Rockapalooza 2012 was a tremendously interesting concert. The fairgrounds themselves were large and spacious, while the different stages were all placed in very close quarters. This means that there was a more cohesive flow to the concert, but that there was some serious sound pollution if individuals were not standing straight-on to the stage. There were a set of different scenes that were present here, culminating in a rock and a rap side to things.
Attendees had a number of drink and food options – Domino’s Pizza and Subway provided the food, while water, pop, and alcoholic beverages were all present. A ring of bands selling their wares surrounded the action and allowed for fans to meet their idols. While bands were playing throughout the entirety of the day, I felt that the show kicked into high gear as the sun went down. Youngstown rapper Mood (not related to the Hi-Tek protégés from the early 2000s)performed to a packed rear stage. The overall energy exerted by Mood was off the chart, but it seemed like ey was struggling to keep from being winded at points. While there were some interesting freestyles presented during eir set, I feel that Mood’s evolution will make for an overall stronger live effort.
Machine Gun Kelly went up against The Devil Wears Prada. By this point of the concert, the side stages had by and large closed up. Going through eir version of Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff”, MGK was able to interact nicely with eir hometown audience. While there were a wide variety of tempos broached during the MGK set, I feel that the slower efforts did a little damage to the overall energy of the set. MGK has a tremendous stage presence and ey is one of the few performers that can project themselves from the front row back to the end of the crowd.
The Devil Wears Prada flipped the vocal-dominant stylings of MGK, in that their instrumentation was highlighted through their set. While they too were stellar at speaking to the crowd, I felt that the intricacies of their arrangements were the main driving force. The dynamic was fluid and continued to shift through the entirety of the set; a guitar line would be replaced with a stand-off between the drums and vocals, shifting again to something entirely different. The earnestness of The Devil Wears Prada showcased that the band appreciated being there.
Rockapalooza 2012 Ohio Review (September 8th, 2012) / Summit County Fairgrounds /