Hi, M.D. here…
Dallas radion station KDGE, 102.1 the EDGE has been hosting a concert/festival called Edgefest for 21 years. April 30, 2011 was where bands that are played on the radio station came to play for adoring fans in the 87 degree heat. Vendors walked around selling plenty of $5 water and $11 beer around the vicinity of Pizza Hut Park in Frisco. 

The line-up this year was pretty amazing in my opinion. It reminded me of the creation of Edgefest in 1992 through 1995. Back then the bands that played were big bands during that time that took over the airwaves of The Edge. Jane’s Addiction and Weezer are like staples in 90’s music history. It was like a flashback even though none of these bands had played Edgefest in the 90’s – although maybe they should have (and the location has changed… I remember when Dallas was Dallas – not the outlining suburbs that claim Dallas territory like Frisco, Irving, etc…) Even Dave Navarro from Jane’s Addiction hasn’t aged a bit.

This year the seating has changed from the last few years at this venue. It was confusing buying tickets and I really didn’t see that big of a difference (besides being up front and center) in front of the stage versus on the side of the pit, which had good crowd control. Apparently people could buy a seat located on either side of the outside of the pit (still near the stage) or pay an extra $10 to go into the pit. Everyone that bought a ticket had access to the floor where the Edge Market area was so they could buy souvenirs including the posters that fans could stand in line to get signed by any of the artists that performed at the concert.

There were two stages, one one either side of the football stadium. The Main Stage was like the rock stage featuring bands like Jane’s Addiction, Weezer, Social Distortion, Seether, A Day to Remember, The Airborne Toxic Event, Electric Touch, Young the Giant, and Panic at the Disco. The Second stage presented Flogging Molly, Dirty Heads, Middle Class Rut, New Politics, AWOLNATION, Dynamite Walls, North of Autumn. In the past few years the radio station (KDGE, The Edge) has had a contest to see which local Dallas band will play with more popular acts. This year North of Autumn received the most votes and opened the entire show starting.

My experience was a long one. I got there early, therefore, I didn’t have to park that far away. The crowd grew larger as well as the heat did as the day went on. Most people were there for the “big” acts. I wanted to catch The Airborne Toxic Event – I really have taken an interest lately and was not disappointed. I suggest checking them out, they have a new album out and you can listen to here. There was a lot of crowd surfing, and sometimes I didn’t understand how people were surfing to the songs that were being played.

I thoroughly enjoyed Social Distortion, they were by far the highlight for me of the entire day! They played old favorites as well as some of their new songs including “Machine Gun Blues”. At the end of the day, Weezer was probably the most exciting for the majority of the fans around the stadium. The pit was packed and the sun had just gone down… Rivers Cuomo took the stage with bandmates and was energetic and charismatic running the entire stage!

The evening ended with Jane’s Addiction. The stage was elaborate with an intricate back drop, slutty bondage dancers gallivanting around the stage, and smoke. Perry Farrel was sung his little heart out and was really connecting with the back up dancers as well as guitarist, Dave Navarro. Jane’s Addiction had chemistry among each other and showed while playing. At the very end, there was confetti that started flying everywhere and the crowd went wild, I don’t think the crowd was ready to leave yet… it wasn’t even midnight!