Bonzai Festival @ Rochester, NY 8-9-09

A torrential downpour didn’t stop the thousands in attendance from rocking out at The Zone 94.1’s 2009 Bonzai event featuring Sevendust, Street Sweeper Social Club, Sick Puppies, Tantric, Framing Hanley, Smile Empty Soul and the Gay Blades. The event was held at the Riverside Festival Area on the corner of Court and Exchange Street in downtown Rochester, NY.Sevendust opened the set with “Inside,” from their latest release titled “Chapter VII, Hope and Sorrow” and continued their brutal onslaught of fan favorites throughout their 80-minute set. I was a bit disappointed that the band omitted Black’ from the set list, but the passionate and enthusiastic performance quickly made up for it. Being the last show of a brief 3-show tour, the band was very relaxed and extremely interactive with the crowd while joking around with each other and crew members a bit during the set. Once back in Atlanta, they will resume the recording of their new demos which they will begin tracking in the studio with an unknown producer in September. Prior to Sevendust the crowd was treated to a 60-minute set from Tom Morello’s new project, Street Sweeper Social Club. Donning matching red-trimmed, black military style coats, the band took the stage and simply rocked the crowd. Tom’s unmistakable guitar style and the bands infectious rhythms quickly won over the crowd and surely expanded their fan base. Each of the supporting acts were noteworthy as well. I especially took a shine to Sick Puppies and was extremely impressed with the bass player and NOT because she is a female. She really rocked and was the stand-out bassist of the show.I would like to personally thank Nik Rivers and the crew from WZNE The Zone for not only putting on one hell of a show, but for giving Backstageaxxess.com the opportunity to attend and review. The hospitality we received was first-class!

Bonzai 2009 Line-up:

The Gay Blades 12:00-12:35

Smile Empty Soul 12:55-1:30

Framing Hanley 1:50-2:25

Tantric 2:45-3:30

Sick Puppies 3:55-4:40

Street Sweeper Social Club 5:05-6:05

Sevendust 6:30-8:00
Sevendust Set List:

Inside

Alpha

Enemy

Pieces