Review: Welcome To Rockville 2018
I want to start my review of Welcome To Rockville 2018 by quoting the legendary Dave Grohl of The Foo Fighters. While performing Sunday night April 29, 2018 at Welcome To Rockville Dave Grohl said, “I think this is the most F@#$ed up Foo Fighters’ show we’ve ever performed.” I don’t think he realized just how much that statement rang true for the entire Rockville festival. How could he possibly? But, I gotta say it was quite prophetic coming from one of the most talented & legendary performers I’ve ever been blessed to see perform! Like most, my attention span isn’t all that long. But…Dave along with the Foo Fighters kept my interest peaked for the solidity of the TWO hour long set. Dave and The Foo Fighters who were joined on stage by the legendary Billy Idol AND “The King” John Travolta all at the same time was by far the unexpected and unlikely treat I would’ve never imagined. I could hardly believe my eyes and ears it was so phenomenal. I’m still actually trying to wrap my brain around that experience. Most definitely a once in a life time experience that I will cherish forever.
This is my sixth consecutive year being credentialed media at this particular music festival and I have to say this was definitely the most awesome and awful and great and terrible and insane and tame and phenomenal and terrifying all at the same time. Hence the starting this review with the quote from Dave Grohl. So much happened and didn’t happen that my head is probably going to be spinning for the entire year if not the rest of my life. It was one great big mystery wrapped in many enigmas, both positive and negative.
Like every other year that I’ve been credentialed media for Welcome To Rockville, each year seems to develop its own theme. This year the theme via the bands I interviewed and interacted with was honesty and genuineness and telling it like it is. Enveloped in that theme, the theme of everyone taking responsibility for their own actions and blaming no one else other than themselves for both their failures aka mistakes and successes. I found all of this to be very much so quite refreshing considering the distinct lack of all of these things and worse in the world today. And all the more so refreshing considering the same can sadly be said of the music industry and all the pettiness and politics involved with and surrounding it in it’s current state of affairs.
I am an honest, genuine, tell it like it is sort of person. However, I don’t always say the things I should say or would like to say because a fear of consequences and an innate need to avoid conflict. With the theme of my interviews as well as interactions being what it was this year, I am going to embrace that sense of self and the world fully and I am making efforts to stare my fears in the eyes and walk right through them. Hence, my telling you all how both perfectly amazing and how incredulously horrific this year’s Welcome To Rockville experience truly was.
I am going to leave out almost all of the negative details and their regards simply because I refuse to dwell on negatively and also refuse to bore you with details you can find all over the news as well as many other sources. I will say that it appears that only the bands and not the Welcome To Rockville staff are embracing nor are they seemingly in support of this year’s band and attendee’s mentalities. In fact their actions have until now stood in direct opposition of the very ideals we all cherish or we all should cherish I should say. At least the mentality the world has been lacking is now being brought back to the forefront by the artists and fans. The rest … remains to be seen and known.
As always, thank you all for reading and have a Rockin’ day!
\m/
Evie Star
