93X Fest had great line up on paper but that didn't necessarily translate to the actual event.
One thing that was a little disappointing was the fact the bands didn't follow in order from the list we had. I've been to a ton of concerts over 35 years and that's never happened.
Our party made a conscience decision to stay out in the parking lot and tail-gait, missing New Medicine. This turned out to be a bad decision by the sound of the band once they cranked it up. That decision was made worse after we heard the lead singer make the proclamation NM was, in fact, a local act. We all agreed that we'll definitely be checking them out as they sounded great (even from the parking lot!!).
As Black Label Society took the stage we were engulfed in rain. That didn't stop the band from ripping it up. They sounded great and I learned just how great Zakk Wylde is as a live singer. Really impressive.
The band our group really came to see was Queensryche. We were really pumped when they meandered into their places on stage. That excitement quickly faded as their stage energy was the equivalent to a wedding band doing Eagles covers. I'm sorry 'Ryche fans but they clearly mailed it in with that performance. I don't know if they were pissed with their slot, not feeling well, whatever, but IMHO they were lame. I still love the band but I think they better stick to smaller, more intimate concert settings.
I was also excited to see Puddle of Mudd. If I thought Queensryche was lame then Puddle of Mudd not only lowered the bar - they stomped on it. To make matters worse, their sound was weak for some reason. It didn't have any punch. Then Wes Scantlin appeared more interested in having the audience sing the songs than him. I get it when a lead singer wants to get the crowd into it, but leaning out and pointing the mic at the crowd on EVERY SINGLE verse and chorus really got annoying for me - especially when you couldn't hear the crowd respond. That on top of him trying to sing as he made his way down the stage scaffolding was just plain embarrassing. All that coupled with the poor sound made for an extremely bad performance. Very disappointing.
In stark contrast to Queensryche and Puddle of Mudd was Hollywood Undead. As the weather got better so did the concert. I didn't know much about the band other than their one radio hit, but I really enjoyed them. That goes to prove how a bands performance can win over the most skeptical of concert goers. They were fun to watch and I may even purchase their CD - ok, maybe not. I'm a old school hard ass rocker but I loved their energy.
Godsmack was a proverbial breath of fresh rocking air. When Sully Erna dedicated The Enemy to our troops and killing Osama bin Laden, the electricity at that concert spiked about 20,000 volts!! I get chills thinking about it now. They came out and delivered the goods which was exactly how I wanted the night to end. In fact, they were so powerful they blew the sound system out before their last song. Nice touch.
In summary, it was fairly hit and miss for me. The sound system was somewhat inconsistent from band to band along with the performances. I also think they would have been better served moving the stage closer to the stadium stands for people that wanted a little better view. All-in-all, only three stars for me.