Barely surviving the drive home from San Diego, I drove up to the Gibson Amphitheatre for the KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas night number two. I have somehow made it to about 6 years of Acoustic Christmas and it becomes more difficult to get tickets every year. The back up plan was to go to Spaceland and see Jet with Bloodcat Love if I didn't get tickets but I lucked out and got front row loge. The new debacle KROQ used this year was to make you listen to KROQ through the weekend untill they played "Everlong" by the Foo Fighters and tickets would then go on sale. I listen to KROQ periodically but 3 days in a row was waaay too much. How many times do you really need to hear My Chemical Romance? The whole ordeal confirmed how shallow the programming is over at KROQ. Even though the line up was not as strong as years past, The Killers and Foo Fighters were more then enough reason to be in attendance. She Wants Revenge was up first and played a strong set. They have come a long way since I saw them at the Troubadour before their album came out. After an opening jaunt with Depeche Mode and multiple crossing of the states, their set is very tight. They also got huge points for covering "Hazy Shade of Winter". It was one of two and a half Christmas songs played that night. Snow Patrol was up next and received a warm reception playing "Chasing Cars", "Open Your Eyes", and "Run". Angels and Airwaves came up next and received a lukewarm reception. The songs sound good on CD but when performed live, Tom uses way too much reverb on his vocals. He was in a rather chatty mood talking about how his music can change the world. This is a hard sell coming from a former member of Blink-182 who was known for their potty humor. The only person that can get away with saying that their music can change the world is Bono. I still liked "The Adventure" even though the guitar line is a rip off of "Space Age Love Song". Tom also blatantly hijacks The Edge's guitar sound so I think I am on to something here. Gnarls Barkley came on next and played an entertaining set. They always come out in different costumes so it was no surprise that they came out in Santa and Elf costumes. Cee-Lo was funny as he checked his blackberry while singing a song. Dangermouse was rocking the Moog Voyager which sounded great. Some favorites included "St. Elsewhere", "Crazy", and "Gone Daddy Gone". Cee-lo also referred to the band as Dirty Santa and the Ho-Ho-Hoes. Evanescence was clearly out of place with the hard rock guitars. Amy has a beautiful voice and is really talented but the whole group seems contrived. Panic at the Disco came out with their circus/cabaret show and entertained the teenagers in the crowd. When they played their popular song, they mentioned that they were sick of playing it which I thought was funny.Raconteurs played a solid rock set with "Steady as She Goes" being the highlight. I do say I like the White Stripes more. Jack was singing a little differently with the Raconteurs from what I remember. Beck was up next and finally got the whole amphitheatre standing and rocking out. Opening with "Loser" and playing one hit after another. Beck had puppets of himself and the band dancing behind him and being projected on the big screens. It was quite the spectacle. Other highlights include "Devil's Haircut", "Nausea", " 2 Turntables and a Microphone".The Killers kept the momentum rolling with some strong selections from their two albums. "Read My Mind" was my favorite as well as the new Christmas song "A Great Big Sled". Foo Fighters came out acoustically and did "My Hero", "Skin & Bones", and "Everlong". The stage spun during "Everlong" and they switched to an electric set to play "Monkey Wrench" and "Times Like These". Quite the night of rock if I say so myself.
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