Rockfest
Date: June 7, 2008
Venue: Liberty Memorial Park, southwest side
Better Than: Excessive poo-poo
By BERRY ANDERSON
Towards the end of his band’s set, Brent Smith, lead singer of Shinedown semi-dramatically announced “We’ve been waiting for this show for months. Kansas City, you never fail to disappoint us, my god.” I shrugged my shoulders and stared down at the empty beer cups and plastic bottles at my feet. The old dude behind me, sporting a Dog, the Bounty Hunter trucker hat, howled and said, “Fuckin’ A!”
With over 50,000 tickets sold and some reports that it was the biggest single day festival in the country, Rockfest 2008, sponsored by KQRC 98.9 ("the Rock"), went down seemingly smooth with few arrests or injuries. Upon entrance, (approximately seven hours after the gates opened), my press pass-less ass scored a five-dollar beer and went straight to a couple of the friendly men in blue for a recap on what I had missed. I was told there were some heat-related injuries, but nothing out of the ordinary, considering the 97 degree heat index. The biggest glitch? Lack of porta-johns. Many had to be locked up due to “excessive poo-poo,” according to the KCMO police officer. After hearing this tidbit, I decided future drink purchases would be kept to a minimum.
Not that public urination (or defecation) would have been offensive or unsightly at that point in the evening. The lack of trash receptacles, abundance of bikini tops on muffin tops and gross display of poorly chosen tattoos contributed to the “festival” atmosphere in true rock n’ roll style. Despite the fact that I couldn’t get within a thousand yards of the main stage without enduring full body contact with thousands of sweaty, topless rockaholics, I kept reminding myself that it was all about the music and my sociological observations/reservations, sober state and half-inch of grime on my exposed skin surfaces were truly preventing my lame ass from rockin’ the fuck out like everyone else.
Before bringing headliners Stone Temple Pilots to the stage, man of the hour Johnny Dare addressed the crowd. He said, “I always ask myself, ‘Will the listeners have a good time?’ I hate to admit it but this motherfucker wears me out every year!” I can only imagine how rough it must have been to have access to a gently used Johnny-on-the-spot. This thought was short lived and interrupted by Dare’s gravelly voice, “Bring on Asshole Bob!” Awesome. Time for a beer or a Sparks or something, but alas, alcohol sales had been squelched.
Choosing to move to get a better view of the nattily dressed Scott Weiland bust out “Wicked Garden” from one of the two video screens that were set up, I found myself chatting with two men from Shawnee that claimed Weiland was “the ultimate front man.” “You gotta love a front man that loves drugs!” he said. True enough, I suppose. I was more baffled by how clear his vocals sounded and how muddled his onstage musings were. “There’s a lot of people here,” he observed. The set continued. I had to admit, by the eighth song, 1999’s “Sour Girl,” off of the N4 album, I thought they sounded pretty tight and I smiled when I remembered how cool "Plush" was in the eighth grade. “There’s a lot of songs about love and shit and sometimes the next song is about fuckin’ and shit,” Weiland added. True that, man.
Critic’s Notebook
Personal Bias: “Big Bang Baby” would have been a much more fitting encore and better segue way to the fireworks than “Dead and Bloated.”
Random Detail: Not only could festival goers score “Blow Me” beads and marijuana leaf fuzzy top hats, there were also panties emblazoned with plays on corporate logos like, “Mount and Do Me” and “Freeto Lay”
By the Way: On the way out, I stopped in at the psychic’s tent and asked her about the energy of the crowd. She claimed it was “very good, positive energy.”
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Yah, I spelled they're instead of their for a REASON! See, it doesn't take much to make you look like a IDIOT when it comes to typing something that doesn't sound or look quite right!
Those reports about it being the biggest single day ...came from 98.9 The Rock Jocks themselves. They are deceptive liars! Loved the show but COME ON, do they have to dummy down they're listeners with the lies? It makes you look silly and stupid to say it when it's not true!
Remember A Day : Watkins Glen To The MUSE Concerts - Over 600000 people attended the single day affair. ... The rock festival has been the best forum, so far, to generate the most interest.
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