SNO-CORE ROCK 2002, with ALIEN ANT FARM, ADEMA, GLASSJAW, APEX THEORY and EARSHOT, Saltair, March 16, one performance.
Unfortunately, Alien Ant Farm headlined this year's Sno-Core Rock 2002 show, which made a stop at Saltair Saturday night.
AAF lost the audience a couple of songs into its set.
It was Adema that became the audience favorite, and Apex Theory came in a close second, followed by Earshot.
Glassjaw was another casualty — audience members heckled the New York-based band as it ended its set. The group exploded onto the stage with a fury, but it was so overblown that no one in the audience could hear the lyrics. The guitars drowned out everything, and the drumming was nothing but a chaotic audio assault.
Los Angeles' Earshot held its own with a set filled with chainsaw guitar lines and head-banging beats. The band's song "Misery," along with the paranoid quips of "Not Afraid," gave depth to its 30-minute time slot, as did the popish "Ordinary Girl" and the funky basslines off "We Fall, We Stand."
Apex Theory's progressive punk mixed exotic music signatures with psychedelic metal. The North Hollywood quartet's sound was crisp and even, and the audience warmed up to the music by moshing, of course.
Glassjaw's set nearly killed the momentum. It was just noise, with a lot of angst thrown in for effect. In fact, the moshing stopped and the audience just stared at the band with dazed looks.
But when Adema hit the stage, the audience blew its top.
Moshing and body surfing began as the crunching guitars and hard-smacking beats roared through the wooden rafters.
"Giving In" and "Do What You Want to Do" weren't as sharp as they could have been, but the sound quality of the set improved as the band continued to play.
By the end of the Adema's slot, the audience had its fill of slamming bodies, sweat and headbanging.
There were moments when vocalist Mark "Marky" Chavez appeared exhausted and seemed to settle for going through the motions.
But then Alien Ant Farm hit the stage and the audience's enthusiasm dropped tenfold.
The band's energy was full throttle, but it, too, lost its momentum and appeared desperate to get things going. But no matter what it did, the audience offered only half-hearted applause.
Too bad Adema and Apex Theory weren't the headliners.
Perhaps the show could have ended on a high note.
E-MAIL: scott@desnews.com