Last night, Face to Face finished its reunion set by saying “this concludes the punk rock portion of the evening.” The same could be said for Anti-Flag, whose political lyrics and blistering guitar attack hearken back to an era when youthful rebellion meant more than putting party pictures on your MySpace profile. And people were listening: The band brought the crowd from a simmer to a raging boil.

Like perhaps too many of the festival’s bands, Saves The Day’s high water mark , 2001’s emo gem “Stay What You Are,” is already more than a few years old. They opened their set with that album’s “At Your Funeral,” an emo anthem if there ever was one. Singer Chris Conley remains gifted (or cursed, depending on your tolerance) with the voice of Eric Cartman; the singer tag-teams of Anti-Flag and A Cursive Memory were much more satisfying.

The latter band, which recently released its debut on Vagrant Records and has scored a certified MySpace hit with the paparazzi-satirizing video for “Everything,” managed to work keyboards and MTV-ready hooks into its music. “Everything” is the song the crowd knew best, but all of the group’s tunes are slices of brisk, winning emo-pop.

– Post and photo by David Greenwald

Like the second coming of the Beastie Boys, Colorado electro-rappers 3Oh!3 delivered a thumping set of party rhymes at the Playground stage … while dressed in Winnie the Pooh and Hamburgler costumes. Beat-wise, the duo’s synth-heavy sound recalled Edmonton, Canada’s Cadence Weapon or even some of Kanye West’s recent electronic forays, but the emphasis was firmly on the vocals, which Sean Foreman (Pooh) and beatsmith Nathaniel Motte (Hamburgler) delivered between bounding across the stage and showing off choreographed dance moves. The two rapped about sex and booze with shameless vulgarity, dropping F-bombs with glee. Was it all a joke? If Motte’s ironic Michael Bolton shirt was any indication after the costumes came off, it’s an awesome one.

Their energy reflected the mood of the day so far: Day 2 of Bamboozle Left is already off to a more energetic start as far as the crowds are concerned. Though the fest is still full of “The Hills”-ready O.C. teens mingling with tattooed punkers and older, baseball cap-wearing beer guzzlers, they’ve joined in shaking their fists and crowding the six stages.

– Post and photo by David Greenwald

“That’s what you get when you let your heart win”: Paramore blew it out of the water last night, drawing one of the biggest responses, especially when they closed with signature song “Misery Business.” The dancing teenagers in front of me knew every word, and this was 100 rows back. The band has become one of the scene’s biggest by refusing to limit themselves to formulaic punk rock, embellishing their songs with melodic guitar parts and breathing room in the verses that most groups would fill with chugging riffs. As a result, the songs tap into both punk’s communal mosh pit sing-along aesthetic and a more universal pop accessibility. Though the whole band was on-point musically, it was frontwoman Hayley Williams (pictured) who impressed most, rocking the Asbury Park stage with an intensity and charisma beyond her 19 years — not to mention her nuanced singing, which you’d never confuse with any of the festival’s more guttural acts.

Jimmy Eat World, Paramore’s co-headliners on their current national tour, were up next and didn’t disappoint, opening with blinding stage lights and moving quickly into fan favorite “Sweetness.” Audience attention waned a bit when the band played one new tune after another, but the fresh stuff was almost as driving and catchy as songs such as “Clarity” (from the 1999 album of the same name), which they dropped mid-set. With Weezer having long since lapsed into self-parody, it’s fallen to groups like Jimmy Eat World to carry the torch for pop-leaning emo; last night, they held it high.

– David Greenwald

Photo of Hayley Williams performing in February by Peter Hill

In Power Chord City, New Found Glory (pictured) is the mayor. The band, which played an afternoon set yesterday, was my introduction to pop-punk back in ninth grade, and apparently, little has changed since: NFG is still blink-182 Jr. The band’s gotten heavier over the years instead of carving out more infectious melodies, but “Hit or Miss,” from their 1999 debut, “Nothing Gold Can Stay,” still rocked.

A big portion of Bamboozle Left’s bill is graying former stars: ’90s ska-punk icons Reel Big Fish played a spirited set just before NFG (which included 1996 [!] hit “She Has a Girlfriend Now”) and headlining act Jimmy Eat World’s next album is a reissue of their 2001 breakthrough, “Bleed American.” Not exactly young turks.

This, on the two main stages, was the center of the action; it was also a parking lot. Yesterday was a crazy day of running around looking for bands, but now that I’ve gotten my bearings, I can say with confidence and sore legs that it’s clear these grounds aren’t too conducive to a punk festival. It’s Bamboozle Left’s second year (the 50,000 attendee East Coast version is more of an institution) and first at Irvine Meadows, and thus far, there have been more people wandering between stages and buying Kanye West window shutter glasses (myself included) than actually enjoying the music, nevermind rocking out. The MLB Authentic Collection stage and the Playground stage (also parking lots) between the two main hubs went mostly ignored, unlike the more comfortable park area of the 5 Gum and Nokia Ticket Rush stages.

The grassy areas saw some of the day’s weirder moments: Though the festival’s been fairly diverse, sonically and audience-wise, An Angle, the sensitivo singer-songwriter Kris Anaya and friends, were totally out of place. Kids sat down in response and seemingly never got up: When noisy aggro band Valencia took the Nokia stage after, they had to ask, midsong, “Are you guys still with us out there?”

– David Greenwald

Paramore is the female-fronted draw of the day here at Bamboozle Left, but Automatic Loveletter’s Juliet Simms (pictured, right) more than held her own on the Nokia Ticket Rush stage. Clad in an obligatory black hoodie and strumming an acoustic guitar, she wailed her way through a frenetic half-hour set split by a solo acoustic ballad. Get this band on a main stage and she’ll be receiving automatic love letters by the truckload.

Rocket to the Moon (one rocket by the name of Nick Santino) wowed the growing crowd in a porkpie hat and skinny tie that belied his less hysterical Dashboard Confessional sound. Santino was one of the few non-screamers of the day, only occasionally verging on melodramatic whines. Makes sense: dude looked pretty happy to be here, way too happy for a dyed-in-the-hair emo kid. But that’s the story of Bamboozle so far, a festival more about fun in the sun (in the corporate planned community of Irvine, no less) than typical emo angst.

It was crowded here earlier, but now it’s packed — the twentysomethings have arrived, nursing last night’s hangover with $10 beers. I’m not looking forward to braving the pit on the other end of the venue when I head over to genre-hoppers RX Bandits at the Nowwhat.com stage in a minute. None of the bands have blown me away yet, but the afternoon is still young. If nothing else, I’m counting on the 1-2 punch of Paramore and heroes of my teenage years Jimmy Eat World tonight. In the meantime, there’s a Major League Baseball-sponsored batting cage and a pitching contest with my name on it.

– Post and photo by David Greenwald

I’ve never seen so many black Chuck Taylors in my life. But I guess I should’ve expected as much from Bamboozle Left, a 100+ band emo/punk festival spread across six stages at Irvine’s Verizon Wireless Amphitheatre. I’ll be here all day live-blogging, so lace up your Converse, rim your eyes with black eyeliner and get ready to mosh.

There are at least a few thousand people here and luckily, they’ve got room to roam: The stages are spread over a sprawling half-mile, with dozens of food and clothes vendors in between — that’s enough space for most of the bands (including the Paramore merch booth, which has a sign reading “:) P-More :)” above it) to have their own merch booths. A cup of beer is set at a riot-making price of $10, but the authentic punk rock promises to assuage the wallet and spirit.

Seeing the dozens of bands isn’t going to be easy: It’s quite a walk from the two side-by-side main stages, Asbury Park and Nowwhat.com, to the other end of the venue, where Automatic Loveletter are currently rocking the Nockia Ticket Rush stage and the Josephine Collective just exited the 5 Gum stage. More on them in a second — let’s get caught up.

As I arrived in the hefty parking lot, I caught my first glimpse of the surprisingly diverse hoodie ‘n’ Chucks crowd: tailgating bros in brown surfer hoodies, teens in dark zip hoodies (and their parents) and, scattered in between, a few genuine punks in black jeans sporting spiked hair. It was a weird intersection of My Chemical Romance fans (train conductor jackets and all), girls with red and blonde Paramore-style dye jobs, MySpace hipsters and their moms. With so many bands to see in the warm, overcast weather, many were saving their energy and lazed about on the grass instead. But not me.

Vogue in the Movement were the first band on the Nokia Ticket Rush stage and their fashion-first punk was bouncy and melodramatic in ways that recalled the glossy pop stylings of Maroon Five. Josephine Collective (no relation to Animal Collective, to be sure) brought the most energy of the early acts, but it helped that they had two vocalists screaming off of the 5 Gum stage.

Up next: emo’s (really) sensitive, acoustic side with Automatic Loveletter and Rocket to the Moon.

– Post and photo of Josephine Collective by David Greenwald

For all you Vedder heads out there who missed the first show in his first ever solo tour last night* in Vancouver (uh, Vancouver? That isn’t Seattle, Eddie), you can read Ann Powers’ review here and peruse the set list below. We recommend you do so while drinking coffee or at least directing your darkest thoughts toward Ticketmaster.

SET LIST
“Walking the Cow” (Daniel Johnston cover)

“Around the Bend”

“I Am Mine”

“Dead Man”

“Man of the Hour”

“Guaranteed”

“No Ceiling”

“Far Behind”

“Rise”

“Millworker” (James Taylor cover)

“Goodbye”

“Broken Hearted”

“You’re True”

“Drifting Along”

“Hide Your Love Away” (Beatles cover)

“Picture in a Frame” (Tom Waits cover)

“Trouble” (Cat Stevens cover)

“I Won’t Back Down” (Tom Petty cover)

“Forever Young” (Bob Dylan cover)

ENCORE

“Society” (with Liam Finn)

“Growin’ Up” (Bruce Springsteen cover)

“No More”

“Porch”

ENCORE TWO

“Hard Sun” (with Finn and Eliza Jane Barnes)

*The first version of this post stated that it was Vedder’s first solo show ever. We should have written that it was the first show of his first solo tour ever. Guess we need to take our own advice and drink more coffee.

At age 62, the Dorian Gray of mudflap girls is as ambitious in the studio as she is under the knife. Refusing to fade into graceful grandma-hood, Dolly Parton is hellbent on returning to the top of the charts with “Backwoods Barbie,” an album calibrated to capitalize on the country-pop crossover.

Her girlish vibralto intact, Parton storms through a dozen songs, proving that where it counts, she’s still got it. When Carrie Underwood let Jesus take the wheel of her career, it was the smartest thing she (and her producers and handlers) could’ve done. The lesson’s not lost on Parton, whose Pentecostal upbringing pays dividends on the album’s second single, “Jesus and Gravity.”

The first single, “Better Get To Livin’,” a sappy inspirational song that melds every self-help cliché, fared poorly. Much better is Parton’s unlikely but appealing cover of Fine Young Cannibals’ “She Drives Me Crazy.” The bulk of the song, arranged as a fiddle-heavy pop song, hews close to the original until the finale, when it crescendos in a rollicking hoedown. It might blow your mind, but the real charmer is the album’s title track. It’s vintage Dolly: playing up her impoverished roots, making fun of her over-the-top-persona and charming a skeptical audience that may not know or care about her classic hits.

I’m just a backwoods Barbie, too much makeup, too much hair.
Don’t be fooled by thinkin’ that the goods are not all there.
Don’t let these false eyelashes lead you to believe
That I’m as shallow as I look, ’cause I run true and deep.

Say what you will about her faith in plastic surgery. There may be no less forgiving measure of aging than the pop charts, and Parton knows it. Tonight, her campaign to win the hearts and minds of American consumers goes into overdrive with a two-night stint on “American Idol.” (Rumors abound that Carly Smithson will sing “Jolene” and Jason Castro will take on “I Will Always Love You.”) Forget the 9 to 5 office set, Parton’s got her sight on her key demographic — the tween girl set, who should relate perfectly to her empowerment through loud and proud femininity.

–Elina Shatkin

Photo by FOX

Say what you will about Herbie Hancock’s controversial Grammy win, but there is no arguing with a man who steps onstage rocking a wireless keytar.

Buoyed by the plate-shifting bottom end of his jazz-funk classic “Chameleon” (carried by the powerhouse rhythm section of Vinnie Colaiuta and Marcus Miller), Herbie began his Yahoo! Live Set with the air of a giddy conquering hero, playing with such an undeniable sense of adventure and joy that all memories of his lovely but eyelid-fluttering “Joni Letters” were wiped away in a storm of actual, head-bobbing jazz.

Granted, when your back catalog includes classics such as “Cantaloupe Island,” “Actual Proof” and the genre-crashing early MTV staple “Rockit,” there’s little chance of keeping a roof on any venue, even a vaguely production-oriented stage in Century City. Hancock even flexed his ability to stretch some boundaries by showcasing a reworked “Watermelon Man” that incorporated elements from his guitarist’s (Lionel Loueke) time signature-melting composition “Seven Teens,” which together sounded like an alien funk jam tumbling down a flight of stairs.

But the biggest ovation from the small, invite-only crowd came for who Hancock had hidden in the wings: Joni Mitchell.

Mitchell was dressed in a long, utterly insane but totally perfect dress bearing what could’ve been a scene from the Bhagavad Gita across the front, and her presence alone inspired a few audible gasps. While the set was missing the extra touch that her tiny, track-suited Jack Russell terrier brought to the rehearsal, Mitchell’s three-song collaboration with Hancock’s band revealed the biggest thing missing from the pianist’s lauded tribute album: Mitchell herself.

The years may have taken the angelic lilt away from Mitchell’s unmistakable voice, but the husky tone in its place added a new weight to “River,” sounding like a slow-moving mix of molasses, honey and regret. Mitchell has always been closer in spirit to a jazz artist than her folk contemporaries, and Hancock proved her perfect foil as each instrument delicately lapped around the edges of her lyrics with a sound that was still true to the original, but constantly shifting and evolving. If only mainstream jazz as a whole could be so lucky.

(Yahoo! will air the Herbie Hancock / Joni Mitchell Live Set on April 1.)

– Chris Barton

Photo by Mark Mainz/AP

The lookie-loos Monday night on the Sunset Strip probably thought another installment of “Back to the Future” was in the works, what with the two sleek DeLoreans parked in front of the Viper Room. Drivers  slowed to snap photos from their cars, and club patrons hopped in to get their pictures taken.

But the real story was inside the Viper Room, where Neon Neon was playing only its fourth live gig in support of today’s release of “Stainless Style.” It’s a concept album chronicling the life and times of engineer-entrepreneur-playboy John DeLorean in smart, neo-’80s dance-pop songs.

No surprise that the album succeeds; it’s a side project of Super Furry Animals front man Gruff Rhys and L.A.-based producer Boom Bip, and it features vocal contributions from Cate Le Bon, Naeem Juwan from Spank Rock and Yo Majesty. But studio ventures — and especially side projects — have a habit of getting messy when the music is finally staged.

There were some rough edges Monday, but not anything you’d think was a mess. Rhys, fully backgrounding most of the songs for the almost-full house, presided calmly over the proceedings, which included tight disco numbers and bouncy guitar pop rendered tightly — if a little short of full throttle — by a five-piece band comprised of Rhys, Boom Bip, Le Bon, guitarist Josh Klinghoffer and drummer Eric Gardner. With the hip-hop contributors absent, Har Mar Superstar stood in as rapper, and his kitschy showmanship applied a deserving smile to the end of the evening.

“Stainless Style” might end up merely being fodder for iPod DJs, or maybe it signals the birth of a new band. One thing for sure: It’s nice to see electro in the hands of real musicians.

– Kevin Bronson

Photo: Gruff Rhys (left), Boom Bip, Cate Le Bon and Har Mar Superstar feed the meter on Sunset Boulevard. Courtesy of Mark Sovel / Indie 103.1