EndFest's ruling party
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Concert preview
EndFest 2000: Korn, the Deftones, Third Eye Blind, Everlast, MxPx, Papa Roach, Powerman 5000, Dynamite Hack, Harvey Danger, 3 Doors Down and Murder City Devils, at 1 p.m. Saturday, Kitsap County Fairgrounds, Bremerton (sold out; 206-628-0888).
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A quick lesson in politics, courtesy of KNDD-FM: Forget the Republicans and Democrats. The End advocates a one-party system, and it's called EndFest 2000.
On the ballot this year: plenty of punk, rock, hip-hop and everything in between.
This year's candidate list features EndFest veterans and newcomers alike running on a platform that is, in fact, two platforms - also known as stages - at Kitsap County Fairgrounds.
Frontrunner Korn, led by howling lead singer Jonathan Davis, will bring its popular brand of hard-core rock infused with rap and funk to EndFest, tomorrow's radio-station-sponsored rock festival, with a couple of lesser-known running mates in tow.
Touring with the group this summer are Papa Roach and Powerman 5000.
Papa Roach, which made its major record label debut in April, calls its sound a mix of hip-hop, punk and funk with a rock influence. The California band is known for intense live performances and was voted "most likely to show up Rage Against The Machine at their own gig" by a Sacramento newspaper.
Members of the Boston-based Powerman 5000, led by singer Spider One, fancy themselves superheroes. The band's heavy-metal space-disco sound is wrapped around lyrics inspired by trash pop culture, superheroes and villains, and low-budget, sci-fi and horror flicks.
Korn headlines the trio's North American tour, which is minus drummer David Silveria due to a wrist injury. Mike Bordin of Faith No More is filling in.
Also on the EndFest bill is Third Eye Blind. Fans can expect a new face in the rock quartet, which fired guitarist and co-songwriter Kevin Cadogan in January and replaced him with guitarist Tony Fredianelli. The tour-happy band, whose 1997 multiplatinum debut album included the hits "Semi-Charmed Life" and "How's It Going to Be," makes its first appearance at EndFest this year after performances at Bumbershoot '98 and the Puyallup Fair. The group's latest album, "Blue," was released last year and has spawned the singles "Never Let You Go" and "Ten Days Late."
Veteran EndFest performers the Deftones are back for round three with their third album, "White Pony," which could catapult the former underground band into superstardom. Featured in Rolling Stone and Time magazines this summer, the album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard charts in June - right behind Eminem and Britney Spears - and combines hard-core alternative rock with subtle hip-hop grooves and emotional lyrics. Its first single, "Change (In The House of Flies)," is a midtempo rock song that's been called moody and slightly sinister by critics.
A trio of self-professed "good guys" from Bremerton could also be called veterans of EndFest - though the boys of MxPx most often got in by hopping the fence. The punk-pop band formed while its three members were sophomores at Central Kitsap High and was finally invited onto the EndFest stage in 1996. MxPx made its major label debut in 1998 with the gold album, "Slowly Going the Way of the Buffalo," and released its latest effort, "The Ever Passing Moment," in May.
Former House of Pain frontman Everlast brings his alternative and hip-hop solo sound back to the Seattle area after a 1999 appearance at The End's sport-music fest, Board This. His latest album, "Whitey Ford Sings The Blues," was released in 1998 and features the hit single "What It's Like."
And now for the underdogs: Four bands emerging in the rock scene round out EndFest's list of nominees.
The Austin, Texas, band Dynamite Hack is best known for its acoustic version of the late rapper Eazy-E's "Boyz N the Hood."
Local group Harvey Danger, known for the popular song "Flagpole Sitta," returns to EndFest for a second year. The group's latest single, "Sad Sweetheart of the Rodeo," was released last month.
Straight-up rock 'n' roll is what Mississippi band 3 Doors Down is about. The group's 1997 debut release, "The Better Life," features the hit single "Kryptonite," also known as "The Superman Song."
Finally, garage-punk band Murder City Devils brings its Mudhoney and alcohol-inspired brand of soul-searching, hip-shaking music to its third full-length album, "In Name and Blood."
Don't forget to vote.