The Bamboozle? Uh oh, minus 67 orgcore points. Luckily for me, I was able to get a ticket for $25 and it's 10 minutes away from my house; I couldn't imagine paying full price.

Anywho, walking around, the first thing I noticed (besides the free carnival rides) was the $7.75 cost for a beer. Maybe I haven't been to a festival/baseball game in a while but that seemed preposterous. A $3.50 water it was.

Four Y(b)ear(d) Strong was the first band I checked out and they performed admirably. Like many hardcore shows, fights broke just about every other song, and rightfully one of their guitarists/vocalists Dan looked extremely pissed and said something whenever one would start. The band's vigor was overwhelming and the crowd did not look deterred in giving it back during the hottest part of the day. Towards the end of the set, someone got elbowed in the face, knocking the kid out and blood was splattered across a handful of people. Alan stopped the song and wished the kid good luck and hoped for the better. When the intro for "Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die" started, however, it was soon forgotten and the explosive set was undoubtedly a highlight of everyone in the crowd.

Set list:

1. The Take Over
2. Men Are From Mars, Women Are from Hell
3. Catastrophe
4. Prepare to Get Digitally Manipulated
5. Bada Bing! Wit A Pipe!
6. Abandon Ship or Abandon All Hope
7. Beat Down in the Key of Happy
8. Wrecked 'Em? Damn Near Killed 'Em
9. Maniac
10. Heroes Get Remembered, Legends Never Die

The Anti-Flag set I was fairly conflicted about. They were on top of their game with intense playing and with minimal preaching, I enjoyed myself for their allotted 30 minutes. Problem? I'll put it this way: The person I went with has Die for the Government, A New Kind of Army and Underground Network and he knew zero songs they played. Forgetting that, a definite highlight of the day was Chris #2 beating a giant bass drum for "The Modern Rome Burning" and proceeding to smash it to fucking pieces (pun intended). He also gets the day's most LOL moment when he was saying how looking into the crowd he didn't see youth apathy but saw "change." Playing Playstation 3 on a Zumiez couch while wearing Nike Dunks? Alright then.

Set list:

1. Spit in the Face
2. I'd Tell You But...
3. This Is the End (For You My Friend)
4. Bright Lights of America
5. The Modern Rome Burning
6. Turncoat
7. The Press Corpse
8. Cities Burn

The Bouncing Souls came out next without needing to say a word, going right into "Hopeless Romantic." They seemed slightly tired from their energetic show the night before (incidentally, Greg and McDermott wore the same thing both shows) but overall it was a standard Bouncing Souls festival show, except for a few acoustic numbers. While the punk half of "Headlights... Ditch!" was completely unintelligible, the acoustic half was a delight, as was their cover of "Hybrid Moments." "Gone" acoustic, however, leaves a lot to be desired; the upbeat sing-along left the crowd at a standstill (can you imagine "True Believers" acoustic?). But they went into their more renowned version of the song for the last chorus. After "Gone," Greg signaled to the band they only had time for two more, most likely knocking "East Coast! Fuck You!" off of the set list since, well, they even play it in Denver. The Souls went out playing two classics from How I Spent My Summer Vacation, yet I didn't have time to dwell on the solid set since I needed to rush to the other side of the venue to see...

Set list:

1. Hopeless Romantic
2. Say Anything
3. That Song
4. Lean on Sheena
5. The Something Special
6. Kid
7. Headlights... Ditch! (punk into acoustic)
8. Hybrid Moments (surf rock)
9. Gone (acoustic into punk)
10. Private Radio
11. True Believers

Street Dogs! I can't think of a more consistent live band off the top of my head while writing this. They are always fired up and ready to go, and when I see them in July at Warped (minus 34 orgcore points, even with the Gaslight Anthem playing) I guarantee it will be no different. Their lead singer Mike McColgan in particular always seems to be jumping in the crowd, looking for something to climb on and running around like he's 20. "Not Without a Purpose" got the biggest response from the crowd, and we were treated to a new song, the title song off their soon to be released State of Grace which sat comfortably around their older songs. Comically enough, the stage was placed in front of the large GIANTS STADIUM banner around the brim of the stadium, prompting Mike to lament how painful it is for that to be looking down on him the whole set after the Giants Super Bowl upset over the Pats. They didn't hold it against us, of course, giving maximum output through all eight songs. In fact, the only almost negative thing I can say about the affair is that I was slightly surprised they didn't play "You Alone."

Set list:

1. In Defense of Dorchester
2. Back to the World
3. Drink Tonight
4. Not Without a Purpose
5. State of Grace
6. Tobe's Got a Drinking Problem
7. Fatty
8. Fighter

Walking around I started hearing awful hard rock coming from a main stage, so I had to get closer to see what it was...and it was Bret Michaels. He had laryngitis and sounded dreadful, but he made the most of it. I stayed for "Every Rose Has Its Thorn" and "Unskinny Bop." Sadly, I found out by leaving early they performed "Nothing But a Good Time" with Claudio and Travis of Coheed and Cambria. Need more nostalgia? You'd be an atrocious liar if you didn't admit thinking "Smooth Criminal" was a ballin' cover in middle school. With that said, I went to go watch Alien Ant Farm's last five minutes. Playing on the sixth stage (eek, don't you guys have a platinum album?), the singer Dryden looked irritated the whole time, going so far as singing an AAF song (and telling the crowd he would rather play that) as the intro to "Smooth Criminal." Not our fault your whole career has boiled down to a Michael Jackson cover song, bro-hammer. Nevertheless, the bassist was a blast to watch, with distinguished facial expressions and total vim. Side note: There was no mosh pit, just an empty area near the front to act as a launching pad for crowd surfers. Super cool.

The Mighty Mighty Bosstones were what many kids that weekend were waiting for. Countless people were saying something to the tune of "I can't believe they're back! I've been waiting to see them for years!" while I was in the crowd waiting for them to go on. I'm not that much of a fan (minus 24 orgcore points) but I know when I'll probably have a good time. And I did for the most part; Dicky was his usual randy self, and how can you not love Ben dancing around like an eight-year-old girl to Hanson in 1997? With all the men wearing plaid suits, they played their songs effortlessly like seasoned vets. "1-2-8," "Dr. D," "Someday I Suppose" and, yes, "The Impression That I Get" were all stellar but large festivals aren't the best place to see them; I felt there was more of a disconnect than any other band playing. Here's to hoping for a club tour.

Gym Class Heroes started 10 minutes late, with Travis walking out saying "We came here tonight to have sex with your ear vaginas!" and went into "The Queen and I." They put on an amusing set with appearances by Travis's cousin Tyga and Keith of Every Time I Die. My favorite part was their cover of Prince's "When Doves Cry," and a new song with exceptional guitar work. Towards the end of the set I got tired of the multitude of crowd surfers and trying to rip off their low-top Cons so I left early to catch Coheed and Cambria. The crowd mad a mad dash for the barrier the second they started and I was surprised how vicious the fans and pits were (one time seeing them before, the pit consisted of just middle-aged balding men playing air guitar). After a shout-out to Bret Michaels they played a strong set with fan favorites "A Favor House Atlantic" and "In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3" in the midst of a light and smoke shot. Of course, the closer "Welcome Home" brought the house down the most, complete with a behind-the-head guitar solo from Claudio.

Set list:

1. No World for Tomorrow
2. Gravemakers & Gunslingers
3. Ten Speed (Of God's Blood & Burial)
4. A Favor House Atlantic
5. Feathers
6. In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3
7. Mother Superior
8. Running Free
9. Welcome Home

After they were done, I went straight for the exit, beating most of the traffic and missing Panic at the Disco. Do I get any orgcore points back for that?

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