12 - The Michigan Daily -- Monday, July 31, 2000 Hard Rock Festival a strange blend of pop and metal By Robert Brode For the Daly CHICAGO -- Even before the !ineup to July 22nd's Chicago Hard Rock Festival was announced, I was worried. The ticket read "Oldsmobile presents the Chicago Hard Rock Festival," probably the first and hopefully the last time Oldsmobile and Rock will be mentioned in the same sentence. I trusted Oldsmobile to put ott a good hard rock show as much as I would trust Lisa Left Eye Lopez in my home with a pocket full of matches. My fears were not unfounded. The lineup: Vertical Horizon, Nine Days, Guster, The Tragically Hip, Veruca Salt, 'fonic, Barenaked Ladies, Third Eye Blind, Stone Temple Pilots, Kid Rock and Metallica. Granted, STP, Kid Rock and Metallica are bonafide hard-rock acts and fit very well into a hard-rock festival. But out of all the bands that Oldsmobile could have chosen to fill the middle of the lineup, they selected Third Eye Blind, Bare Naked Ladies, and the Tragically Hip? A laughable attempt. The shortest distance between two points is a straight line. The iongest way is to walk all the way around the Chicago Motor Speedway. When I finally got through the gates, Vertical Horizon was playing. I quickly looked for something else to do. A la every other music festi- val, there were plenty of things to do besides listen to the bands. This was probably the only thing that kept the rowdy Metallica fans from killing the Barenaked Ladies (more on that later). Towards the back of the speedway was "Blow Up Land," various games played on a "Moonwalk" surface, vendors with tents full of Celtic wall tapestries, boas, hemp necklaces, earrings, t-shirts and stickers and plenty of food stands. Oldsmobile also had a tent showing off their new cars. The coolest of the dis- tractions had to be the Playstation 2 truck and the Sam Goody tent. Within the Playstation 2 tent fans could get a sneak peak of the new system by playing early versions of their video games. Third Eve Blind took the stage next. Their performance was almost comical. While the band broke into their song "Graduate," Singer Stephan Jenkins burst onto the stage wearing a top hat and carrying a cane pumping his fists and screaming "Go, Go, Go." The audi- ence stared back with a look that said "No, why don't you go?" Things only got worse from there. The sound was awful. Stephan's voice was barely audi- ble over the rest of the band. Instead of singing along with the catchy hit "Never Let You Go" the crowd began to throw their drinks. I was lucky enough to get hit with a cup of beer Next up came the gutsiest performers of the night: the Barenaked Ladies. I must commend BNL for their testicular fortitude. They took the stage around six o'clock. The fans were already irritable. Most of the crowd had been waiting since 9 A.M. in the hot sun, while slurp- ing down beers, to hear "the good part of the lineup:" STP, Kid Rock and Metallica. BNL were to be the last band before the real "Rock Fest" started. Within minutes of commandeering the stage it became apparent that BNL were not going to change their live show just because they were playing in front of a slightly different crowd then to which they are accustomed. One of the first things singer Steven Page said to the crowdv was "W 're from Canada." Immediately the fans burst into chants of "U.S.A, U.S.A" Later in the show a member of the audience gave lead singer Steven Page the finger. Page called this member of the crowd, Mark, to the stage. Page declared, ""Everybody can rock.. You too can rock. Even that guy who gave me the finger can rock. Yes, you" Page let Mark play guitar during BNL's cover of "You Really Got Me." BNLs humor was beginning to win over the tough Metallica crowd and they received a fairly warm crowd response to "The Old Apartment," and "If I thad a Million Dollars" Even though they had enter- tained the crowd for over a half an hour a chorus of boos and chants for STP arose after the guitarist and Page danced together and kissed each other on the lips. To kiss another man in front of thou- Scott Weiland's performance didn't help to convince people he-was off the dru sands of Metallica fans is a very gutsy move, even dangerous. It appeared as if BNL had fallen out of the good graces of the crowd for good. But it was not so, they left the stage to cheers after they finished their set with a medley of "Gettin' Jiggy Wit It," "The Real Slim Shady" "Oops I did it Again,' "My Heart Will Go On," and Cher's "Believe." After seeing STP's Scott Weiland in person it is hard to believe he has kicked his heroin habit. Scott strutted onto the stage with a woman's purple sunhat with leopard fur trim, a feather boa wrapped around his neck, a tight black coat, and leather gloves to the elbows. I'm not sure that even heroin could explain this outfit. Weiland sang most of the fan favorites while spastically gyrating back and forth across the stage as if he was suffering from heroin induced convulsions. Despite Weiland being just plain weird, STP breezed through their set giving the moshpit what they had been looking for. STP's set was good but nothing more than an appetizer to what Kid Rock had in store. A 10 foot tall inflatable middle finger proceeded Kid Rock and his entourage: the Twisted Brown Trucker Band, Uncle Kracker, Joe C. and, true to form, two sets of bikini clad girls on each side of the stage. Chicago welcomed the Detroit Cowboy as if he was their own. In return, Kid Rock performed magnificently for nearly an hour. The Problem Child does not iust olav a set: he performs. During one song Kid Rock sang, rapped, danced, played guitar and drums, and scratched behind the turntables. The moshpit became quite chaotic during Kid Rock's blistering renditions of his hits, "Cowboy" "Bawitdaba," "American Badass," a cover of "We're an American Band" and CCR's "Fortunate Son." After Kid Rock's set I wasn't sure if there ' any performer anywhere that could him. Well, maybe one band could, and luckily they were scheduled next. By the time the first few eerie notes of the symphonic "Ecstacy of Gold" dripped out of the speakers, signaling Metallica's imminent entrance, I was strategically located where I could stand and enjoy the set without serving as a human rag doll in the pit. Metallica blew the dust off the stage when they dropped an anvil in the form of "Creeping Death" Usually this sa is somewhat of a singalong, where the crowd gets to chant "DIE! DIE! DIE!" I was looking forward to hearing ninety thousand fans pump their fists and scream in one loud voice of destruction. It was not to be. This was not a Metallica crowd. I looked around while pumping my own fist and screaming "Die!" only to see many BNL, and Third Eye Blind fans standing w& their arms crossed, and eyes dartir, back and forth, as if the "Die" chants were directed at them. Metallica delighted the crowd with old bang your head classics such as "For Whom the Bell Tolls," "Seek and Destroy," "Fade to Black" and a medley of "Master of Puppets" and "Sanitarium." Metallica also played many of their more radio-friendly tunes. Metallica's performance was very good but it was shorter than Joe C. Even vith two encores they played for less than hour and a half Although Jasmes looked healthy the short set may be in relation to the back injury that caused him to miss shows in Texas, Kentucky, and Georgia earlier in the month. It was 11:30 PM. and Rockfest was over. At 2:30 A.M. my Volvo and I limped out of the Speedway parking lot. I had a pretty bad sunburn, a rash on my arm from the sweaty guy next to met the moshpit, and 25 dollars less thsdh when I had started the day. Then I smiled and remembered I had just seen Metallica and Kid Rock and that smile still has not faded. ® 4f New At Bell's: Milkshakes $3.25 Everyday special of Vanil , Two Medium Cheese Pizzas $9.99 Chocolate, Extra Items $1.10 each per Pizza Caramel, Chocolate Chip, offe Butter Only $9.99 Monday thru Thursday Special Mint, One Large Pizza with Paspber, Cheese & 1 Item and Banana Extra Items $1.20 Each OPEN UNTIL 4 A.M. Auraser must pay sales ' for both specials Corner of State and Packard \SimumDeihvery$0.00 Price subject to chang9 oupon expires 1213/00 995-0232 Members of the hot and sweaty Rockfest crowd are shown here flashing the 'devil horns.'