Get Ready to Be Bamboozled!

Winter is finally on its way out! And we all know what that means! It means looking forward to shedding your heavy duty winter wardrobe and hitting the beach or your favorite tiki bar for some real fun in the sun. It also means working on your tan, driving with the top down down the Garden State Parkway, it means having no cares! Only good times. But summer is not just about the beach babes and the nightlife, it is also about music!

Come on!? Who doesn't enjoy blasting their favorite tunes on the car radio? Who doesn't enjoy hitting the clubs to dance to your favorite DJ? Who doesn't enjoy going to once in a lifetime concerts?

Summer is the one time of the year when all of the best music festivals/tours start hitting the road and start hitting our stages! Let's see: Lallapolooza kicks off in the summer, as does the Vans Warped Tour and the annual Ozzfest. Where better to kick off these summer tours than in good ol' New Jersey.

The Bamboozle Festival (http://www.thebamboozle.com/)is the first festival kicking off the summer with a loud bang! It is a two day event jam packed with 100 plus bands, 100 plus vendors, and not to mention the 1000 plus concert goers. Beginning on May fifth and ending late May sixth, the doors of the Meadowlands Sports Complex (http://www.meadowlands.com/) will open letting eager concert goers in to hear and see some of their favorite bands.

New Jersey has been lucky enough to call itself the home of this festival for the past three years. It originally started out as a three day festival in Asbury Park’s Convention Hall in 2005 replacing the Skate and Surf Festival. But in the past two years the festival has been condensed down to a two day gig with over six stages of live music.

In the past the festival has welcomed many big name acts to take the stage as headliners. Some of those were Fall Out Boy, The All American Rejects, Taking Back Sunday, and AFI. This year day one of the Bamboozle Festival welcomes in My Chemical Romance http://www.mychemicalromance.com/) and their Black Parade. Since New Jersey is home to the band it only seems natural that they close such a big event.

Day two of Bamboozle welcomes back the return of rap/rockers Linkin Park (http://www.linkinpark.com). This unlikely band seems to have disappeared for a while, but New Jersey is ready to welcome them back to the scene and to Bamboozle for the very first time.

But these aren't the only two bands performing. Stages on day one of The Bamboozle will welcome: Andrew W.K, Bayside, Cute Is What We Aim For, Hellogoodbye, Lordi, Meg & Dia, New Found Glory, Paramore, and even MC Hammer! As for day two, bands like: Armor For Sleep, Brand New, Circa Survive, Halifax, Norma Jean, Saves The Day, The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus, and Weird Al Yankovic. Also, DJ Prime will be the festival's house DJ spinning, scratching, and bringing the most unlikely of all guests on stage with him both days of the festival.

As if all of this music was not enough, the creators of the event pulled out all of the stops to feature two new events this year: the Pass The Mic comedy tour featuring many comedians like Mitch Fatel and Nich Thune. And lot 14 of the Sports Complex will be turned into an amusement park area which features such amusements like The Skydiver and The Gravitron.

Tickets have already gone on sale to the general public through all Ticketmaster locations (http://www.ticketmaster.com/) including phone, in store, and online. And tickets are selling fact. Two day passes have already been long gone sold out. But it isn't too late, single day passes are still available.

Again, The Bamboozle Festival will welcome its concert goers at noon on May fifth, allowing them to rock out until sometime in the late evening of May sixth. No ending time at this point has been released. And just a piece of advice for all Bamboozle attendees, it's a rain or shine event so dress accordingly!

The Bamboozle Festival is just one of the biggest music festivals hitting New Jersey this summer. With the array of different acts taking one of the many stages there is something there to please everyone’s taste whether that taste is emo or hardcore. It’s guaranteed to be at The Bamboozle Festival. So if you’re in the area (or even if you aren’t) and are only planning on going to one show this summer, this is the one show to go to.