Endfest '98

Click here to see the list of bands playing...otherwise you won't know what I'm talking about.

Well, we got there about noon, and of course I had to buy a TMBG shirt, just in case they sold out later. We went and found our seats, which were the 11th row, right in front of a huge ass stack of speakers. Then we decided to just walk around and check the place out while the Twistoffs were setting up on the second stage. We got back just as they were starting. Oh, and you've probably never heard of the Twistoffs cause they're a kick ass local ska band. They put on a really good set, but the crowd just wasn't into it. It was probably cause they were the first band, and there weren't a lot of people there.

We went and walked around some more while The Jellybricks set up....while we were walking, we ran into someone we knew and talked with them for a little while. We got back when The Jellybricks were in their first song. We weren't really impressed, so we decided we'd rather walk around then listen to this. We got back in time for Sister Soleil, but they were like 15 minutes late, cause they had some incident involving their car and a telephone pole on the way there. At first, they kinda reminded me of No Doubt, but that was just cause of their appearance I think. Their music is hard to describe....it's kinda like if you mixed KMFDM and Tori Amos together....and the lead singer....damn, she's fucking hot. I'm planning on buying their cd....and they were even giving out free promo cassettes and videos...i got one of each of course. But, my friend wasn't real impressed, so we went back to the main stage to get our seats for God Lives Underwater

I wasn't sure what to expect from GLU, cause I've only heard their newest single, "From Your Mouth", which I liked quite a bit. When they came out, the lead singer said something like "Why don't you all come down here and fill in these empty seats right up front so it looks like this is a rock show, not a picnic". Apparantly, security didn't care if you were sitting in someone elses seat, cause everybody just ran up as close as they could get. Let's just say my ears were ringing the rest of the day from these guys. The music was really good, except the sound system wasn't sounding too healthy but maybe that's just cause we were so close. The only thing I didn't like was the singers attitude. He just seemed so...blah. Like he didn't wanna be there...he wasn't getting into it at all, just standing there singing with a pissed off look on his face. But other than that, they were good.

Next up was the band myself, and it seemed like everybody else, was there to see...They Might Be Giants. They put on one hell of a fucking show, they really get the audience involved. Like the battle for the planet of the apes, people vs apes. The conga line..."Every-body con-ga...I'm not fuck-ing kidd-ing"....there were two giant conga lines, one on each side of the place...the one I was in kept falling apart though. They only got to play for like 35 minutes, but those 35 minutes were probably the most enjoyable 35 minutes I've ever experienced....it's as simple as that. Then, after they finished, they said they were gonna be signing autographs. You shoulda seen the rush of people trying to get there. I got John Flansburgh to sign my shirt I bought earlier, and my ticket stub. I didn't get Linnel's though, cause I wasn't sure where he was signing autographs...and besides, I wanted to get back to see 2 Skinnee J's. Just one thing, if you ever have the chance to see TMBG, even if you're not a fan, GO! Believe me, you won't regret it. If they were this great for only 35 minutes, I can't fucking wait till Oct. 7th where they'll get to play for 1 1/2 - 2 hours...

I got back from getting my shit signed just in time to see 2 Skinnee J's coming out. They're entrance kicked some serious ass. They all came out in karate outfits with smoke and pyro and all that good shit. Their music is kinda Beastie Boys-ish...and not all that bad either. There was a little moshing, but other than that the crowd wasn't too into it. I think they were all still trying to recover from TMBG.

We went and took a piss break, and we caught the end of Brownie Mary on the second stage while K's Choice set up. We walked back on down to watch K's Choice...and I slipped on my ass walking down the muddy fucking hill. Anyways, we stayed for K's Choice for about 3 songs....cause it wasn't anything special...then we left to go watch Sprung Monkey, cause we had a feeling they were gonna rock the house. And let me tell you, we were right on the money. Everybody was sitting down on the grass when we got there, so we sat down too....but then the lead singer goes "Get off your fucking asses and get down here and get fucking dirty!" and everybody rushed down to the middle as the music started...it was a lot heavier than I thought it'd be. But it got jam packed, shoulder to shoulder when everybody started moshing their asses off...I backed up to get out of the way, cause it was getting pretty rough. Then people started crowd surfing, which was fucking funny....the person would stay up for maybe 10 seconds, then get dropped....this one dude literally got dropped on his head and it looked like he broke his neck...but he got up with a smile on his face and had someone lift him right back up. My friend got knocked on his ass about 10 times, thus ruining his pants (the dumbass wore good pants) and got elbowed in the eye pretty damn hard. But I was smart enough to stay right at the egde and just toss people back in when they got knocked out. Then I got shoved away from the pit, so I just helped people crowdsurf....there's nothing better than a game of pass the dude. But one time I was helping a guy up, and someone landed on the back of my neck, taking me down with him....it hurt like a son of a bitch. The one thing that sucked though, was the guys in the suits were trying to cut SM's set short because they didn't want anyone getting hurt in the pit...fucking bastards. So, SM compromised and only played two more songs. Overall, they put on a really good show. Even though the music sucked, they really got the crowd pumped the fuck up.

Right about now, my head and neck were really starting to bother me from that dude falling on me, so we headed back to our seats at the main stage to relax and wait for The Urge to come out. When they did, they really surprised me....just like with Sprung Monkey, they were a LOT heavier than I thought they would be. There was even a mosh pit and crowd surfing....which was a first for the main stage, cause it was on the cement...I'm surprised no one got seriously hurt. One thing that was really funny is about halfway through their set, a guy got a running start from the side of the pavilion area, faked out a fat ass security guard, jumped on stage, ran behind the bassist and back by the drummer....got a running start and jumped right in the middle of the mosh fucking pit. Then a ripped security guard jumped in after him, and the next thing I see is the guard holding up the dude by his neck and dragging him out of the place....meanwhile the guy's getting cheared on heheh. Anyways, their playing was really tight and they were really getting into it, jumping all around the stage and shit. I was really impressed, and I'm planning on getting the CD one of these days.

At this point, my head felt like it was gonna explode I had such a bad headache. And my friend didn't wanna see anymore of the bands that were gonna be playing, and neither did I except maybe Dink, but I didn't feel like waiting around till then, so we left. Now, I'm glad I didn't wait to see Dink, cause they didn't show up. I later found out that they broke up that night. Bauhaus was also playing in Cleveland that night, and the drummer wanted to go to that rather than basically headline a festival that could give a local band like themselves lots of exposure. The rest of the band ended up beating his ass, and then just breaking up, so oh well. All around, I think this concert was damn good, especially considering the lineup they had with basically no big name bands and a bunch of unknowns. Rating: 8 out of 10