The Electric Factory hosted the sold out Street Soldiers Tour 2001 last Friday. Philadelphia was one of the final stops, showcasing the bands: Alien Ant Farm, Taproot and Linkin Park.
Alien Ant Farm opened the show with their pulsing rock-beat led by the energetic vocals of Dryden Mitchell. Playing tracks from ANThology, their upcoming New Noize release, Alien Ant Farm won the crowd early on with their high-energy live performance. Formed in 1995 in Southern California, this high-energy band served up the right atmosphere for the crowd.
“Stick N Stones” was the song that stood out among their set until the band closed with a cover of Michael Jackson’s “Smooth Criminal.” The song’s performance left many in the crowd with their jaws open. Some fans couldn’t believe that somebody had actually brought life back into a Michael Jackson song and other were asking their friends, “Hey, what
record was that on?” Look for Alien Ant Farm’s New Noize debut “ANThology” in stores March 6.
The last time Taproot played in the Philadelphia region was in November on the Back to School tour with Deftones and Incubus. The Tower Theatre proved the wrong atmosphere for the band’s sound and crowd, but the scene tonight was very different.
Originally from Ann Arbor, Michigan, Taproot picked up the sold-out crowd’s intensity and added buckets of emotion with their driving ambition to out-do themselves and interact with the crowd.
“Day By Day” and “Again and Again” dominated the early portion of the set, which included a daring dive by lead singer, Steve Richards, into the arms of fans from the second floor of the Factory.
Richards went back into the crowd during “Come Back” to join in one of the mosh-pits. After a few minutes of moshing, Richards rejoined the rest of the band on stage for “I,” “Smile” and a set concluding cover from one of Deftones popular songs. This time around Taproot came to play and wasn’t hindered by poor arena sound as was the case at the Tower. Visit taprootmusic.com for more information and be sure to look for Taproot on the second stage at Ozzfest this summer.
Taproot leaves you wanting more and Billboard chart climbers Linkin Park were the ones to deliver. With an aggressive hard rock foundation, flavored by hip-hop vocals and electronic ruffles, Linkin Park has a sound that is powerfully unique to them.
Led by the dual vocal attack of Chester Bennington and Mike Shinoda, the South Californian band rocks you to your emotional core with absolutely amazing vocals. The combination of Bennington’s rich vocal style mixes well with Shinoda’s streetwise emceeing making for a very integrated and dynamic sound.
Linkin Park playing almost entirely from their debut album Hybrid Theory. “In The End” and “Crawling” left lasting impressions on the crowd before the band’s single, “One Step Closer,” closed the night. Check out Linkinpark.com and see Linkin Park on the main stage at Ozzfest this summer.
Be the first to comment