Big Spring Jam XVI

Lee Greenwood's audience of thousands.



One of my favorite memories, and something that many of my friends in Huntsville share, is seeing Foo Fighters at the Big Spring Jam ten years ago. FF weren’t the megaband they are today, but for all of us who experienced Nirvana, seeing a solo Dave Grohl was an exciting curiosity. Would they play there now?

Some folks I talked to had some questions about this year’s line-up at the 16th Big Spring Jam in downtown Huntsville, AL. Huntsvillians complain about the line-up EVERY year. That hasn’t changed.

Three Dog Night


BSJ has always had a perhaps unfair reputation here in town of boasting a line-up of artists who were on their way up or on their way out. I may not be the demographic for Gretchen Wilson, but she’s still very successful. Buckcherry and Hinder are smaller known bands, but they’ve arrived onto their rock scenes according to their demographic. Other artists include Lee Greenwood, Kenny Rogers, Kansas, Styx, Three Dog Night and The Guess Who. These artists may be past their halcyon days, but they’re still considered giants in the industry. BSJ even booked its first hip-hop artist, T-Pain.







Fred LeBlanc from New Orleans' band Cowboy Mouth.





What did change this year is the number of stages: down to 3 instead of 5. Having been to a handful of BSJs in the past, I personally liked having fewer stages and more spacial area to gather for a show.

Make no mistake, Big Spring Jam, which falls on the fourth weekend in September every year, is a family event. There may be much live music, but there are tons of kids everywhere. Beer is roughly $4.50 a bottle, so who’s gonna be able to get hammered in this environment and economy?

Josh during Shinedown's performance at WZYP stage.

There are plenty of pockets reserved to keep the kids occupied and if you’re more interested to find out how Bama or Auburn are doing there are stations set up with widescreen televisions broadcasting the games. Have a brat, have some Greek food, or have a panini. Sip some pricy Bud Light or freshly squeezed lemonade. Relax, enjoy the fact that the humidity has finally let up, and stride lazily to your stage of choice.

This weekend I caught Cowboy Mouth, waved an American flag during Lee Greenwood’s set, sang along to Shinedown’s set, of which I had no idea how much I would know, and got more than I expected from Buckcherry. Let's talk a little about Buckcherry...






LA's Buckcherry Friday night at WZYP stage.


LA’s Buckcherry is not new to the scene, but they got a boost of mainstream success after their critically acclaimed album, 15, produced hits like “Sorry” and “Crazy Bitch”. Their sound is the love child of Sunset Strip bands of the 80s like Guns N’ Roses, Faster Pussycat, and Motley Crue. With no surprise I was in the audience, awaiting the sound I grew up with and loved so desperately. The band took the stage after ten and performed an energetic and shocking set that included the most sexually explicit soliloquies from lead singer, Josh Todd. It was so explicit I saw disgusted glances between some audience members, parents leaving with their children (didn’t they know?), and shocking still were the parents remaining. And I, standing with one hand permanently glued to my mouth with eyebrows raised, waited for the cops to haul Josh away in handcuffs at any moment. I won’t lie, it was that spectacle that made thousands in the audience break into an evangelical frenzy. It was quite a performance, and when I looked past the excessive graphic descriptions, Buckcherry earned every penny with their talent and experience and good music. I walked away a new fan. Ironic, I know.

The next band that surprised me was Hinder on Sunday night. I have always been critical of their over-produced jock rock sound, though there was something about “Homecoming Queen” that I had to have it on my iPod. The band hails from Oklahoma and are no strangers to Huntsville, having performed at Sammy T’s in the recent past (there was also the dozens of
times that lead singer Austin Winkler referenced Huntsville during the set).

Crowd surfing at Hinder's show.




They definitely have a demographic here and you could tell by the size of the audience that had swelled to three times its size by the time the band took the stage. The band performed hits such as their debut single “Get Stoned”, mega-hit “Lips of an Angel”, “Better Than Me” and my favorite “Homecoming Queen”. The boys sipped jager throughout the set and worked hard for the audience’s approval. I was impressed. I suppose the next thing to look for are the four horsemen?



Happiness at Styx show.







So, with that Huntsville’s Big Spring Jam XVI came to a close Sunday night and I ate my words about two bands that I swore I would never get into. Well, perhaps I’m not a superfan of either, but I’m about to transfer a few new songs onto my little iPod. UNEXPECTED. -K