The crowd at the Edgefest "night before" party is fairly full. Hundreds of concertgoers roam the area full of booths and tents of entertainment waiting for tomorrow's Edgefest. But before the day comes, Flickerstick is set to get the crowd prepared, and pumped up with a much-anticipates showcase of rock and roll. Flickerstick takes the stage, greeted with cheers, and kicks in to the ever so spunky, "Chloroform the One You Love". As always, the Texas born and bread band delivers their tunes with energy. Brandin flails around in a spectacle of Mick Jagger-esk poses as Rex, Corey, Fletcher, and Dominic keeps the crowd moving. Between songs, Brandin chats up the audience and Corey makes a shameless plug for the event's sponsor exclaiming, "Gadzooks it's hot out here!" It would seem the show was just kicking into full speed. Contrarily, it was just about to loose it's breath and wind down. After another song or two, the powerhouse feel fades, and the crowd begins to dwindle. While performing "Smile", Brandin audibly and visibly struggled to hit his notes. Too often, it seems he drops out and lets the crowd sing for him.

       Twice, it felt as though Flickerstick was falling apart at the seams. First, Brandin forgot half of the words to the first verse of Hey! (When the Drugs wear off). Perhaps the drugs did wear off, leaving this once-glorious-now-glory-less band forgetting what it was they were originally doing. The verdict was in as soon as they started into "Beautiful". With the drums, guitars, and vocals all on their own beats, it sounded more like there were three or four different songs going on. It might be time for this quintet to take a break, catch their breath, and remember who they once were. Take time to see them when they've gotten their act together again. Can't wail until then? Try a videotape of one of their shows about a year ago, when we couldn't keep from loving them; when they defined a live rock and roll show.

-noah
bandchat.org correspondent
Dallas, TX
Smirnoff Music Centre