Sunfest 2010 Preview

Tour-wise, southern Florida is a bit like Australia & New Zealand: there are some great fans down there who deserve to be a part of any tour, but cities like Melbourne are far from the rest of the tour route, and after heading all the way down south to them, one can only turn around and head back north, ‘cause you can’t header further south to make it a full tour in its own right (where would you get the chillier reception: Antarctica or the Castro brothers’ Cuba?…). They may not be islands (Australia’s technically a continent), but might as well be in terms of concert tours.

The only way for an act to do either is as part of a festival. Down Under takes advantage of its south-of-the-equator weather to book festivals in the Northern Hemisphere’s winter months (QRO Down Under Festival Guide), and south Florida takes advantage of its round-the-year warm weather to book festivals when farther north is still defrosting (or would be, if not for global warming… QRO Festival GuideQRO review). Miami’s Langerado fell victim to the economic downturn and suddenly cancelled before its March date (QRO preview of what would have been), and the Winter Music Conference’s Ultra Music Festival is still heavily weighted towards the electronica & dance, so what’s a regular south Florida music fan supposed to do? Hit up West Palm Beach’s wide-ranging Sunfest, that’s what!

Nearing thirty years in operation, Sunfest is Florida’s largest waterfront music festival, stretching over five days in late April/early May. Sunfest 2010 features a wide variety of acts, each day roughly grouped by genre so you can catch what you really want with a one-day pass without having to sit through (and pay for) all the rest, but also general appeal enough that you want to hit up every day:

WEDNESDAY, 4/28

Sunfest kicks off on Day One with an indie-rock flavor, but an indie-rock that mixes in all sorts of other genres, from country-jam of festival openers These United States to The Constellations’ classic rock to longtime alt-mainstream hits Weezer.

Bank of America Stage
Weezer, 9:00 PM While the new output from Weezer (QRO photos) like last year’s Raditude (QRO review) isn’t up to their nineties classics (and 2008’s red album-covered self-titled – QRO review – can’t hold a candle to the blue- and green-covered earlier Weezers), they still play those nineties classics like "Undone (The Sweater Song)", "Buddy Holly", "Say It Ain’t So" and "Hash Pipe". And their live show (QRO live review) is still an energetic party (QRO photos).

Crash Kings, 7:30 PM Alt-rock straddles pretty much every line, even into Motown with Crash Kings. Discovered by songwriter/producer Linda Perry (Pink’s #1 "Get the Party Started", among others), she signed the Los Angeles act to Universal Music Group’s Motown Records, and the band delivered on the alt-rock charts last year with their self-titled debut, and its single "Mountain Man" – all without guitars!

Gringo Star, 6:15 PM Watch out for the multi-talented seventies party that is Gringo Star (QRO photos). Hailing from Atlanta, Gringo (QRO interview) made a strong impression in 2008 with debut All Y’all (QRO review) and songs like the title track (QRO video) & "Holding On To Hate" (QRO video). An even strong impression was made live (QRO live review) and at festivals (QRO photos at a festival), where seemingly everyone in the four-piece plays everything (QRO photos at a festival). And they’re well versed in Florida, having already toured the state & played north Florida’s Harvest of Hope (QRO photos at the festival) in 2010.

These United States, 5:15 PM These United States should be an indie-festival regular (QRO photos at a festival), and hopefully they’re becoming one. Their alt-country/jam is just jam enough to be fun, while alt- enough to not be affected, and country enough to be comforting. T.U.S. (QRO photos outdoors) are also getting better & better, like in their latest two records, 2008’s Crimes (QRO review) & last year’s Everything Touches Everything (QRO review), especially its title track (QRO video) – and are pretty prolific to boot. And their live show (QRO live review) is a rip-roaring great way to start off Sunfest (QRO photos at a festival).

Tire Kingdom Stage
We Are Scientists, 8:00 PM Headlining the Tire Kingdom stage is another energetic ‘We’ band, We Are Scientists (QRO photos at a festival) – and their music, most recently with 2008’s Brain Thrust Mastery (QRO review), has kept apace. Starting with "It’s a Hit" (QRO video), the Brooklyn act’s powerful indie-rock has won PhD’s across the country and beyond, and their live show (QRO live review) is known for humorous between-son banter and audience participation, so look for the Kingdom to be packed with anyone and everyone who simply likes music when this trio steps on stage.

The Constellations, 6:30 PM The ‘Dirty South’ gets dirtier with Atlanta’s hip-hop/rock outfit The Constellations, whose debut full-length, Southern Gothic, drops in June.

Locksley, 5:30 PM Self-described ‘doo wop punk’ Locksley (QRO photos) may hail from Madison, Wisconsin, but combine early British Invasion & early American punk. Out with sophomore release Be In Love the month before, Locksley have opened for the likes of The Hives, Rooney, and even British invader Ray Davies.

THURSDAY, 4/28

Day Two of Sunfest is about the blues, from near-Methuselah festivals veterans ZZ Top to the last-minute cancellation of indie-festival superstars, Flaming Lips.

Bank of America Stage

ZZ Top, 9:00 PM

There are few bands out there as instantly and universally recognizable as ZZ Top. From the iconic full-length bears of singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons & singer/bassist Dusty Hill (though there’s only a finely-trimmed mustache on drummer Frank Bear…) to trademark sunglasses & leather, they’re as classic as Marge Simpson’s beehive. And the band has as much staying power as their look, starting on their fifth decade together – with no line-up changes!

They’re also one of the greatest blues-rock outfits to ever, from their start in the rock ‘n’ roll seventies, through being one of the first acts to capitalize on MTV’s music videos for songs like "Legs" and "Sharp Dressed Man" in the eighties to their statesmen-like presence today: members of the Rock ‘n’ Roll Hall of Fame, playing the 2008 Orange Bowl in Miami (and American Idol…), closing out the way-too-short-lived Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien with Will Ferrell, Ben Harper (see below) & more (including Coco himself on guitar) to the appearance next month at Indianapolis 500. Don’t miss the legends!

Albert Castiglia, 7:15 PM

White Collar Crime, 5:30 PM

Tire Kingdom Stage

Bedouin Soundclash, 9:15 PM

The last-minute cancellation of the Flaming Lips (QRO live review) knocks Bedouin Soundclash up to headlining the Tire Kingdom Stage. From the north & from the south comes Bedouin Soundclash. The Canadian band combines their home country’s alternative rock with the reggae from farther south than West Palm Beach.

tba, 7:30 PM

The Danny Morris Band, 5:45 PM

FRIDAY, 4/30

Starting the weekend early, on Friday Sunfest expands to a third stage, and the sound expands to veterans of soul like Patti LaBelle, veterans of classic rock like REO Speedwagon, and veterans of the fickle fame of today like Smash Mouth.

Bank of America Stage
Maze with Frankie Beverly, 9:30 PM Soul comes to Sunfest in Maze with Frankie Beverly, one of the seminal soul outfits to come out of Philadelphia in the seventies (with a little help from the one-and-only Marvin Gaye).

Patti LaBelle, 7:30 PM Back before every slutted-up, trashed-out, smash hit singer who doesn’t writer her own songs started calling themselves a "diva", the word actually meant something – meant someone like Patti LaBelle. The Grammy-winning LaBelle defined diva with her signature R&B and soul voice, that’s still going strong. Ever So Klever, 5:45 PM

Tire Kingdom Stage
REO Speedwagon, 9:00 PM In a way, the seventies/eighties classic rock peaked with REO Speedwagon’s 1980 massive hit Hi Fidelity, and the band has kept on the wagon, through good times and bad. Though their self-financed newer material can’t match the hits (though they did just leap into the twenty-first century with their innovative marketing in downloadable "casual game", Find Your Own Way Home), they still play those hits at casinos, fairs, and festivals across the country.

J.P. Soars & The Red Hots, 7:15 PM You don’t have to be old to play the blues – case in point: J.P. Soars. The California-by-Arkansas-by-South Florida Soars found his musical soul in Memphis. Last year, J.P. Soars & The Red Hots won the International Blues Competition and the award for best unsigned blues artist, leading to the release of debut Back of My Mind. The OPM Band, 5:30 PM

LaBovick & LaBovick Stage

Smash Mouth, 9:15 PM

A band that’s popped in and out genres & popular conscience, Smash Mouth started when ex-rapper Steve Hartwell decided to form a ska-punk band, and broke through with single "Walkin’ On the Sun" in 1997. They then shifted into a more laid-back pop and hit it even bigger with single "All Star", which became a soundtrack staple (even if it didn’t help original soundtracker, little-noticed comic book-comedy Mystery Men). But declining sales and sound followed, leading to the band being dropped by Interscope in 2003, and dropping out of the public eye, until Hartwell appeared as part of the cast of Season Six of VH-1’s The Surreal Life in 2006.

Release date issues and band members leaving & rejoining have held them up, but look for their latest comeback, with a new album reaching back to the older days (and just had a hilarious skit debating their genre (‘skate-punk’? ‘beach-rock’?) and semi-mocking, semi-praising the band – "Smash Mouth may not be Mozart, but they never claimed to be. They’re just some positive guys from San Jose trying to have some fun…")

Cowboy Mouth, 7:30 PM

The People Upstairs, 5:45 PM

SATURDAY, 5/1

Taking advantage of the weekend, Sunfest expands further, covering afternoon as well as evening on Day Four. And the stages host three musical styles that have boomed in Florida, the hard rock of Bank of America Stage, southern country of Tire Kingdom Stage, and reggae/R&B of LaBovick & LaBovick Stage.

Bank of America Stage
Shinedown, 9:30 PM From north Florida comes Jacksonville’s Shinedown, whose Southern, post-grunge hard rock has earned them eleven charting singles off only three albums, most recently with "The Crow and the Butterfly", the fifth off of 2008’s The Sound of Madness.

one:, 7:45 PM South Florida’s own one: are somehow playing after bigger, better acts in the same alt-punk genre as Rise Against (see below).

Griffin Anthony, 5:45 PM An outlier on the hard rock Saturday Bank of America Stage is Griffin Anthony, who combines soul and pop in his self-described ‘Acoustic SouP’.

Rise Against, 3:30 PM Chicago punks Rise Against may have moved to major label status over five years ago, but they’ve kept up their output, including their most successful record yet, 2008’s Appeal to Reason, and political agitation, from the straight edge lifestyle to endorsing vegan-friendly Vans shoes. They’ll be taking a break from the studio, so look for new material getting a live try-out. How Dare You, 2:15 PM Nightlights, 1:00 PM

Tire Kingdom Stage

The Charlie Daniels Band, 9:15 PM

Charlie Daniels began in the sixties as a Nashville songwriter (such as Elvis’ "It Hurts Me") and session musician (such as for Bob Dylan, Leonard Cohen) before hitting it big with his southern-fried country, most notably 1979’s Grammy-winning "The Devil Went Down To Georgia". He’s stayed active as he’s shifted into veteran status, from appearing in GEICO commercials to conservative political activism.

April Phillips, 7:30 PM

Seminole Casino Rock ‘n’ Roll Shootout Winner, 5:45 PM

Classic Albums Live’s 40 Years of Woodstock, 1:00 PM

LaBovick & LaBovick Stage
Sean Kingston, 9:45 PM South Florida’s own Sean Kingston comes back. The reggae-fusion rapper is best known for his #1 single "Beautiful Girls", and expect many of them at Sunfest. With a new record coming out in 2010, he’s sure to be playing new material like recently released single "Eenie Meenie" (with Justin Bieber…).

Iyaz, 8:45 PM Discovered by Sean Kingston (see above), Iyaz’s reggae/R&B is a perfect fit as opener. The Value Meal Killah & The Snack Pack, 8:00 PM Speaking Volumes, 7:00 PM Sister Hazel, 5:15 PM Better Than Ezra, 3:30 PM The Shauna Sweeney Band, 1:30 PM

SUNDAY, 5/2

Sunfest closes out with a bang – literally, as 9:00 PM on the final night sees fireworks light up the waterfront sky above all the stages. Before that, Sunfest mixes it up with artists who mix it up, such as the modern roots-rock of Ben Harper & Relentless7, the electro-indie Tigercity, and the emerald isle punk of Flogging Molly.

Bank of America Stage
Ben Harper & Relentless7, 7:30 PM It was a bit of a slow burn for Ben Harper, whose mixture of skilled guitar, vocals, and activism first hit it big in Europe and especially Australia, before he really boomed in his native States. But boom he did, hitting the Billboard Top Ten with his last three records, most recently with his band Relentless7 on last year’s White Lies for Dark Times – not to mention appearing with Will Ferrell, ZZ Top (see above) and Conan O’Brien on his last Tonight Show, plus serving as backing band to Ringo Starr (pretty much the second-greatest artist to back, possible today) for his appearance on The Colbert Report.

Alberta Cross, 5:45 PM London’s Alberta Cross have made a major showing there, being part of opening tours for the likes of The Shins (QRO live review) to Oasis. Having since moved to New York, their blues-influenced alt-rock is getting even closer to home. They’re also making up for missing south Florida last year when Langerado was cancelled.

NAS & Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley, 3:30 PM The youngest son of legendary reggae artist Bob Marley, Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley actually breaks somewhat from the Marley tradition by embracing ‘toasting’, a Jamaican song styling that predated rap. Starting last year, he began collaborating with famed rapper (and political lightning rod) Nas, for the ‘Rock the Bells’ tour, Distant Relatives, and the festival circuit (QRO photos at a festival). RADix, 1:45 PM Arriverderci, 12:30 PM

Tire Kingdom Stage
The B-52s, 7:40 PM Amidst a lot of blasts from the past, here’s one you wanted back (whether you admit it or not), The B-52s. The most fun of the eighties post-punk acts, actually perhaps the most fun act of the eighties, period, nothing was more infectious than songs like "Private Idaho", "Love Shack" and "Roam". The 1990 departure of Cindy Wilson was the peak of the band’s fame, but she returned in 2000 as the band started touring the hits. But not one to stay that way, in 2008 The B-52s put out an honest-to-god new record, Funplex (QRO review), just in time to rejoin the alt-dance wave they helped start.

Tigercity, 6:00 PM This Brooklyn disco-dance act (QRO photos in Brooklyn) owes a great deal to the discotronic movement of the likes of LCD Soundsystem (QRO live review) and VHS or Beta (QRO spotlight on), even if they’re not as inspired (QRO photos, opening for VHS or Beta). What their light show will look like outside during the late afternoon/early evening is anyone’s guess, but expect dancing (QRO video). Minister Theory, 4:15 PM Marcus Miller, 2:15 PM Noel Lorica & Treebo, 12:30 PM

LaBovick & LaBovick Stage

Flogging Molly, 7:30 PM

Flogging Molly (QRO photos) is on the leading edge of today’s workingman’s punk rock. The Celtic tinge to this Los Angeles act (QRO photos) has only grown, with 2008’s produced-in-Eire Float reaching new heights in popularity for the genre, as well as bringing it to the wide open air (QRO photos outdoors). They missed south Florida last year when Langerado was cancelled, but have become a strong presence on the festival circuit (QRO photos at a festival), including last year’s Warped Tour (QRO photosQRO review).

Big D & The Kid’s Table, 5:45 PM

Johnny Cakes & Four Horseman of the Apocalypso, 4:00 PM

Five For Fighting, 2:00 PM

Matt Far, 12:30 PM