By Christina Radish
At the annual day-long KROQ Weenie Roast at Verizon Wireless Amphitheater in Irvine, Calif., the eclectic line-up presented something for pretty much every music-lover and listener of the popular rock station.
After side stage acts Twenty One Pilots, New Politics, Capital Cities, The Neighbourhood and Fitz & The Tantrums, who drew the biggest and loudest crowd, were finished, the main stage swung into full gear with Atlas Genius. Then, AWOLNATION had the crowd singing along to their much-played single “Sail,” while Imagine Dragons turned in the afternoon’s most impressive and stand-out set, proving that they are just as strong live as they are on record.
KROQ mainstays Silversun Pickups and Jimmy Eat World brought the fire with some loud guitars, before Of Monsters and Men quieted things down a bit with their beautifully harmonic Icelandic folk and Vampire Weekend proved that preppies can rock, too.
And then, the night’s surprise act – the musicians of Stone Temple Pilots, led by Linkin Park frontman Chester Bennington – really tore up the stage, unleashing ferocious riffs that were a perfect marriage with Bennington’s spot-on rock vocals, and didn’t seem to make the crowd miss embattled singer Scott Weiland. 30 Seconds to Mars followed that explosive set, which many lesser bands might have been too intimated to do. But, Jared Leto’s sharp and pure vocals mixed with a set of their hits that had their devoted following chanting along, definitely kept the momentum going.
Closing out the night was megastar act The Black Keys, whose Led Zeppelin-esque fretwork and pounding drums ended the show with a stadium rock feel.
– KROQ Weenie Roast Photo Gallery
Follow Us On:
