Birthday Bash

May 8, 1999
Tulsa, OK
Kristie

Well this is day 2 of my little marvelous adventure in the MidWest...  Tulsa, OK. A nice big city with enough normalcy to leave me in a good state of mind. Since it wasn't so freaking on crack or whatever like Branson was I really don't have much to say about it.

The Tulsa show was a big festival called "Birthday Bash" for this radio station called The Edge. It was a pretty good line-up. Among other bands were Collective Soul, Dovetail Joint, Local H, Oleander, Bare Jr., My Friend Steve, Zebrahead, Molly's Yes, etc. We arrived at the festival only to get crap from the lovely security people for bringing our cameras, but being the resourceful chick I am I had brought with me the super-secret-ultimate-bad-ass-get-anything-in purse. So, in went the cameras without anyone knowing the wiser.

We watched Local H's set, which was really good! I thought Scott could have looked just a tad more enthusiastic, but they sounded excellent! I spotted Butch with Robert from Dovetail Joint and Neil (DTJ's way cool tour manager-extraordinaire) and Will from Collective Soul watching Local H's set, they looked like they were having a great time, so all you Local H fans, know that they rocked that day.

Something really freaky happened during Local H's set. I was just standing in  the crowd, looking around and I see this kid running around without a shirt being a pest and stuff. He had long brown hair and when he turned around I got a good look at his face and I swear I almost started screaming in fear. He looked JUST like Taylor Hanson. I am not a Hanson fan but I know what they look like, who doesn't? They are everywhere! So I have come to the theory that Taylor Hanson was at the festival, and it's perfectly logical if you think about it. Aren't Hanson from Tulsa? Besides, I always knew they weren't as squeeky clean as they make themselves out to be! I saw that kid with a joint! News at 11! Hanson kid gets caught wreaking havoc at rock festival. Can't you see it now?

Ok now that I am SO far off track that I can barely find my way back...

After Local H we didn't really pay attention to the rest of the bands. We listened but we were off standing by the gates talking with Neil (DTJ's tour manager) every once in awhile. Finally it came time for Dovetail Joint! Thanks to Neil, who rocks beyond compare, I had a photo pass, so I didn't have to be in the crazy frisbee-key-bottle-etc. throwing crowd. That was a total mess! So I was right at the stage behind the security guards snapping away pictures. The will be featured on Inge's kick ass DTJ site. They had a FABULOUS set! I totally rocked out. A couple of minor technical difficulties happened, Robert's guitar strap kept coming loose, and Chuck got hit with a frisbee, but all in all it was a great show! I had a blast! I can't wait to see them again.

After DTJ left the stage it was Marvelous 3's turn. I stood there armed with my camera trying to avoid getting pelted with flying soda cups and frisbees. So... after a brief playing of a Prince cd that M3 uses before every show, they hit the stage! I think they totally took Tulsa by surprise! The entire crowd got even MORE energized then they had before. That's what I love about Marvie shows, they know how to turn on a crowd. I have to say, I watched a lot of the other performers that day and a good chunk of them put on the same cookie cutter show, just basically standing there with little crowd interaction or showmanship. Marvelous 3 just took the stage by storm. I had a blast, I didn't know whether to just stand there and enjoy the show and rock out or to keep snapping pictures! It was a tough call a lot of times, but knowing that I had to have this for memory sake, I kept taking pictures, while rocking in between shots.

Ahhh taking pictures at a Marvie show... what an experience! It was completely hilarious because I could totally tell some of the times they were posing for me! It's like, show them a camera, watch them run into a pose! The funniest part actually was when a professional photographer came over and Butch saw him, signaled to Jayce and they started posing, it was hilarious! I have a picture of it actually on page 4 of the pictures from Tulsa, check it out! During "Bohemian Rhapsody" Slug came out from behind his drum kit and was actually waving and stuff at me, I had him pose for a pic too. That's on page 1 of the pics. So, all in all, the Marvies are total hams, gotta love it! It makes the show that much more entertaining!

Some other funny things that happened were, right in the middle of a song, this frisbee comes flying right at Butch and hits him right between the eyes. I just started cracking up, it was the most weird thing that I've ever witnessed! Some other really bright person decided to throw their SHOE up on stage, so being the witty person he is Butch says "Hey man, thanks for the shoe, how about throwing up the other one, I need a new pair of shoes!" or something like that, so sue me, I ad libbed! Well, I had a fabulous time, it was quite possibly the best time I've ever had at a concert, I could enjoy it all without getting trampled, which was a major plus!

After Marvies got offstage Inge and I went to the autograph tent because I still hadn't gotten pics with the guys! So I stood inline while Inge walked around getting food, talking to some new people we went, etc. I was jamming to Collective Soul who had just hit the stage. I couldn't see them because the tent was in the way, but I was having a good time listening to them. I was still waiting, with Inge who had decided to keep me company, and listening to "The World I Know," which just happens to be one of my all time favorite songs and can make me cry, when all of a sudden the music STOPS... I just thought it was some technical difficulties, like what happened during Dovetail Joint's set, but it was quiet for a real long time. Inge went off to find out what happened, and when she came back she told me what happened. Aparently some dumbass threw a Zippo lighter onstage at Ed Roland, who is the sweetest man on the planet, knocking him out briefly. Dean supposedly threw his guitar down and said some stuff and they all left the stage. Ed was being treated by the paramedics. This actually made national news, I heard it on my local radio station as well as on MTV. But everyone rest assure that Ed is fine. He had a major welt on the side of his head but no serious damage. Needless to say, I don't think Collective Soul will be touring in Tulsa anytime soon. Not that I blame them. That is so fucked up, even throwing those stupid frisbees was lame. If you are going to a festival, or even a regular concert, PLEASE don't throw shit at the bands, it's not cool, and if you see someone about to chuck something onstage, try and stop them, or tell a security guard, yeah that's a weenie thing to do, but when an innocent person, especially one as wonderful as Ed Roland, gets hurt then that's just not acceptable. Ok I am stepping off my soapbox now.

Well I got pictures with the band. They were all exclaiming about how nifty it was that I was up front the whole time, and they asked me how I got up there. I had to praise the all mighty god that is Neil again. Neil, if you ever read this, you rock! So, that was my experience at the Tulsa Birthday Bash Festival.... I hope you all had as much fun living this vicariously as I did really living it. Well, so it isn't exactly the same, but I hope this helped!