Rockfest 2007. Done deal. WHAT A PARTY! First off, Thanks to 98.9 The ROCK and the Rock Fans of Kansas City (as well as those that made the trek to our fair city for the show). The day could not have been better. The weather cooperated, so did the people.
I have decided that the best way to do this sort of festival review is to do it in multiple posts. This is the “OVERALL” thingy. I will do a sort of overview of the whole shebang and hope it makes sense. I do tend to ramble, so pick through and see what you can.
When Marcus and I got to the Liberty Memorial, we began thanking our stars that I happen to have a handicapped tag, and thusly were able to park in the Park itself. As we go there, we saw a line about 345234523 miles long to get into the park. I dunno where everyone parked, but man that was a long line. When we entered the Park, everyone was cool and surprisingly orderly. I was amazed to learn that backpacks filled with water bottles were being allowed. So were small cameras. If we had known that was allowed, we would have come better prepared. Marcus has a small camcorder that would have gotten in and I have a digital camera that would have been nice. So, LESSON LEARNED – BRING WATER AND CAMERA.
Entry was simple though. No major delays, but that is probably because we were up by the handicapped parking. LESSON LEARNED – I ALWAYS DRIVE. There were many booths of vendors around. Some general T-Shirt tents, food and drink tents, band specific tents. If you wanted it, you could get it. Marcus and I both picked up a ROCKFEST 2007 SOLD OUT shirt. It is green with the logo on the front and back with a giant SOLD OUT stamped across it. A band listing is below the logo on the back. $18.00 was the price. Not too bad. Marcus later got a Breaking Benjamin Shirt.
Throughout the day we saw many, many things. The bands will be discussed in their own posts, remember? Anyway, one of the coolest things there – literally – was the US Army National Guard Water Stations. The Guard had two water trailers set up between the two stages. Here, you could refill water bottles and get hosed down by the soldiers. Gotta say, that was seriously one of the best parts. The vendors were bound by a cap of $5 max per item (except shirts and stuff) which was cool, but, I seriously wish I knew about the water earlier in the day. Once I found that out, I drank nothing else. LESSON LEARNED – REMEMBER THE WATER TANKS.
Throughout the day, the Jumbotron things showed THE TEN COMMANDMENTS OF ROCKFEST. They are as follows:
- Thou shalt pick up your brother if he falls;
- Thou shalt drink one water for every two beers;
- Thou shalt apply sunscreen so thou won’t resemble a lobster;
- Thou shalt appreciate the boobs without touching;
- Thou shalt find a cop if thou witness a**holes fighting;
- Thou shalt not make the sweet love in the port-o-potty;
- Thou shalt put your hands in the air and wave them like thou do not care;
- Thou shalt respect the security guards who are just doing their jobs;
- Thou shalt not be a macho di*k; and
- Thou shalt not drink and drive.
See, they DO care. I will say this. I am positive that every single one of those commandments was broken at some point, and probably repeatedly. LESSON LEARNED – OBEY THE RULES.
I say this because I am nicely sunburned on my arms, neck and face. The legs fared better because they were covered by the surrounding crowd.
There was a major melting pot thing going on there. Many different races, styles, ages, sexes, etc. Again, you could find anything there. From Goths to Old People, the population was quite varied. I was amazed to see the following:
- Goths in full attire (black long sleeved shirts, long pants, trenchcoats and hats);
- OLD people – in their late 50’s and on;
- Children – aged 10 and under;
- Pregnant – I mean MAJORLY pregnant – women wearing nothing but bikini tops; and
- People with babies in a baby pen.
LESSON LEARNED – ALL TYPES LOVE THE ROCK & ROLL.
All in all, with such diversity, it was a well run event. Sure there were some miscreants who screwed up and got busted. There were some fights (I heard, never saw one though), some ummmm, recreational smoking, some public nudity (ok, ok. LOTS of public nudity) and physical intimacy acts. But really, it was all good. If someone passed out from over exuberance, after they were made fun of by posing for pictures next to him, people would generally find someone to report the fallen soldier to. They were then taken care of by someone responsible enough to do so. People bumped into each other and excused themselves, and we all accepted it.
One thing I missed, that I wish I had seen…Johnny Dare (morning host) in a giant hamsterball – crowd surfing! How friggin awesome is that? The man has no fear lol. He is simply living the dream….
Think about it – 40,000 people. In one area. Without killing each other. THAT is Rock & Roll.
More info to come in other posts…
