HFStival in review

Wow... What an awesome day. It's a little ridiculous how happy the festival makes me. Just walking out onto the field for the first time of the day I got this big shit eating grin on my face. Luckily the day wasn't too hot, the few showers we got weren't awful, the rain delay before coldplay that shortened their and The Foo Fighter's set kinda sucked, especially cause we all were herded into the concourse and that was real freaking crowded but damn... I love live music to an admittedly psychotic extended and the Festival is my Mecca. Going with the roommates (Steve, Chris, and Robert) and Lauren was almost perfect (it would have been cool if Melissa, Kristy and a few others had been there).

Anyway... onto what you've all been waiting for: The HFStival Report Card :-) Here's how we do it... I give the bands whatever the hell grade I want. I try to factor in things like talent, interaction with the crowd, song selection and sound quality... But most of the time I just go with my gut. So here you are in order the bands I saw:

The Bravery: Good sound, but didn't talk to the crowd much. They were the first band we saw and I think we were still trying to take everything in so they weren't great at keeping our attention. They played "Honest Mistake" as the finale and that was pretty cool (even if we were in the concourse for it and not on the field) over all they were enjoyable.
C+

Louis XIV: Great sound, brash fun loving songs, talked up the crowd nicely. They played "Finding out True Love is Blind" quite well. The crowd was into it and they sounded really good.
B+

They Might be Giants: I LOVE DORK ROCK!!! There I said it, we all already knew it but now it's out in the open. They joked with the crowds (I hope the next time I see them is in one of their "mini stadiums"), Played "Bird House in your Soul," "You're not the Boss of Me" (yes that's the Malcom in the Middle theme song) "Particle Man" "The Alphabet of Nations" and of course "Istanbul (Not Constantinople)" They were just incredible and they sounded great on top of everything else.
A+

Interpol: Meh, they were alright. They sounded pretty good, and played the song or two of theirs that I know, I enjoyed listening to them but they weren't very energetic (and the lead singer looked like he was beat with the ugly stick). Honestly I could have taken or left em.
C

Citizen Cope: Kinda hard to review them... we only saw them play like one song... ok well i think it was really three... but it only sounded like one... and it was so boring... zzzz
F

Unwritten Law: The first (and biggest disappointment of the day). I love the UL album Elva, the summer of 2001 I listened to it constantly I know all the words to half the songs on the album... And it's a good thing too cause I couldn't hear a word he was singing. He was loaded and not in a "I'm a drunk rockstar" way.... but in more of a "Fratboy 'dude I'm so wasted'" kinda way. The sound of the band was great, but I really couldn't hear a lyric he sang.
C-

Garbage: The second (and luckily the last) disappointment of the day. First of all Shirly Manson was hot as hell (defiantly ranks #2 behind Gwen Stephanie on my list of hottest female rockers). But like we only saw a bit of their set and while walking across the field to sit for a bit they didn't' capture my attention once. I guess they sounded alright and I think I remember them playing a few songs I know, but musically they didn't impress me at all.
C (and that's only cause Shirly's hot otherwise it'd be a D)

New York Dolls: The first (and most unexpected) surprise of the day. These guys flat out rocked. I didn't recognize a song and I was captivated the whole time. Their brand of garage/blues rock was phenomenal. An underground version of Aerosmith or the Stones. I saw my future in the lead singer... his bones with sking hanging off it provoked the following conversation with Steve.
Me: Oh god... is that what I'm going to look like in 30 years?
Steve: Yeah... and you won't even have to do drugs to look like that...
Me: Remind me to get fat in my old age....
But their music was spectacular.
B+ (and only because I didn't know any songs of theirs to sing along with)

Social Distortion: Wow... I'm only sorry that it's taken until now for me to have seen them live. I knew almost every song, Mike Ness is a fantastic entertainer. They sounded great, playing "Story of my Life," "Sick Boy," "Mommy's Little Monster," "Prison Bound," "Reach for the Sky" and one of the greatest covers of all time "Ring of Fire." I was in awe... the only thing that took points away from them was the mosh pit behind us, with the drunk girl who was running around with her breasts flopping out (and her not caring when I tried to help her out by telling her) and the dudes who kept running into us. But I had a great time with the guys during Social D's set.
A-

Good Charlotte: Umm... ok so I don't like Good Charlotte... I like that they're local boys doing well, I liked a few songs from their first album ("Festival Song" and "Motivation Proclamation") But since then they've been pop crap. The 5 of us spent their set making fun of them, the fact the lead singer wore a Good Charlotte shirt, and the 13-year-old moshers around us. Having said that, they had a good sound, they interacted with the crowd well and were defiantly one of the most fan friendly bands.
C-

Billy "Fucking" Idol: The second surprise of the day. He was fantastic. His backing band was tight, he sang amazingly well for a near 50 year old, and looked better than the 4 of us who were there ever will. He sang "Mony Mony," "White Wedding" and of course "Rebel Yell." He was the definition of balls out rock. He had his trade mark sneer and swagger, strutting across the stage. His band blew the roof off the place with an incredible jam session and the finale inclulded Billy on drums for a bit and then 5 of the six band members on guitar just rocking out. It was fantastic.
A+

Coldplay: I have no idea how to grade these guys... I should start off by saying that I really don't like Coldplay. I haven't liked any of their singles, they sound whiney, slow and they just bore me... But I have to say they put on a good show. They sounded great, and put on a really good show... But I'm just not that into them. Chris loved them, and I think they worked really well with their rain-shortened set.
B- (if I were a Coldplay fan probably A)

Foo Fighters: Unbelievable! It's been 7 years since I've seen them live, and again, I'm kicking myself for missing them everytime they've come around. Dave Grohl is amazing, he's so talented, pretty funny, said great things about HFS going off the air and their return. They played so many of the hits, but still found time to play some great new stuff, so fan favorites, and an busted into an awesome jam during "Stacked Actors." The other highlights were them playing "My Hero" after talking about HFS, and an awesome version of "Monkey Wrench." I have to admit that I didn't think they were big enough to pull off headlining the Festival, but they proved me wrong on so many counts... I can't wait to see them again.
A+

It was defiantly a Festival worthy of the glory days of HFS. I was so glad I went and it ranks up there with the best of the 7 I've been too. I hope that whatever incarnation of HFS there is in the future that there will be Festivals to experience for years to come.

Overall Festival Grade: A