Epicenter provides both hits and misses

Irvine, Calif., is a quiet town, the epitome of suburbia. On Saturday, however, it became the epicenter for a rock ‘n’ roll throw down.

The Verizon Wireless Amphitheater hosted the third annual Epicenter music festival, sponsored by KROQ. Smells of barbecued chicken kabobs mingled with clouds of cigarette smoke and beer-stained walkways.

The music was loud and nonstop, the way a rock show should be, especially one KROQ proclaimed to be Southern California’s rock festival. But one could be skeptical of the proclamation considering how the festival seemed a scaled-down version of the 2010 affair.

On the same weekend one year ago, KROQ held the second Epicenter in Fontana, Calif., at the Auto Club Speedway. It was a two-day affair featuring performances from Eminem, Kiss, Blink-182, Rise Against, Papa Roach and Bush.

The 2011 production was reduced to one day onle, moved to Irvine and the focused purely on a rock ‘n’ roll lineup.

KROQ lined up Staind, Buckcherry, Papa Roach, P.O.D., Skillet and Puddle of Mudd among others to perform. The station also booked an unexpected, buzz-creating headliner: the recently resurrected Limp Bizkit.

Unfortunately, rockers like Drive A and Crossfade had to perform early on the Monster Energy Stage, and were not seen by those who simply had not shown up yet. Christian hard rock metal band Red faced a similar fate.

The Nashville-based band was the first to play on the main stage, which opened at 4 p.m., but could only perform to a small crowd in the practically empty amphitheater because the rap-rock outfit P.O.D. had not finished performing on the Monster Energy Stage.

Nevertheless, Red put on a solid performance with a good amount of energy and finished strong with its 2007 hit “Breathe Into Me.”

P.O.D. also packed a good amount of energy into its set taking place just down the hill, but it was clear Red was the better choice for attendees as P.O.D.’s sound was off. The vocals were too low and the guitar too high to hear anyone else in the band, thus tarnishing popular tracks “Boom” and “Youth of the Nation.”

As can be expected, the festival had its fair share of other slip-ups. No performance was worse than Five Finger Death Punch’s set. Singer Ivan Moody tried too hard to act tough by making motions of slitting his throat and shooting himself while also criticizing security for attempting to remove a woman who was fighting in the seats; he threatened to stop singing if security threw her out. The band’s music was forgettable and mediocre.

Everlast, a rap/rock artist, performed his poorly voiced lackluster songs with about as little energy or enthusiasm as possible and disappointed from beginning to end. He even refused to leave the stage after it had revolved to reveal the set-up for the next band.

That next band was Skillet, a four-piece Christian rock group who provided an early main stage highlight with a memorable, riveting performance that injected some much-needed life into the crowd.

There was no brighter spot, however, than Papa Roach, who easily put on the festival’s best performance and captivated the entire audience. Front man Jacoby Shaddix commanded and electrified the crowd throughout the veteran Sacramento band’s 40-minute set, leaving the whole amphitheater chanting its name as the band members left the stage.

Headliners Limp Bizkit closed the night with an entertaining performance, its first appearance in Southern California in 10 years. The band blazed through its catalogue of fan favorites, such as “Nookie,” “Break Stuff” and the festival closer “Rollin’,” while also taking plenty of time for frontman Fred Durst to interact and banter with the crowd. Guitarist Wes Borland, per Limp Bizkit tradition, appeared in one of his original costumes, covered in black paint and wearing bright blue glowing goggles that people could see from the lawn.

Epicenter provided 12 non-stop hours of rock music, and a memorable night of strong performances and spectacles for the 15,000 attendees at Irvine.