It was a bright and sunny morning by the time I picked up my camera man Rob. We had a brisk, two and a half hour drive ahead of us before a long day of music so we made sure to gear up on caffeine and powdered donuts before hitting the road to the 25th Annual Kansas City Rockfest. By the time we arrived, it was already a madhouse of eager fans all forging towards the gates. It was high noon and the sun was blistering by the time the show started, we were still pinned down in the lines, trapped in an unmoving conglomeration of the masses.
Eventually we got inside and made our way to the second stage. We did manage to catch Zakk Wylde shred the national anthem as we were waiting, but by the time we got in we’d missed most of One Less Reason and Sidewise. I’ve seen Sidewise before and even bought my first bass speaker cabinet from their old bassist. They put on a good rock show, a la Breaking Benjamin.
We caught Andrew Hagar break up the momentum of the day pretty early with his acoustic set. It felt a little out of place at a rock festival, maybe more in line with a folk fest. Either way, the crowd didn’t seem to mind too much as the day moved forward smoothly.
By this point, the sun was sweltering as the concrete of the Kansas City Speedway was starting to cook. Shirts were coming off and dirt naps were already being had. It quickly became a sunburnt art gallery of tribal tattoos and tramp stamps. I honestly had no idea who Candlebox was until their last song ‘Far Behind’ came on. The entire set again seemed pretty mellow for what was advertised as such an intense festival, but the growing crowd seemed into it, so perhaps it’s just me.
Blackberry Smoke was another new one for me. I got a very 70’s southern rock vibe, which was pretty neat. They put on a cool show, which again just caught me as a lot lower energy than expected. If it weren’t for the massive cloud of pot smoke hovering over the crowd, I would have thought the festival were fairly family friendly by this point. Not that I’m in any place to judge, but I did see plenty of kids cruising around that day, so I obviously wasn’t the only one that thought so.
At one point there were actually marriages during the show as well. While that was all well and good, you’d think because it’s your wedding day you might dress the part, but it was cut-offs and tank-tops galore. I get that it was hot, but they were up there for literally five minutes, you only get married once, why not put that extra effort in?
Both Tom Keifer and the fellas in Ratt seemed to be struggling in the heat. Time has not been good to Tom, his voice sounded strained, but his guitar skills were still on point. Of course the set was all classic Cinderella tracks, which was really cool to hear, having grown up listening to them. Ratt managed a little better, sounding more true to their previous selves, only looking the part of well seasoned musicians.
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Zakk Sabbath was interesting for all of 10 minutes. I love Black Sabbath and was incredibly excited to get to see their songs live, but what should have been no surprise, the vast majority of the set was dominated by Zakk Wylde soloing relentlessly over their classic material. Normally I love a shreddy solo, but when you start bastardizing classic Toni Iommi, I have a small problem. Were the solos even around the same time, that would have been one thing, but they seemed to go on forever. So we decided to cruise back over to see what P.O.D. was up to. They put on a set that was more along the lines of what I was expecting to see coming into this festival. Loud, in your face, with lots of crowd interaction. Sonny Sandoval went so far as to jump into the crowd while singing, which really got people going.
Probably one of the more exciting sets of the day has to be Buckcherry. Everyone went absolutely wild for these guys. The already thick cloud of herbal coverage easily doubled in density and suddenly it was like playing whack-a-mole with girls popping up everywhere to flash the band. So while I think the music is tacky and well over played by every bar and club in the country, the show was definitely a good time as there was ganja and tits galore.
Halestorm seemed to ride the momentum perfectly into their set as they had one of the most memorable of the day. What never ceases to impress me is how many guys feel the need to declare their love to Lizzy Hale like girls at a Justin Beiber concert. She seemed to eat it right up as she had a massive grin plastered on her face the entire time, which was just electric. The energy of the crowd was noticeably lifted and I could feel a second wind coming on as the day was beginning to take it’s toll.
The sun had just started to sink below the sea of vehicles, stretching off into the horizon as Volbeat took the stage. This was that point in the day where, regardless of how little I knew about the band, I still somehow knew most of the songs they played just due to their insane popularity. Volbeat manages to have a unique, still generic rock sound that I would imagine has lent itself greatly to their popularity. To their credit, their sound was indistinguishable from the tracks I’ve heard on the radio. The lights were just brighter than the dying sunlight to make for a decent light show, and the crowds were really starting to hit maximum capacity around 30,000 give or take per stage. If I remember right, they hit around 55-60,000 people on the day for the festival.
Sammy Hagar was a real blast from the past. With his group The Circle, their concept was to play all the hits from Sammy’s extensive back catalogue. From the moment he came out, it was just hit after hit and the crowd went wild. By this point is was dark so the lights were in full swing, so the stage was as colorful as the music. Obviously these guys have been doing this for a long time and you could tell they were professionals. Everything was clean and polished to a T. As far as the day’s older demographic of musicians are concerned, Sammy definitely looked and performed the best, running around the stage with vigor, keeping the crowd fully engaged.
The day was wrapped up by the biggest bro-rock band in the world, Godsmack. Just like Hagar, it was just hit after hit. I’ve done my best to not listen to the band as much as possible, but because of their insane pop-like prevalence, it’s literally impossible not to know these songs. They definitely didn’t cut any corners on the stage show either. Aside from the wild light show, there were some pretty epic pyrotechnics that definitely helped zest the night up for me. I have to put in a word of appreciation for all the girls still making the effort to flash the band at this point in the night despite the fact that the band definitely couldn’t see you. While the band might not be able to appreciate you, the deluge of beads that rained down upon your heads still told me that someone out there still cared. Godsmack did include a neat Pantera tribute which went over like wildfire.
The night ended with a fireworks show and then the trek home began. All in all, it wasn’t a bad festival at all. They’re celebrating their 25th anniversary this year and this is also their first year at the Kansas City Speedway. As far as venues go, a racetrack is a new one for myself, but I’d say it’s a pretty great spot. There was plenty of parking, room for vendors, and massive areas with plenty of space for the crowds. The food was pretty good and the pot there was generally top notch, which is always a pleasant surprise. I did end up winning just about every round of bad tattoo bingo we played, which is definitely my new favorite festival game. So who knows, with a half decent line-up next year, there’s a good chance I’ll be back to get turnt and burnt again.
Also check out our Photo Gallery of the festival here!