Captain Squeegee and the Soap Suds:
Opener. Pretty big ska band, filling the place of Bedouin Soundclash, and in comparison to that band, yeah, they weren't too good. However, they were an extremely impressive opening band. They're local, and they had a lot of friends/fans in the audience. I was pretty amazed actually. Lots of moshing and skanking going on during a lot of it, plus the singer/frontman was pretty good at keeping the audience involved. The downside was the music. I'd say the best comparison soundwise is to RX Bandits, because there is a lot of diversity, but they're not nearly as good. A quick listen on purevolume confirms they're better live than on CD too. However, I think if they got signed and got to work with a good producer they could release some very good music, there is a lot of talent there, it just doesn't show as well in their songwriting.
Whole Wheat Bread:
Ok, I love these guys' show. It was great. For background, it's a Pop-Punk band from Florida, the thing that makes them standout though is they're black. And ghetto. They make sure you know it too. They started off with a great comedic rap intro, then went into the actual music, which is fun and catchy, and I like the lyrics, they're fun. Once again a high energy performance, and they talked to the crowd a lot, and it was very fun. I was tempted to pick up the CD after the show, but I didn't have enough money with me. They even had a few catchy pieces it was easy to pick up the lyrics to and sing along. I liked it.
Streetlight Manifesto:
Do I need to say they were awesome? Well they were. Fantastic live show. And then some. I was also pushed onto the 2' high stage for a lot of the performance, and I can tell you that being that close makes it even more incredible. Oh, and I was front and center, right in front of Tomas, it was great. However, it was hot. The band was giving out tons of water to the audience, but it was still sweltering there. I believe that is the reason the set seemed to be cut short, and there was no encore either. If they had come back I'm not sure if they or the audience would have passed out first though. They finally got the house lights off about halfway through though, and that was nice. Great set list, and they threw in a lot of random stuff too, like a cover of Radiohead's Creep. Apparently they played a bit of some new songs too and Tomas confirmed a CD release in early 2006. The band also very clearly loves what they're doing, and that makes it even more enjoyable. I need to see them again ASAP.