The Jamboree 2011

The Jamboree is a huge festival that has happened for the past two years here in Toledo, and it’s definitely something to behold. For me it was kind of like a mini (really mini) Bamboozle Roadshow, in the way that the stages were set up and how there were bands playing constantly throughout the day. Everything was leading up to the headliner, which was Asking Alexandria. But people flock to it from all over to get to spend an entire day with some pretty cool bands, and it’s a great chance for people to listen to some new music and maybe hear and meet their new favorite band.

There were several local bands that played earlier in the day, playing on the smaller stage before some of the other bigger bands took the stages. The Jamboree was a good opportunity for smaller bands to try and get their name out there in front of a crowd that would be there for different kinds of music. 36 bands total (give or take) played throughout the day and showed people what they’ve got, on three different stages.

The three “main” headliners were Emmure and Asking Alexandria, playing in that respective order on the mainstage, and The Wonder Years. The Wonder Years closed out the Substream Magazine stage to an extremely excited crowd, and then everyone filtered into the big room to hear Asking Alexandria close out the night. Judging by people’s attendance to those three bands, those were the three that people most wanted to hear, but there were certainly big crowds for Chiodos, Miss May I, Fireworks, and Winds of Plague.

Emmure has been known for their ridiculously intense shows, and their performance at the Jamboree was no different—coming from someone who has been in some intense pits before, I would definitely say that Emmure put the rest of them to a challenge. The Wonder Years were the ‘hardcore break’ in the night, their pop-punk anthems drew a huge crowd in the smaller room on the Substream stage,though, and there couldn’t have been a better band to get everyone pumped up for Asking Alexandria.

AA put on a great show—great energy and people in the crowd were certainly into them. Despite the fact that it was after 10 pm by the time they went on and most people had probably been there for the entire day, the crowd wasn’t about to let up. It was in the room, even as the band was setting up—this was the big moment that everyone was waiting for. It was pretty cool, everyone stopped to watch and everyone was either in the pit or standing along the walls watching—and if you were in the pit, you had no choice but to move and get into what the rest of the crowd was doing, too. They put on a great set and encore. They were the great ending to the great day that everyone was looking forward to.

Many thanks to George at Sumerian Records for everything on their end!

by Sarah Rutz

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