Concert Review: Rockfest 2007

Above: Rockfest fans know one sign, and it doesn't mean "I love you." Photo by Jill Toyoshiba/The Star

It wasn't pretty.  And the 40,000 fans crammed together on the grounds of Liberty Memorial wouldn't have it any other way.

Fifteen heavy-rock and metal acts provided more than 10 hours of music Saturday.  None of the performers is a household name, and none is particularly influential.  And none is stylish or trendy.  Yet collectively, the 15 acts brought in by radio station 98.9 FM -- "The Rock" -- have sold tens of millions of albums.  And within the confines of the station's sometime slogan -- "Everything That Rocks" -- the bands delivered an extraordinarily broad spectrum of noise.

The lineup was so loaded with the station's core artists that Puddle of Mudd, one of the biggest bands in the world just five years ago, was the first act to play on the main stage.

"Thanks a lot for coming to my birthday party," joked 35-year-old band founder Wes Scantlin. His band originally broke out of Kansas City.  Based on its energetic but stale set Saturday, they'll be hard-pressed to scale those heights again.

Part of Puddle of Mudd's problem was the main stage's sound system.  Even though it improved marginally as the day progressed, it never sounded especially sharp.  A cool breeze made the perfect day even more comfortable, but it tossed the sound around like a seasick crowdsurfer.

Two outlying video screen and sound systems were positioned approximately 75 and 150 yards from the main stage.  Because the crowd extended well beyond that distance, thousands of people were relying on them.  However, these secondary sound systems worked sporadically.  And even when they were on, the sound and video weren't quite in sync, and the sound they produced was little better than a
very loud AM car radio.

A second stage provided superior sound and sight lines.  It attracted smaller audiences but the music featured there was no less compelling.  Dallas' Burden Brothers provided one of the day's most exciting sets.

Although they're one of the few Rockfest acts that's actively forging a unique sound, they could still be characterized as barroom version of Queens of the Stone Age.  Their "Beautiful Night" was deliriously winning.  Patrick "Taz" Bentley, formerly of Kansas City favorites Tenderloin, drums for the band.

Operator seemed like an experiment in which Los Angeles' best Guns N' Roses cover band suddenly decided to play only original material. They relapsed only once, cranking out Appetite For Destruction's "It's So Easy."  They were followed by the bright pop-metal of the Exies, who looked like Hot Topic's best customers.  The industrial Southern boogie of Black Stone Cherry pleased fans of Lynyrd Skynryd and Molly Hatchet.

Above: Drowning Pool's C.J. Pierce. Photo by Bill Brownlee.

Crowd favorites Drowning Pool were genuinely harrowing.  They paid tribute to their late vocalist Dave Williams on "Tear Away" and to the contributions of American military on "Soldiers."  The riveting "Bodies" provided the day's single most vital performance.

"It's good to see that Puff Daddy doesn't have his boot on the neck of rock and roll in Kansas City," Saliva front man Josey Scott told his rapturous fans.  It was an odd statement coming from a member of a hip-hop-informed band.  It was the only sour note in the otherwise sparkling set by the second stage headliners.

Above: Lajohn Witherspoon of Sevendust. Photo by Jill Toyoshiba/The Star

Over at the main stage, Sevendust was nearly as ferocious as Drowning Pool.  "Driven" provided the big sing-along moment, but Sevendust's epic sound is ideal fodder for enormous events like Rockfest.

"I had no idea it was going to be this incredible," vocalist Lajon Witherspoon remarked as he surveyed the crowd.

Buckcherry, a prison riot version of Aerosmith, were also compelling. Three Days Grace didn't fare as well.  The Canadian band was disappointingly flaccid. The sunburned and exhausted crowd mustered enthusiasm only for the Beatle-sque hit "Pain."

Chevelle, Breaking Benjamin, Red Line Chemistry and Federation of Horsepower also performed.  Rockfest will be remembered fondly.  It's a throwback to the massive stadium rock festivals of the '70s and '80s.  It featured the same fixtures and behaviors: fist-pumping, breast-baring women astride men's shoulders; and familiar but suspicious odors wafting through the air.  It was a great day, one in which the only commodity more valuable than live music is a spot in the shade.  Aside from the sound problems, the event's only significant glitch was crowd congestion. At times, foot traffic moved more slowly than in the concourses of Arrowhead Stadium at halftime.

Massachusetts-based Godsmack closed the show.  Their dour sound has garnered them sales of about 10 million albums in the United States. It seemed like every single one of those fans was in attendance.

| Bill Brownlee, The Star

Comments

[98.9 Sux!]

Jeez, there are actually 40,000 people in this town that would pay to see a whole day of brainless, third-rate RAWK?? This kind of thing was done better years ago and to see bands still trying to fly the Metal flag is kinda sad. The Hair bands in L.A. killed Metal for good around 1989 or so (Thanks Grunge bands!). There are 40,000 clueless, myopic lemmings who obviously didn't get that memo. Oh well........

[Brandon]

98.9 sux you are an idiot! How can you sit there and say that the concert is "third-rate rawk?" You are a first rate retard. If you are gonna make posts maybe you should have a clue. Godsmack third rate? Breaking Benajmin, Three Days Grace, Saliva and Drowning Pool third rate? There's a lot of good rock bands out there and I find it hard to believe that if you looked at ticket sales and cd sales that these bands are third rate to most musicians!

[DANUZA RIO]

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[American]

English please!

[Que?]

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[Buy fashion clothing]

Thanks for this post! If you are gonna make posts maybe you should have a clue. Godsmack third rate? Breaking Benajmin, Three Days Grace, Saliva and Drowning Pool third rate?

[Camarad]

Searched for the information on this theme, and only here I found it. There's a lot of good rock bands out there and I find it hard to believe that if you looked at ticket sales and cd sales that these bands are third rate to most musicians!

[Lucy Lawless]

Always was interested in this theme! The lineup was so loaded with the station's core artists that Puddle of Mudd, one of the biggest bands in the world just five years ago, was the first act to play on the main stage.