Bleachers Transition 97x Next Big Thing from Day to Night, Deliver Once In a Lifetime Concert Moment

97x, Tampa Bay's once dominant alternative radio station, brought the 22nd iteration of its annual Next

Big Thing Music Festival to The Sound at Coachman Park in Clearwater this past Sunday.

I've been to several Next Big Things over the years. While outstanding in its own right, the venue was significantly smaller than previous venues. The crowd was also a bit different, which noticeably created two different experiences. This was not a bad thing.

This year's lineup featured The Black Keys, Bleachers, Lovejoy, MisterWives, Little Image, Rohna, and Summer Hoop.

Bleachers were the main reason for me attending. Despite not being anywhere near the top of my playlist rotation, Jack Antonoff always leads an amazing performance. Other than the Black Keys, I wasn't familiar with other bands performing.

Given this and the reality that music festivals starting at noon on a Sunday are becoming more challenging to attend, we arrived just before Lovejoy took the stage around 5 pm. The British Indie pop rockers delivered a solid performance. The emo teenagers who shouted every lyric to every song would probably give them a better review than that.

More parents with their kids attended this year's Next Big Thing than any show I can recall. And this was a great thing to see.

As dusk transitioned to dark, something weird happened immediately after Lovejoy left the stage. Many of the younger attendees (and their parents) exited the venue, and I thought, "WTF? They are going to miss out!" While they did, what happened next probably wouldn't have happened if they stayed.

Bleachers took the stage, starting with their breakout hit I Wanna Get Better. The pop sound and heavy messages brought the newly reduced size crowd to their feet. During the second song, How Dare You Want More, Antonoff brought his father, Rick, on stage to play guitar.

With two full drum kits, reminiscent of bands like the Allman Brothers, Bleachers' sound includes multiple keyboards and horns in addition to the standard guitars and bass. At times, you hear a bit of the fellow New Jerseyt E Street Band sound, with deeper and heavier lyrics.

The Sound is a traditional amphitheater set up with a secured Pit area directly in front of the stage.

About halfway through the set, Antonoff was clearly not pleased with the depressed energy levels in the pit compared to when it was packed with youthful exuberance during the previous set. He restarted the intro to another hit, Rollercoaster, more than once.

Before starting it again, he demanded everyone come down into the pit and get on another person's shoulders. Again and again, he shouted his orders and wouldn't continue playing until it happened.

As you can imagine, Jack's demand presented a bit of a dilemma for staff like Casey, the guardian of the entrance to the pit area about 10 feet from our seats. But Antonoff didn't have to ask me twice. We ran to the entrance Casey was guarding. She put up a stern defense for a split second, but I pleaded that the band was demanding we go in! She shrugged her shoulders and stepped aside, affording the opportunity for hundreds of concertgoers to sprint to the center of the pit euphorically. The energy level instantly rocketed to eleven.

It wasn't until the pit was full with enough people jumping up and down and enough people perched on the shoulders of others that Antonoff would restart Rollercoaster, allowing the newly energized pit to start the intro without him. It was an extremely special moment that would not have happened at many other shows.

Those who made it into the pit could not have been more grateful for the rest of the set. Antonoff was fired up and delivered what was probably the best set in the history of Next Big Things. Not wanting the set to end, several band members played as they slowly shimmied off stage at the end of the set.

At least from the newly amped-up crowd perspective, Bleachers was a hard-to-follow act for the headliners The Black Keys. While the duo from Ohio are amazingly talented musicians and songwriters, they lacked the energy and crowd interaction perfected by Bleachers. It didn't help that Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney gave a no-energy, uninspiring interview before the Bleachers' performance. It was as if they didn't want to be there, and it showed during their performance.

When The Black Keys took the stage, two Pinellas County Sheriff's Deputies guarded over Casey's pit entry. No one had the heart to tell them that during the Black Keys set, the pit area was never in danger of being stormed, Bleachers style.

Side Notes:

• A really special shout-out to the staff at The Sound for allowing us to storm the pit. Given the crowd, nothing bad would ever happen because of it. They let a really amazing moment happen.

• The Sound at Coachman Park is a great new venue with really affordable concession prices compared to other venues. Take the opportunity to see a show there when you can.

• The best part is that The Sound is 8 miles from our house, and we were home in 15 minutes!
  

Bleachers Setlist

• I Wanna Get Better

• How Dare You Want More

• Modern Girl

• Wake Me

• Everybody Lost Somebody

• Good Morning

• Chinatown

• Rollercoaster

• You're Still a Mystery

• Don't Take the Money

• Stop Making This Hurt

The Black Keys Setlist

• I Got Mine

• Gold on the Ceiling

• Your Touch

• Tighten Up

• Have Love, Will Travel (Richard Berry cover)

• Crawling King Snake (Big Joe Williams cover)

• Next Girl

• Lo/Hi

• Everlasting Light

• Heavy Soul

• Weight of Love

• Howlin' for You

• Fever

• Ten Cent Pistol

• Wild Child

• She's Long Gone

• Little Black Submarines

• Lonely Boy