Summer may have officially ended Sept. 23, but that didn't stop 20,000 fans from taking over Tempe Beach Park at Edgefest Saturday for 10 hours of music, sweat and fun.
Incubus, Rise Against, 30 Seconds to Mars, Authority Zero, Jack's Mannequin, She Wants Revenge, Sparta, A Change of Pace and Dirty Heads all played.
"It was a perfect night and perfect location," said business sophomore Jeff Sinay. "The lit-up Mill [Avenue] bridge really put a cool effect on the whole scene."
Incubus, playing their first show in two years, took the stage around 9:30 p.m. for a 90-minute set that included new tracks from their upcoming album and ended with the standard rock encore.
"We were stoked to be on the same bill as all of [the bands]," said Dan Parker, guitarist for local band A Change of Pace.
"We've all listened to Incubus for years and years, so to be on the same bill as them was amazing," he said. "Those guys are so talented."
Edgefest - which was moved from its usual Peoria Sports Complex location to Tempe - celebrated its 13th year in what ended up being the biggest Edgefest to date, said Joshua Bassett, promotions director for The Edge 103.9.
The number of concertgoers led to long lines at vendors like Jamba Juice, and water was in short supply at times.
The event had a few other problems too.
The local stage, showcasing winners of The Real Bar's battle of the bands, hit a midday snag in the form of malfunctioning sound equipment, forcing Tempe musicians Seconds to Breathe to improvise.
"We played 25 minutes of hitting a beach ball around from the stage and our singer, Hondo, sang some R&B a cappella-style to pass some time [until the sound was fixed]," said guitarist Nate Heater. "It all worked out in the end and we were just thankful to be playing at all."
Some people were susceptible to the day's extreme heat.
"When you have 20,000 people at a rock 'n' roll concert you always have dehydration and people getting hurt in the mosh pit," Bassett said.
But performers and fans alike were unwilling to let the heat slow them down, providing plenty of action both on and off the main stage.
30 Seconds to Mars singer Jared Leto climbed to the top of one of the stage's supporting pillars during their song, "The Fantasy." Leto asked those below, "Will you catch me if I fall?"
Despite cheers from the audience, he opted to climb back down rather than take the plunge, much to the relief of 16-year-old Allison Peel.
"I didn't want him to jump because I knew they wouldn't catch him," Peel said.
A trash fight kept several fans busy after the 30 Seconds to Mars show, with hundreds of water bottles raining down on the concertgoers.
When political rockers Rise Against hit the stage next, 19-year-old Megan McCue experienced both the thrill and agony of crowd surfing.
"I got my toenail ripped off during a mosh pit, crowd surfing," McCue said. "It was completely awesome. It was my first time."
Reach the reporter at Michael.Chichester@asu.edu.
