Sunday, May 27, 2007
A+E

'Big' bang

Your handy guide to 99X's Big Day Out  

Chris Cornell CREDIT: Max Vadukul

Interpol CREDIT: Scott Gries/Getty Images

The Bravery CREDIT: Kenneth Cappello

99X BIG DAY OUT Saturday, June 2 HiFi Buys Amphitheatre 404-249-6400 www.99x.com

BY KEVIN FOREST MOREAU

Say this for the return of 99X's summer concert blowout Big Day Out: It lives up to its name. After a few years off, the modern-rock radio stalwart resuscitates the all-day festival with a dozen acts (including Atlanta's own Johnny Colt, of Train and Black Crowes fame, spinning a rock-DJ mix between sets). With so much music going on, it's easy to get a little intimidated. So The Sunday Paper comes to the rescue, with the skinny on each of the six main-stage acts and a little info on the second-stage performers as well.

MAIN STAGE:

CHRIS CORNELL
The second solo album from the former Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman is called "Carry On," and that's exactly what he does. The disc covers the different facets of Cornell's musical personality, ranging from familiar guitar rock-outs ("No Such Thing") to the widescreen scope of "You Know My Name," the theme to last year's James Bond revamp "Casino Royale." Along the way, the greatest living screamer in rock dials down his leonine roar, letting the honeyed edges of his voice carry the freight on "Arms Around Your Love," which sounds engineered for mainstream radio appeal, and lend an air of poignant gravitas to a stripped-down cover of Michael Jackson's "Billie Jean." Elsewhere on the disc, he wanders down the back roads of country for the soulful, slightly bluesy "Safe and Sound" and the steel guitar-driven "Finally Forever."

But if you're one of those types who bolts for the restroom line whenever an artist busts out the new material, don't worry. On tour, Cornell balances tracks from "Carry On" with a healthy serving of tunes from throughout his storied career. Soundgarden fans take heart: "Spoonman," "Outshined," "Rusty Cage" and "Black Hole Sun" have all gotten airings on previous tour stops, and deep cuts like "Zero Chance" and "Slaves and Bulldozers" have been featured as well. The singer also gives Audioslave a fair hearing with songs like "Like A Stone," "Original Fire," "Doesn't Remind Me" and "What You Are" in regular rotation.

And he digs deeper still, dusting off well-known songs like "Say Hello 2 Heaven" or "Hunger Strike" from the 1990 supergroup Temple of the Dog as well as works from his 1999 solo debut "Euphoria Morning" and even one-off tracks like "Seasons" (from the "Singles" soundtrack).

INTERPOL
The well-dressed New York quartet releases its major-label debut "Our Love to Admire" next month, and advance word is that the album amplifies the moody, new wave majesty of its predecessors with a sense of orchestral sweep.

CAKE
These longtime alt-rock radio veterans have wrung a lot of mileage out of the tension that results from contrasting John McCrea's deadpan delivery against a tight but robotic-sounding mix of rock and funk. The band's latest project is a collection of "B-Sides and Rarities," from a straight-ahead cover of Black Sabbath's "War Pigs" to takes on classic country ("Ruby Don't Take Your Love to Town," Buck Owens' "Excuse Me, I Think I've Got a Heartache"), dance-floor staples (Lisa Stanfield's "Never Never Gonna Give You Up"), the immortal "Strangers in the Night" and even the nonsensical Muppet ditty "Mahna Mahna."

SATELLITE PARTY
Ever wondered what you'd get if you paired Jane's Addiction frontman Perry Farrell with guitarist Nuno Bettencourt of the hair-ballad band Extreme ("More Than Words")? Neither have we. But if we had, this would not have been what we pictured. The band's debut "Ultra Payloaded" (due for release this Tuesday, May 29) is a typically eclectic mix of styles, and features appearances by Fergie and members of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, among others (including the late Jim Morrison, whose vocals are grafted onto one track). Oh, yeah—and it's suffused with a sense of trippy cosmic uplift. Join this party at your own risk.

THE BRAVERY
This New York-based group was raised on the same diet of '80s new wave, goth and psychedelic post-punk. Like the Killers, who along with Interpol have led the charge of bands championing a two-decade-old sound, the Bravery expands its reach a bit on its new second disc, "The Sun and the Moon," with agreeable results.

PLAIN WHITE T'S
This scruffy Chicago quintet is as adept at snotty, grating punk-pop—check out "Hate (I Really Don't Like You)"—as it is at the heart-on-their-sleeve sentiment of the earnest singalong "Hey There Delilah." As a result, the T's could be the biggest emo/punk-pop act to cross over to mainstream success since Fall Out Boy. Whether that's a good or a bad thing remains to be seen.

PONTIAC GARAGE STAGE:

At press time, one of the five slots on this second stage had yet to be filled. But here's what we can tell you:

THE ALMOST is the side project of Underoath drummer/singer Aaron Gillespie, and truth to tell doesn't stray too far from that Christian-leaning rock band's dynamic and piledriving sound.

MADINA LAKE blends heavy guitars with some electronic flourishes; its recent debut "From Them, Through Us, To You" contains songs about the fictional residents of a seemingly idyllic community called (oddly enough) Madina Lake.

Scotland's THE CINEMATICS creates an appropriately, er, cinematic sound that echoes such '80s forefathers as the Cure and Echo & the Bunnymen.

Atlanta's LAST NOVEMBER has enjoyed strong word of mouth and some decent national radio airplay for the song "Sniper" from its 2006 CD "All the Gory Details."