The Jingle My Bells Festival was quite underpopulated for such a big event. 14 bands 1 day, and a threat of blizzard of a lifetime, equals.. mom and dad arent driving. Of course, weather means nothing to us so we headed out under weather warnings to a 50% capacity crowd. We opted to go late as many of the bands on the bill we had either seen numerous times or were not fans of. In all honesty it was Never Shout Never I wanted to see, the others were really just filler
We got there right in the middle of A Rocket to the Moon’s set, and only hearing of him and none of his music, I was impressed. Although there is a tendancy for this type of genre to all sound the same, and with a nauseating amount of alternative/indie/”unique” artists out there, it’s always nice to hear someone genuinely talented and doing their own things. Aside from the fact that he asked about four times if it had started snowing yet, A Rocket to the Moon wasnt so bad
Hit The Lights came on next, and I wasn’t surprised. The stereotypical “emo” band, they truly aren’t anything special. Not impressed, I just watched, anticipating Nevershoutnever and hanging out with some of the coolest friends I know. Helen on the other hand was nearly commiting suicide in the corner as she fired off notes on what was happening. Again the big crowd question was about the snow and if it had begun yet. Why this was such a huge issue is beyond me. It was as if these bands needed to buy milk and bread or were terrified or something. They seemed rushed and un enthused. Although there were glimmers of hope. They faded.
Never Shout Never’s set was to begin at 9:45 but due to the omnious storm and lack of attendance this show was an hour ahead of schedule. Christofer Ingall arrived on stage to the screaming of preteen girls. As a teen now, I can say that and I can also agree that its pretty deafening. I was super excited about seeing him again as he is one of my favorite solo artists. He was accompanied by a pianist, violinist and quasi percussionist. With his Peace and Love Mentality I expected a warm hug of a show.
But somethings up in Never Shout Never land that I hope is temporary.
It seems Christofer Ingalls has become a walking contradiction. Once a devout environmental and vegetarian spokesperson, now smoking cigarettes and boasting about it like a teenager trying to be cool. Formerly standing firm in his strict beliefs in Christianity and humble meekness, now hes up there talking about losing his virginity in the back of a car. Everyone grows up BUT you can grow up and still remain true to what you claimed was your passions. Makes me wonder if at age 18 he now feels the need to be cool and ‘grown up’ but with the voice and face of a 15 year old its really pretty distrubing. Lets hope its a phase. I’ll keep listening to his music and look forward to his new release on his new label, but maybe he needs some time to get a hold of himself quit the act or at least try to remain true to what he really is. Maybe hes not even sure. Once that happens Ill look him up again. Until then, hes become a mockery of himself.