The Food and Truck Rock Carnival in Clark, New Jersey
So yes, I went to this highly publicized rock festival yesterday in Clark, New Jersey. I had heard that it was going to be an amazing weekend geared for the entire family, so I took my son along. He was really pumped about the music, since he has been a fan of hard rock/heavy metal now for quite some time. And he knows his mother, who is more of a country fan, would likely never take him to such an event on her own, for various reasons. Neither he nor I are particularly big fans of country music. I do not hate it, although it has never been close to my favorite genre. Also, the redneck feel to a lot of the country music (but most certainly not all of it) can be a big turnoff. It is hard to picture getting into music produced by, say, Toby Keith. And my son feels the same way.
Still, I have been hesitant to take him to a show like that, and think that this is understandable. After all, he is still just a kid, and so the excesses at shows like this, the presence of excessively drunken fans, obnoxious behavior being very prominent often times at previous shows like this that I have attended, and just the sheer volume of noise, among other things, might be a bit much for him. Saying all of that, this looked like a good way to introduce him to that on some level, since it was not all about that. The music took center stage last night, of course. But there was also the carnival aspect, with rides and the whole thing. There were tons of food trucks there, and they were competing against one another. Hell, there was even wrestling! So, it looked like a big event that could keep him occupied, to say the least. We would not have to stay in front of the music all day with a decided lack of mobility or other options. There would be plenty to do here!
But wouldn't you know it? He chose to basically stay put where the music was, and seemed entirely uninterested in the rides and such, which surprised me. Why, he did not even express interest in wrestling, and that was really quite chocking to me! I was sure that he would want to catch at least a match or two, which would have been fine by me if he had so chosen.
Instead, we stayed where the music was for the entire time, at a place where we had a very good view of Main Stage 1, and a pretty decent view of Main Stage 2.
Recently, I got a new job on the weekends. It is annoying, a real pain in the neck, and this day had been the worst day yet there. For much of it, things appeared calm - almost to the point of being ridiculous. When this changed and everything got busy, however, it all went south fast. For the last three or four hours of my shift, it was endless, relentless work. Hardly a minute to take a breather. On top of it, my relief ran late. I had forgotten my cell at home, and was supposed to pick up my son after work, but was now running seriously late, and with no means either to contact or be contacted. An annoying day to that point, sure.
So, I raced back to the apartment to get my home, then headed up to meet my son. We got something to eat quickly along the way, and then headed to the concert. It was $20 for parking, which was a bit annoying, but expected. The walk was longer than expected, too. When we entered, we had to wait on a longer line for the will call seats, because the booth was hopelessly undermanned. Everything seemed like that here. That, at least, was my first impression.
As we arrived, Puddle of Mudd was completing their set, although I did not specifically recognize any of their songs. I remembered them from many years ago, right around September 11th, if memory serves correctly. They had a couple of popular songs, and then faded, for the most part. Here was Puddle of Mudd's setlist, according to Setlist.fm: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/puddle-of-mudd/2015/oak-ridge-park-clark-nj-6bf49ec6.html
Drift & Die
Psycho
Spaceship
Gimme Shelter (The Rolling Stones cover)
She Hates Me / Summer Nights Medley (John Travolta & Olivia Newton-John cover)
We were still on line when Sevendust took the stage, and we were still far away. When we got our tickets, which was actually an arm band, and not an actual ticket at all (although I picked up one discarded ticket as a makeshift souvenir later). My son did not get anything, and I began to wonder if I might have been able to get away with not having purchased a ticket for him at all. Even though his ticket had been cheaper, being a child ticket, every little bit nonetheless helps, right?
Black
Driven
Denial
Dead Set
Not Today
Disease
Shine
Decay
Thank You
In any case, we walked around a little bit, close to the front of Main Stage 2. By this time, Sevendust was well into their set. We watched them for a little while, and I bent down to tell him about the previous time that I had seen this band perform, many years ago now. He seemed less than impressed, more of a shrug reaction than anything.
So be it. We then continued onto Main Stage 1, where the stage already seemed to be ready for the upcoming set by Black Label Society. Sevendust's set continued for some time, but it seemed that literally as soon as it was done, the introductory music for Black Label Society, which featured a mix of Black Sabbath's War Pigs to the musical backdrop of Led Zeppelin's Whole Lotta Love, started playing. Interesting. Apparently it is called Whole Lotta Sabbath (Wax Audio song), just in case anyone out there might be interested in checking it out.
Black Label Society played for probably an hour or so (the set times listed below were not exact). As it turns out, this was the band that impressed my son the most, which was kind of a surprise to me, truth be told.
Here was the setlist for Black label Society, according to Setlist.fm: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/black-label-society/2015/oak-ridge-park-clark-nj-63f49ec7.html
Whole Lotta Sabbath (Wax Audio song) The Beginning... At Last
Funeral Bell
Bleed for Me
Heart of Darkness
Suicide Messiah
My Dying Time
Damn the Flood
Guitar Solo
Godspeed Hell Bound
Concrete Jungle
Stillborn
Zach Wylde plays a wicked lead guitar, although he also kind of fits the stereotype of metal in every way. Wearing all black, he repeatedly threw his fist into the air while playing guitar at one point, and ended the set by beating his chest like a gorilla. Kind of the stereotype of the conservative, macho image conscious metal head, and although the band is talented (particularly Wylde with his guitar playing), I have to admit that neither their image nor their music ever struck me as particularly original.
Next up was Three Days Grace, a band that I originally heard was punk, but which has often also been labelled as post-grunge and/or alternative metal (whatever that is). Whatever genre they are, I remember liking them when they first broke big around 2003, with their really big hit, I Hate Everything About You. Since then, I had heard a few of their songs come out on the radio, although I have to admit that I had no idea that they had as many popular songs as they actually did until we saw them in concert on Saturday. Here is their entire set list, according to Setlist.fm: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/three-days-grace/2015/oak-ridge-park-clark-nj-73f49eb9.html
I Am Machine
Just Like You
Pain
Break
Home ("Sober" by Tool interlude)
Animal I Have Become
The Real You
Painkiller
Fallen Angel
The Good Life
I Hate Everything About You
Never Too Late
Riot
Finally, the headliners, Slash with Myles Kennedy & The Conspirators, were set to come on. This was the band that I had personally wanted to see the most, having been very impressed with much of Myles Kennedy's musical works, as well as being familiar with former Guns 'n Roses and Velvet Revolver guitarist Slash, with his famous top hat. They finally came on probably around a quarter after nine or so, but had a fairly long and rocking setlist, at least. Here is the entirety of their set on this night, according to Setlist.fm: http://www.setlist.fm/setlist/slash-feat-myles-kennedy-and-the-conspirators/2015/oak-ridge-park-clark-nj-73f49ec1.html
You're a Lie Nightrain (Guns N’ Roses cover)
Avalon
Back from Cali (Slash cover)
Wicked Stone
Mr. Brownstone (Guns N’ Roses cover)
You Could Be Mine (Guns N’ Roses cover)
Doctor Alibi (Slash cover) (Todd Kerns on lead vocals)
Welcome to the Jungle (Guns N’ Roses cover) (Todd Kerns on lead vocals)
The Dissident
Beneath the Savage Sun
Bent to Fly
World on Fire
Anastasia
Sweet Child O' Mine (Guns N’ Roses cover)
Slither (Velvet Revolver cover) (with "Feel Like Makin' Love"… more )
Encore: Paradise City (Guns N’ Roses cover) (with Gilby Clarke)
All in all, a pretty cool and eventful evening. This show offered a lot, including some great music, a carnival complete with rides, and even some wrestling. The atmosphere reminded me a little bit of some of the old Lollapalooza (1996) and Ozzfest (1997, 1998, 1999, and 2001) shows that I went to years and years ago. Unfortunately, it also offered a tremendous amount of traffic, and the little suburban town of Clark, with these local roads leading to the park, were ill-equipped to handle it. I have seen worse traffic jams after concerts than that (particularly at Randall's Island and Bethel Woods, among some others), but this one was pretty bad nevertheless. Still, it was a good night, for both my son and me, and I am glad that we got to enjoy it together. Here are some pictures from the show:
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