Monday, Aug. 29, 2005 - 11:12 p.m.
The past two weekends have been begging to be written about, and yet, I haven't. Why? I'm lazy. Actually, it has more to do with not wanting to look at the computer after sitting at it all day at work, but work not letting us have any free time at all. *shrug*
Things of note. I've started a random rambling blog, one that is not personal at all (well, aside from my opinion and all). It's also collective (well, just me and my sister right now, and really just me so far, but I'm hoping others might want to join in later). It's all for fun, but check it out Life of Anybody. And I've started writing comic reviews (just this week) at Buzzscope.com. Just for fun and practice.
So, the weeked of the 20th (the one before this last) it was supposed to rain. It didn't, but it was supposed to. Jairo got tickets from a guy at work to an all day festival called "AmsterJam" because his friends had bailed on him because of the impending rain. It was sweet because Jairo had no idea who was playing or anything, but he said he know I wanted to go to a concert before the summer was out so he thought of me and got them.
What AmsterJam was was a day long festival with two stages that was all about musical combos. The second stage was really more just about jamming. The main stage was where the match-ups took place.
We got there a few hours late and I think we missed some people. But we were in time to see Garbage.
I'd seen Garbage some years ago and they'd impressed me then, but for some reason this time they just blew me away. Shirley Manson has an amazing voice. Their new single is great.
Then they teamed up with someone named "Peaches." I can't say I recognized a single song of hers, but it was entertaining.
Next on stage was Wyclef Jean. It was a frustrating and somewhat sad spectacle. Wyclef never made it through an entire song. He played almost entirely covers and brought up the Fugees often enough and in such a way that it felt like he was just hoping they were watching and might want a reunion tour.
311 played next. They sounded good and were lively. Their new single is really catchy (and stuck in my head as I type). There were several mosh pits while they played.
I do not understand mosh pits. What joy of music comes from smashing into others? Mosh pits just serve a tiny segment of the concert goers - usually drunk white males just looking to get into a fight - and force others to spend more time making sure they don't get hit than watching the show because they happened to be standing where one opened up. Our mosh pit featured a particularly terrifying guy wearing a pink lettered Avril Lavigne tour t-shirt.
311 did one reggae song with Wyclef before their set ended.
Snoop Dogg played next. This was my first live rap concert experience. Snoop is very tall and easy to spot on stage, so that's a plus. He also sounds pretty much identical to his recordings. But the odd thing about it is that at least 1/4 of the concert is call and answer stuff with the crowd.
"when I say hell, you say yeah."
"hell"
"yeah"
"hell"
"yeah"
At least another 1/4 of it is past referential. Snoop did two of Notorious B.I.G.'s songs and one of Tupac's ending with "rest in peace." How, when they're still brought up so much 7 years after their deaths? For the B.I.G songs, P. Diddy was on stage. He didn't sing or say anything, but he was there. It was a little odd.
Of the songs left, at least 1/2 of those have to be played as a recording because they were something that was a partner effort (for example: "nothin but a g thing"). But people were into it. There was LOTS of weed smoking though.
Drugs and festivals go together well. Pot was everywhere even though I never actually saw it, I did smell it. But I did see other drugs, pretty openly. Festivals have a range of people and some stereotypes: Hippies and drunks, there more for the party than who's playing.
Next and last up was the Red Hot Chili Peppers. I had seen them years earlier and they'd been a big disappoinment (to me and all my friends). But I can happily say that they redeemed themselves. The set was great sounding and entertaining. Their new single is great.
I didn't realize how many people had been there until we were leaving and then it was the amount of trash on the ground that made it so clear. You could not step anywhere without stepping on trash. But all in all a good concert.
I think I'll leave this entry there.
