Sisdels Groove - RockFest 99

ROCKFEST 99 - Atlanta, Georgia
The day long musical event RockFest which was held on June 5 in Atlanta, Georgia sponsored by the Hard Rock Cafe and Oldsmobile Alero was a continuous 24 hour experience of some of the best music around today. Bands like the Offspring, Everlast, Sugar Ray and Live all converging together on one massive motor speedway combined with over 120,000 fans to create a memorable experience for all in attendance.

Tallying our score sheets at the end of the day based on poise, beauty, and of course, talent, there were two obvious shining winners of the Sisdels Groove Band of the Day Awards. That would be Melbourne’s own Taxiride and Citizen King from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They don’t get a crown and roses, but they are pretty special. They were dubbed the entrance and exit bands because they just have not reached the status of some of the larger performers on the bill for the day. Someone forgot to mention to these guys that they were supposed to be the underdogs because these were two of the best performances of the entire festival.

Taxiride kicked off the event with an amazing acoustic set as part of their promotional tour for their debut release on Sire Records, Imaginate. They make no apologies for bringing beautiful, melodic harmonies to listeners who have been dominated with hard edged, menacing music for some time now. It's refreshing to see a band who isn’t filled with angst or terror, but who still manages to find something worthwhile to write about. "Get Set" and "Can’t You Feel" are two glowing examples of how four voices can unite into something wonderful.

We got the opportunity to talk to Taxiride during the day and as the music indicates, they are genuinely nice guys. Tim, Tim, Dan, and Jason kept us highly entertained with stories of vomiting on the way to airports, dressing in monkey and/or gerbil suits, and some strange uses of fruit that are best left untold. We certainly look forward to their return tour and urge anyone who has the opportunity to see them to Get Set for excellent music. If you can’t wait that long you can always check out Imaginate or catch their music on the soundtrack for the movie Election.

Silverchair, another Aussie product, took the stage after Eve 6. Both of these young bands had the crowd singing along in unison with their radio hits "Leech", "Inside Out" and "Anthem for the Year 2000". They are a testament that age has no bearing on the ability to make good music or put on a performance worthy of the huge crowd that danced before them.

These two were followed by veterans the Mighty Mighty Bosstones who put on a blazing ska rock performance. There is no way to avoid moving when you’ve got Bosstones tunes like "Where Did You Go?" creeping in your ear. Dickey, the lead vocalist, was in rare form leaping from the stage and forcing everyone to feel the vibe. He brought a little kid from the audience on stage and bestowed his funky flame covered jacket on to him. He shouted, "I was going to give this to the Hard Rock Cafe for giving me the best show of my life...." From the smile on that kid’s face we think he made the right and admirable choice.

Next up was California natives, Sugar Ray. This is the point where most of the female audience lost their clothes in an attempt to catch singer Mark McGrath’s eye. He was pretty much riveted on his own performance though and dragged the cameraman from one end of the stage to the other with him. He got plenty of well deserved attention, but still craved more it seemed. There is no denying that they have incredibly catchy songs and I doubt there was a person in the crowd not singing along with "Fly" and "Every Morning". All of their touring has culminated in a well polished act that only veered away from the rehearsed when bassist Rodney Sheppard lost his footing and almost tripped over a speaker and when Mark amused everyone with his Molly Ringwald dance.

Everlast aka Erik Schrody and sometimes known as Whitey Ford was the next performer for what had now become a steaming heated mesh of sweaty bodies. He took his bluesy hip-hop to the fans and even did the funky jazzed up mix of his former House Of Pain anthem "Jump Around" urging everyone to "get off your lazy ass and jump around". His music is a unique low key twist on rap accentuated by a kicking little DJ called Truley that we really like, but the sound was terrible during his set. No fault goes to the band here and we heard rumors that the Mighty Whitey had a run in with a sound guy backstage after the show. We're sure there won’t be any future technical difficulties of this sort.

Due to aching feet and our own personal music preferences, we made ourselves scarce for the Third Eye Blind and Collective Soul sets, but returned full force for an excellent performance by Live. It was obvious that a number of people had come specifically to see them because the mass of people had swollen to even greater numbers who were sporting a lot of Live gear. Ed K-something or other, the singer, was wearing all black including a trench coat and cane. Its scary when its that hot outside and he seemed to be calm, collected, and undaunted by the heat in his rather odd get up. There is something unnatural about his presence, but they played some of our favorites including "Pain Lies By the Riverside" and many others from their best release to date, Throwing Copper.

After what seemed to be the most thorough and professional sound check ever, the Offspring was finally ready to take the stage. They had arrived only two hours before their set and sat surrounded on their tour bus by a mass of security guards. Obviously not ones for mingling, they ripped on to the stage looking fresh and ready to go. The coolest thing about this band is that there is no difference in their recorded music and what you hear in live performance. The highlight of their set, however, is the extra large phenomenon we have come to know as Chilly D. An ex-311 crew member, he now serves as the intermission dancer and guitar tech for the Offspring. Wiggling around wearing not much of anything other than a red satin cape seemed to shock the tiring, overheated crowd back into the show. We take full credit for discovering him long ago. The Offspring finished it off with "Keep Em Separated" and "Why Don’t You Get a Job" and left us all singing "Give it to me baby...uh-huh" for the rest of the night.

That brings us to our exit band and co-MVP of the day, Citizen King. If you toss the Chemical Brothers, 2 Skinnee J’s, and maybe Girls Against Boys into a blender, or test tube, or whatever your preference, you may end up with a little Citizen King. The true music lovers, like ourselves, who hung out for their performance, got really entertained. I knew I needed the cd when I heard "Bill Hilly" which is a rapping spoof on a lovable redneck complete with heehaw beats. There is no similar sounding music present on Mobile Estates, their debut release on Warner Brothers. It touches on the entire spectrum of sounds from psychedelic to techno to straight up rap. One of our dream tours includes Kottonmouth Kings, 2 Skinnee J’s, Citizen King, and Sprung Monkey. What more could one ask for unless Taxiride decided to come back from Australia to join them?

And just like that, the day had finally come to an end. We made our last trek back up to the media center stopping long enough for a few photos with Chilly D. Hopping into the car and making a quick wrong turn, we drove full speed ahead straight down the race track toward the finish line. For some reason we seemed to be the only car competing in this one. An appropriate ending to a day well spent at RockFest 99.




	RockFest 99 - by Queen P ROCKFEST 99 - Atlanta, Georgia The day long musical event RockFest which was held on June 5 in Atlanta, Georgia sponsored by the Hard Rock Cafe and Oldsmobile Alero was a continuous 24 hour experience of some of the best music around today. Bands like the Offspring, Everlast, Sugar Ray and Live all converging together on one massive motor speedway combined with over 120,000 fans to create a memorable experience for all in attendance. Tallying our score sheets at the end of the day based on poise, beauty, and of course, talent, there were two obvious shining winners of the Sisdels Groove Band of the Day Awards. That would be Melbourne’s own Taxiride and Citizen King from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. They don’t get a crown and roses, but they are pretty special. They were dubbed the entrance and exit bands because they just have not reached the status of some of the larger performers on the bill for the day. Someone forgot to mention to these guys that they were supposed to be the underdogs because these were two of the best performances of the entire festival. Taxiride kicked off the event with an amazing acoustic set as part of their promotional tour for their debut release on Sire Records, Imaginate. They make no apologies for bringing beautiful, melodic harmonies to listeners who have been dominated with hard edged, menacing music for some time now. It's refreshing to see a band who isn’t filled with angst or terror, but who still manages to find something worthwhile to write about. "Get Set" and "Can’t You Feel" are two glowing examples of how four voices can unite into something wonderful. We got the opportunity to talk to Taxiride during the day and as the music indicates, they are genuinely nice guys. Tim, Tim, Dan, and Jason kept us highly entertained with stories of vomiting on the way to airports, dressing in monkey and/or gerbil suits, and some strange uses of fruit that are best left untold. We certainly look forward to their return tour and urge anyone who has the opportunity to see them to Get Set for excellent music. If you can’t wait that long you can always check out Imaginate or catch their music on the soundtrack for the movie Election. Silverchair, another Aussie product, took the stage after Eve 6. Both of these young bands had the crowd singing along in unison with their radio hits "Leech", "Inside Out" and "Anthem for the Year 2000". They are a testament that age has no bearing on the ability to make good music or put on a performance worthy of the huge crowd that danced before them. These two were followed by veterans the Mighty Mighty Bosstones who put on a blazing ska rock performance. There is no way to avoid moving when you’ve got Bosstones tunes like "Where Did You Go?" creeping in your ear. Dickey, the lead vocalist, was in rare form leaping from the stage and forcing everyone to feel the vibe. He brought a little kid from the audience on stage and bestowed his funky flame covered jacket on to him. He shouted, "I was going to give this to the Hard Rock Cafe for giving me the best show of my life...." From the smile on that kid’s face we think he made the right and admirable choice. Next up was California natives, Sugar Ray. This is the point where most of the female audience lost their clothes in an attempt to catch singer Mark McGrath’s eye. He was pretty much riveted on his own performance though and dragged the cameraman from one end of the stage to the other with him. He got plenty of well deserved attention, but still craved more it seemed. There is no denying that they have incredibly catchy songs and I doubt there was a person in the crowd not singing along with "Fly" and "Every Morning". All of their touring has culminated in a well polished act that only veered away from the rehearsed when bassist Rodney Sheppard lost his footing and almost tripped over a speaker and when Mark amused everyone with his Molly Ringwald dance. Everlast aka Erik Schrody and sometimes known as Whitey Ford was the next performer for what had now become a steaming heated mesh of sweaty bodies. He took his bluesy hip-hop to the fans and even did the funky jazzed up mix of his former House Of Pain anthem "Jump Around" urging everyone to "get off your lazy ass and jump around". His music is a unique low key twist on rap accentuated by a kicking little DJ called Truley that we really like, but the sound was terrible during his set. No fault goes to the band here and we heard rumors that the Mighty Whitey had a run in with a sound guy backstage after the show. We're sure there won’t be any future technical difficulties of this sort. Due to aching feet and our own personal music preferences, we made ourselves scarce for the Third Eye Blind and Collective Soul sets, but returned full force for an excellent performance by Live. It was obvious that a number of people had come specifically to see them because the mass of people had swollen to even greater numbers who were sporting a lot of Live gear. Ed K-something or other, the singer, was wearing all black including a trench coat and cane. Its scary when its that hot outside and he seemed to be calm, collected, and undaunted by the heat in his rather odd get up. There is something unnatural about his presence, but they played some of our favorites including "Pain Lies By the Riverside" and many others from their best release to date, Throwing Copper. After what seemed to be the most thorough and professional sound check ever, the Offspring was finally ready to take the stage. They had arrived only two hours before their set and sat surrounded on their tour bus by a mass of security guards. Obviously not ones for mingling, they ripped on to the stage looking fresh and ready to go. The coolest thing about this band is that there is no difference in their recorded music and what you hear in live performance. The highlight of their set, however, is the extra large phenomenon we have come to know as Chilly D. An ex-311 crew member, he now serves as the intermission dancer and guitar tech for the Offspring. Wiggling around wearing not much of anything other than a red satin cape seemed to shock the tiring, overheated crowd back into the show. We take full credit for discovering him long ago. The Offspring finished it off with "Keep Em Separated" and "Why Don’t You Get a Job" and left us all singing "Give it to me baby...uh-huh" for the rest of the night. That brings us to our exit band and co-MVP of the day, Citizen King. If you toss the Chemical Brothers, 2 Skinnee J’s, and maybe Girls Against Boys into a blender, or test tube, or whatever your preference, you may end up with a little Citizen King. The true music lovers, like ourselves, who hung out for their performance, got really entertained. I knew I needed the cd when I heard "Bill Hilly" which is a rapping spoof on a lovable redneck complete with heehaw beats. There is no similar sounding music present on Mobile Estates, their debut release on Warner Brothers. It touches on the entire spectrum of sounds from psychedelic to techno to straight up rap. One of our dream tours includes Kottonmouth Kings, 2 Skinnee J’s, Citizen King, and Sprung Monkey. What more could one ask for unless Taxiride decided to come back from Australia to join them? And just like that, the day had finally come to an end. We made our last trek back up to the media center stopping long enough for a few photos with Chilly D. Hopping into the car and making a quick wrong turn, we drove full speed ahead straight down the race track toward the finish line. For some reason we seemed to be the only car competing in this one. An appropriate ending to a day well spent at RockFest 99.


You can get there from here - SISDELS GROOVE...You know you want to come back and visit us! HARD ROCK CAFE...More info on the RockFest tour!