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Once in a while, the sun shone despite the mostly cloudy skies above the Post-Gazette Pavilion yesterday during X-Fest. And more often than might seem likely at a festival long on heavy alternative rock, the bands let some light shine through, too.
Some of the music was even just flat-out fun. The Donnas, in particular, brought the requisite heavy guitar sound, but in service of bright, snappy pop punk songs. "Too Bad About Your Girl" was a highlight of the band's half-hour set, with the song featuring chugging verses, cowbell-fueled drum breakdowns and sassy lyrics.
Two Pittsburgh-area bands that played the Comcast Side Stage also created and reveled in an aggressively upbeat atmosphere. Punchline played speedy punk songs full of spot-on vocal harmonies, and even served listeners a searing, surprising cover of Counting Crows' "Round Here." Brett Detar of Juliana Theory clearly enjoyed seeing fans recognize early songs by his band, but still screamed and banged through new tunes like "Congratulations" for legions of crowd surfers.
The Parking Lot Stage behind the amphitheater hill hosted a wide range of music, too. Eve 6, hyping themselves on T-shirts boasting "We suck live," actually rocked competently and melodically. Trapt employed impassioned vocals and both buzzing and chiming guitars on positive tunes like "These Walls." Taproot had fans jammed up against the stage swaying en masse.
Evanescence gave off a gloomy vibe with goth-tinged musical trappings including dramatic pre-programmed synthesizers and pulsing backing vocals. But singer Amy Lee enjoyed the performing too much to be truly dark and detached. She was all smiles when the throngs finally stood and sang along during "Bring Me to Life."
No one would mistake the four members of Staind for sensitive, cheery guys during screamers like "Spleen" or the loud, unswinging "Price to Pay." But, per usual, the band's mid-set acoustic break revealed singer Aaron Lewis' gift for melody and reflective, honest lyrics, particularly on "So Far Away" and "Outside."
But every good theme must have its exceptions. Godsmack's set featured balls of flame shooting from the floor, singer Sully Erna unleashed growl after scream after wail on new tunes like "Faceless," "Straight Out of Line" and "I [Expletive] Hate You."
Both Erna and Staind's Lewis acknowledged that the show was taking place on Memorial Day. Lewis noted that we "shouldn't forget" those who fought and died for our nation, while Erna simply had the words "United We Stand," printed over an American flag, projected onscreen.
And both bands reminded listeners of both the dark and the bright side of the holiday, and of the ever-mutating, ever-complicated alternative rock universe celebrated at X-Fest yet again this year.