Wildflower Festival – May 21st – Galatyn Park – Richardson, TX
I have a bit of history with the Wildflower Festival so let me unpack this for you –
From a musician’s perspective it’s the kind of suburban festival where a band say like Blues Traveler or Loverboy can still play in front of thousands of people (mostly in lawn chairs) to a grateful crowd of aging fans who can bring their families.
Their’s nothing legitimate about it, it’s just a good time – Local business’s (mostly restaurants) can peddle their wares and kids fresh out of school can frolic while their parents can be entertained by musical acts from their youth with maybe a local act made good thrown in for extra measure.
Got it? Ok so while on one hand it maybe an embarrassment for some, it’s always alot of fun, I’ve been coming for years, and thanks to it I actually now have seen Blues Traveler & Loverboy
For much of the past 5 years I’ve attended in a press or official guest capacity so when I sent in my annual submission I was surprised to receive one of the shittiest letters I’ve ever read from anyone. The festival hired a new PR person in 2014 and he & I got on great (via email) & I was treated to hospitality without equal that year. So last year when I aimed to repeat it, this person that I thought I had this amazing rapport with sends me this email basically saying I ain’t shit & apparently only approving credentials from press from the likes of Rolling Stone & others.
You know how those major monthlies can’t seem to get enough coverage of the Gin Blossoms in 2016 right?
So I didn’t even apply this year, the lineup was the weakest overall I had ever seen it & I wasn’t gonna be disrespected two years in a row.
But I did have an agenda – There were exactly two bands I wanted to see out of an entire weekend of acts and thankfully they were both playing the same night – The Toadies & Soul Asylum back-to-back so I could just slip in & slip out.
The Toadies are old friends I’ve known most of my life and I could have easily called them up for passes or whatever I needed but I have a rule to never do that especially if it’s a hometown show and again I wanted to shove this up that PR dude’s ass.
So here’s what I did – I purposely snuck in to prove just how bullshit this festival is & how undeserving that letter was.
I walked right in, strolled without hesitation to the hospitality areas, drank for free all night and used the reserved bathrooms like I owned the fucking place. Could I have done that if this was the kind of festival that is only covered by the outlets this guy was trying to only credential? Hell no, we at TrickyKid have more in common with those outlets than we do with this over-40 fucking picnic.
On to the music!
Soul Asylum
I was a big fan of this band back during their commercial peak in the early 1990’s & thanks to some older friends was turned on to their vast & impressive pre-fame catalogue. I’ve managed to only have seen them once way back in 1993 so to say it’s been a minute is an understatement.
I hadn’t visited their stuff in quite sometime & really couldn’t tell you what they have been up to, but it was clear after the first two songs nothing has changed in terms of pure adrenaline and just being a kickass Rock N Roll band.
They were on fire the entire set and I had forgotten how good these songs were & how much I missed them. It only took two songs when I was looking at the drummer and thinking I was hallucinating – It looked just like Michael Bland from Prince’s New Power Generation (Prince had just died and I was and still am completely deflated and confused about life) so I was like that can’t be him. But then I started thinking & remembered that Soul Asylum are also from Minneapolis and his style and size are hard to duplicate so I knew it was him.
Had a chance to have a great talk with Bland after the set. I didn’t dare mention Prince other than to say, “What a confusing, chaotic time this is for everyone” and he got it. I won’t go that long again without these guys, I left there energized thanks to a killer set and unforgettable words from Bland.
Setlist –
Somebody to Shove
Shut Down
Just Like Anyone
Misery
Watcha Need
Black Gold
Without a Trace
Runaway Train
Supersonic
Can’t Help It
Doomsday
Something Out of Nothing
Spinnin’
Stand Up and Be Strong
The Toadies
Up next were the Toadies, stalwarts of this festival and probably the reason I came here the first time years ago.
Again old friends of mine that I try to check out when I can, great band that always delivers a solid set.
Setlist –
Mexican Hairless
Push the Hand
Away
Little Sin
Heart of Glass (Blondie cover)
No Deliverance
Backslider
I Am a Man of Stone
I Come From the Water
Got a Heart
Paper Dress
In the Belly of a Whale
Sweetness
Possum Kingdom
Encore:
I Burn
Rattler’s Revival
Tyler
Speaking of the Toadies just a month later they were doing a special show literally within (almost) walking distance from my house.
Martin House Presents Hell Below/Stars Above Beer Release Party w/ The Toadies – June 26th – Martin House Brewery – Fort Worth, TX
The hottest day ever
For the third year in a row, the Toadies have teamed up with Martin House Brewing in Fort Worth.
I’m not the world’s biggest drinker, but I have to admit I’ve found myself completely caught up in the craft beer boom the last few years even to the point of investing in some nice equipment to do three homebrews a years of my own.
Needless to say, this was right up my alley (& backyard).
This year they were releasing two beers on the same day that can be drank individually or together (think Snakebite a la cider & Guinness).
Fittingly called Hell Below and Stars Above after their 2001 LP of the same name – the Hell a strong black ale & the Stars. a raspberry sour ale, are both worthy additions to the previous Toadies-inspired Martin House brews, Rubberneck Red and Bockslider.
So today they were having a release party at the Martin Brewery that sits along the banks of the Trinity River, to try them before the band took the stage. The beer is out now around DFW in cans.
After a few hours the band took stage –
The Hell in this case wasn’t just the name of the new beer, this had to be the hottest day on record, like freaking anywhere ever.
It was styfling, steaming hot to the point of unbearability.
First I was under the tent covering the soundboard but I had to retreat to behind the stage as it was just too much.
Not to mention to take in this view – Look at that shit!
Still a good time was had by all – new songs, new beers & made some new friends. Cheers
Setlist –
Rattler’s Revival
Backslider
No Deliverance
Sweetness
Make Me Alive
Push the Hand
In the Belly of a Whale
I Come From the Water
Little Sin
I Am a Man of Stone
Heart of Glass (Blondie cover)
Away
Mexican Hairless
Got a Heart
Polly Jean
Possum Kingdom
Encore:
Hell Below / Stars Above
Sound and Vision David Bowie
Tyler
Stay tuned for Part II of our Summer coverage as we wrap up with an even hotter August and fun galore!
