Yesterday was Endfest #16. This is the yearly concert put on the KNDD 107.7 The End. In my mind this was one of the worst ones I had attended. First off it was in the North parking lot of Quest Field. They had three stages and the sightlines were not great for any of the stages. In fact for the main stage the parking lot slopped away from the stage so everyone in front of you was at a higher position that you were. If they had not had a few of the Quest Field concession stands open you would have been really out of luck for food choices. Not like it was really healthy or anything but the other food options were very few. I did not partake in the beer gardens but they were in locations that were almost behind the stages. They did look fairly packed throughout the day so I guess people did not seem to mind.
I was really suprised to see Hot Hot Heat on the mainstage. They really are not any better than the past few times I have seen them open for other bands. Not that they are not OK but they just do not seem to be getting better. I saw one of the guys from the Lashes walking around and I could not think to myself that I think those guys have a lot more stage presence than some of the other bands that played. The Bravery played a great set and they would have been better on the mainstage than Hot Hot Heat. Lots of The Used fans were in the crowd but I choose that time to grab some dinner so I really did not catch their set. I think my favorite band of the day was Satellite Party. Perry Farrell seem to really understand his audience and played only a few Satellite Party songs and play many Jane’s Addiction songs along with a couple (maybe it was only one) Porno for Pyros tune. He really engaged the crowd and seem to be enjoying what he was doing. I felt bad for his wife, Etty Farrell, who has been dancing on stage with him since the Jane’s Addition days. She gave a big shout out to her home town of Bellevue, WA and got booed a bit. Bright Eyes in my mind just seemed out of place. You really never hear them played on KNDD but they did have a big following. Many people left after the played. Social D rocked as expected but like other band on the mainstage when you only get to play from 45-60 minutes the sets go by way too fast.
Then there was Smashing Pumpkins. Maybe I am a bit too negative about Billy Corgan. In my mind he really never engaged with the crowd. I am not sure he has ever liked playing in Seattle. He just seemed like he was going to through the motions. Their set list was a bit odd with every other song being a song off of the new album. I guess with only a hour to play you kind of have to pick what you do but I was a bit suprised just how heavily weighted the set was toward the new album, and album that has not gotten a lot of air play or has great sales. I would go as far as saying that other than the first and second singles the crowd was very unreacting to the new songs. Personally I came away disappointed.
I hope next year they move it back to White River Amphitheatre or consider a new location where other concerts are presented. While I did enjoy the ability to take the bus down and not have to drive having the show in a parking lot was just not a great place. Drew was quick to point out that a Warp tour done there a few years back had better stage locations and was much better than the way they had things set up.
A digital recording of my life 