Counter-culture Journals (文革)

Counter-culture Journals (文革)

Friday, May 19, 2006

The River Festival Sucks!!!


The Wichita River Festival is already known to many of us as a commercial farce. Many of my friends and I have gone to this event hoping it would be like a big party. It’s more like a big commercial for local businesses and most of the people we meet there are among the town’s most boring citizens. They are the family people who do virtually nothing all year around, until River Festival. Then they bitch to the newspaper when young people drink beer, until they’ve run most of them off. There’s parades, (with floats designed to advertise local businesses), the river run (an event sponsored by a bank) and increasingly bad musical bands to listen to.
I’m a big fan of the Turtles. The two main singers played with Frank Zappa at one time, then started a new band, The Phlorescent Leech and Eddie, then they shortened it to Flo and Eddy. Now they’ve returned to the Turtles and play a little of everything they used to do. This year, the Wichita River Festival, they are a back-up band for Tommy James, known for such forgettable hits as “Mony Mony." "Hanky Panky." "Draggin' the Line." "Crimson and Clover." "Sweet Cherry Wine." And "Crystal Blue Persuasion.” The Wichita Eagle had a whole article on Tommy James, but nothing but a mention of the Turtles.
This would be like using the Byrds as a warm up band for the Partridge Family or The Dead Kennedys as a warm up for Hank Williams Jr. or Rage Against the Machine as a warm up band for Britney Spears.
Both the Eagle and the city of Wichita have crapped on the Turtle.



Just remember: THE WICHITA RIVER FESTIVAK SUCKS!!!!!!!!!

1 comment:

brad4d said...

When I moved to Cali in 66, grandpa had tickets for me to see the Turtles at San Clemete High School, I saw Flo and Eddie open for David Bowie, Halloween nite at Winterland in S.F., 1972.