Insubordination Fest 2007

It was a long road traveled to get to Insubordination Fest, starting with waking up Friday morning at the ungodly (for me at least) hour of 6 AM, and taking a 45 minute drive to a friends house to leave for our trip. It took 9 hours including stops to get from Massachusetts to Maryland, and took us through 6 states, and the largest city in the country (the Manhattan traffic was a bitch). We finally arrived in Baltimore only to be kicked out of the hotel we had reserved, for being under 21. We quickly got reffered to a more expensive hotel that agreed to accomidate us.

Arriving at the Ottobar at some time around quarter to 6, there was a huge line waiting to get into the show. While in line I saw the weekends first "celebrity" sighting, Brandon from Teenage Bottlerocket chatting it up with people in the line. I soon also recognised the giant afro of Kurt from The Leftovers in the near bye parking lot. After a long wait, I finally got into the venue to see The Paper Dragons at the end of their set. Based on what I saw, the Dragons gave a good performance, but it was not seen by many. The Ottobar was still fairly empty, and I could tell that a lot of people were still in line outside.

After The Paper Dragons, Short Attention played. As their name might suggest Short Attention, a side project made up of various members of other bands who played the fest, only performs songs that are under 30 or so seconds long. The whole thing seemed like a waste of time to me, especially since the bands lyrics weren't creative or intelligent, and the whole thing reminded me of a bad Saturday Night Live skit that is one joke dragged on way too long.

Fortunately the Riptides were up next and they gave the best performance of the day. The band played fast abrassive music that got the audience into the first mosh pit of the day. At various times in the set the Canadian band's singer insisted that the audience chant "America... Fuck Yeah!" ala Team America. The band closed their set out on a bang, playing a cover of "Bonzo Goes To Bitburg" with the audience singing along to every word.

The Unloveables were on next. The band started off slow, playing music that was too poppy for my tastes, and making boring conversation to the audience (the singer talked about forgetting to feed her cat). Eventually the songs get better, and I got a favoreble opinion of them in the end. After their set I decided to check out the merch tent that was set up outside. I bought a Riptides cd based on their set, and also picked up some free samplers that were up for the taking. While out there I ran into the lead singer of the Riptides and told him how much I enjoyed the set. I also talked to Adam from The Leftovers who was impressed with the Red Sox shirt that I was wearing.


I went back into the Ottobar expecting to see Dear Landlord play, but found out that the venues power had gone out. The audience was asked to stay outside, which would have been fine except people under 21 weren't allowed to leave the proximity and be able to re-enter. Cursed for the second time that day due to my age! Feeling sympathetic for the crowd, The Ergs decided to do an acoustic set in the parking lot. Unfortunately this was outside of the proximity making it essentialy a 21+ show. To Egghead's credit they came over to perform, giving kids something else to do besides endlessly checking out the merch. During their acoustic set they tried to make the best of the bad situation, and the singer was even able crowd surf the surrounding audience. After Egghead's set I found out my friends had left the proximity to get some food, and as promised were not being allowed re-entry. Being a dick I made them wait around a bit to make sure I didn't miss anything. I left after running into Dan Vapid, whose band was scheduled to perform that day, he told us that todays show was about to be cancelled and that The Methadones would perform tommorow assuming the power comes on.

The next morning I took advantage of my new expensive hotel rooms free internet access, and found out that the second show was on for today. As promised by Dan Vapid, The Methadones were squeezed into todays schedule, as well as some other bands who were supposed to have played yesterday. To accomodate this, the show was scheduled to start an hour earlier, but being unprepared for this, I didn't have a chance to catch the first hour of the show.

I got to the Ottobar that day at around 12:30, when Head was about to come on stage. Head was meant to have closed the previous nights show but obviously didn't get a chance to. Heads riffs all semmed ripped from Ramones songs, much more so than any of the other bands at least. During one song when the guitarists broke a string, Head's singer kept playing the bass line, which he even admitted was "I Don't Want To Go Down To The Basement". Despite coming to the show over an hour after it started, the place was still pretty empty when I got there, and Head, and the next band Banner Pilot, both gave fairly unnoteable performances that failed to ignite the small crowd.

At 1:45 the Backseat Virgins came on stage. I had skeptical feelings about the band when I saw them setting up a keyboard before they came on, and wondered whether or not they'd be worth my time. They weren't. The band, which labeled themselves as a pop punk band, seemed pretty light on the punk part, and their two singers could not be heard at all over the instruments. A few songs into the set I decided to bail and went outside to, check out the days merch, try to meet up with my friends, and get some food (a band called the Sick Sick Birds had a grill going outside, with profits of the food going to pay towards them releasing an album). While outside I see someone who I think (and later find out is) is Larry Livermore, but I decide not to go up to him because a.) he's having a conversation with someone, and b.) because I'm not sure if it is him.

I went back in half an hour or so later to check out the schedule and see who was about to play. For Science was up next, and I decided to check them out based on the name of the band, which I thought was clever. While this is not always the best way to judge whether a band will be good or not, in this case they met my expectations. For Science delievered a nice 20 minute set. At the end of it the Ottobar started to fill out with late arriving concert-goers. Dead Mechanical came up next and delivered much of the same.

Apparently the crowd that was slowly building up was building up for The Guts. When the New Hampshire natives started playing, the pit, which had been quiet all day, went crazy with slamdancing, stage diving and crowd surfing. This was only ampliphied when The Guts brought out Wimpy (the one from The Queers not The Subhumans) to perform with them. This line-up gave the second in a number of Ramones cover throughout the festival, with Cretin Hop.

I should point out that during this set a kid with a New Hampshire tattoo (who I later found out was a member of The Rydells) went crazy and must have gotten up on stage and jumped off at the very least five times. Eventually it got old, and people were getting pissed at him. I tried to pull him down eventually, but to no avail, the dude was determined to keep coming up on stage. I thought the whole thing was kind of funny, but when I went outside in the merch area people were calling him an asshole, and complaining about him.

Another New England band, The Leftovers, came on next, the crowd was still pumped from Wimpy playing with The Guts, and The Leftovers got a similiar reception.

When The Leftovers fiinished it was time for the Parasites. Despite giving a decent performance I had trouble getting into them, due to the fact that Ben Weasel was going to perform next.

As the crowd prepared for Ben's set, people in the pit got crammed like sardines. I managed to squirm my way towards the front of the stage, to the point where I could effectively no longer move another inch. In all the shows I've been to, I've never been in a pit that crammed, and in addition to not being able to move, it felt like I was in a sweat lodge, with all the body heat. Ben eventually came on stage, and The Guts came back as his backing band. He apologised to the audience, apparently his voice had been shot from rehearsing (I don't think any one could care or tell during the set though) and then ripped into "I Wanna Be With You Tonight". His set consisted of a nice mix of Screeching Weasel, RIverdales, and solo songs, some in which he had Dan Vapid come up and play with him. At one point he pointed out how The Queers couldn't be here because they were touring Europe with Marky Ramone (technically there were a number of one-time Queers members there between Wimpy, Tulu, Vapid, and Adam), and went through some great Queers and Ramones covers. By now us up in the front could somewhat move around and dance, though it was still a tight fit. By Ben's closing song "My Brain Hurts" I managed to squeeze my way onto the stage, where I proceeded to give Ben a pat on the back and then dive into the audience as the song finished. In a situation eerily similar to the last time I stage dived, my glasses came off as I was pulled down into the crowd, this time however I somehow managed to retrieve them before they got trampled. I was soaked in sweat, and my shirt looked look I had worn it into the shower, but it was well worth it, the set was the best of the day.

I went outside to cool off and let my shirt dry. Outside my friend was talking to a member of The Guts who proclaimed, "All those years of sitting in my underwear playing Tetris while listening to Screeching Weasel have finally payed off!". I soon went back in to see The Steinways play. After doing a set of their own songs, The Steinways brought Ben back on to do some Screeching Weasel songs.

By the time the set was finished, I had to cool off and found a huge fan near the bar that I stood in front of. After a few moments of relishing in the cold air, I looked up and saw Ben Weasel walking towards me with an entourage of a few people. The only other time I can think of where I had been starstruck, was when I met former Red Sox star Mo Vaughn. This moment now quickly became number two. I didn't know what to do, so I just did what I'd naturally do when I meet a person. "Hi Ben", I said putting out my hand. "Hi" he said patiently, shaking my hand. "Nice to meet you" "You too". Not exactly the most engaging conversation I've had with someone, but still one of the great moments of my life, and one I'll never forget.

The Retarded were on next, but I went outside to get some food. I soon got to see another former Screeching Weasel member, when my friends found Dan Vapid, who we had talked with briefly the night before, and got a picture of him with us.

I came back in to see the Beatnick Termites, who peeked my interest due to the fact that they had covered the entire "Pleasant Dreams" album, which was for sale outside. When the guys took the stage there couldn't have been more of a contrast between the guitarist and the bassist. The bassist was a big bald guy, covered with tattoos on his head and arms, and complete with a long beard. He resembled Kerry King from Slayer, and had Dead Kennedys and Black Flag stickers on his bass. The guitarist was a stick thin asian guy, with emoish hair and a cross necklace hanging from his neck. Despite the bassists appearance, the band played poppy songs, but unlike some of the other poppy bands that played, the Termites had good lyrics, a singer with a good voice, and catchy songs. They also had a sense of humnor, doing a number called "Shit Fuck", that similarly to Ween's "HIV Song" consisted of the words "shit" and "fuck", being sung to an upbeat melody. It was a nice break on my body from all the slamdancing to just be able to stand there and watch a good band play. At the end of the set I was offered the set list and gladly took it.



The Ergs were up next and the crowd went absolutely crazy when the started playing. The singer from the band gave a funny explanation about why The Queers weren't there, stating that similarly how you can't have the President and Vice President on the same airplane in case something tragic happens, you can't have Ben Weasel and Joe Queer in the same club in case something happens.

After their set it was time for The Methadones who gave one of the days best performances and further ignited the crowd. Though It felt kind of weird to see Danny Vapid playing neither a guitar nor a bass. The band finished their set with a cover of Screeching Weasel's "What We Hate", and again I had to give my poor body a breather.

I watched the next band, The Apers, from around the bar area. I don't know if The Apers singer is a heavy smoker, or if he through his voice out, but his voice sounded really shot.

I returned to the pit to see The Copyrights, who came on stage asking why no one had stage dived off the balcony ala Eddie Vedder (they were incorrect, I think the kid from the Rydell's successfully did this during The Guts set, and someone else did it not so sucessfully during Ben Weasel's set, landing feet first on some poor girls head). Humbled by playing too such a large crowd, the band commented on how great it was to playing to an audience larger than a few of the bands friends, and proceeded to deliever a great set that the audience ate up. It's worth mentioning that during their performance a crowdsurfer was successfully able to hold onto his beer, and drink it while being passed around, all without spilling a drop.

Teenage Bottlerocket was up next and gave a stellar perform, though by now my body was aching in pain from being in the pit for most of the day, and I was starting to get tired.

I poured a cup of water over my head to make sure I was awake enough to enjoy The Mr. T Experience close out the festival. MTX came on sometime after midnight and delivered a combination of both old and new material. The band closed the show by giving great performances of "And I Will Be With You" and "I Feel For You". I was however dissapointed that they didn't end with a Ramones cover, seeing as every band and audience member at the show was so heavily influenced by them, and seeing as MTX recorded a cover of the entire "Road To Ruin" album, but what can you do. Overall the fest was great and with the power going out the day before, this wasn't going to get to me.

The thing that impressed me most about the festival was how open and down to earth all the performers were. If you wanted to meet any of the musicians, you probably had the opportunity to. Almost all of them were hanging outside by the food and merch at one point or another, and many of them were slamdancing in the pit and crowdsurfing. Jay from the Prozacs even tried to bum a ride back to Massachusetts with us.

One final note though that I realised over the weekend. If your band is named The {Insert name here}s, please do not call yourself {first name} {insert name here} there was an overabundance of this with many of the performers at the festivals and it's gotten old. Be creative! If everyone followed this trend we would be deprived of some of the best stage names in entertainment history! Pat Germ just doesn't have the same creativity to it as Pat Smear.