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| Rockfest 2010 |
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| Written by John Abbott | |||||
| Wednesday, 21 July 2010 13:52 | |||||
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Hey, how are you all doing? Hows your summer going? I haven't been writing much. I have still been seeing some shows and last night I went to Rockfest 2010. I had never been to Rockfest before. In general, I am not a huge fan of outdoor music. Its never loud enough, dark enough, or close enough. But, when someone pressed some free tickets into my hand, I decided to go for it. I will remain forever thankful to that individual for giving me those tickets, saving me the money I would have eventually spent to satisfy my curiosity. That curiosity is now fully satisfied. I know the answer. I hated Rockfest. I hated it on so many levels, it is going to be tough to describe. …But, I am going to do my best. Hate is a strong word. I have a friend who corrects me when I use the word hate. Perhaps I was in the wrong frame of mind when I went there. You see, I am a music fan. But Rockfest has little to do with music, and cares not in the least for music fans. Rockfest cares a great deal about money. They have a huge re$erved $eat VIP $ection --which was less than half full during the featured acts. Behind that, a large folding chair section. I don't know what it took to sit there, though I have my $u$picion$. And, then starting about a football field away from the stage begins general admission. I was about twice that far back. 
My view at Rockfest 80 percent of the time as I wait in line for 30 seconds close to the stage. Too bad that big brown sound booth is there, huh?
The concert does employ the "Adoration Trail" philosophy you sometimes see at shows. So, you get in line, you wait. Eventually the line moves past center stage and for roughly 30 seconds you can see, there are in fact live performers. But at Rockfest there is this huge building, straight out from center stage. Totally blocking the view of the stage while you wait in line. Who designed this? Who thought this was a good idea? So either, I can accept my crappy view from where I landed my chair. Or, I can get in line, where I totally give up my view for 2/3rds of the set for thirty seconds of comparative intimacy. I did the line for Trapt and Bizkit.
Trapt on stage at Rockfest
Trapt was good. I saw them from two rows back at the State Fair last summer. That was better. Even if that time lead singer Chris Taylor Brown looked a little bored to be there. It was still better. I have listened to a lot more Trapt since seeing them at the Fair and so this time I knew there music a lot better. Limp Bizkit, it was cool to be there. I had never seen them before and had wanted to. It was good to see lead singer, Fred Durst, actually out touring instead of just seeing pictures of him hanging out at the Playboy mansion. I was really only at this night of Rockfest to see Bizkit's lead guitar player Wes Borland. If it wouldn't have been for Wes playing again for Bizkit I would have gone to Rockfest on Saturday night and seen Mellencamp. Wes has another band called Black Light Burns that is in my lifetime top five most listened to CDs here at Freak and Geek central. I got to see them live in a little bar in lowertown St. Paul, even got to shake Wes' hand. On Rockfest night he was in full makeup. Pretty cool stuff. I tried to get a good picture of it during my 30 seconds of stage time, but they mostly all sucked. Downing Pool, I saw once before in Eau Claire at The Stones Throw bar. Bastards were two hours late and played us a short set. I still listen to Bodies Hit the Floor, but I don't feel real good about it. The Jumbotron special effects went into high gear for Alice in Chains. I was over media'd. I went home. 
Cherry Gun on one of the smaller stages at Rockfest 2010
On the little stages around the parameter of Rockfest, I caught the set after Bizkit with Black Valentyne from my old stomping grounds of Rochester Minnesota. It was a great set. There was a guy who could sing some outstanding AC/DC covers, he had the perfect voice for it. They also did a great Beastie Boys cover. They were a great band for some of those hard edged songs.
So here's the deal. Some people *love* Rockfest. I say that these are not music fans. Rockfest is a huge outdoor drinking party. A chance to get drunk at a bar with 10,000 other people and not have to go home… For a week! Totally, so totally, not my thing on any of these points. If it's yours, go for it. You will be in good company. Now I gotta go buy some beer for that guy who saved me eighty-five bucks. http://www.myspace.com/blackvalentinerocks Hits: 108 Comments (1)Subscribe to this comment's feed...
JA - Even though I wasn't at this year's Suck Fest...I mean Rock Fest, I couldn't agree with your observations more. I've been to at least 300 concerts in my day, many of which were at outdoor venues. What's with the reserved VIP seating crap? More often than not, it amounts to half-full primo seating and I end up another 1/2 mile back from where I should be taking in the show. I'm glad you got to see Wes Borland again - hopefully he made enough on this Limp tour to resurrect BLB!
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July 22, 2010
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| Last Updated on Thursday, 22 July 2010 05:08 |
But, another complaint, in a long, long list of complaints, I think all the music was imported. There were no local bands on any of the stages on Sunday night. Why not? There are bands in this area that play the genre of music. I think if Rockfest wants to be a good neighbor there should be a local stage.
