X-Fest: No Sweltering

Modesto police Lt. Ron Cloward was in charge of the law enforcement efforts at X-Fest Saturday night. He said things were going pretty smoothly about 9:30 p.m., but the night was far from over.

Saturday's high temperature of

96 degrees was recorded in downtown Modesto about the same time that festival staff opened the gates to attendees, according to the Modesto Irrigation District.

Despite the summer heat, Cloward said there were no reports of heat exhaustion. It was warmer in the afternoon, but the weather cooled as the sun set and night began.

"So far, it's been OK," Cloward said. "We've only had two arrests, and those were just public intoxication type of things. There are still long lines of people at the entrances waiting to get in."

Santa Cruz band The Expendables had a large crowd swaying to its mellow reggae beats about 8:45 p.m. at the Pontiac Garage stage at I and 10th streets. The sound was fitting, with the sun down and the cool night air.

The Expendables switched gears in the same song and launched into some aggressive rock riffs, showing their diverse musical style and getting the audience revved up.

"Modesto, are you guys ready to rock tonight?" screamed Geoff Weers, the band's vocalist and guitarist.

Performers from TNT Motocross had people gather around their motorcycle ramps in a makeshift arena on I Street, between 11th and 12th streets.

With the downtown Modesto post office as the backdrop, the motorcycle acrobats hurled themselves into the air, flying from one ramp to another. TNT Motocross performed three times Saturday, but the first performance had new fans hooting and hollering each time the performers flipped their motorcycles end over end.

Many of the spectators stuck their hands out high, aiming camera phones at the motocross performers as they maneuvered through their daredevil stunts. Even a large group of police officers, medics and firefighters stood at one end and watched with amazed looks on their faces.