More than music makes 'Big Concert' big fun

      The sponsoring radio station bills itself as "X-treme," but the crowd on hand for KXTE-FM's "Our Big Concert" on Saturday seemed just as happy that the weather chose not to live up to the billing.
      Some of the 15 bands on the daylong modern rock festival tried harder than others to live up to the promised level of aggression, and the balmy, breezy weather did offer a cooler moshpit for those who felt compelled to slam or body surf above the crowd.
      But for the most part, it was just too nice a day to get very worked up for the 15 acts presented in low-fi conditions on two primitive stages.
      The mountains behind the stage, on a football practice field north of Sam Boyd Stadium, just had a way of zapping the intensity out of hard rock. It was just as much fun to cruise the food stands, stand in line for free samples of Yoo-Hoo -- a booth that at times resembled a famine relief effort in a Third World country -- or check out displays ranging from free condoms to a CAT bus improbably parked in the middle of nowhere.
      The festival is the first since a poorly attended "Lollapalooza" stop in 1994 to offer young bands for a young crowd.
      For once, teens looking for a day of outdoor fun weren't forced either to buy into the Grateful Dead thing or watch the classic rock that's now the music of their parents.
      In only its first year, the festival managed the get a couple of things right that the classic rock "JuneFest" -- coming up again on June 7 -- still can't or won't do. First, it put the stage to the north instead of the west, so fans didn't have to squint into the sun all day. Second, the festival started later in the day and spent a little extra money on some lights so the three closing acts could play in that prime twilight and evening atmosphere.
      Neighbors weren't likely to complain about the volume, however. You had to get pretty close to hear a sound system that wasn't even up to "JuneFest" standards. A second stage proved even more minimalist: Las Vegas ska band Attaboy Skip sounded like it was coming over an AM radio, though the hardcore Sevendust brought enough of their own gear to summon some demonic hardcore thrash.
      Most of the bands were trios that could scoot by with a minimal set-up, but the eight-piece "ska-core" of The Mighty, Mighty Bosstones had most of their sound washed away. "Can you hear us?" frontman Dicky Barrett asked at one point.
      The Boston band tore through its early evening set with the energy and vintage threads for which it's famous, balancing clean horn charts with Barrett's gruff punk vocals. He also made one of the more offbeat requests ever heard at rock concert when he told the crowd, "Don't throw shoes at us! We've got plenty of footwear. Donate those shoes to a homeless shelter."
      The Presidents of the United States of America took the stage at 8:30 p.m., prompting guitarist Dave Dederer to marvel, "We've got the prime slot. The sun's down, it's cooling off ..."
      And the trio was the festival's closest thing to a headliner with its fun, personable stage presence and concise pop songs. Singer and two-string bassist Chris Ballew kept the loopy humor going between songs as well as during the more absurd ditties, such as "Peaches" and "Kitty."
      The closing band, Gravity Kills, fleshed out the basic guitar-and-drum sound with some industrial, synthesized textures. At times it was hard to say exactly where the music was coming from, since keyboardist Douglas Firley spent more time slamming his machine around on a revolving rack than playing it.
      Singer Jeff Scheel offered some rambling attempts at philosophy to introduce the hit "Guilty" and other tunes but came off as pretentious after the low-key acts. Much of the crowd thinned before their 45-minute set was over.
      By the end of it all, "Our Big Concert" proved to be a fun day that fell short of its name. Having a genuine big name on the bill next year would give the event more of a musical focal point, but when the weather is this good, you don't need a lot of direction. There's more to rock 'n' roll than just music, after all.