The opportunity to sample a wide variety of sounds is one of the most appealing aspects of most music festivals. The organizers of the 2011 edition of the Uproar Festival don't seem to share that philosophy. All ten bands selected to perform in the annual tour that touched down Saturday at Sandstone Amphitheater specialize in a melodic version of mainstream heavy metal.
With various degrees of success, each of the acts is clamoring to fill the lucrative space once dominated by Ozzy Osbourne and Metallica. The impressive size of Saturday's audience- about 13,000 fans spanning several generations- reflected the sound's perennial popularity.
South African band Seether distinguished itself in the sonically homogenous setting. While the trio isn't exactly innovative, two characteristics made the band's set the best of the day. Uproar's other acts pretend that the grunge revolution never happened. Seether openly acknowledges the influence of Nirvana. More importantly, Seether's wonderfully melodic songs are more expertly crafted than those of their peers. "Broken," one of just a handful of ballads performed Saturday, and the earthy "Country Song" were significantly superior to the other bands' offerings. Sevendust and Black Tide, Uproar's two most dynamic bands, would almost certainly be far more successful if they possessed just half of Seether's compositional skills.
Even Saturday's headliners, Avenged Sevenfold, lacked the musical appeal of Seether. Yet even without the spectacular lighting and pyrotechnic display and the giant winged skull that served as its imposing backdrop, Avenged Sevenfold would still have been entertaining. Seasoned performers, the band bonded with its fans and silenced its naysayers in its 80-minute set. Vocalist M. Shadows, for instance, dedicated the macabre "A Little Piece of Heaven" to Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne. The California-based band demonstrated that its top billing was merited.
The obligatory breast-flashing, moshing and crowd-surfing that accompanies heavy metal events enlivened appearances by Three Days Grace, Bullet For My Valentine, Escape the Fate, Art of Dying and Hell or Highwater. The festival ran like clockwork, an attribute that didn't help Kansas City's Echo Vendetta. While long lines snaked toward Sandstone's entry gates, less than 200 people witnessed the performance by the winner of a batte-of-the-bands contest.
Echo Vendetta's set kicked off nine hours of carefree, albeit very loud, revelry for fans of melodic metal.
South African band Seether distinguished itself in the sonically homogenous setting. While the trio isn't exactly innovative, two characteristics made the band's set the best of the day. Uproar's other acts pretend that the grunge revolution never happened. Seether openly acknowledges the influence of Nirvana. More importantly, Seether's wonderfully melodic songs are more expertly crafted than those of their peers. "Broken," one of just a handful of ballads performed Saturday, and the earthy "Country Song" were significantly superior to the other bands' offerings. Sevendust and Black Tide, Uproar's two most dynamic bands, would almost certainly be far more successful if they possessed just half of Seether's compositional skills.
Even Saturday's headliners, Avenged Sevenfold, lacked the musical appeal of Seether. Yet even without the spectacular lighting and pyrotechnic display and the giant winged skull that served as its imposing backdrop, Avenged Sevenfold would still have been entertaining. Seasoned performers, the band bonded with its fans and silenced its naysayers in its 80-minute set. Vocalist M. Shadows, for instance, dedicated the macabre "A Little Piece of Heaven" to Kansas City rapper Tech N9ne. The California-based band demonstrated that its top billing was merited.
The obligatory breast-flashing, moshing and crowd-surfing that accompanies heavy metal events enlivened appearances by Three Days Grace, Bullet For My Valentine, Escape the Fate, Art of Dying and Hell or Highwater. The festival ran like clockwork, an attribute that didn't help Kansas City's Echo Vendetta. While long lines snaked toward Sandstone's entry gates, less than 200 people witnessed the performance by the winner of a batte-of-the-bands contest.
Echo Vendetta's set kicked off nine hours of carefree, albeit very loud, revelry for fans of melodic metal.
| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star
YO! What, is everyone who attended the Uproar Festival still asleep? I thought that SEETHER was most likely the best band I saw and I was forewarned about the 'insane' mosh pit that would DEFINITELY occur during AVENGED SEVENFOLD. I stood near the [stage left] area - equivalent to maybe the third row and from what I saw, the mosh pit wasn't THAT brutal. Had a decent time, though.
Posted by: Bubba | September 25, 2011 at 05:40 PM
Most pits are crazy! I was more interested in the sound guys. Looking to be a DJ and love that equipment and mixing stuff. Mix your songs and have fun!
Posted by: DJ Dan | September 25, 2011 at 08:20 PM
ARE YOU SERIOUS? Absolutely embarrassing that whoever posted this IS CLEARLY BIASED towards Seether. Now dont get me wrong seether was very good but in no means did they steal the show! This post was also reported on Avenged Sevenfolds Deathbatnews website.... Basically saying that THE Kansas city STAR downgraded them and seether stole the show. Well great thanks for that! I hope they will come back now... Oh and BTW Three days grace even headlined over seether SO CLEARLY THEY ARE ALSO BETTER. Apparently you prefer Static between songs then a band that is the NEXT Metallica!
Posted by: Alec Winsor | September 26, 2011 at 11:06 PM
Alec, if you are referring to Load era Metallica, then you are absolutely right.
Posted by: Remedy4me | September 27, 2011 at 07:38 AM
I just like the approach you took with this subject. It isn’t every day that you discover something so concise and enlightening.
Posted by: chi flat iron | September 27, 2011 at 08:42 PM
I'm not really that MUCH of a fan of any other band on the current Uproar Festival tour other than SEETHER. But I did have a decent time - just enjoy attending the 2011 season's final bash at Sandstone. Even with 13,000 present, on could ACTUALLY move around a bit. You ROCK, Kansas City!
Posted by: Bubba | September 27, 2011 at 10:45 PM