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BFD Is Just That The summer concert season got off to a hot start at LIVE 105's BFD By Sarah Quelland SUMMER IS definitely here. The first in a string of all-day music festivals, LIVE 105's seventh annual BFD, sold out the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View last Friday (June 16). The weather was perfect: warm and sunny with a slight breeze. Almost 20 bands performed on three separate stages. The Big Friggin Stage (main stage) hosted Everclear, Godsmack, Third Eye Blind, Cypress Hill, the Offspring, Moby, Stone Temple Pilots and Limp Bizkit. The Local Lounge stage showcased the Blue, Magnified, Snake River Conspiracy and AFI. Still, it was the Dysfunctional Stage that was the most intriguing and made the most noise with aggressive, pit-propelling bands P.O.D., Papa Roach, Incubus, Staind, Powerman 5000 and Slipknot. Of most significant local interest, Papa Roach performed just before 4pm, and a stream of people piled into the lot where the Dysfunctional Stage was set up. Maintaining the P-Roach tradition of dressing all in black, the group kicked things off with "Dead Cell," a song written with the Columbine massacre in mind. Vocalist Coby Dick was on full blast and backflipped into the crowd (something he would do repeatedly throughout the show). "Broken Home" (slated to be the second single from the band's DreamWorks Records debut, Infest, which hit No. 19 on the Billboard charts last week) followed, and Dick addressed the audience: "That song is about a family that fell to pieces and me coming through that shit a little fucked up." The ceaseless touring, both before and since the release of Infest, shows in P-Roach's live performance. After years of tearing up stages at local venues like the Cactus Club, Gaslighters Music Hall and even the Edge, the band's presence has grown large enough to fill a big outdoor stage. The guys move around more, with guitarist Jerry Horton and bassist Tobin Esperance switching places to stir up both sides of the crowd. Dick, who has always demonstrated sizable confidence, seems even more at ease speaking out to the fans. Midset he declared, "This shit ain't fuckin' a fashion show. This shit is heart and soul." The band performed "Revenge" (formerly "Revenge in Japanese"), an intense guitar-driven song about domestic abuse. Then Dick announced, "This song's about being in a rock & roll band," before launching into "Blood Brothers," which bears the lyrics "It was a dream, and then it hit me, reality struck/And now my life is all shifty, and it all moves fast." One of the songs exclusive to Infest, the new "Between Angels and Insects," helps maintain P-Roach's everyman credibility as Dick sings, "Take my money, take my obsession/I just want to be heard, loud and clear are my words." Rounding out the band's long set were "Binge," "Snakes" and the popular single "Last Resort," during which the crowd sang along. After hearing the hit, though, the audience started moving out as quickly as they moved in, and P-Roach wrapped things up with the lesser-known "Thrown Away." P-Roach's next local appearance will be with the Vans Warped Tour (July 1 at Pier 30/32 in San Francisco). Last Tuesday (June 13), Remoter put an end to its lengthy hiatus with a performance at The Usual with Triple Seven opening. Remoter's compelling poetic lyrics and bouncy industrialized synth pop spark comparisons to modern-rock bands like Filter and Brit-pop bands like Duran Duran. Provocative frontman Andrew Fleig has a commanding presence, and the tortured poet seems infinitely comfortable on stage. The band's set list featured songs from gun (a full-length album whose release is still up in the air), including "Infant," "Take a Bullet," "Feed That Period" and "Oblivion." ... Country trio the Dixie Chicks gave a memorable performance at the San Jose Arena last Friday (June 16). Visit www.metroactive.com/metro to check out a review of the show. PLAN AHEAD: Alanis Morissette, June 22 at the Fillmore in San Francisco; Groovie Ghoulies, the Hi-Fives, Moodfrye and Manic Notion, June 23 at the Cactus; MDFMK, June 24 at the Fillmore; Ween, June 27 at the Warfield in San Francisco; Mötley Crüe, Megadeth and Anthrax, June 27 at the Chronicle Pavilion in Concord; Smash Mouth, July 3 at Discovery Meadow. [ San Jose | Metroactive Central | Archives ]