Riverfest

I had a very lengthy narrative of my Riverfest experiences drafted, but after reading it, the detail and minutae couldn't be of interest to anyone but me. Let's go with capsule reviews of the acts that I saw ---

Brave Combo - brought back fond memories of seeing them several times while I was in law school. They've won Grammies for "Best Polka Album", but to call them a polka band is a misnomer. I WANT THEM TO PLAY AT MY FUNERAL. They were as good as they were twenty years ago, if not better.

Robert Randoph's Family Band - best performance I saw all weekend. This guy should be a major star. He channels Jimi Hendrix through a steel guitar. He has charisma, chops, and a top notch band (Everyone in the band can apparently play everyone else's instrument credibly). I want to see him again.

Richard Thompson - I'm no Johnny-come-lately to Richard Thompson. I've had a copy of "Shoot Out The Lights" since the mid-80's and it is one of my favorite albums of all time. That being said, the "folkie" crowd that turned out for his show were a pretentious bunch who obviously turned their nose up at all other acts at Riverfest. On top of that, Thompson's guitar tech was an obnoxious prick who verbally abused the sound crew. This greatly diminished the experience for me.

B.B. King - this was the 3rd or 4th time I saw Mr. King. In the past, he stood up, but now, due to age and diabetes, he has to sit. No matter. He was as engaging and sly as ever and the huge crowd loved every minute of it. There are a few guitarists whom you can identify after just a couple of notes. He's one of them.

Trout Fishing In America - I've always heard these guys were great, but I never made it over to see them in the past. This duo has been together for 29 years! They are more known for children's music, but that isn't all they play. I truly enjoyed their performance and I was very impressed by their level of musical expertise.

Rose Hill Drive - I had never heard of this young rock band, but I thoroughly enjoyed their music. As I listened to them, the best comparison I could come up with was "Rush meets Silverchair."

Seether - I didn't really enjoy Seether's generic brand of hard rock. When the best song that you play is a Deftones cover......Anyway, maybe it was my mood; I was in the middle of the mosh pit trying to actually enjoy the music, unlike the little assholes behind me. A few well placed punches during their slam dancing outbreaks and crowd surfing and the message got across that they needed to avoid our area. Of course, the crowd went apeshit when Amy Lee came out to sing the duet on "Broken" - I kind of figured that she would probably show up....and that part was pretty good.

Black Crowes - I was looking forward to the Black Crowes. I had a revelation during their 3 or 4th song ---- I don't really like them that much!!!!! The band recently reformed; you would think there would be new energy, but they already seemed tired and bored. I left after 7 or 8 songs and headed back across the river to catch a few tunes from .....

Hank Williams Jr. - admitting that I kind of like some of Hank's stuff is almost as embarrassing to me as admitting that Skynyrd actually had some okay songs. The only other time I went to see Hank, he was drunk and he sucked. Not so this time. He had a huge, rabid crowd who knew every word to every song. I got to hear "Whiskey Bent" and "Family Tradition" and he played Aerosmith's "Walk This Way", ZZ Top's "La Grange" and even some Skynyrd. One line from one of his new songs was "the world don't revolve around Toby Keith." Amen. Hank is sort of like the country Ted Nugent - as long as he keeps his mouth shut and just plays, I'm okay.

Joe Nichols - a country singer from Arkansas with a few hits under his belt. He was authentically country, the girls went crazy over him, and his cover songs were well selected - a Hank Jr medley, a Steve Earle tune, Charlie Daniel's "Long Haired Country Boy" (actually, maybe Charlie Daniels is the country Ted Nugent) -- he even played a bit of "Back In Black." This guy can only get bigger.

R.E.O. Speedwagon - I didn't see -- the sky was getting black, it was a long way back to the truck, and a long way back to Crossett, and I've seen REO -- I was looking forward to it, but I decided to pass. They get no respect; they were one of the corporate rock bands of the 70's that CREEM and Rolling Stone loved to dump on, but they have a handful of tunes that I enjoy. Maverick rock critic Chuck Eddy once said REO's "You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can't Tuna Fish" was a better album than Nirvana's "Nevermind." While I don't agree with that (and he caught a lot of crap for that), I have moods sometimes where I would actually rather hear REO or Foreigner blasting than Stone Temple Pilots or Pearl Jam. And then other times, I want to hear Limp Bizkit's "Break Stuff" as loudly as possible......

I had a good time. Thank you, dear wife, for realizing that I needed to fly solo this weekend.