Cruefest

A couple weeks ago, a good friend asked if we wanted to accompany them to Superpages.com center (formerly Smirnoff, formerly Starplex) for Cruefest 2, featuring Drowning Pool, Theory of a Deadman, Godsmack and Motley Crue. I immediately agreed, as Godsmack has always been on my list as a must-see band.

So, on Saturday, we packed up a cooler and made our way out to Fair Park to stand for 4 hours. We were out on the lawn, natch, and we found our seats. Unfortunately, we didn't get there until after Drowning Pool was finished, which kind of disappointed me. We found our spot in the lawn, about a quarter of the way up.

Theory of a Deadman

was the first band that we saw, and they were very...average. I really like their album, and they do indeed, rock. They have the title of Nickelback Jr. all sewed up. Give them the trophy.

After TOADM came Godsmack. I have been a big fan of them for quite some time, so this was the band I was most excited to see, and they delivered. Sully is one of the best in the business at putting on a live show, and he didn't disappoint. I will say that I got tired of hearing how "fine" he was from our female companions, but I wasn't paying attention to that. :) The band delivered a fantastic performance, and didn't try to overthink it. They did what they did best, which is to rock.

After about a 40 minute wait, Motley Crue took the stage.

They decided, for some reason, that it would be a good idea to play the entire Dr. Feelgood album from start to finish. I didn't have too much of a problem with that, because that album was really the first one from them that I liked, but they were playing songs that no one has even heard in 20 years, so there were a lot of lulls in the show as people looked at each other and said, "What the hell is this song?". After they played their album, they played most of their big hits, and finished out the show with "Home Sweet Home" and "Girls, Girls, Girls". It was....fun. That is about all I could say. There were no life changing experiences, nothing that made me say, "Wow. Now that is awesome."

I should explain, though. My very first concert I ever went to was Metallica, 1994, Starplex, 17 years old. We were in the lawn, but it was the most amazing, jaw-dropping experience I had ever had up until that point. Metallica played for 3 hours, never let up, and made sure each person in that venue left happy. I couldn't hold my head up because three hours of head banging will do that to a person. It was so loud, so perfect, that it set the bar for all future concerts WAY too high. Since then, there has only been one other concert that I have been to that made me feel remotely close to how that one felt (Green Day, American Idiot tour).

My really, really big complaint is pointed at superpages.com center. Your sound system sucks. No, it blows...frankly, you should be ashamed at that sound system. NEVER should I be able to talk to someone on the lawn in my normal voice while a band is playing. It shouldn't happen. But, that is what happened. I was able to chat with my friend during the bands. I should have to yell. Plus, the sound was so muddy it was hard to tell what song was playing sometimes. My ears weren't ringing...let me repeat that...I went to see Godsmack and Motley Crue, and my ears weren't ringing. That is pathetic.

• Some other observations:
• Vince Neil needs to hang it up. He only sang about half the words that I could tell. His voice sounded OK, but he looked like he was having trouble making it from one side of the stage to the other
• Sully is one of the best in the business.
• Don't bring your 10 year old kids to a rock concert and complain when people are dancing to the music.
• Don't bring your 10 year old to a rock concert, just to see them fall asleep on a blanket.
• Ladies: Wearing the straw cowboy hat with the brim folded down does not make you hot.
• Beer is expensive. Thank you to those who subsidized my buzz for the evening. You know who you are.
• The $16 margaritas contain about 25 cents worth of alcohol in them. You just paid $15.75 for kool-aid.
• I will give the props to the venue for having free parking. God bless you for that.
• You need porta-potties in the parking lot.
• Getting in and out of the venue, both parking and otherwise, was very painless. I was surprised.
• Mick Mars did NOT look well.
• Not a lot of teens there. Guess that really isn't their scene.
• Why do people insist on wearing black concert t-shirts to an outdoor concert in Texas in August?
• Godsmack's drummer might be the most entertaining drummer of all-time to watch. I wish I had brought binoculars.