On a 51-degree evening at the Charter One Pavilion at Northerly Island, devout music fans stood together braving the sharp wind chill of Lake Michigan just to see one of their most beloved bands back together again. At The Bamboozle Chicago music festival on May 15, Something Corporate closed out the festival by sending their fans down Nostalgia Lane. Before the reminiscing and the sun went down, bands such as Cobra Starship and 3OH!3 showed the crowd a good time, leaving them fully pumped up to see Something Corporate.
Earlier in the day, attendees trickled into the pavilion and were greeted by pop-up tents and overpriced food and beverage carts, slinging everything from band merchandise and 24 oz. cans of Bud Light for $11, to a man selling hemp jewelry adorned with Bob Marley’s face.
DePaul secondary education junior Joi Kaminski and math junior Jen Petkus couldn’t wait to see the Bamboozle’s headliners.
“I’m excited to for Something Corporate,” Kaminski said. “I’m excited for their reunion and glad that they decided to come to Chicago.”
Petkus said that she was pumped to see fellow headliners Cobra Starship. “Their albums just keep getting better and better as they put them out,” she said.
As fans waited for their favorites to take the stage and more people arrived, there was never a dull moment of waiting around for something to happen. If you weren’t running back and forth from the main stage to the side stage catching your favorite bands, fans had a chance to take part in some activities going on at the Sony tent.
As well as orchestrating acoustic sets and contests to win meet and greets, Sony promoted its Bloggie, an MPEG-4 camera that captures video and photos. Sony allowed fans to rent a Bloggie for the day as well as provided users with computers inside the tent so they can upload their content on Facebook and other social networking sites. The best part of renting a Bloggie was that you got to keep the memory stick that you were using all day.
“It’s a great way for people to capture memories and try out the product,” said Sony Electronics PR strategist Rachelle Arcebido.
With Bloggies in hand and the pavilion filling up, fans were ready to see the headliners. Hometown heroes Kill Hannah warmed things up when they took the stage and had the enthusiastic crowd fist pumping to their classics such as “Lips Like Morphine.”
Following Kill Hannah, Travie McCoy and the Lazarus Project kept things moving by debuting his new material that screamed summertime. As the sun started to set, 3OH!3 caused a ruckus in the crowd with their infectious energy and songs such as “DONTTRUSTME” and their new single “My First Kiss.”
After 3OH!3, Cobra Starship kept things spicy with lead singer Gabe Saporta provocatively dancing to songs such as “Smile for the Paparazzi” and “Hot Mess.” As the night drew upon the festival, Cobra Starship came fully prepared to start a dance party with their elaborate light show, balloons and confetti.
Although in past performances McCoy would usually appear for his cameo during Cobra Starship’s song “Snakes On a Plane (Bring It),” Saporta said that McCoy thought it would be best to give someone a chance to do his part for him. Cobra Starship guitarist Ryland Blackington spotted a girl in the crowd that had a sign that said “I know the rap to Snakes On a Plane.” Saporta brought the girl up on stage and was even kind enough to record her performance with her camera.
Covered in the “hot mess” that Cobra Starship dumped on them, the crowd could no longer stand the anticipation to see Something Corporate. Fans were so anxious to see Something Corporate that they were chanting “So-Co” and even screamed when the stage was being set up and singer Andrew McMahon’s baby grand piano was brought out. After more chanting, the moment that everyone has been waiting for finally came: freshly reunited Something Corporate took the stage.
Something Corporate brought everyone back to the early 2000s with their songs “Punk Rock Princess” and “Space.” Later, heartstrings were pulled with “Me and the Moon” and “She Paints Me Blue” as McMahon’s blonde hair flopped left and right as he poured his heart out on his piano.
To pick things up, Something Corporate played their bitter anthem “If You C Jordan” that had the crowd screaming as they sang along, resulting in an angsty McMahon jumping on top of his piano and stomping on the keys.
Something Corporate fans weren’t the only ones happy about the reunion. As Something Corporate ended the night with their song “Hurricane,” McMahon and his fellow band mates left the stage with their arms around each other.