HALOS N HORNS FEST

"DMT"
Of course, my luck sucks! I FREAKIN MISSED MOST OF DMT's set DAMMIT!
We left a bit later than expected, had more stops than expected, and then.......
got stuck in good 'ol fuckin california traffic! Whatever. We still made it for the
last song and I got a video or 2 of it, and a couple pics. I'm not sure how many
clear ones yet though. Judging by the hyped up huge ass crowd, I would say that DMT
tore that stage a new asshole...and then some! I enjoyed every second of watching
and listening my friends up on the MAIN STAGE opening for KORN!
I couldn't be happier for this group of guys unless they got a recording contract out of
all this. WHICH THEY DESERVE..........HEAR THAT MAJOR LABELS?!?
SIGN THESE GUYS ALREADY!!!

- 5 STARS OF COURSE! Naturally.-

"Back to Square one"
Caught this band after DMT while walking around checking it all out.
The first thing that caught my attention to this group of guys was their
tight sounding, groovy drummer. The singer had a great set of pipes on him,
and was no stranger to using them. I originally thought this band's name was
"Champagne Blvd." as it was on a poster not far from the stage they were playing on.
The Jagermeister Halos Stage. They had a sound that was mellow but also
grooving. It sounded like music that would be cool to chill out to or drink with your buddies.
Or even just hang out with your chick and listen to. The sound can be compared with a
raggaeish sound at times, leading into a bluesy but upbeat feel.
At one point, the singer pulled out an acoustic guitar and rocked out with the rest of the band
during one smooth sounding, well written tune. I feel these guys were on top of their game friday
night and deserved to be there as well as playing the 2nd stage. I really enjoyed this band, but
decided not to stay for their entire set so I could find some other bands to review. I enjoyed the
"Back to Square One" energetic performance, groovy basslines, tight drumming, clean catchy
guitar riffs, and excellent singer.
-These guys get 5 STARS from me.-

"Saint Motel"
This band played on I believe Stage 4. They caught my ear from the outside of the building while I was
finishing up my "kosher" hot dog. I decided to go in and check it out while the rest of my group finished
eating. I was pleasantly surprised by a band resembling radiohead sound, and maybe a bit of the same
look too. They were dressed in all white collared button up shirts. (very Euro) The singer had a great voice
that resembled radiohead very much, so i would definitely say, if you like radiohead bands, you will like
these guys. However, although it was chalked full of dance beats and euro sounds, there were also times in
the songs (at least one in particular I noticed) when bluesy guitar riffs with an almost southern feel to it
flowed out through the monitors. Overall, "Saint Motel" was a very Euro,dance sounding band with catchy
riffs and poppy melodies, and I did enjoy a few songs of their set before trekking off to hear more bands.
-I give 'em 4 STARS-

"Bass Nectar"
-Main Stage-
-Just before Korn-
-1 Dude.-
-Long Hair-
-Fast Techno-
-Big Crowd-
-Main Stage-
-Nine Inch Nails mix-
-Dance techno + Old skool Metallica + Hyped up crowd waiting for Korn = BADASS Longhaired Hessian D.J.
-4 Stars-


"Korn"
Anyone ever heard of these guys before?
No?
Well, they were a big hit back in the 1990's and my generation loved that shit soo much, our asses
started naming the types of music that sounded like them by "Korn Band's" and whatnot.
As you all know by now, Brian "Head" Welch is no longer a part of Korn, but still talks with them
occasionally. However, I thought the band still sounded pretty great even without the extra backup vox
and double guitars. Munky,David,Feildy, and Jonathan did a great job of entertaining the big crowd into
exhaustion. The only thing I had a problem with during Korn is the vocals on Jonathan's microphone
cut out on the last song (I believe it was the last song...maybe wrong) and the sound Tech's didn't
seem to be doing squat about it. I even walked through the crowd trying to find the sound booth to
bitch at the bastards but I never found it. No matter, it was an overall good show. There were some
good bands and some really shitty bands. Some food booths, beer booths, Liquor booths (inside),
hemp clothes, incense, pipes, bracelets, a KROQ booth, and many other booths and trinkets to buy.
I just bought a couple beers at $12 EACH and 1 Jack and Coke...also $12 EACH! Obviously, there
wasn't much spending money left for souveniers after that soo, all I came home with was a hangover.
I won't bitch about the prices though because it IS a KROQ event so I expected $15 waters anyway.
The bands that I didn't like..... uh.... I didn't even write about them because there's no need. There are also
numerous bands that I didn't even get a chance to hear / see. So it would't be fair to say these bands I
reviewed were the only good ones, although they may have been. I only saw a handfull play and only
stopped for the ones I found interesting or liked the sound of.
I also got a stack of demo cd's I will go through soon and give a bit of a review for.

-Stay tuned for that!-

Also....I was hoping to catch CARL GRAY play on stage 8 but Korn was about to go on when
he was scheduled to play. So I decided to stick around for Korn and hopefully catch Carl at
another venue at a later time. Sorry about that Carl. I do have a demo of Carl's, and I LOVE IT!
check him out on myspace(link coming soon). He's badass! He writes, plays, and sings his own original material
which happens to be Excellent music. Great songwriter / Singer.

-5 Stars for Carl Gray's demo-

PICS COMING TOMORROW!!