Last night, Linkin Park and friends brought their “revolution” to Hartford, CT, and I must admit: It was somewhat underwelming.
After a public tailgating ban (a bash of the city of Hartford and the Dodge Center to follow…”) and a few hours of drinking, I stumbled inside to check out Atreyu, playing on the Revolution Stage. Though I’ve seen them twice and thought they were a solid act (even for the third time…), none of their performances have ever struck me enough to go to the store and buy a record. It was rockin’, cuz I was drunk…but I’ve never dropped money intentionally with hopes of seeing/hearing them. All 3 shows were accidental run-ins…for seeing them three times, and receiving 0 funds or interest from me…they’re clearly doing something wrong.
I was dying to see The Bravery, but the arena setting totally squashed the magic that was supposed to happen. I missed out on an earlier Hartford gig at The Webster, and I still regret not getting there…but their set was very disappointing and dare I say, dull.
But wait…just when all was lost…BUSTA BUST would come and tear it up. Right? …
Right?!?!
It’s not that Busta was bad, but these “medleys” that artists do for the Grammys and like performances are totally bogus. Busta got on-stage for like 25 minutes and spewed…something…and only did Woo Haa for like 10 seconds….and it was just boring. We were bouncing around and having fun, but we quickly grew less and less interested as the short set continued. I would totally check out a Busta Rhymes show, though. That’d be sweet.
Cornell: Not for me. Everything he does sounds the same. It’s not even worth discussion.
Linkin Park. Entirely fun and entirely excellent. I couldn’t believe that a band as “mainstream” as Linkin Park could make a show feel so unique. They came. They saw. They conquered. The dead-all-day crowd was finally awoken with the Linkin Spark (haha, get it?) as the band tore through a set that was extremely inclusive of all 3 of their records.
On a Linkin Park high and feeling like I was 16 again, I had to wonder: Though Linkin Park saved the day, was this really what we’re tagging as “revolutionary”. It’s sad that I’m not old enough to have seen Zeppelin, The Doors, The Beatles, Journey (just kidding…though I am seeing them in August at a GOAT. SHOW.) When will Rock ‘N Roll experience that 1 band that will start the next rock revolution?
While reading this book, the answer was clear:
Guns N Roses. REUNION TOURRR.
Ok, it’ll never happen. But think: What if it did? Riots, broken cop cars, drugs, fires, insane mobs, more drugs. The sky would absolutely be the limit. Seeing Velvet Revolver last August was quite a treat, but it would’ve been even more memorable had it have been GNR with its prime line-up.
With the rock scene at such a lull, reading the GNR history in the words of Slash might just be as close as I’ll get to seeing what it was really like to witness a true Rock and Roll band in my lifetime. I took some time to enjoy the fantasy about it would be like if Slash, Izzy, and Axl did bury the hatchet start anew.
I imagine it would truly and defiantly start a real, post-modern rock revolution.
