Bay Area’s Live 105.3 held its annual Not So Silent Night on Friday at the Oracle Arena (home of the Golden State Warriors) during a pretty good storm for these parts. Even though the freeway on the south side got shut down due to a sinkhole, music lovers came out in droves to watch Muse, AFI, 30 Seconds to Mars, Vampire Weekend, Muse and local band Scene of Action.

My friend and I had our own problems getting to the venue. While I took the BART and got soaked walking the short distance to the line of people, my friend was stuck on the freeway. I got to see the last few minutes of Scene of Action — and passed Vampire Weekend in the hallway during their interview with Live 105 — and settle into my seat to dry off and relax a bit.

I watched Metric by myself — there wasn’t even a soul in my row yet — and quickly became mesmerized. I love Emily Haines. I think she has spunk and her voice is magical. Metric played a roughly 30-minute set, and basically reminded the crowd why they’re quickly becoming a favorite of the masses. My friend got there just as Metric was playing their last song. Luckily for her, she’s seen Metric twice before, so wasn’t too bummed about missing it.

Vampire Weekend took the stage next, and was a first for the both of us. I have their self-titled album, and am eagerly awaiting their January release of Contra. We were not disappointed. They have an infectious presence and got the crowd around us in a great mood. The people sitting behind us met them earlier in the night, and were going over details of their conversations. That’s what I like about Live 105 events, more often than not there will be some type of opportunity to get autographs. Vampire Weekend was easily my favorite act of the night. The definite highlight was hearing “A-Punk” and their new single, “Cousins.” I can’t wait for them to come back to the Bay.

30 Seconds to Mars was decent, and there’s no denying Jared Leto’s charisma (confession: I loved him on My So-Called Life). But, at times I felt that it was more a showy performance than an actual music performance. The audience sang more of the songs than he did. When they performed their new single, “Kings and Queens,” a technical failure onstage turned into a major sound blowout, and they had to stop completely. After the problem was fixed, they started the song over and the crowd got to their feet to rally behind them. True professionals, in my opinion. They didn’t freak out or get pissed. Leto, in fact, just casually chatted with the people in the first few rows while things got sorted out.

Good ol’ local boys AFI came on next, and I heard a lot of mixed feelings. Some people said they rocked hard, and others went as far as saying they blew. Although this is my second time seeing AFI, I’m not really that big of a fan; it’s just not my kind of music. But, I thought they were fucking awesome. High energy at all times, what else can you ask for? “Girls Not Grey” and “Miss Murder” were definite crowd favorites.

And that leaves us at Muse. We didn’t get the total light show that I heard they’re famous for, but we did get a little taste. Even the lead singer, Matthew Bellamy, had this really cool light on his guitar. I like how they captivated the crowd, but I’m not familiar enough with their material to know what did or did not play. One of the songs that I hoped they would play did — “Supermassive Black Hole.” That’s such a great tune, and I’m sure all the teenage girls who have devoted themselves to Twilight will forever remember this song as the one playing during vampire baseball.

Before I got the show, I asked myself if going out in the rain and waiting for my friend who might not ever make it would even be worth it. The verdict? Yes, yes it was.