Music festival rocks the Sunset Strip

From the Viper Room to the Key Club music ringed through the air and mesmerized all who had came. Opening up the day in the Viper room for media eyes only, Purple Melon set the stage with their great late 70's rock feel.

In an interview the band describes that "everything is an influence, even my broken glasses can be an influence if you want it to be."

After Purple Melon's opening for the media, a few press interviews took place with Slash, Big B, Neon Trees, and Smashing Pumpkins' Billy Corgan. Slash talked about how he got his famous hat, his introduction to music, and his surprise guest on stage, Fergie.

Big B and Scott Russo then explained their planning of their hit collaboration song, "Sinner." Basically the two of them got drunk and as Big B says in the interview, "Scott goes, this is what's going happen, we're going do this and mix it and it's going on the radio, and that's what happened."

Neon Trees discussed their new found fame in which, as lead singer Tyler Glenn tells, "We will have at least one or two people humming our songs when they see us, whether they are being a douche bag or whether they actually like us."

As the media waited for Billy Corgan to start his interview, a small Luchador wrestler walked up on stage, closely followed by Billy Corgan. The small Luchador turned out to be Billy Corgan's son, who Billy Corgan has influenced him to listen to great old rock music like The Beatles.

Knowing that there are a lot of old Smashing Pumpkin lovers that are skeptic of the new Smashing Pumpkins, Billy Corgan reassured that they are working on songs that are not influenced at all by anyone who will destroy the originality of it.

Outside on the East stage Big B broke out his beats and had people bouncing to his melodies. He brought out Scott Russo, and a new wave of fans piled down to watch them perform "Sinner." Neon Trees came out soon after, and brought along a large girl fan base to the foot of the stage. Elaine Bradley rocked out on the drums and lead singer Tyler Glenn brought his voice out to capture the waiting audience.

If there was any band to be named for rebellion, pure rock, and craziness, Semi-Precious Weapons would be the one. Justin Tranter is the most energetic and mind-blowing singer of this decade, he cares for no ones opinions, pours liquor at the crowd and will literally change into entire new outfits on stage, as he did at the Sunset Strip Music Festival. For the last song on their set, Justin invited the crowd to jump on stage and join him, when security kept the crowd back Justin yelled at them to let the crowd through. Security let them, and half the crowd jumped on to sing the last song.

If you like beards and psychedelic Indie music, then check out Vanaprasta. Playing at the Key Club, Vanaprasta opened with their song, "Minnesota." An immediate trance fell upon the crowd, and they all moved in unison to the melodic spell that Vanaprasta had cast. Once the beats got bumping, a small group of fans began dancing in the middle and soon most of the crowd joined in.

The crowd got the craziest when the main show began and Slash stepped onto the West Stage. His hat was placed perfectly on his hair, his guitar strung around him, and Myles Kennedy beside him. Once he began, it seemed as if Slash's amazing guitar riffs would never end, making it even better. For the last three songs, Slash invited up Fergie to sing good ‘ol Guns N' Roses songs to end the incredible set.

To the end the party at the outside stages, Billy Corgan and the new Smashing Pumpkins hit the spotlight. They started off with one of their new songs, with the army of viewers rocking out. Thereafter they played an old song from the original Smashing Pumpkins crew, "Ava Adore." The masses soon found themselves head banging and jumping to the familiar vibe.

Check back for image gallery and video from the event.