Jimmy Eat World Spices a Dour Picnic

When punk rock exploded 25 years ago, one of the odder results was the sight of hordes of fans singing along en masse to songs preaching anarchy and individuality. A generation later we have similarly disorienting events such as Saturday’s This Ain’t No Picnic gathering at Oak Canyon Ranch in Santiago Canyon, where indie-rock bands that plumb the depths of alienated youth can create a community of the emotionally isolated.

You couldn’t even call it a festival, because there was little that was remotely festive until the very end, when main-stage headliners Guided by Voices and Jimmy Eat World introduced at least a modicum of joy to the mix. Prior to that, fans often looked on, expressionless, as various bands offered up songs channeling inner pain and yearnings for emotional connection.

No picnic, indeed.

The upside of the annual event is its celebration of musical independence. The thrust of the noon-till-sundown show, featuring nearly two dozen acts, was the very antithesis of the prefab sounds that have dominated the sales charts and Top 40 radio in recent years.

It provides a refreshing reminder that plenty of musicians and fans are still attuned to music that doesn’t fit the commercial formulas. Case in point: the Mars Volta, the band created by singer Cedric Bixler and guitarist Omar Rodriguez after they pulled the plug on the highly regarded At the Drive-In.

Their set was a lesson in neo-psychedelic experimentalism, more admirable for the sense of musical and emotional liberation it conveyed than as music you’d want to hear again in an unaltered state of consciousness.

Blonde Redhead paid more heed to the idea of song structure, but the trio still emphasized sonic mood in frequently extended jams, which singer-guitarists Kazu Makino and Amadeo Pace punctuated with mournful vocals, Makino’s high-pitched cat-like yowl evoking memories of Yoko Ono. The Donnas highlighted the second-stage lineup with a punk punch as muscular as most of their male counterparts, but with a sultriness that’s rarely been part of the genre.

Pop punk band of the moment Jimmy Eat World is far more pop than punk, but it’s easy to see why the quartet has caught on with a significant number of fans. The group has given them something to catch: lyrical and instrumental hooks, sing-along-ready melodies and expressions of sincerity, even hope, for a disillusioned generation. It capped the main-stage portion on a note so rejuvenating you wanted to spread the checkered blanket and break out the potato salad.