H.O.R.D.E.

[John Roca]

Steven Maas sez:

> I went to a H.O.R.D.E. festival (a one-day music festival tour featuring
> Neil Young and Crazy Horse) last Saturday at a music park on the banks of
> the Suwannee River (yes the "Swannee" that Foster never was way down
> upon).  When we got there it looked kinda bleak.
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Hmmm, sounds sort of like the Lilith Fair in Columbus, Ohio.
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  The concert folks had
> fenced off part of the park so that once you checked in you could never
> leave--corporate sponsorship was everywhere, like worms in a rotten
> apple--the only beer for sale was Bud and Bud Light (blecch).
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Again, sounds like Lilith...except the main capitalists were hippie types
selling hemp articles, cotton dresses, etc.
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  As it got
> later and the best back-up acts came on--Mighty Mighty Bosstones,
Squirrel
> Nut Zippers, Leftover Salmon--there were signs that maybe something
> interesting was about to happen.  But all in all it still seemed a Disney
> simulacrum--perhaps "Hippy Dippy Village--where you can turn on (your
TV),
> tune in (ABC), and drop out (into the arms of the American Dream--you'll
> hardly notice one arm choking you while the other nourishes your
> obsessions)." 
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With the wonderful exception of the Indigo Girls (who really, really can
kick ass), the music was for the most part uninspired at Lilith.  I got
mean looks for heckling Jewel, who can't help continually reminding
audiences all across the country that she "lived" in a car and worked as a
waitress and yadda yadda yadda thanks to all you little people who have
made me a star!!!  
-------
 Then NY&CH took the stage and the spirit of the
> Counterforce or perhaps a blip in the universe jolted the crowd into an
> altered state.  Suddenly everyone loved their neighbor (except for that
> tall guy that crowded his way right in front of us) and strangers were
> passing burning herbs to strangers.
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No herb at Lilith...just endless lines to spend $4.75 on a McDonald's
cheeseburger.  Don't get me wrong...I did have a good time, took my 13 year
old daughter who insisted on buying a cotton "hippy" dress, changed into
it, and spent the rest of the day going around without a bra.  Wonder if
that's something like a rite of passage for teenage females...first time
without a bra!  Anyway, made me feel real oooooooold!

Tribe