My Saturday at Bunbury started with catching Bronze Radio Return on the Warsteiner stage. The band blew me away. Their tunes featured a harmonica and banjo and a roots rock sound. They had smiles on their faces for the entire set and moved around. Everyone in the crowd was dancing and singing along to the tracks they knew. They played with the energy of a headlining band, even though they were early in the day. They even included a back and forth between the harmonica and guitar.
Next I caught New Politics on the main stage. The trio, originally from Denmark, put on another excellent show. Front man David Boyd stood on his head, walked on his hands, break danced, and hurled himself into the crowd. Every song they played was a hit with the crowd and they went wild with every dance move.
Cults took the main stage after New Politics, bringing the party to a screeching halt. The band described some troubles getting to the show and having to spend the night in the Denver airport last night, so perhaps they were just having a bad day. They never quite got their sound mixed right and lead singer Madeline Follin signaled back stage for sound adjust between lines during every song and really lost the crowd trying to find their groove. They were at their best when they played a cover of “Total Control” by The Motels. There was some relief from the crowd when they finally finished their set. The group would have been better suited for a smaller stage or earlier timeslot.
Paramore took the stage next and had a lot of energy. They played tracks from all four of their albums. There was an unexpected pause in the show when a skunk somehow made it’s way into the crowd and surprised fans by spraying them. After some commotion the band restarted their song and kept going. During their hit “Misery Business” they brought one fan onstage and gave her her own microphone to lead the bridge. They finished with their most recent single “Ain’t It Fun.”
When Fall Out Boy finally took the stage there were flashing lights and pyrotechnics and deafening cheering from the crowd. They opened with “Phoenix,” and there was jumping, screaming, and dancing. They played hit after hit, pausing only briefly to talk to the crowd and switch instruments. When it came time to play the title track from their latest album, Save Rock and Roll, Patrick Stump emerged from the risers on the back of the stage with a grand piano to perform the power ballad. They rocked from start to finish, ending with their track “Saturday.” The only bad thing about Fall Out Boy’s performance was that it had to end.
All photos by Casey Rife and Miranda Rife.