Sporting KC Park was vibing Sept. 5 as 12 indie bands rocked two stages for 96.5 KRBZ The Buzz Beach Ball.

When I first arrived, the party had already started in the rain as Broods took the stage met with massive applause at their biggest hit, “Bridges.”

After that, across the field was Ume, a French band whose muddy distortion was annoying and not very enjoyable. This however, was not a surprise as I had heard their music and didn’t like it on the radio either.

Once Ume left the stage accompanied by a surprising amount of applause, back on the main stage came J. Roddy Walston and the Business. The band’s piano-infused rock with naturally distorted vocals was something I was looking forward to. Frontman J. Roddy Walston was in the keys anytime he sat down, with long curly brown hair flipping wildly in the rain. The crowd went crazy as the familiar opening riff of “Heavy Bells” echoed through the stadium.

The hair defied gravity.

The next main stage band, The Mowgli’s, was met appropriately with ceased rain and some sun. Those who aren’t into the indie genre would most likely find them least objectionable with a mix of indie folk, rock and, dare I say, power pop? I was surprised by the Mowglis, as I really hadn’t heard much of their music and I was unable to spot a song I didn’t enjoy.

Nick Spacek, reviewer for the Pitch, had some praise for The Mowgli’s in his review.

“The Mowglis are well-suited to an outdoor environment like the soccer stadium,” Spacek said, “where their harmonies can soar the way they’re meant to.”

Thus ended what I would call the opening bands. The next bands, the 1975, Weezer, and Arctic Monkeys, brought an even more exciting atmosphere.

“I thought it was really cool that not everyone was screaming along to the songs, but they were kind of ‘vibing,’” freshman Jessie Kirwin said, “The atmosphere was crazy, cramped and a little hard to breathe, but it was fun!”

She describes vibing as actually listening to and enjoying the bands, “not screaming, like a lot of other concerts.”

The first of the top three bands, excluding Meg Myers, was the 1975, an indie band formed in Manchester in 2012.The music itself was entertaining with very clean guitar playing and high vocals from frontman Matt Healy mixed with electronic sounds, snare heavy percussion, and just the right amount of bass.

Though they’re just a young European band, each song was met with a choir of approving fans singing along. Their top three noun-based songs especially, “Chocolate,” “Sex,” and “Girls”-which aforementioned Spacek thought was called, “Just Go.”

The 1975’s music was entertaining, well crafted, and well played, but Healy’s ability to connect with audience and be a good stage performer was nearly as entertaining. Each hair whip, flowy hand movement, or pelvic thrust brought more excitement to the audience. One admirable stage trait of Healy’s was his ability to interact with his audience.

This includes, but isn’t limited to, taking selfies on a fan’s phone and even attempting to talk to a fan in his Daphne Moon-esque accent. Although there was some confusion.

“It’s your birthday? What’s your name? *pause* What is it?” says Healy to a fan near the stage, “Ah [expletive] I can’t hear you.” After this attempted conversation, we all sang along with Matt “Happy birthday to *melodic mumble*….”

Being the good guy he is, he kept raising hype for his successor, “Weezuh” (Weezer).

Weezer was welcomed onto the stage to 20th Century Fox’s easily recognizable intro music, as a strange large cover of their upcoming album, Everything Will Be Alright in the End (EWBAITE) appeared behind them. Much unlike the 1975, Weezer has been around for a while, formed in LA in 1992.

In fact, Weezer was the header for the very first Buzz Beach Ball in 2005.

For this reason, nearly everyone knew nearly every word to nearly every song they played. Starting right off with, “My Name is Jonas,” sang by a self proclaimed Buddy Holly doppelganger, frontman Rivers Cuomo.

Surprisingly, many people knew the words to their first single off EWBAITE, “Back to the Shack,” which was the only new song they played. However, there was a nonexistent song made up by Cuomo inspired by the gigantic beach balls being hit around about beach ball which created a nice introduction to a classic, “Island In The Sun.”

Some other classics like, “Say It Ain’t So,” “If You’re Wondering If I Want You To (I Want You To),” and “Buddy Holly” were met with an echoing roar and crowd surfers, one of which fell down on top of me and wrapped her arm around my neck causing a momentary lapse of enjoyment.

Not just the classics, but every song played over the course of the night, a setlist 20 years in the making, was greeted nearly as enthusiastically. Weezer managed to keep things interesting, including a drum solo by all four band members.

After Weezer, Meg Myers performed on the second stage. Weezer is a tough act to follow, especially if you’re going on before the Arctic Monkeys, the headlining band. However, though there were many people standing by the mainstage, seemingly trying to kill me by suffocation, Myers was chanted onstage by tons of fans screaming “We want Meg!”

I find Meg Myers to be an acquired taste, even for this crowd. There were a few people near me requesting that Myers be done at that point so that the Arctic Monkeys could come on. But to no avail, Myers’ bass playing and beautiful, yet scary, vocals carried on.

I was excited for Arctic Monkeys as much as those guys, but not “boo her offstage,” excited as the guys near me suggested.

The frightening lyrics of “Desire,” were sung by not only Meg and the second stage crowd, but even by some who were standing in front of the main stage, which they did not take their eyes from.

I’m a fan of the Arctic Monkeys but not a superfan, like the woman who would not stop crying as Alex Turner spat on stage as he sang-talked with his Sheffield accent. The crowd went nuts over all their songs, I however, did not.

I enjoyed my favorite song of theirs, “Fluorescent Adolescent” and “Do I Wanna Know?” and the popular, “Why’d You Only Call Me When You’re High?” Beyond that however, it felt as if I were trapped inside a nightmare.

The heavy bass mudded everything up so that some of the songs weren’t even recognizable. Everything seemed to be dragging on very slowly and bassily. When the three aforementioned songs weren’t being played, everything ran together. My mother, Suzy Ayres, who I dragged along with me, was also not entertained.

“I don’t care for Arctic Monkeys,” Ayres said, “can we go?”

I became re-entertained near the end as several large disco balls projected spinning light all the way around the stadium. After their planned set, they were brought back out for an encore which again was applauded greatly and enthusiastically, emotions I did not share. According to some concert videos I’ve watched after I left Beach Ball, the Arctic Monkeys simply aren’t good live. They make good records that are downloadable and listenable but I would not see them again unless it were free or maybe for a reduced price, because I believe in second chances.

The Mowgli’s can be seen again at the Uptown with American Authors on Oct. 16th while the 1975 can be seen again on Nov. 9th at the Uptown as well. The next Buzz concert is the Halloweenie Roast with Phantogram and Broken Bells on night one at the Midland on Oct. 9th and Alt-J on night two at the Midland on the 29th.