A recap of the 2010 WHFS awesomer than awesome festival

Remember radio festivals? Way back in the deep, dark and distant late-1990s or early-2000s, the concerts - mostly spearheaded by alternative rock radio stations - were all the rage. They featured all the bands you loved, most of the bands you kind of liked and a few bands which offered a song or two you totally dug for somewhere around seven minutes. Going to these things gave everyone an opportunity to see bands they wouldn't normally seek out to watch perform. They were great.

So....where did they go? That's a good question. Alt rock stations began to die. Most of the bands that were festival regulars proved to be no more than a one or two-hit-wonder. Hard rock got replaced with emo or pop-punk. The music industry revolutionized the way it handles itself with things like iTunes and the death of the compact disc. And, well, everybody stopped attending these kinds of concerts.

But alas, this past weekend, the Baltimore/Washington D.C. area revived the radio festival - if only for a night - when the premier rock radio fest, WHFS' HFStival returned with a dream line-up for anybody still living in 1999. Third Eye Blind. Everclear. Billy Idol. The Presidents Of The United States Of America. Lit. The lead singer from Live. Fuel. Naughty By Nature. Marcy's Playgounrd. And, of course, Jimmie's Chicken Shack.

I was fortunate enough to be on hand for such an event, and because I love you more than words can say, I will now take this opportunity to offer a few short musings. I would try and write an all-encompassing piece that begins and ends cleverly, but alas, this is a blog, damnit. You don't want writing. You want short, to-the-point rumblings. And that's what you shall receive...

- It was really good to see Lit again. They mentioned something about a new record they plan to release, and I honestly hope it brings them success. A.J. and Jeremy amazingly looked the same as they did nearly a decade ago. Oh, and I completely forgot they wrote this song...



- The dude from Live is insufferable. I hear he's not the most pleasant person, either.

- Fuel was probably the surprise of the day. Sure, Brett had a completely different band behind him, but they played something like four songs off Sunburn, easily the group's best (and first) album. Never thought I'd hear "Bittersweat" live again. And wow, people still like them. I was completely struck by the amount of people who gathered to see them. People still like Fuel. And that surprises me.

- The Presidents Of The United States Of America have the best attitude in the history of music. After setting up and sound-checking their gear, the lead singer offered the following: "OK. We are going to go do some coke now and come back to play for you." Funny.

- Art stopped his band's performance of "A.M. Radio" because he forgot the words. "It's pathetic when you can't remember the words to your own song," he said. "So we are going to play this instead," he added before launching into this...



- Third Eye Blind claims a new record will be out soon. Nobody believed that. But Mr. Jenkins grew his hair out. Yah! for long hair.

- Naughty By Nature was a pleasant surprise. Why? Because I'm down with OPP.

- And finally, while thousands were rocking to Billy Idol, me and 67 of my closest friends gathered around the local stage to watch Jimmie's Chicken Shack's headlining set. No way could I have asked for a better set selection. It was absolutely heart-breaking to see Jimi Haha barely able to walk because of his knees, though. I was completely unaware that they had a new record out (and by new, I mean from 2008), and the track they played from it was fabulous. The final song? What else could it possibly be...

...For The Ride Home: Chuck Norris finds himself on a hockey mask, Conan's old studio gets a makeover and 'I'm Still Here' is fake

For those who wonder why we offer this video to end out Week 25, simply follow the final link below. Hello, Friday, and hello to you, the wonderfully loyal and attractive reader. How was your week? Typical September, it's-almost-fall kind of week? Well, those don't always have to be awful, you know. I mean, after all, it did feature a pretty neat recap of this year's VMAs. Oh. That still wasn't enough to bring your week around to goodness? How about knowing this Sunday will feature the premier of that new HBO show everybody wants to see? Ahh, that's right. I knew that would work. Side: Did anyone out there see last night's episode of "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia?" I missed it, and I'm wondering if the gang got this season started off correctly. Those who may know are oh so welcome to leave an opinion or six in the comments section. Before you do that, though, we would like to offer the following links to send you into the weekend with. From the deepest of our most sincerest emotions, we hope you and yours have a lovely September weekend by doing whatever it is you do (and that may include seeing one of the hopefully-great movies). We hope to see you back here excited and rejuvenated Monday morning. Until then, though, and much like the previous 24 weeks, you must remember: Love you, miss you.

So, that Joaquin Phoenix movie? Yeah, it was staged. Now a Web site asks: Is he the new Andy Kaufman? (Popeater)

Penn State receives $88 million gift. Promptly begins hockey program. (ESPN)

Harry Shearer is mad at NPR. NPR sticks up for itself. All this really does is plant the seed back in my head that I need to watch “This Is Spinal Tap” again. (NPR)

The Daily Beast and Newsweek together? (New York Post)

Have you ever stopped to wonder what NBC is going to do with Conan’s old studio? Well, in case you have, they are going to…turn it into a newsroom. Sorry, Carson. I know you had your eyes set on that new “Last Call” set. (Los Angeles Times)

Dallas Stars goalie puts Chuck Norris on his mask. This is your opportunity to make one of those fabulous Chuck Norris jokes in the comments section. Related: I actually saw a few minutes of “Walker, Texas Ranger” this morning for the first time in my life. (Yahoo)

Sacha Baron Cohen is going to play Freddy Mercury in a biopic. What does Borat think of this? (Rolling Stone)

Watched this last night, so I must mention it today now that it has been parlayed into actual news. Jon Hamm is going to host Saturday Night Live again this year. (Entertainment Weekly)

Who else is going to party with me at this thing all weekend? (WHFS)

...For The Ride Home: The Virgin Mobile Festival lineup is announced, Lindsay is in jail and Skip Bayless is rock solid

We continue Soul Week today with Wilson Pickett's "634-5789 (Soulsville USA)." The age-old trick of using a telephone number in the chorus of a song is always fun to come across, don't you think? Me, too. This will be a short introductory paragraph because as you can see, we are running a bit late around these parts, but when you have the opportunity to see "Inception," you must go see it when you look at your calendar to notice all your days are filled until 2017. And yes, more on that movie tomorrow. As for now, continue to enjoy Soul Week, your Tuesday, and the fact that you don't have to worry about turning your heat on during the summer months. Because that can get expensive, you know.

First, it was Alex Chilton, and now, a mere four months later, Andy Hummel, bassist for Big Star passes on. Way more influential band than most give them credit for. (Rolling Stone)

The Wall Street Journal may have figured the world of news video out. Who would have thunk? (The Big Money)

Playboy claims its site is safe to look at while at work. Naturally, experts find out that that’s not true. (The Morning Call)

Amen to this: Only privileged kids get the good internships at media outlets. Damn right. (Washington Post)

Skip Bayless is strong. No, I mean it. Look at him! (Deadspin)

Lindsay Lohan is in jail. And that’s all. (People)

Because I got it wrong yesterday and the show starts this coming Sunday as opposed to this past Sunday, here’s an interview with Matthew Weiner, creator of “Mad Men.” (New York Magazine)

The Virgin Mobile Freefest lineup was announced today. I found my way to it last year, and with LCD Soundsystem on the bill this year, I may just have to make the venture again. (Virgin Mobile)

...For The Ride Home: A weekend filled with festivals, Chris Brown cries and Katie Couric to CNN?

It garnered a 13 percent on Rotten Tomatoes. IMDB gave it a 4 out of 10. Me? Of course I liked it! Going in with absolutely no expectations, this movie was way better than simply OK. Hugh Grant makes me laugh. It's his delivery. I suppose he's probably a "love him or hate him" kind of guy, but the more movies I see with him in it, the more I fall to the former rather than the latter. OK. So maybe I'm sucker for romantic comedies, and maybe the movie is a bit predictable, and, at times, not all that good. But hey, when you go in thinking you are about to waste the next two hours of your life, and come away having laughed out loud a few times, you feel pretty good about it. Still not sold on Sarah Jessica Parker, though. No way. Anyways, welcome to week 14! Word on the street is that we have a new reader or two around these parts these days, so we'd like to take this time to extend our sincerest hello to you lovely individuals. And hello's can go a long way, you know. We celebrated our three month anniversary over the weekend by staying away from all computers at all times. Or, well, at least I did. It's nice to be back in the saddle, though, and as we find our way through the final week of June, we ask that you click a few links, take some time to reminisce on America's faltering World Cup, and eat healthy food. It does your body good, you know.

I am going to take the following position on this: Chris Brown didn’t seem sincere. It seemed a little too much like a perfect storm for him to go on and on the way he did. It’s OK if you want to cry, but if it completely takes away your ability to sing the actual song, something’s up. Maybe I’m in the minority. (MTV)

Photographer snaps photo of two lightning bolts hitting a building at the same time. It’s a neat photo. (NPR)

Agreed: Don’t rid the Internet of anonymous commenters. They make things interesting. (Boston Globe)

Sad. Jennifer Capriati overdosed on drugs over the weekend. She’s recovering. (CBS News)

Katie Couric may be interested in going to CNN. Interesting. (Los Angeles Times)

Just because it’s not in America doesn’t mean it isn’t important. Glastonbury, a music festival that was around before music festivals were hip, took place this weekend. And naturally, Stevie Wonder stole the show. (NME)

Another music festival you should care about? Eric Clapton’s "Crossroads." That was this weekend as well. And Bill Murray was there. “Broken Flowers” is a fabulous movie. (Popeater)

Oh no! Kobayashi may not compete at this year’s Fourth of July hot dog eating contest. (Deadspin)

...For The Ride Home: Lollapalooza after-shows, beat reporters have no spine and don't forget about tonight's NBA Draft

Imagine my happiness when I realized this record finally came in the mail yesterday. Shuffling it into my CD player in my car on the way to work, I arrived with a smile on my face, thus proclaiming to everybody at work that there was a smile on my face and the reasoning behind a smile being on my face. I said this then, and I shall repeat myself now: If you can't smile after listening to this record, you don't know what music is. I cannot begin to put into words, or a blog post, or a column, or, well, yeah, you get it, how much I root for these guys. There was never, ever a time when you heard a bad story about any of them. ANY OF THEM. Nobody ever accused them of doing anything wrong, ever (aside from writing tunes that ended up being the absolute biggest songs in the world, and yes, I'm sure you were annoyed). They are all now married. All now grown up. And all now still making music as a band together. Nobody thought they were bigger than the others. Nobody spoke out about "other interests." Nobody was caught coming out of a club stumbling drunk at 15-years-old. Nobody was rumored to have an affair with some type of mistress. None of that. They were once the biggest act in the world and then they went away. And that's it. Now they've released the official album of the summer of 2010. Goodness, you have to love that. OK. I'll get off my soapbox now and offer a few links for you wonderfully pretty readers. Hopefully, you enjoyed our breaking news in today's earlier post, and hopefully, you will enjoy our second installment of "Blogspot Banter" tomorrow. Until then, enjoy your Thursday, have a banana and spend time with your elders. They know more than you.

Forget the actual Lollapalooza festival. Check out the after-shows featuring Minus The Bear, The National, Devo, MGMT and The New Pornographers. (Alternative Press)

Italy, the defending World Cup champions, were knocked out of the tournament this morning. Great headline: Italian loafers. (Fox Sports)

Boy, this magazine really stumbled upon a gold mine with this Ed Rendell story. Yesterday, he addresses affair rumors, today he talks about meeting up with a prostitute. (The Philly Post)

Interesting. A vote for the notion that a beat reporter would have never used the McChrystal quotes in fear of “burning bridges.” (Press Think)

Five reasons not to buy the latest iPhone. Not listed? Reason number six – Because cell phones are the death of us. (Yahoo)

Jen Anniston has been told to stay away from Branjoilina. Oh, come on. But she’s so cute! (Showbiz Spy)

Don’t forget: The NBA Draft is tonight. The Cleveland Cavaliers, who have no picks going into it, are trying to maneuver their way into tonight’s festivities. (ESPN)

Kim Kardashian is dating Miles Austin. Does this mean the Cowboys will win this year’s Super Bowl? (New York Daily News)

Whoa. Had the highest of hopes that once the divorce news broke, nobody would find much wrong, and we could all just live with the fact that a separation happened amicably. That’s clearly not happening. Al Gore accused of sexual assault. (People)