Every year Northern California's most well known rock radio station, Live 105, has a huge concert, known as the BFD. At this year's annual event The Offspring along with 311 and The Yeah Yeah Yeah's headlined the main stage. Fans flooded into the Shoreline Amphitheater to catch those sets, but the real story may have been in the parking lot on the smaller stages.

Fans brave tremendous heat and long lines to see all the bands. This year the smaller stages were dominated with chart toppers such as Taking Back Sunday. It seems ever year at the summer institution the newer bands taking the stage create the most noise. This year was no different.

Cage the Elephant was one of the first bands to hit the stage. The hard rocking group put on an entertaining 30 minute set. Lead singer Matt Shultz jumped off the stage and ended up over the barricades among the fans. The group only has one album out to date, but has been getting heavy radio play. "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked," was really the only recognizable song played. Nevertheless the band put on a memorable show.

Anberlin was also one of the bands that didn't get much stage time due to the tight schedule and the dozens of bands performing. In their short 30 minutes on stage Anberlin made a big impression. The group was formed in 2002 and does have a strong following. Stephen Christian provided great vocals and the set was highlighted by solid performances of new single "Breaking," and "Feel Good Drag."

Audrye Sessions kicked off the day with a solid performance. The San Francsico natives were obviously happy to play in their hometown. The group has slowly been gaining popularity since they won the chance to play at BFD in 2007. With a hard rock feel and a great live show the sky is the limit for this young group. The bulk of the set was taken from their EP which just dropped on Sony. Armed with the backing of a big label, look for this group to jump out of the local scene soon.

The Airborne Toxic Event was met with a huge ovation as they took the stage. The L.A. based rock band has been dominating rock charts and rapidly gaining fans with the huge amount of press they have received. The band may have been better suited on the main stage as they've recently hit head liner status. They gave the audience 45 minutes of rock, highlighted by a performance of "Wishing Well."

After the long day in the parking lot concluded, the thousands of sweaty, tired fans dragged themselves into the main venue for more music. Although the head liners put on a great show the loud, hot, concrete, general admission parking lot may have overshadowed the seated version of BFD. When it comes to the real rock show and the essence of BFD , it's in the parking lot with the die hard fans.

Concert Review By: Tyler Sobie