Past News
[Thursday, 5/14/98] Only two days left! Can't you just feel the excitment, the tension in the air? It's gonna be great.
Just remember, folks no coolers, alcohol, cans, bottles, or glass. The Man will get you. Gates open at 10am, and the final performance ends at 10pm. Oh yeah, you'll probably want to buy a HFStival '98 T-Shirt, which'll probably go for $20-25. And food's expensive, too.
Last year I made the mistake of wearing sandles, a mistake you can be sure I won't make again. You WILL get pushed around, and your feet WILL get stepped on. And watch out for those crazy crowd-surfers, it hurts when they land on you.
I'll probably update the page before I leave on Saturday, and then when I get back that night. If you can get some pictures and scan them, I'll put them up (and praise you endlessly). Only two days left. I'll see you there.
[Friday, 5/8/98] Only a week left until the festival! The (loud) music! The (bad) smells! The (scary) people! I can hardly wait. Just in case you STILL haven't gotten your tickets, you might be interested to know that it's a "ticket blowout weekend". Tune in to HFS to win tickets. It's not too late!
[Thursday, 4/30/98] Good news for all of you who didn't get tickets: ticket raids!! HFS is heading out to various shopping centers with 100 tickets, and they're going to raffle them away to some lucky winners. The times and locations of the raids are as follows:
- May 5th, from 7 to 9pm @ Waves Music-St Charles Town Center in Waldorf
- May 7th, from 9 to 11pm @ Reffers Bar & Grill in Fells Point **21 and over**
- May 8th, from 5:30 to 7:30 in The Montgomery Mall Parking Lot
- May 9th, from noon to 2 pm @ The Trak Auto in Annapolis
- May 10th, from noon to 2 pm @ The BlockBuster in Alexandria
You can read the official announcement here. Good luck to all of you, and if it seems unlikely that you'll win, just have your entire extended family come out and enter the raffle with you! Worked for me last year...
[Wednesday, 4/22/98] As you might already know, there are two stages at the HFStival, called the Inner and Outer stages, due to the fact that one stage is inside RFK, while the other is outside. Whoa. The Inner Stage is where the bigger bands play, while the Outer Stage is dedicated to local, less successful, and/or up-and-coming bands. I've taken the time (at a reader's request) to predict which bands will play each of the stages.
Inner:
The B-52s
The Mighty Mighty Bosstones
Green Day
Everclear
Scott Weiland
Wyclef Jean
Marcy Playground
Barenaked Ladies
Crystal Method
Soul Coughing
Foo Fighters
God Lives Underwater
|
Outer:
Harvey Danger
Fuel
Save Ferris
Semisonic
Fastball
Tuscadero
Agents of Good Roots
Cherry Poppin' Daddies
|
Be sure to let me know if you don't agree with any of this.
[Tuesday, 4/28/98] Seems like there are a lot of cool festivals coming up soon. The HFStival, the Tibetan Freedom Concert, and the DC101 Chili Cook-Off are all gonna be great concerts. I added a little pole to the right, asking "Which festival is going to be the best?" Check it out.
[Sunday, 4/19/98] For all you dance-techno people out there, I've learned some information about this year's Trancemissions tent. Just in case you weren't at last year's festival, Trancemissions is this big tent where hundreds of people dance to techno (electronica, rave) music. As you can probably imagine, it gets kinda hot being inside a tent, shoulder-to-shoulder with so many other people. Some of the performers in the tent this year are Propellerhead (big in Europe), Scott Henry (big rave hero along east coast), and Josh Wink (another big rave hero). Of course, there will be more performers than these.
[thanks DylanTheKid]
[Wednesday, 4/15/98] I went ahead and added the complete band list to the column on the right. The bands page is still up, with the band list, as well as all the rumored bands.
[Sunday, 4/12/98] Man, the HFStival Rumor Source is really on top of things. I've found a couple of interesting bits from the site today. First of all, HFS has confirmed that all the bands have been announced, for a total of 20.
The Rumor Source also has confirmation that Bad Religion will not be playing the HFStival, contrary to many rumors. Bad Religion and Green Day were the first major bands I heard would be playing the festival. I guess something forced Bad Religion to cancel their appearance.
Finally, HFS has offered Tori Amos a chance to perform at this year's festival. Not even Tori herself knows if she is going to be there, though.
The webmaster of another HFStival site, calling itself HFStival.com (although that's not the actual domain name) contacted me today. I checked out his site, and while it may be a little lacking in content right now, the design is really good and I expect a lot will come of this site in the coming weeks. I suggest you head over there right now and see what I'm talking about.
[Saturday, 4/11/98] There has been an almost complete shutdown of info about the HFStival. All the bands have been announced (maybe. More on that later.), the tickets have sold out, and the overall "buzz" surrounding the HFStival has died down. Fortunatly, the webmaster of The HFStival Rumor Source contacted me and told me about his page. I found out a few interesting things when I went there, so I suggest you check it out.
A number of people have been emailing me, telling me that Smash Mouth is going to play the festival. I had no idea where this rumor originated, but the Rumor Source says that DJ Mark 'Alien' Daly started it. Well, it's not true! Smash Mouth is NOT playing the festival. Sorry, folks.
The Rumor Source has one piece of information that I found particularly interesting: Jimmie's Chicken Shack may be making a surprise appearance at the 1998 HFStival! This would be JCS's third year at the festival in a row, and I know that they were a favorite of mine last year. Let's just hope that this rumor turns out to be true.
[Tuesday, 4/7/98] News in the "Other Festivals" catagory, the Lollapallooza tour was cancelled. This tour, began in 1991 by the lead singer of Jane's Addiction, could not find a headliner band for the 8th annual tour. I guess they just couldn't compete with the mother of all festivals, the HFStival.
Does anybody have any extra tickets? Plenty of people have emailed me in search of tickets, and if you've got some extras, I'm sure I could find you a buyer.
[Sunday, 4/5/98] For all of you who didn't get tickets, I'm sorry. But the only suggestion I have to offer is this: keep trying. You've still got more than a month until the festival, and there are many more tickets to be won and sold. Check around, see if anyone you know has any tickets they are willing to part with, and keep listening to the radio. Last year, a lot of tickets were given away at shopping centers. I'll post anything I hear.
A few people have mailed me about what happened at Mailboxes Etc. Apparently, hundreds of people were waiting outside for the tickets to go on sale, and an army of cops showed up in full riot gear and made them all leave. Jeez, getting busted by the cops? I guess it's a sign that we're growing, but it seems a little harsh to me.
[Saturday, 4/4/98] The tickets for the HFStival sold out in less than an hour and a half, a new record. I think it's great to see how big the festival has become in recent years. The number of people who want to go to the festival has grown so large, people have to camp out or wait in line for hours, in the rain, to get tickets. If you didn't get tickets, don't worry. You'll have many opportunities to win tickets on the radio and at schedualed giveaways.
I had a lot of time to think while I was waiting in line, and I think I came up with a great idea. Does the idea of a 'matchmaker' system, in which people looking to sell tickets (at face value, of course) could find people who are looking to buy them, sound good to anybody? Email me with your opinions.
Another band was added to the line up, this one being the lesser known TUSCADERO. I've only heard one of their songs, and it's pretty good. That's twenty bands. Now, where's Bad Religion?
[Friday, 4/3/98] Perhaps to add a little variety to this year's festival, WYCLEF JEAN of the Fugees has been added to the line-up. It should be cool to hear some of his reggae/hip-hop music amidst all the alternative bands, and maybe he'll even play a little Bob Marley!
[thanks WtchKng]
I dunno when this was first announced, but I just heard from Bob Waugh that FUEL will be playing the festival, bringing the number of confirmed bands to 19. At least two more bands have not been announced yet. Fuel is great, but since they are a new band, they'll probably be playing the outer stage. The bands just keep on coming.
Okay, this is it. Tickets go on sale TOMORROW, at 9 am. They're available through Ticketmaster and Ticketmaster Phone Charge. They're $25 each, and a maximum of four will be sold to a person. I'm predicting the tickets to sell out even faster than last year, meaning they might be gone by 10:00. Good luck in getting your tickets, you might need it. And try not to get hurt.
[Thursday, 4/2/98] Keeping in the tradition of past HFStivals, a great classic band will be playing a reunion show this year. Last year, it was Blondie. This year? The B-52s! While I'm not too familiar with their music, many of you older fans will get a kick out of hearing them together again.
Yesterday, I wasn't sure who Scott Weiland was going to be playing with, but today it was announced that the on-and-off lead singer of STP will be jamming with members Porno For Pyros! Let's hope they know "Interstate Love Song".
[thanks Barry]
Also recently confirmed is Agents of Good Roots, one of the lesser known bands at the festival. Somehow, they were also one of the first bands that we knew about. This could be a great start for an up-and-coming band.
[Wednesday, 4/1/98] Sorry folks, but the HFStival has been called off due to lack of interest... APRIL FOOLS! Heh, I had you for a minute there, didn't I? Anyway, the most recent performer to be confirmed is SCOTT WEILAND, the man. I don't think the rest of STP will be there, but if you've heard otherwise, be sure to tell me.
Did you catch Lou Brutus' little April Fools joke this morning? He announced that THE VILLAGE PEOPLE are going to play the festival! Keeping in mind that it was a joke, don't you think it would be unbelievably cool to see 60,000 people singing and dancing to 'YMCA'? Well, maybe not...
[Tuesday, 3/31/98] First announced this morning by Lou Brutus, HFStival '96 veterans EVERCLEAR are going to be making a repeat performance. Another great band playing the festival. This is gonna be so cool.
[thanks Eric]
And who else is gonna be there? Harvey Danger! Can't you just see 60 thousand people singing along to 'Flagpole Sitta'? Oh man, this is getting cooler by the hour!
[Monday, 3/30/98] The official announcement! The HFStival is Saturday, May 16. Gates open at 10:00 am. Tickets go on sale this Saturday (April 4) at 9 am, through Ticketmaster. They cost $25 a ticket, maximum of four per person. You can be sure they'll sell out quickly. To see a list of all the bands that have been announced so far, check out the bands page.
[Sunday, 3/29/98] Today Gina Crash confirmed that the HFStival will take place at RFK again this year, but wouldn't release any band info. All the bands will be announced tomorrow, a few at a time. A short article in Rolling Stone magazine about the HFStival confirms that Green Day will headline the festival, along with Foo Fighters, Everclear and Scott Weiland (who I thought was back with STP). Marcy Playground will be there, and so will Crystal Method and Bad Religion. And these are just a few of the inner stage bands! Outer stage bands include Semisonic, Fastball, Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Tuscadero and Agents of Good Roots. The article can be found here. This is gonna be sooo cool. (Thanks J. Robinson) I have heard from an EXTREMELY reliable source, though, that some of this info may be innacurate, but we'll find out the truth tomorrow.
[Friday, 3/27/98] Flipping through my school paper, I was surprised to find a few lines of news about the HFStival. Now, keeping in mind that this is completely unconfirmed, I think you'll pleased that GREEN DAY will be playing the '98 festival. Also playing are Crystal Method, Bad Religion, and Agents of Good Roots. Expect to hear the official announcement any day now. Also, the first free tickets were given away to three people today. If you're looking to win some of these free tickets, all I can suggest is carry a radio and a cell phone, and just keep pressing that redial button. I know I will.
[Wednesday, 3/25/98] You've probably heard that "The HFStival is coming..." commercial already, the one that tells you the days remaining (which I've added on the right) and that something will be annonunced "soon", but not much else. Today, Allen Scott (HFS morning jock) announced that news will be forthcoming in a few days. You can be sure that, whatever they announce, I'll be all over it. Stay tuned for details.
[Thursday, 3/19/98] Well, here it goes. I've decided to put up a site devoted to nothing but the biggest alternative music festival in the Washington area, the HFStival. Ask anyone who went last year, and they'll tell you how great it was. 65,000 screaming fans jamming to the sounds of the Bosstones. Beck. Verve Pipe. Jimmie's Chicken Shack. 20 great bands total. Awesome. I realize that the '98 festival isn't for another two months, but it's never too soon the begin contemplating just how great it's gonna be. I'll try to be current with news on the bands, the tickets, the location (presumably RFK, but who knows?), and whatever else pops up. With your help, this site can be a major source of festival information, so if you've heard any rumors, send them in!
