keys.

Taking place at the FC Dallas Stadium, the rest of Edgefest’s lineup was rather hit or miss, featuring lukewarm sets by Evanescence, the Ting Tings, Blue October and Foxy Shazam along with pretty stellar sets by the Arctic Monkeys, Dead Sara, Cage the Elephant and surprisingly, the Neon Trees.

Most of the sets prior to the Arctic Monkeys seemed to bleed together, but by the time the Sheffield boys hit the stage all eyes (and ears) were tuned in. Starting with their standard set opener Brianstorm, Alex Turner & Co. dove headfirst into their brief slot on the mainstage. Turner has become quite the frontman in the past year or so, and the guys sounded phenomenal while mixing together old material and stuff from last year’s solid Suck It and See. The band closed their set with their newest single, R U Mine?

After a few more Garbage finally took to the main stage. Opening with Push It from 1998′s Version 2.0, Shirley Manson controlled the stage. Bouncing from side to side like a fiery haired pinball, Manson demanded the crowd’s attention while drummer Butch Vig and guest bassist Eric Avery locked together on the track’s snappy rhythm section. The band only had about 50 minutes on stage but crammed in as many fan favorites as they could, including album faithful takes on Only Happy When It Rains and I Think I’m Paranoid. The band’s latest single Blood For Poppies made an appearance midway through the show, working better live than on record. Definitely keeping their upcoming album on our radar.

The Black Keys wasted no time getting directly into the face melting with a searing take on what remains their biggest track, Howlin’ For You. For roughly 70 minutes the band played through a set heavy on Brothers and El Camino tracks, throwing in Thickfreakness and Your Touch for good measure. The band has become quite proficient at whittling down their normal setlist for festival shows, and Edgefest was no different. Things became a little ridiculous when a giant disco ball dropped from the top of the stage for Everlasting Light, but the crowd ate it up as Auerbach offered the crowd his best falsetto. The evening closed out with always crunchy, always great I Got Mine, filling the air with a healthy dose of bluesy overdrive as fireworks filled the sky from around the outside of the stadium. Good stuff.

Overall it was a great way to spend a Sunday, a solid lineup if not a bit schizophrenic but at least there was something for everyone. The weather was perfect and the show moved smoothly — what more could you ask of a single day festival?

Check out the rest of our pictures below.