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Why I never want to go back to Summerfest
Unless a really amazing, must-see band is playing, of course. ;) Otherwise, this was by far the worst time I’ve had at any event or festival. When I got down there two Thursdays ago at 7:00 PM, I passed a guy on the sidewalk who was already wasted and leaning over a trash. All the parking spaces were filled up, which was ridiculous because they have multiple parking lots, but not unheard of. The worst part was that they blocked off a ton of roads and lanes that are usually open, so I ended up with nowhere else to go but a $20 lot a few blocks away from the grounds. Not a huge deal, since my ticket was free. As I got closer and closer to the gate, I noticed a lot more people there than usual. The lines went all the way into the street.
Once I finally got in, I decided to do some shopping first. All but a few vendors were selling nothing but junk that drunks and stoners would buy. Glass and guitar pick jewelry, hemp and tie-dyed everything, and the most disgusting of all was an outdoor tattoo station set up by Starship because getting a tattoo while drunk and in extreme heat and humidity outdoors is a great idea. :/ Luckily all the way at the edge of the grounds was a tent with Arabic and Asian vendors. I got a really nice moonstone and sterling silver ring for under $20 and a hand-painted papyrus with Ramesses receiving a blessing from Anubis and offering jars to Hathor. It looks like these and the gold/bronze parts are actually metallic. (Not sure which Ramesses it is, but I’m assuming it’s Ramesses II and I’ll double-check the cartouches to see if I’m right. Just as long it’s not Akhenaton, I really don’t care which pharaoh it is. :p) It was $60, but the guy who worked there knew the Egyptology professor at UWM, so he gave me a 50% discount! :D Elizabeth and I are hoping to go to Arab World Fest next month because her husband is half Arabic. Since Egyptian International Art will also be there, I’m planning on getting a couple of smaller painted papyruses of Anubis, Isis, Hathor, or Ma’at. So begins my Egyptian art collection…
For some reason, I thought Joan Jett was going to be at one of the stages on the opposite end of the festival grounds, but when I got down there, I found out they were performing at the stage right next to where I was just shopping. This would have been fine if the whole place wasn’t such a fucking zoo. Everyone was inching forward in a giant mass, and I was surrounded by slow-moving ghetto people, poseur punk rockers who came to see The Offspring, bros and their sun-baked hos, and tons of drunk white trash.
When I finally got back down there, I still had an hour before the show started, and there was hardly anywhere to sit. After the bad ‘80s cover band ended, most of the people decided to stay. There were several seats in the fourth row, but as I stepped over the bleachers, this overweight middle-aged guy told me they were taken but that he wasn’t. :/ Ugh, this never would have happened at a metal show because saving seats is totally lame and not metal. I can see saving one seat for someone, but a spot big enough for six people to sit? Not cool. Even worse was that three morbidly obese people later came over and took up all the room, of course, with a foot of breathing space between them. Some braver folks sat down after me and ignored the Seat Nazi, but he threatened to call security and they left. I ended up near the end of the sixth row, which wouldn’t have been so bad if they didn’t have a huge screen in the way and the people in front of me weren’t wearing those stupid sparkly red, white, and blue jester and Uncle Sam hats. They ruined all my photos because the flash focused on their hideous headgear instead of the lighted stage. :( This drunk older woman who had been dancing on the bleachers to the opening band was still standing on them before Joan Jett came on, and a security guard asked her to get down. When she refused, he called for backup and five other security guards hauled her off. Since there were people standing in front of her, she lost her spot and threw a hissy fit. Several more fights broke out over people standing in front of those who were up on the bleachers. During the show, some drunk guy jumped up on the shoulders of one of the massive women in front of me and angered her husband, which led to a screaming match between the two. Another guy a few people down from me who looked just like Willie Nelson started the rest of the arguments with people blocking his view and kept threatening to get security. Everyone involved in these fights were anywhere from 40 to 60-some years old. Teenagers fighting amongst themselves are one thing, but these drunk white trash need to act their age and lay off the beer.
At least the concert itself was really good. I hadn’t seen Joan Jett and the Blackhearts for about five years, and then they played a much shorter set, though I was able to get much closer to the stage. This time around, they played a good mix of material from the Blackhearts as well as The Runaways, including all the hits. "Bad Reputation", "Cherry Bomb", "I Love Rock and Roll", "Crimson and Clover", "I Hate Myself for Loving You", "Do You Wanna Touch Me", "A.C.D.C.", they pretty much had it all covered. They ended their set with a cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everyday People”, which I really enjoyed. However, I did not enjoy the drunk cougar next to me that was constantly hitting me with her hip and camera that was on her arm as she retardedly danced. Keep it classy for your pre-teen daughter, why don’t you? :/ The trashy hair metal guy on my other side who kept hitting on me wasn’t much better either.
It was also a nightmare trying to leave the festival because the concert ended at the same time that the grounds closed for the night and everyone was trying to exit at once. People were leaning out of their cars to vomit on the street as they were driving home. I’m sorry, but that’s absolutely ridiculous and a reminder as to why I do not drink heavily. Hopefully German Fest won’t be nearly as bad next week!
Once I finally got in, I decided to do some shopping first. All but a few vendors were selling nothing but junk that drunks and stoners would buy. Glass and guitar pick jewelry, hemp and tie-dyed everything, and the most disgusting of all was an outdoor tattoo station set up by Starship because getting a tattoo while drunk and in extreme heat and humidity outdoors is a great idea. :/ Luckily all the way at the edge of the grounds was a tent with Arabic and Asian vendors. I got a really nice moonstone and sterling silver ring for under $20 and a hand-painted papyrus with Ramesses receiving a blessing from Anubis and offering jars to Hathor. It looks like these and the gold/bronze parts are actually metallic. (Not sure which Ramesses it is, but I’m assuming it’s Ramesses II and I’ll double-check the cartouches to see if I’m right. Just as long it’s not Akhenaton, I really don’t care which pharaoh it is. :p) It was $60, but the guy who worked there knew the Egyptology professor at UWM, so he gave me a 50% discount! :D Elizabeth and I are hoping to go to Arab World Fest next month because her husband is half Arabic. Since Egyptian International Art will also be there, I’m planning on getting a couple of smaller painted papyruses of Anubis, Isis, Hathor, or Ma’at. So begins my Egyptian art collection…
For some reason, I thought Joan Jett was going to be at one of the stages on the opposite end of the festival grounds, but when I got down there, I found out they were performing at the stage right next to where I was just shopping. This would have been fine if the whole place wasn’t such a fucking zoo. Everyone was inching forward in a giant mass, and I was surrounded by slow-moving ghetto people, poseur punk rockers who came to see The Offspring, bros and their sun-baked hos, and tons of drunk white trash.
When I finally got back down there, I still had an hour before the show started, and there was hardly anywhere to sit. After the bad ‘80s cover band ended, most of the people decided to stay. There were several seats in the fourth row, but as I stepped over the bleachers, this overweight middle-aged guy told me they were taken but that he wasn’t. :/ Ugh, this never would have happened at a metal show because saving seats is totally lame and not metal. I can see saving one seat for someone, but a spot big enough for six people to sit? Not cool. Even worse was that three morbidly obese people later came over and took up all the room, of course, with a foot of breathing space between them. Some braver folks sat down after me and ignored the Seat Nazi, but he threatened to call security and they left. I ended up near the end of the sixth row, which wouldn’t have been so bad if they didn’t have a huge screen in the way and the people in front of me weren’t wearing those stupid sparkly red, white, and blue jester and Uncle Sam hats. They ruined all my photos because the flash focused on their hideous headgear instead of the lighted stage. :( This drunk older woman who had been dancing on the bleachers to the opening band was still standing on them before Joan Jett came on, and a security guard asked her to get down. When she refused, he called for backup and five other security guards hauled her off. Since there were people standing in front of her, she lost her spot and threw a hissy fit. Several more fights broke out over people standing in front of those who were up on the bleachers. During the show, some drunk guy jumped up on the shoulders of one of the massive women in front of me and angered her husband, which led to a screaming match between the two. Another guy a few people down from me who looked just like Willie Nelson started the rest of the arguments with people blocking his view and kept threatening to get security. Everyone involved in these fights were anywhere from 40 to 60-some years old. Teenagers fighting amongst themselves are one thing, but these drunk white trash need to act their age and lay off the beer.
At least the concert itself was really good. I hadn’t seen Joan Jett and the Blackhearts for about five years, and then they played a much shorter set, though I was able to get much closer to the stage. This time around, they played a good mix of material from the Blackhearts as well as The Runaways, including all the hits. "Bad Reputation", "Cherry Bomb", "I Love Rock and Roll", "Crimson and Clover", "I Hate Myself for Loving You", "Do You Wanna Touch Me", "A.C.D.C.", they pretty much had it all covered. They ended their set with a cover of Sly and the Family Stone’s “Everyday People”, which I really enjoyed. However, I did not enjoy the drunk cougar next to me that was constantly hitting me with her hip and camera that was on her arm as she retardedly danced. Keep it classy for your pre-teen daughter, why don’t you? :/ The trashy hair metal guy on my other side who kept hitting on me wasn’t much better either.
It was also a nightmare trying to leave the festival because the concert ended at the same time that the grounds closed for the night and everyone was trying to exit at once. People were leaning out of their cars to vomit on the street as they were driving home. I’m sorry, but that’s absolutely ridiculous and a reminder as to why I do not drink heavily. Hopefully German Fest won’t be nearly as bad next week!