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Virgin Mobile Festival 2008
| August 9th & 10th, 2008 @ Pimlico |
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by Courtney Campbell
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The 2008 Virgin Mobile Festival is over and all that remains are the memories each of us has of two days jam-packed with sights and sounds. With the weather expecting to be about 20 degrees cooler than the previous year, the weekend was looking to be great. Both days were filled with bands on two stages as well as a DJ tent and other sights to be seen - art, planetary awareness, voter registration, etc. There was literally something for everyone.
Day 1, Saturday we planned on arriving a bit after gates as we really weren't interested in seeing anyone until The Offspring. We caught a little bit of Bloc Party which I have to say really impressed me so it was good we showed up a bit earlier than planned. We had been worried about the parking situation and having to traverse the festival grounds. Finally The Offspring hit the stage and went through a set that of course hit upon all of their singles, both old and new. The Offspring is one of those bands that consistently gives a good performance. After The Offspring was Chuck Berry and the Silver Beats. By the way it was listed, most thought that the Silver Beats, a Japanese Beatles cover band, would be backing Chuck Berry but they did a set first and then out came Chuck Berry. By this time we had some prime spots, hanging out with a friend. I think it's amazing that Chuck Berry is still performing but there was just something missing from this performance. Age could be a factor. He was joined on drums by IMP's own Seth Hurwitz for "Johnny B. Goode" which was a nice addition. Finally the stage was cleared and the headliners for the night - the Foo Fighters - hit the stage.
I have never seen a bad performance by this band (not even when they blew out the sound board after Dave Grohl walked on the edge of it) and this night was no exception. A highly energetic performance with great crowd participation. Up until this point, the other artists had set up far into the stage but not the Foos. They brought themselves closer to the edge and worked the entire stage. The band themselves were relaxed and having fun playing in front of many family members and friends being close to Northern Virginia. The stage sides were packed. It was an added bonus having Pat Smear back out on stage with the band and the addition of Rami Jaffee on keyboards and Jesse Greene on strings just took things up a notch. It was a great end to day one.
Day 2 was going to be a much earlier one as we wanted to catch the set by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and they were opening their stage. The band themselves commented on how they are never up this early. Now having seen them once before, again at a festival setting, this band is really one that is better off in a club setting. Nice solid music but them and Shudder to Think just didn't get the crowd moving. Paramore instead took on that task.
Paramore is one of those bands that has just taken off, growing bigger all the time. There was quite a crowd by the time they hit the stage - a very young crowd. This crowd was extremely vocal and full of energy. With Taking Back Sunday, Iggy & the Stooges, Stone Temple Pilots and NIN still to come, this stage was the place to be.
Now if you haven’t seen Iggy & the Stooges please make a point to do so. It doesn’t matter if you are a fan of the music or not, there is no way that you won’t be entertained by this frontman and his talented band. Iggy himself is non-stop with more energy than the energizer bunny. He made multiple forays onto the barricade in front of the crowd and definitely kept the crowd security busy.
Day two was the day that Stone Temple Pilots was slotted to play. Much had been printed about whether or not this band would show as frontman Scott Weiland had a scheduled court appearance just prior and there had also been some sub par performances up to date. After waiting 15-20 minutes past the time they were due to hit the stage the set started and they rocked the place. The set was full of their hits with Scott Weiland taking full advantage of the size of the stage.
Closing out this stage was NIN. There had been some people up front all day long just to be up front for the NIN set. NIN is known for their stage/light set up and this performance didn’t disappoint. While some bands have trouble translating their performance to a festival stage, NIN isn’t one of those. They were made for the festival crowd. The backdrops and lighting were over the top as one would expect and frontman Trent Reznor was in top form despite having postponed recent shows due to vocal issues.
For the first time in a long time, earplugsrequired.com was bringing festival coverage from the point of view of a person in the audience as the Virgin Mobile Festival states they do not approve websites for photo passes, even though all the bands, except those that don't allow photo at all have approved us for covering them in their own shows and
there were websites officially photographing the show from the photo pit. The festival itself was great and I look forward to next year though I would like to try to avoid all the bruises I accumulated while trying to enjoy the show.
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