Rock the Bayou - Day 1
Saturday, August 30, 2008 at 10:48AM 
Yesterday, I saw Jetboy, Gilby Clarke, Lynch Mob, Y&T, Skid Row, Ratt and Queensryche. Faster Pussycat were also scheduled for the main stage, but a flight delay kept them from making their slot so I watched them on a very tiny side stage. Their set was short, too. I also watched a little of Dirty Penny's set on a side stage. More on that in a moment.
Jetboy sounded good, but it was clear they were stalling. I was just thinking their set seemed awfully long for an opening band when Mickey Finn announced that "Faster Pussycat forgot to show up." Later on we learned of the travel mess. This travel glitch just meant Jetboy went on a little later, but this also got the schedule about 30 minutes behind. This, in turn, meant that there was more overlap between headline acts and side stage bands.
It's been awhile since I've seen a recent photo of Gilby Clarke. I was taken aback at how much he sort of looks like a hippie these days. I always think of him as he was in the "November Rain" video. To that end, Gilby and his band played some Guns N' Roses tunes, as well as his solo work.
I went to the barrier for Lynch Mob. This was a band I missed at Rocklahoma because they played during the massive rainstorm and I was reporting for this website at the time. Anyway, I really wanted to see Lynch Mob and they did deliver the goods. The small - but rowdy crowd - sang along to "Wicked Sensation." This was probably the highlight of the set for me. I could have gotten a guitar pick if I didn't have to leave the front because of heat.
I was in the media tent for much of Y&T, but I did hear a few songs, including "Summertime Girls." There was one man who stood at the barrier between the general admission side and media credentials-only area for hours. I walked past him a lot and noticed he was holding a classic "Yesterday and Today" photo. I'm sure he was trying to get it autographed. I hope it worked out for him. I wanted to attend the band's press conference, but it was running behind and I didn't want to miss Skid Row.
Johnny Solinger is a native Texan and he had the crowd whipped up pretty good. By this time it was about 147 degrees. It's always amusing to watch very drunk people in extreme heat. They peter out pretty quickly. True to form, the annoying man that was elbowing me all through Skid Row was passed out during Queensryche. When I walked beside him, I laughed out loud. You have to pace yourself at festivals - especially multi-day events. You have to drink water during the heat of the day and get into some air conditioning when possible. If you don't take precautions, you'll end up missing most of the fun.
Anyway, Skid Row performed everything you would expect, like "Youth Gone Wild" and "18 and Life." The band did "I Remember You" mainly acoustic and played an extended jam version of "Monkey Business." All in all, a good set.
So, after this it was time to truck through tall grass and uneven ground to see Faster Pussycat. I expected Taime Downe to be a little upset but he seemed jolly and actually apologized for not being on the main stage. I'm not so sure why he apologized because the flight delays were not his fault, but it is what it is I guess. Faster Pussycat played "Porn Star," "House of Pain" and "Bathroom Wall." With that I beat it across the field to see Dirty Penny.
Now, this is when the schedule got bonkers: Dirty Penny and RATT ended up playing at the same time, so I tried to see both. This isn't the easiest thing to accomplish in the world. So, after I heard DP play a couple songs including "Sleaze Disease" I went back to my seats for RATT. I felt a little bad for Dirty Penny: they were expecting a decent crowd and the way things happened, only about 30 people got to seem them. That's a shame since they are making good, modern Glam.
By the time I got to RATT, the band was on "Sweet Cheater." The set was long and included "Lay It Down," "Tell the World," "Nobody Rides for Free" "You're In Love" and, of course, "Round and Round." Stephen Pearcy sounded pretty good last night and new guitarist Carlos Cavazo seemed to fit right in.
Queensryche were doing a best-of set last night. They performed their most famous songs including "Bridge," "Jet City Woman" and "I Don't Believe In Love." Geoff Tate sounded pretty good last night, but his theatrical facial expressions were distracting me. I expected the facial expressions when the band did Operation: Mindcrime at Rocklahoma, but for a regular, fun rock show...I just want spontaneity. Hell, maybe Geoff has to make those facial expressions to hit those notes. After all, he does have one of the best voices in rock.
I hope the sound is fixed for the rest of the festival. At all side stages, the sound is way over modulated and it sounds pretty wacky from the main stage, too. Also, I've got to criticize now: the VIP seating is folding chairs, which is fine. The issue is that the seats are on a wood platform...and someone decided to paint that platform black. Eric's shoes actually melted to the platform, so the rest of the day he was shuffling his feet around a lot to make sure he didn't get stuck. The black platform made it feel 10 degrees hotter than the actual temperature. One more thing: the security guards were originally telling people they couldn't take drinks to their seats. You need water when it is so hot. This eventually got situated and we were allowed to take drinks to the seats - but for a few hours, this was miserable - and potentially dangerous.
Reader Comments (18)
Keep up the good work Allyson, and have a good time.
Great pics, thanx !!
I feel a bit sad to see that some bands had to play infront of such a small crowd...must be really hard and disapointing...also such a heat must be a pain in the ass for both the audience and the bands.
Lets hope the next days you can tell us that it was full of people and the shows were great !!
JT
http://hardrocknights.wordpress.com
Who is the guy next to Craig Goldy at the 0:32 mark in this vid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qZktrrqT1A0
Also, here is a pic just of him:
http://i36.tinypic.com/331oc5i.png
please tell me that was a sarcastic question !!
Michael - unfortunately, Sebastian and the Skids have not patched things up yet. It will happen, but probably not for another 5 years or so. I predict they will get back together when Axl and Slash finally kiss and make up, and will open for GNR on a major world tour.
Read this link and you might just be suprised by the comments you hear from BAZ.
http://www.roadrunnerrecords.com/blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=103169
so it's really not upto BAZ, as it is to the rest of the skids !
I didn't have time to pull out my camera and need some pics of it!!!
Thanks!!!