Off we go to the River Riot, the festival style show put on by 89.7 The River, with a bunch of other bands including Cage The Elephant and the resurrected Stone Temple Pilots. Should be a fun day. Would be nice if the temperature dropped about 20 degrees though!
(later...)
What is is about the raw power and fury of the Midwest that makes for such crazy shows? One thing i think I have finally deduced is that girls are not afraid to crowd surf out here, and they do so in amazing quantity and with style and panache. Add that to the human tidal wave of screaming dancing freaking out people and the more expected (but still sadly rare these days outside of the midwest) guy crowdsurfers, it really put the evening over the edge. Another thing about a good midwest show is that people will dress up in full blue body suits for no known reason except to become The Blue Guy. And furthermore, the ability to attend a rock show in a full on chicken costume is a must, because what is a hot sweaty, loud, shredding experience in a beer-soaked Iowan field without Chicken Guy? The answer is that a hot sweaty, loud, shredding experience in a beer-soaked Iowan field without Blue Guy and Chicken Guy is just not over the top the way a weezer show needs to be.
So thanks to the amazing crowd tonight, you gave it your all, as did the band. You'd never know that Rivers was feeling under the weather and was battling to keep his voice alive all day prior to the show. Energy. We has it.
Following weezer were StoTemPi, i.e. The Stone Temple Pilots, who are in the midst of a comeback/reunion. They invited Josh to play the drums on the grunge era classic "Sex Type Thing" and Josh was happy to join in and oblige.
So thanks Omaha and Council Bluffs and that whole Missouri River region, you turned a dirty ol' patch of farmland into an epic rock event!
- Karl Koch
