Originally my wife and I bought 2-day tickets, but given the heavy rains this morning, we’ll be sitting out day 2 (Day 3 of the fest, but day 2 for us). It’s all good. While there are a few bands I would’ve liked to see today, I’ve seen some before, so no big loss.
Yesterday, however, was ideal.
We arrived early and saw parts of Plosivs and Drain. I liked Plosivs. Drain was my type of music (hardcore), but the lead singer was annoying. Rich people don’t tell you they are rich. Similarly, bands don’t need to tell me they are one of us, play crappy halls, etc. You don’t have to tell me you’re hardscrabble. It’d be enough if you got to play. Anyway, the music was okay, the lead singer, not my guy.
We were at that stage to see the next band: Bowling for Soup. They did not disappoint. Catchy songs, high energy, hilarious. They only had a 30-minute slot. Too bad. I could’ve listened to them for much longer. We stuck around for a minute after figuring we didn’t know any other band, so we may as well stay where we were. But my wife heard some NIN song, so we went to explore. Glad we did.
The singer was Jehnny Beth, and she was 100% amazing. Cool music, fantastic showman (showwoman?). It was the unexpected highlight that I’ve grown to love about fests. You stumble on someone awesome.
After that, we hung around and saw White Reaper. Another surprise. I loved them (listening to them now as I type this). Bumped into some friends, too.
I saw a bit of Enter Shikari while we waited for Frank Turner and the Sleeping Souls. That was the main reason I got tickets. My wife hung in the back, but I went up to the stage. Second row of people. That was ideal because the mass of moshers was behind me. I got shoved a lot, but it wasn’t horrible. I did have more than my share of crowd surfers to pass to the barrier. I have no issue with crowdsurfers, but if you are a dude who weighs more than 180 lbs, no. More than a few fat ass dudes weren’t crowd-surfing as much as crowd-crushing.
Frank didn’t disappoint. Great music, big energy.
After that, we old people had enough. We went home, grocery-shopped and went to bed early. So punk!