concert reviews

After years of avoiding festivals after bad experiences, and then my bias against festivals being reinforced after a bad Riot Fest experience this year, I assumed the worst about The Fest. But you guys, I was so wrong. It was so much fun, I am still surprised at how great it was.

The Fest is a three day festival in a small college town, and it's a fraction of the size of the big festivals, so it's probably not fair to measure these events against each other. But here are a few musings about what made it so fantastic:

1. There was only one level of festival pass. No VIP anything. Everyone had the same access to everything. This was so nice. No entitlements for the rich!

2. The size and capacity was up my alley. The biggest venue was the outdoor plaza which only holds 4,000 people. But even when it was packed, you were not squeezed in like sardines. All the other venues were clubs, and the one I ended up in the most had about 500 person capacity. Most bands I like play venues a little smaller than this, so I felt at home and the music felt right in the spaces too.

3. The fest goers were so chill and friendly. I talked to locals who were not at the festival and every single person was like, "yeah, the punks are always friendly and polite". I'm not exaggerating. I didn't run into a single jerk. It was...unreal?

4. Main stage bands also played small club shows. Not all the big headliners did this, but a lot of the main stage bands also played a club set sometime during the festival. This gave you a chance to see them in the most intimate setting you could. It was first come, first in line, so if you really wanted to get into the venue, you had to get there early. But I thought that's as fair as you can get.

My only complaint was when the speakers started to break during the main Against Me! set on the big stage. Literally the only time the speakers did not work properly. I danced, I sang, I laughed (they have comedy sets too!), and I ate really well (Gainesville is super vegan/veg friendly). Can't ask for much else.

i'm not able to get out as much as i'd like right now but off this list i saw:
Pixies
RHCP
Roger Waters
U2
Tom Petty
Midnight Oil
also saw ( I know I'm forgetting something ):
Metallica
Nine Inch Nails
Flaming Lips
many fine shows. the only 1 that was a little disappointing was Tom Petty but I'm glad I went as it was 1 of his last shows. I was really sick for the Pixies so wasn't able to enjoy as much. My favorites for the year were Midnight Oil & Nine Inch Nails. Both were phenomenal. I've been to hundreds of gigs over the years, so I'm kind of picky now.

Hey, chuckrh! I’ve been to hundreds of shows over the years as well. My top shows from 2017 would be U2 (with Beck) in Detroit, Gorillaz, Midnight Oil, Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds, and U2 in Cleveland.









If there is one band that is equal to the Cure for me, it is Nine Inch Nails. This piece I wrote almost a dozen years ago sums up a lot of the emotions wrapped up in NIN for me. We actually considered buying tickets to the Germany show this summer since it’s the same week as the Cure’s Hyde Park show, but ultimately we decided to pass on it.

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You’re right, czuczu, I’m stateside and fortunate to live in an area where acts large and small are within easy distance. Looking forward to seeing your list!

Saw Roger Waters last night.
It was the third time I've seen him. First was his Dark Side Of The Moon thing where the second set was the full album. Second was The Wall, which was a spectacle I will never ever forget & this time on his Us Or Them tour in which he rolls out some priceless Floyd tracks with some of his newer material thrown in.
Although, visually, this one could never even get close to The Wall, it was still, nonetheless, absolutely spectacular.
The ubiquitous projection screen upstage played out a variety of subject matter including animated monsters, real reaper drone footage & cosmic wonders.
Jess Wolfe & Holly Laessig from Lucius were truly sublime on backing vocals & their spangly tops perfectly blended with the projected universe while they utterly nailed The Great Gig In The Sky

The first set ended with Another Brick In The Wall parts 2 & 3 & a dozen local school children were drafted in to mime the kids' parts & generally march on the spot.
One hapless young tyke, however, had no sense of rhythm whatsoever &, having busted his way out of his jumpsuit, spent the last 5 minutes of the song trying (& failing) to march in time with the others. But they had only been added that afternoon & to go onstage in front of twelve & a half thousand people has to be pretty traumatising for a 12 year old.
chuckrh warned me about the start of part 2 & he wasn't wrong.
Both sets started off with interstitial video/ sound effects. The first being a girl sat on a beach with the sound of wind & waves for twenty minutes & the second taking the form of a police dispatcher sending units to a chase culminating in sirens & gun shots.
Then it happened.
From the roof a 100 metre long frame was flown in over the top of the audience. From that, chimneys extended & cloths rolled down to reveal a model of Battersea Power Station all while subwoofers roared so loud I thought the building was going to fall down. It was intense.
& now comes, my standout track of the night, Dogs.
An absolute epic masterpiece back dropped by ever increasingly political statements as Roger finds parallels between 40 year old material & today's current world.
Pigs (3 different kinds) goes into vitriol overdrive as the massive drone pig is given a flight around the arena & back

Throughout the corse of the night I had more hair-stand-on-end moments than I have ever had at any concert (including The Cure) & the guitar break on Mother practically turned me into a porcupine.
Comfortably Numb was the closer & rightly so. My favourite Floyd song hands down & Waters' band pulls this off magnificently culminating in a confetti drop where all the pieces read "RESIST"

Not as spectacular as The Wall (let's face it. Opening a show with a fighter plane flying over the audience & crashing in flames is hard to be bettered right?) but still a truly superb experience nonetheless.
Waters is certainly outspoken & opinionated, but he his musically light years better than Gilmour in a "solo" capacity.
If any of you even have a passing interest in Pink Floyd, go see Roger Waters. It is something to behold.




not my video

I've seen Pink Floyd & they were seriously good & I really enjoyed it. But Waters somehow keeps feet on the ground & delivers something so much more

Looks like I set up an alert on Scarlet Mist for Roger Waters some time ago...so to let you all know a great seat has just become available there at face value of £220. It's the third row but right at the far edge so I'm not sure that this would be a great seat? Dunno...