WCCC’s The Big Gig at The Comcast Theater in Hartford – May 19, 2012

The Rock 106.9 WCCC brings their “Big Gig” back to the Comcast Theater in Hartford, with quite an impressive lineup! In the afternoon, the festival stage consisted of Dead By Wednesday, Jasta, Aranda, Art of Dying, Pop Evil and Hell Yeah, while the main stage consisted of Black Stone Cherry, Steel Panther, Volbeat, Dead Sara, Staind and Godsmack. Wow.

In the early afternoon I was shooting a friend’s band about a half hour north of here, at Six Flags New England. It was convenient travel-wise to have these two events on the same day, but unfortunately I had to miss almost all of the festival stage, arriving during Hell Yeah’s last couple of songs.

I definitely would have enjoyed getting their earlier. I’ve never been a Hatebreed fan, but I’ve been digging Jasta’s solo album, especially “The Fearless Must Endure.” If you haven’t checked it out, I recommend it… a great track, with a guest appearance by Zakk Wylde.

I also would have enjoyed seeing Aranda. Back when they were starting out, they had the same manager as the Aerosmith tribute I was in, and they actually opened for us at a handful of shows. Nice to see that they’ve had success since then, I remember them being nice guys.

But as I said, I didn’t arrive until the tail end of Hell Yeah’s set. The festival stage area was packed in super tight, so I didn’t bother pushing through to check them out. I’ll see them open for Volbeat next month up in Boston, anyway. I made my way to the main stage, and checked out Black Stone Cherry, who I’ve heard of plenty of times, but have managed to never hear anything by them before. They played a good set, but unfortunately the opening main stage slot often means a lot of the crowd is still lingering, making their way from the second stage. I think if there had been a bigger crowd there for them, they would have been into it!

Steel Panther

Now here’s another band I’ve heard lots about, but never seen. This was started by a couple of guys from the LA-based Van Halen Tribute Band, The Atomic Punks.

This band is basically a parody of 80’s hair bands. They take everything over the top, and they were hilarious!

Setlist
Turn Out the Lights
Tomorrow Night
Asian Hooker
17 Girls in a Row
Death to All but Metal

Look at those song titles. Fantastic. Of course they’re not just funny, but they’re also very talented musicians also. If you ever enjoyed any hair bands, I highly recommend checking these guys out!

Volbeat

I’ve made no secret of my love for Volbeat. They’re always a blast to see perform, and always great to shot.

Setlist
A Warrior’s Call
Guitar Gangsters & Cadillac Blood
Another Day, Another Way
Sad Man’s Tongue
Hallelujah Goat
The Mirror and the Ripper
I Only Want to Be with You
Pool of Booze, Booze, Booza
Still Counting

Since they were playing a shorter festival setlist, it was cut down to only the best they had to offer. The local radio stations in Rhode Island don’t play a whole lot of Volbeat. I hear some here and there, but not much. It seems as though Connecticut is pretty lucky, and WCCC plays a fair amount, as the crowd all seemed really familiar and into it.

 

Dead Sara

 

Setlist
Sorry for It All
Test on My Patience
I Said You Were Lucky
Face to Face
Blue Was the Feeling for You
Lemon Scent
Weatherman

Staind

Setlist
Raw
Right Here
Eyes Wide Open
Spleen
Failing
So Far Away
Now
Country Boy
For You
Paper Wings
Outside
Not Again
It’s Been Awhile
Mudshovel
Something to Remind You

 

Godsmack

 

Setlist
Awake
Straight Out of Line
The Enemy
Good Day to Die
The Oracle
Cryin’ Like a Bitch
Keep Away
Speak
Love Hate Sex Pain
Voodoo
Batalla de los Tambores
Whatever
I Stand Alone