I want to stress a point that makes this a bad thing. We all remember HFS as the way it was. But that was back when many of us were kids, or at least a hell of a lot younger. My point is that while the music was pretty standard, the reputation was sufficient to keep getting decent acts in the HFStival and occasionally other shows. THe DRAW of the station was in fact responsible for decent shows...like it or not.
And, while there are plenty of great shows elsewhere, we need plenty of great shows HERE. LOCALLY! HFStival was local. It DREW people from out of town. It had good bands. There was always somebody worth seeing. Yes, there were crappy bands, but trust me, there were crappy bands in the late 1970s and 80s too. They were punk, new wave, "alternative" "grunge" or whatever. But they sucked nevertheless. Of course, SUCKED is relative. As is "alternative." Now there is one less major lure for those shows. We liked it when we were young. KIDS listen to the station. THey attend the shows. And they get exposed to those few bands that don't (relatively) suck.
You have to be exposed to SOMETHING to be cool, man. You can't just glom on to the guy with the groovy shoes at school, or the girl with the blue hair.
I am getting old, no doubt. But, my 12 year old daughter likes Green Day. She LOVES Green Day. They are fine, I guess, better than many. And she can hear them on the radio almost anywhere. BUT...HFS had them first. And helped them come here again and again...even though the station was stagnating. No, it's not The Cramps at the Marble Bar in 81 (date myself even more) but Green Day is still better than Britney Spears or whatever.
I am on a soapbox and need to get off...but I am bummed. I am afraid that we'll miss out on stuff.
later HFS...
