A parade of music festivals seemingly marched through Sacramento in perfect succession this summer. From hip-hop festivals (Anger Management Tour) to hard rock festivals (Ozzfest), there was a little bit of something for everyone.

The shining star of these festivals just might have been Unlimited Sunshine, which took place August 9th at the Memorial Auditorium. Fronted by local alternative heroes Cake, the show featured the most diverse and, each in their own way, rockin’ acts that any tour has perhaps ever assembled.

Opening the show were a foursome of techno rockers from Mexico, Kinky. Perhaps the biggest and most pleasant surprise of the night, Kinky delivered and wowed the crowed from the minute they walked on stage. Even though most of the crowd probably didn’t understand most of what Kinky was singing, they still captivated everyone who showed up early enough to catch them.

Second on the bill were aggressive alternative rockers Modest Mouse who got on stage in the middle of set-up to tune their own guitars and check their own sound. I know this doesn’t sound spectacular, but it’s hard to find non-local bands performing such an amazing feat.

Yes, Modest Mouse do indeed appear to be modest. That is until front man Isaac Brock started belting out lyrics to the band’s more rocking tunes.

The crowd wasn’t even fazed by the nitty, gritty Hackensaw Boys, the bluegrass band who kept the crowd alive and square dancing in between sets.

Old school rappers De La Soul also got the crowd jumping, perhaps more than any band the entire night. When band member Posdnous cried out “a lot of rappers these days think hip-hop is about killing people and degrading women, well, that isn’t what hip-hop has ever been about,” the crowd cried out in total agreement.

Now that’s my kind of crowd.

Emotions ran high later in the evening, when The Flaming Lips took stage. Lead singer and guitarist Wayne Coyne became a bloody mess by the third song. Actually, it’s fake blood, but the image of his face drenched in blood as he cried out emotionally charged lyrics is as disturbing as it is captivating.

More disturbing, and in a way delightful, was their odd ball videos playing on a screen behind them. The dramatic conclusion? A Teletubbies montage playing on the screen as they closed their set.

This all lead to the perfect finish, Cake. From the moment they appeared on stage, it was more than obvious that they had the home field advantage. Fans cheered and sang along through most of their set, coming most alive for the smash hit “Short Skirt/Long Jacket” and the slow, masterful “Frank Sinatra.”

If anything negative could be said about Unlimited Sunshine’s stop in Sacramento, it’s the crowd. The Memorial Auditorium is a small venue and as the concert began, it hadn’t sold out.

The fact that Enimem and Bow Wow’s local tour stops out sold Unlimited Sunshine’s by a good deal is a shame. Tours like Anger Management and Ozzfest are a dime a dozen. It’s not often we get such a heaping helping of musical ‘sunshine’ in our lives.