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Meet the bands at Bazooka Rocks Indoor Music Fest

Meet the bands at Bazooka Rocks Indoor Music Fest

On August 30 and 31, PulpLiveWorld presents its annual Bazooka Rocks Indoor Music Festival. With gates opening as early as 12 noon, it promises to be a long, but yes, comfortable 2 days as festival-goers will be spared from any form of outside weather conditions in the safety of the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City.

Day 1 is comprised primarily of artists from the emo/screamo/pop-punk summit of the first decade of the millennium, while Day 2 features relatively younger acts.

Some of them were even musically influenced by the previous day’s artists with refined pop sensibilities; it can be argued that Day 1 has the “legacy artists” line-up (yep, the emo kids have grown up and moved on). Plus, with more female-fronted acts on the bill (Echosmith, We Are The In Crowd, Nyctinasty, Gracenote), there will be more estrogen in the air, and a different dynamic… and these variations are exactly what you expect from a festival.

Here is a primer on the lineup:

DAY 1

Saves The Day . Originally called Sefler, the New Jersey quartet formed in 1994 and changed its name in 1997. The debut album “Can’t Slow Down” was released in 1998 (the band was still in high school). Chris Conley is the sole remaining original member. In 2002, the band’s video for “Freakish” featured Muppet-inspired puppets. To date, the band has released 8 albums and the eponymous 2013 release has met critical acclaim.

 

Senses Fail . Also hailing from New Jersey, this post-hardcore band released “Let It Enfold You” in 2004 when vocalist Buddy Nielsen was only 20 years old. It featured the single “Buried a Lie” which gained the band mainstream success. The band’s latest album “Renacer” was released in 2013. The live line-up includes ex-Poison the Well drummer Chris Hornbrook.


Taking Back Sunday
. The release of 2006’s “Louder Now” which features “MakeDamnSure” gave TBS crossover success but the band has been receiving acclaim since 2002’s “Tell All Your Friends.” The band’s lineup for TAYF reunited and toured for the album’s tenth anniversary. The new album “Happiness Is” was released in March this year with “Flicker Fade” and “Stood a Chance” as singles.


The Used
. Day 1 headliners The Used has so far sold more than 3 million records worldwide. Its self-titled 2002 debut album is an acknowledged influence on bands like Escape the Fate and A Static Lullaby. Vocalist/keyboardist Bert McCracken was tabloid fodder for a spell when he dated Kelly Osbourne. The “screamo” band’s hits include “Blue and Yellow,” “Buried Myself Alive,” and “Pretty Handsome Awkward’ and the latest album 2014’s “Imaginary Enemy” was released on the band’s own label GAS Union. It went to number one in the Billboard Independent Albums chart and peaked at number 14 on the Billboard top 200. Not bad for music that McCracken once described as “gross pop.”


Rounding up Day 1 are performances from “riot/art punk” from Cebu’s Tiger Pussy, Brickcity’s punk/hardcore/ambient rock, Manila’s Runway Crimes, and former Paramita vocalist/drummer Ria Bautista going solo.

DAY 2

Synthpop/dance rock quartet Paranoid City will be the first performers of the day followed by all-female rock quartet Nyctinasty, and Gracenote.


Chicosci.
Perhaps no other local band embodies the music of Bazooka Rocks more than Chicosci whose sound continues to evolve since their debut “Revenge of the Giant Robot” in 2000 and maintain a loyal following. Their sixth album “This Is Not a Chicosci Record” was released in 2012, largely moving on from the goth-ish themes they adopted mid-career.


coldrain
. The Nagoya, Japan-based metalcore quintet featuring half-American vocalist Masato David Hayakawa was formed in 2007. To date, they have three full-length albums, touring Europe with recent Pulp Summer Slam guests Bullet For My Valentine.


Echosmith.
The Southern California indie-pop quartet of the Sierota siblings are influenced by emo and 80s dance rock and the result is a sound that does not quite lean too heavily on either. The melancholy of “Cool Kids” is one of the highlights of their 2013 debut “Talking Dreams” and the band sounds like California on an overcast evening.

 

The Summer Set. Bazooka Rocks will be the pop-rock Arizona quintet’s second Manila visit and the band was initially influenced by fellow Arizonians Jimmy Eat World. They have collaborated with Matchbox Twenty’s Paul Doucette. Their third studio album “Legendary” reached number 12 in the Billboard Independent Albums Chart.


We Are The In Crowd.
The New York-based pop-punk band can almost call Manila their second home: this will be their third time in the country. They have toured regularly with Mayday Parade and All Time Low and did the Vans Warped Tour circuit. Their new album “Weird Kids” reached number 5 on the US Independent Albums chart and peaked at 29 on the Billboard 200.


You Me At Six
. The American-sounding British rock quintet headlines Day 2 and hails from Surrey. Formed in 2004, the band has released four albums since 2008. The single “Cold Night” showcases a band with pop smarts, proving that they have grown from their initial influences (Incubus, Thrice, Blink 182).

RELATED: Bazooka Rocks is weatherproof


Purchase Bazooka Rocks III tickets here. For more info on the festival including FAQ’s and schedules, check out the website.

A Bazooka Countdown Party is also happening on August 21, 2014 at the 4th Floor of SM North Edsa Annex, in Quezon City, from 1 to 6 pm.