One of the more disturbing sights at Rockfest

Two years ago it was insanely hot and I got something in my eye.

Last year it rained the whole time I was there and I got so much mud on me I had to go home and change before I could go anywhere else.

This year it was cold.  Not late-December/January cold, but cold enough that I didn’t wear shorts and I had to put on a hoodie. I still wasn’t warm enough. Still, it was the best time I had at Kansas City’s premier gathering of misfits and undesirables, although that isn’t saying a whole lot.

The response time on my phone’s camera stinks, but this delightful pixie had a large knife hidden in her boots.  She was using it to untangle her beads.

Despite this year’s strong lineup I was disappointed in a lot of the performances.  Hinder and Alter Bridge, two of the bands I was really looking forward to, didn’t do anything for me.  The two standouts I saw were Art of Dying and - suprisingly - Papa Roach.  I’ve never been a huge fan of theirs, but Papa Roach put in a solid set and really knew how to work the crowd.  I’ve previously written them off but I’m going to check out some of their stuff beyond what I’ve heard on the radio.

One of the interesting things I noticed this year is that more people were at the second stage.  In previous years the second stage had a small crowd because it featured lesser-known bands. However a lot of the acts put on better sets than those on the main stage.  This year was no exception but the crowd was larger and more into the music than previous years. Another thing is that the organizers did a better job with the food tents.  There were more of them and slightly better quality than previous years.  As usual there was no shortage of beer tents.  I realize that this happens because they sponsor it, but only having Miller and (I think) Coors available really bites.

The weather ended up driving me out before Stone Sour’s set.  I really wanted to see them but spending hours in the cold was beginning to chill me to the bones. Overall I had a pretty good time but I don’t know if the hassle of the drive, parking, and 30 minute hike to the Liberty Memorial is worth it. Unless they book someone spectacular next year or move it to a better venue this may be my last one.

These two young lasses were enjoying their weekend away from finishing school to perform for the crowd in exchange for beads.

Pollstar is showing that this year’s Rockfest will be May 14 at Kansas City’s Liberty Memorial.  Earlier this week Black Label Society was displayed as one of the bands playing but that was soon taken off.  Despite all my griping I’ll probably still end up going this year since it’s being held in May again before the summer heat starts to set in.  After last year’s rain disaster I was wondering if they would move it back to June but it looks like they’re rolling the weather dice again on this.

The lineups over the past couple of years were disappointing, especially last year’s which didn’t have a must-see band for me.  I was wondering who would headline this year.  They typically get a big act who is on their way down (Korn, STP, Godsmack) but this year I think they might buck that trend and line up Alter Bridge to headline.  Most of the major acts that are friendly with 98.9 have played in Kansas City recently so that rules a lot of them out.  I have no idea if Alter Bridge is actually touring but they seem like a good fit.  I could be wrong but I don’t see Black Label Society headlining, I see them either second or third from the top.  I imagine they’re too big to headline the second stage.

Jackyl?  Possibly even though they played here back in November.  With that I’ll throw in the Nigel Dupree Band who I could see being one of the main acts on the second stage.  They’re always in town but I’ll add Drowning Pool and let’s say Our Lady Peace also.  I’ll add Saliva because I don’t think they’ve been in town recently and as a longshot Children of Bodom mainly because I would like to see them.  I don’t know anything about Trivium but I think that’s a band 98.9 plays a lot of and I saw they’re putting out a new album.

I’m sure I’ll do my fair share of complaining about the lineup but if the weather’s decent it’s not a bad time.  I even had a decent time in last year’s monsoon but I wouldn’t recommend any sort of eye injury though.

In the days leading up to the Ozzy Osbourne concert I wondered which Ozzy I would see - the hapless old man you seem to see everywhere or the dynamic frontman I grew up with.  Turns out I got to see both during his recent show.  The majority of the time he was the Ozzy of old, using the same lines that he’s relied on for the past 30+ years, telling the crowd to go crazy and how much he loved everyone.  There were a few times though where he showed his age and it looked like someone’s grandfather up on stage, bent over and tired.

The set list relied heavily on earlier material with a large selection of songs from Blizzard of Ozz and his days with Black Sabbath.  There were a few suprises like “Shot in the Dark” and “Faries Wear Boots” which were a nice departure from his usual setlist.  Overall the vocals sounded good and Ozzy seemed really into performing.  I’ve admittedly lost my interest in Ozzy since his reality show hit but seeing this show reminded me of why I was a fan in the first place.

The backing back was solid but didn’t blow me away as I had hoped.  I keep hearing a lot of good things about guitarist Gus G but I keep getting the feeling that between his playing on Scream and in concert that he’s being held back and not given a chance to show his talent.  The low point of the show was the guitar solo and drum solo, both of which were way too long.  While both musicans proved their ability with their respective instruments, I got bored with each less than a minute into it.

Slash’s solo band opened the show.  Having Slash on the bill was the deciding factor in my going to the concert but for some reason their performance didn’t connect with me.  I’ve heard so many good things about their show at Harrah’s Voodoo Lounge earlier this year and I’m wondering if their show isn’t better suited for smaller venues instead of large arenas.  They hit the stage ten minutes before the posted show time and played for an hour with a nice setlist with a mix of songs from his solo album, Velvet Revolver, and Guns ‘n’ Roses.  I would definately like to see them again in a more intimate venue to see if there’s any difference.

Just like every other year Kansas City has two radio stations playing continuous Christmas music.  Unlike every other year I don’t find myself as irritated with it.    Two possible reasons:

• My oldest is four years old now and really likes Christmas music, specifically the older stuff like “Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer” and “Here Comes Santa Claus”
• It may be my imagination but the playlists seems to focus less on the usual limp-dick lite rock stuff and more on standards or at least stuff with some energy behind it.  That being said, I’m hearing Neil Diamond’s “Merry Cherry Christmas” (or something like that) a lot and I would probably rather listen to his covers album than hear that song again.

But I got to thinking about this - Christmas is the only time you hear people like Perry Como, Dean Martin, and Gene Autry on terrestrial/commercial radio.  Obviously these aren’t the only good songs that these people have but you never hear them the rest of the year.  I wonder if eventually some artists’ only legacy will be their holiday music (although Dean Martin and Frank Sinatra’s songs will always be around as long as there are Italian restaurants).

One other thing too…this could be my imagination also, but terrestrial radio stations play a shitload of commercials.  I had XM several years back and listen to NPR a lot since I canceled my service so that my impact my view of this.  I just find these stations unlistenable due to the frequency and length of their commercial break.  Kansas city has a great local political talk show but it seems like between the commercials, traffic, news, and weather you only get about 20 minutes of actual show per hour.  Of course I’m too lazy to actually time it so that’s just a baseless guess.

One of the things about the Sprint Center in Kansas City is that it shows me how out of touch I am about how popular acts are that go there.  I saw today that Linkin Park is going to play there in January and I had no idea they were popular enough to play a 18,000+ capacity arena.  This is nothing against them, I just never hear anything new from them on the radio so I figured they would play something like the Uptown Theatre (just checked, 1,700 capacity which is smaller than I thought).  I had the same feeling when Muse played there - I know they’re popular but I didn’t think they were a headlining act.  Kid Rock is playing there also, but I would chalk that up to a Kansas City thing like Jackyl’s popularity here.

No real point, it just seems like a good third of the rock acts that play the Sprint Center make me scratch my head in disbelief.  For all I know they’re only selling a third of the place or they barricade certain sections off like when smaller acts play Starlight but it seems like whoever books them would have a good idea of how much they would sell.