Lifest - Review
LiFest bills itself as a "family friendly" Christian music festival. That may mean that it doesn't get so weird and fraught with potential controversey as, for instance, Cornerstone or TomFest. "Family friendly" here means that there's enough of an adult contepmorary and inspirational nature for parents and other fogies who listen to typical Chritsian radio.
But, LiFest advertises in HM because there's enough for its readership's legion of hard music lovers to justify spending some disposable income on a four-day pass. Here's where I come in. For a single guy, my tastes are all over the "family friendly" map by which LiFest navigates its schedule. So, in the interest of articulating my own nigh schizoid music diversity and giving Editors Doug and Jason maximal wordcount, what follows is as complete a chronicle of my LiFest 2001 adventure as you may be able to stand reading. Let's get to the Winnebago County Fairgrounds, shall we?
THURSDAY
Would you believe I made it to the festival grounds early? Yeah, early enough to chow down some vittles in the press room while having inteligent conversation with adult alt chateuse Sara Groves and her chrome dome hubby Troy (since American Christendom has no adult alt radio format, Groves gets spun on adult contempo and inspo stations). Like any proud and thoughtful mom of an 11-month old boy would, she brought out baby pics of her little Kirby for my perusal (cute kid) between a tangential discussion of what Christian market acts got us into evangelighetto music (Amy Grant for her; Charlie Peacock for me), the difficulties of being a believer singer/songwriter in so God-unfriendly a city as Minneapolis, Digi-paks, and our mutual friend Joey I.L.O. (white rapper/soul gospel singer destined for great things).
Since I like to see those acts with whom I talk, I made Groves' gig my first LiFest show. Vulnerably confessional vibe. She used tracks and keyboards. With the numbers she's selling, expect her on the Grandstand stage if she makes it back next year.
From there, it was off to Ace Troubleshooter and Relient K at the Edge stage, a converted horse corral. Ace prepped me for seeing Warped tour the next day, what with their friendly 'nuff pop-punk. The Relient guys get a few more points, though, for covering the Charles In Charge theme live and just exuding more of the elements necessary for high Q ratings and eMpTyV stardom, however ephemeral. To their credit, the Troubleshooter troupe were friendly as anything at their merch booth, so sure, I am looking forward to seeing them with Five Iron Frenzy come October.
Had to get my fix of hi-NRG Eurodisco trying its dangedest to compete for the teenpop demographic, so that means I had to see V*Enna. It's strange seeing this kind of music made by women who aren't showing ample midriff. These gals weren't showing any, but they had two boytoy dancers, one Euromerican and the other Afrimerican baring little, as their distaff counterparts. The sign on their merch table was just about right the duo named for the best Midge Ure Ultravox album as being a cross 'tween Britney Spears and Abba. Thank producer Zarc Porter profusely for the guilty pleasure, kids. I just wish they'd have done the higher-BPM version of "All The Way To Heaven."
Tree 63, one of the two South African acts present that night, came on late, just having flown in shortly before from the former land of apartheid (40 hours, their baldguy singer said; no envy there). The youngsters knew their big radio hit, "Treasure," which is catchy and doctrinally solid as all the pop-rockin' neo-worship going 'round these days ought to be. On the way back from another show, heard them covering U2's "Pride," so God bless them for unearthing their roots some, and disavowing their homeland's racist past. And yeah, it sounded like the young'uns were singing along to that number, too. Sweet.
Saw These 5 Down last year, but didn't know who they were until after the fact. This time I did know, and was impressed enough how the singer could look like Mark MacGraw from Sugar Ray's brother, yet sound like he was spewing some holy deathmetal vom from his larnyx while the other 4 Down cranked their sludgily angular hardcore thang. Spoke after their gig with a lady responsible for booking a coffeehouse in Green Bay who rhetorically asked how guys can do that to their voices. Didn't know myself, but offered that they must have some special vocal training, lest they ravage their vocal chords. Same lady and I then discussed how wonderful Barry McGuire's recent set at her place was, but how Terry Taylor wasn't all that friendly, performance-wise, to those who weren't already in the DA / Swirling Eddies cult, among other matters that kept a brother detained a spell.
Missed Skillet, in keeping with the time management device of skipping acts I'd seen already within a year (caught 'em in Green Bay last April). That doesn't mean that scads of kids for whom the Panheads -- or is that what their fans are called?; whatever -- work as being industrial enough not to scare off their 'rents, and propagangistic enough to please their youth pastorate, weren't in a lengthy queue after their show to get stuff signed. And the stickers hyping their forthcoming album, Alien Youth, were pretty sporty, must say. But when they can top "Saturn" is when I'll care more, OK?
Hadn't seen Stavesacre since they opened for The O.C. Supertones and Ghoti Hook a few years back, so I was anticipating seeing Solomon & Co. an oodle. What I got to see of them didn't disappoint, as Mark was looking all formal in tie and black longsleeve buttondown shirt, and the whole crew rockin' their emo-riffic, post-hardcore headbangin' mess. But two things: could someone please confirm whether Dirk's from my hometown (Waupun, WI), as I's once told he was, and Velvet Bluers, howzabout sending the new EP?
Caught Newsboys just as the drumkit spun once again, Peter Furler was egging the crowd on into a shouting match, and the chorus to "Breakfast" became a singalong among the thousands (?) crammed into the Grandstand, a reconfigured racetrack. Were I a 16-year-old Campus Crusader, hey, I might have been gaga enough to withstand the crowd. As I'm a 30-something Reformacostal, I headed over to see P.O.D.
FINALLY. Missed them the time they opened for Sevendust in Green Blah, then when they headlined in Milwaukee, made the drive, but the tickets the record company promised me didn't. Rrrr... So, I caught three songs or so just far away enough from the moshpit, and had my senses well pummelled for the pleasure. Since I wanted to catch as many acts as possible for you readers, however, it was off to another act.
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