The weekend East Coast music lovers have been awaiting is finally here. The 2012 Bamboozle festival is kicking off this Friday and finishing with a bang on Sunday. Thousands will storm the beaches of Asbury Park, N.J., as more than 85 bands take the seven stages at the festival.

Those attending the festival on Friday will have the opportunity to dance and sweat to Skrillex, Incubus, Mac Miller, Mike Posner and many more. On Saturday, thousands will be flocking for a chance to set eyes on the Foo Fighters (Blink 182's last-minute replacement), My Chemical Romance, The Promise Ring, Close Your Eyes and a dozen others. Sunday will be closing out the raging weekend with Bon Jovi, Brand New, The Gaslight Anthem, and a Jersey favorite, The Bouncing Souls.

We got a chance to talk with Brett Callaway of Close Your Eyes, who is bound to have hardcore music lovers flocking to their set at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the Harley-Davidson of Ocean County Saints and Sinners Stage.

Close Your Eyes is made up of Brett Callaway on guitar and backing vocals, Sonny Vega on bass and backing vocals, Andrew Rodriguez on guitar, and the newest two members, Jordan Hatfield on drums and lead vocalist Michael Sawyer.

Hailing from Abilene, Texas, the band is guaranteed to lay down monstrous riffs, head-banging drums and kick-ass vocals that are without a doubt going to leave you screaming along.

I think my favorite part of playing a festival is it brings a lot more people together than a usual show does, Callaway explains about his excitement to be playing Bamboozle this weekend. We see a lot of our friends in other bands.

Like many others attending, Callaway is psyched to see the Foo Fighters and Bon Jovi perform Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

The Close Your Eyes guitarist expects it to be a pretty wild and entertaining weekend. In the past, the band has been stage-rushed at shows. We've had a hundred fans on stage with us before, he notes among the craziest things he's witnessed while performing. We've had people jump off a speaker stack while we were playing.

In order to be able to power through Bamboozle without incident, Callaway offers some advice for festival goers. I'm assuming it's going to be hot, he laughs. I've never been [to New Jersey] in the spring. Drink a lot of water.

More than staying hydrated to enjoy your weekend, Callaway suggests that the best way to enjoy yourself would be to lay out a plan. I know it sounds really silly, he says, but make a plan what you're going to do that day, in the beginning of the day.

Bamboozle goers will be some of the first to see Close Your Eyes perform with new lead vocalist Michael Sawyer. The band announced Sawyer's addition to the group just Thursday. Their former lead vocalist, Shane Raymond, left in March after playing with the band since 2005.

The band currently has two albums out, 2010's We Will Overcome, and 2011's Empty Hands and Heavy Hearts.

Following their Bamboozle performance, Close Your Eyes will be turning their tour dates to South America.

Without a doubt New Jersey will be showing the Texan hardcore band the love before their departure from the States.

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