Bamboozle has returned to Asbury Park and it is making up for lost time. I was lucky enough to be able to attend all three days of the festival from May 18 to May 20 and it was definitely something to never forget.
To begin with, festival attendees had the option to purchase shuttle passes that enabled them to park at the Monmouth Racetrack and be transported to and from the festival every night. I found this to be the most convenient part of the entire festival, because it put my mother’s worries to rest and the hassle of getting a parking spot. I heard that the traffic for people travelling to Asbury Park from New York and Pennsylvania was horrendous and parking was a nightmare, so the shuttle passes proved to be the better deal.
The festival also chose to provide everyone attending the festival with wristbands depending on which days they were attending. All wristbands were scanned at your entry so that you couldn’t come in and out of the festival. They were pinned as well so that once they were on you couldn’t remove them and give them to other people, so I was stuck wearing my three-day wristband for the whole weekend, but thankfully they were waterproof.
Headlining Friday night were popular artists such as Mac Miller, Incubus, and Skrillex. They drew in the youngest, smallest crowd of the weekend, which made it the most chaotic in my opinion. There were hundreds of inebriated and disoriented teenagers running around the pier to see Mac Miller and Skrillex. I was able to catch some of the end of Mac Millers set and I still don’t understand his appeal, but I guess some things you’ll just never understand.
I was most excited to see Incubus that night, but I found myself disappointed at the show. It was impossible to get into the crowd so I could get a decent view, because following the Mac Miller show; most people stayed to make sure they had a good spot for Skrillex. Sadly, Incubus only played for about an hour, running through their hits “Drive” and “Pardon Me” and long jams such as “In the Company of Wolves” and “Sick Sad Little World.” But what else can you expect at a festival?
The crowd probably doubled once Skrillex took over the main stage. It was definitely entertaining! I’m not much of a Skrillex fan, but I understood why so many people love his live shows. There were crazy lights and lasers that you could see from practically all the way down the pier, not to mention hear it. When I was leaving, I could hear Skrillex perfectly as if I was still at the main stage, which is quite the accomplishment.
On Saturday, the pier was teaming with people. It was so crowded that I didn’t have service for my phone throughout the entire day. Of course, it was expected since the Foo Fighters, My Chemical Romance (who took the place of Blink-182 last minute), and Jimmy Eat World were headlining. This brought hundreds of fans to the boardwalk and lines for every little thing. I couldn’t hear My Chemical Romance through the speakers at all for some reason and I didn’t really want to anyways, but I’m sure they were great. I have to say though, watching Jimmy Eat World play “The Middle” fulfilled a childhood wish for me.