Review: Rockfest '09

Above: Gregg Todt of the Kansas City band Federation of Horsepower, which opened Rockfest at noon Saturday. The festival ended 11 hours later, after a set by headliner Korn and a fireworks display. Photos by Keith Myers/The Star

Billed as the nation's biggest one-day music festival, the 2009 edition of Rockfest was a monstrous success. About 50,000 fans heard 15 bands perform on two stages Saturday at the grounds of the Liberty Memorial. The event's extraordinary size serves as an annual tribute to the relationship between radio station KQRC (98.9) and its unflinchingly loyal listeners.

For a Rockfest slideshow, go here.

The festival's two most extreme bands served as headliners. The concert's top billing went to Korn. The Californians became one of the most popular acts of the past 15 years by specializing in willfully obnoxious nihilism. Korn's nightmarish vision was heard to great effect Saturday on songs like "Freak On a Leash" and "Coming Undone."

Ferocious Texas powerhouse Drowning Pool headlined the festival's second stage. The quartet's brutal attack is leavened by their dazzlingly dynamic range. Hits like "Bodies" careen from whispers to terrifying thrash.

Buckcherry's sleazy rock leaves little to the imagination. Recalling early Aerosmith and AC/DC, they're a first-rate, if one-dimensional, party band. It's no surprise that the day's sordid exchange of Mardi Gras beads reached a fever pitch during their solid set. While they weren't official headliners, Shinedown were the clear fan favorites.

Above: Forrest French of Crooked X.

The band trades in both heartfelt ballads and metallic rockers. They're impeccable, if somewhat mechanical, entertainers.

Corey Taylor is anything but predictable. The voice of Slipknot and Stone Sour, Taylor offered the day's most startling music. The debut of his new Junk Beer Kidnap Band began with a straightforward cover of Prince's "Let's Go Crazy." They also played the theme to the TV show "Cheers." The unlikely choices stunned much of the rock-oriented crowd.

"I've got to be honest," Taylor confessed. "I was so (bleeping) nervous to come out and do this."

The band's soul-tinged sound featured a saxophone and prominent contributions from Kansas City-area musician Tyson Leslie. They tossed the audience a bone with a fine reading of Stone Sour's "Through the Glass."

Taylor's more familiar side was displayed during his guest appearance at Duff McKagan's set. His vocal on "It's So Easy," a tough song from the classic debut of McKagan's former band Guns N' Roses, was genuinely thrilling. McKagan exudes an arresting rock star aura, but Taylor's assist aside, his Stooges-based sound failed to connect with the audience.

Blame the heat. Some types of music just sound better under a broiling sun. The Southern rock of Saving Abel, for instance, was a perfect fit for the vast sea of beer-soaked sunburn. Their earnest rendition of "Drowning (Face Down)" was one of the day's most memorable performances. Similarly, both the premium psychedelic bar band boogie of Parlor Mob and Rev Theory's melodic mainstream rock translated well in the heat. For much of the day, shade was an even more valuable commodity than cold beer or impressive new tattoos.

In terms of potential, Oklahoma-based teenagers Crooked X were the day's most intriguing act. They masterfully employed metal's most beloved cliches- synchronized head-banging, asinine audience participation rituals and shameless guitar pyrotechnics. They could be huge.

Dope, on the other hand, has been assaulting audiences for over a decade with apocalyptic thrash like "Die MF Die." They also offered the audience concessions with mild covers of hits by Billy Idol and Dead Or Alive. Veer Union, a Canadian band with post-punk and prog-rock elements, also delivered an efficient attack.

Fans eager to catch every band were forced to work hard to achieve the rock and roll hat trick. While they were only separated by about a quarter-mile, traversing the bottleneck-laden obstacle course between the two stages could take up to 15 minutes. GIven the enormous logistics of the event, however, this year's Rockfest was remarkably efficient. There was never a wait at the vast array of portable toilets, although lines at food and beverage concessions were sometimes intimidatingly long.

A fireworks display lit up the festival grounds at the conclusion of the event. Exactly eleven hours earlier, Kansas City-area band Federation of Horsepower opened the proceedings with a powerful set of uncompromising rock. The fireworks were nicer to behold, but the burly band rocked a lot harder. And at Rockfest, that's the thing that matters most.

| Bill Brownlee, Special to The Star

Comments

[ShowEm]

My hat is off to Bill Brownlee for enduring this mayhem, all in the name of journalism, good job. No kidding.

PS
tell us more about the mardi gras beads et al

PPS
what was the funniest sh!t you saw??, tell us some stories of the day.

[ShowEmAgain]

EQUALLY BIG PROPS TO KEITH MYERS, photographer.

Keith feel free to tell us some stories, please.

[mankvill]

Us at the Ben Folds also got the tail-end of the fireworks during his set, so thanks Rockfest!

[Michael]

Korn setlist (found it elsewhere)

Intro
Right Now
Good God*
Did My Time
Thoughtless
Falling Away From Me
Coming Undone
Helmet In The Bush
Here To Stay
Freak On A Leash
Y'all Want A Single
Divine
Somebody Someone

(Encore)

Blind
Got The Life
Another Brick In The Wall

[Bubba]

Sounds like a great time. Still glad I stayed in that night. Bet the lines to get a bands member's autographs were LONGER than f**k. Man, I HATE that. Hope everyone there had a slamming good time.

[bob]

The KC Star had a picture of the lead singer of Federation of Horsepower and his Nashville Pussy shirt. Gave me a good chuckle when I saw that.

[mankvill]

My friend was working at Rockfest and she said Corey Taylor threw a hissy fit after his set about something. Anyone know what it was about?

[CH]

This was my 9th and probably last Rockfest. I know the station likes to brag about it being so huge, but that area is just not set up to accomodate that many people. The hassle of it all has eclipsed the enjoyment of it for me. Not to mention they just keep getting the same bands every year.

[Michael]

^^
probably his poor crowd reception.

[MB]

Rockfest is a bizaar event. Here are some of my observations: I saw a lady forced to pour out a 30 oz bottle of water, but inside, I saw open drug use from pot, to crack, to cocain. How people can be padded down for water but keep the illegal drugs tells you something immediately. The performers literally encourage the drug use, screaming from the stage how great (the pot) smelled. I personally had no problem getting into Rockfest with a large pocket knife that I literally forgot was in the pocket of my cargo shorts, but had to hand over my opened bottle of water in case it had booze in it. I saw people having sex in the open. I saw high school age girls walking around topless while adult men took their photos. I saw a guy openly selling joints down by the porta-toilets, taking in wads of cash....from high school kids. I saw adults there with their totally overheated children, younger then 12 years old. The profanity screamed throughout the show was incredible. While a fan of much of the music, the debauchery that takes place at this event is disturbing and crossed the line from a cool celebration of rock music to a show that should make one feel nasty for being a part of it. While I am not a prude, Rockfest is definitely a booze and drug fueled free for all that parents should be adamately warned to keep anyone under the age of 21 away from. Rockfest calls itself a celebration for fans "of all ages". In reality it is a highly over crowded and rowdy event and if you can't handle the open commital of sin right in front of you or your children, please be warned to stay away and absolutely keep your minors from going. And to the organizers of ROCKFEST....dudes....come on.....while you are focusing on keeping people from carrying too much water in, people are easily taking everything else in there under the sun!

[JH]

Drowning Pool stole the show from everyone. Not sure if I was in the wrong spot for Korn, but they sounded like shit, i left 3 songs into their set. Too many people for liberty memorial. 40k was about right last year. No wait at the beer lines or restroom but took 20 minutes to wade through all the people to get there. The second stage is a much better venue. It actually has a downward angle to the performer unlike the 1st stage that is has hills where people in the back couldn't see the stage at all. THIS IS NOT A PLACE FOR KIDS SO STOP LETTING THEM IN!. Make it an 18 and over show. Maybe this will cut back on the amount of people. I've been to the last four years of rockfest but I'm not coming back next year unless they getter a better venue or stop letting so many people in.

[gern]

I’m kind of glad I went because it is a pretty unique experience to hang out in that kind and size of a crowd. But once is enough.
Way too many people in that location. I got there at 5:30 and saw very few people who looked like they were really having fun — they just looked hot and tired, especially the farther you got from the main stage.
If you wanted good sound or to actually see a band play live, this wasn’t the place to be. Of the 50,000 in attendance, my guess is that at any given moment, maybe 10,000 had decent sound or view of a stage.
The crowd at the main stage stretched hundreds of yards. It was an awesome sight.
There were two big video screens with speakers positioned at intervals far from the stage. The sound from those was decent only up close, and it got real thin-sounding farther back.
For those with enough endurance to make their way closer to the main stage, in front of those video screens, the sound was really bass heavy, as if the mix was trying to deliver that bass to the people way in back (which it didn’t).
The second stage was much better situated – at the bottom of a hill. Viewing was much better there.
At one point we were kind of trapped in a huge mass of people all trying to be under this one tree, and we wanted to go toward the stage. We would see a line of people moving nearby and think maybe it was some kind of aisle or place with actual flow, but when we got there it was really just more trapped people trying to tiptoe their way between early-arrivers who had put down blankets.
There were plenty of porta-potties, but they were all clustered at the back of the grounds, way far away from the stages.
The much hyped watering stations for refilling bottles? I saw only one.
The much hyped “affordable” $5 beers? That price was for 16 ounces. Slightly cheaper than Sprint Center, but that’s not saying much.
Like many others, we made the mistake of parking on the west side of Liberty Memorial. But there was no way in on that side. We had to walk way far out of the way to get in on the east side. Then, when we were ready to leave (when Korn started), we could not get out on the west side. Had to walk way out of the way again. I’m curious: At the end, did they make everyone leave through that one entrance?

[ShowEm1moreTime4Elvis]

Thank you very much for these reviews, I very much appreciate you taking the time to write and tell us.

anyone body else wanna share?

btw- I will say on the offcial web site, on thge Dos and Dont...can bring in cant bring in...

I did notice interestingly enough,
that in the DONT BRING, it DID NOT say the usual "No drugs of any kind"..... it was NOT there.

Personally I dont care about the whole drugs ( and war on drugs ).
The whole thing is kind of like like beer ...... blah blah blah,, have fun, dont hurt anyone, have life, kep on track, do your thing.....

[Michael]

^^

Yeah- year after year, the sound at Rockfest is good to great in front of the soundboard/front barriers, while bad to abysmal anywhere else. I'll agree with you on the bass- the whole day, bass was very prominent in the mix (especially with the mind-numbingly loud bass from Korn). I'm glad I had earplugs...

[Bubba]

I AGREE that the Liberty Memorial isn't the BEST place to have Rockfest - but WHERE else could they hold it each year? I disagree with the fact they bring back the same bands every year, as FOR the headliners. The other 14 bands - yeah, they're usually SEVENDUST, SHINEDOWN, etc. Honestly, those bands should JUST move here, you know? MAIN reason I believe that Rockfest sells out so FAST every year is they keep the ticket price RIGHT at $20 the first week, thus - many patrons purchase a bunch of - say 4 to maybe 12 tickets - then give them to their best friend, neighbor, former lover, dealer, co-workers, etc. Saw some fan videos of KORN on You Tube - looked like a decent show.

[Sam]

Seems like this would be perfect for the racetrack or even the parking lot of the racetrack and use the existing restrooms and vending facilities. Went to Vegoose in Vegas and they used the football practice fields at Sam Boyd Stadium for the smaller stages and the actual stadium for the main stage. Minimal sound bleeding into the other stage and it is already set up to handle large amounts of people. The setup was perfect.

[NEW]

Sounds like every one except MB had a pretty good time (MB, no offense but it does not sound like you and old school rock shows like Rockfest are a good fit). Good for you all!

I know the event is sponsored by KQRC but can't they come up with a better title than the generically lame "Rockfest"?

[CH]

I'm actually relieved to read that I wasn't the only one that didn't have that great of a time. Maybe some of these comments will be seen and acknowledged.

As far as other places to have it, the Kansas Speedway would be good in that it's flat and has plenty of parking. The downside would be the lack of shade. Not sure if something like this could be held at the Riverfront Park or not, as there could be a lot of parking issues in that location. But if they're keeping it at Liberty Memorial they really need to consider scaling it back to 40,000.

[MB]

I am not one to say that "Old School Rock Shows" are not a good time. What I was really challenging above, and I didn't do a very good job of it, is that Rockfest needs to be limited to 21 year olds and older, and there needs to be more realistic law enforcement. We could launch into a broader discussion about societal responsibility and where do responsible citizens draw the line between decentcy and public debauchery but this blog is about ROCKFEST, and not public moral character. I love rock music. I just believe there needs to be some resposibility relative to what is allowed to happen in public.

[LarryFlynt]

I gree, we need to tone this all down, BUT...
can we wait until after this show? It was just announced,

"Crackfest to combine with and pornfest to satge crackandpornfest2009".

According to the website the focus will on binge drinking, consuming mass quantities of drugs ( both types ) and creating on the spot homemade porn. Hot amature hos will be admitted for free. There will be many themed stages. It says BYOC ( condoms ).

uh oh....
this just in
the promoters of "crackfest 2009" have been sued by Rockfest for ripping off their ideas.
Stay tuned for updates on this late breaking "story"

[John]

Check out another Rockfest review at Hardrock Haven

slide show (w/ 141 pics)

http://hardrockhaven.net/online/2009/kansas-city-rockfest-live/

Enjoy
JK

[Gary Dean]

Wow http://hardrockhaven.net is awesome

Great pictures !!!