HORDE Festival '94
By Harry Sumrall
San Jose Mercury News
July, 1994
| A HORDE is descending upon us. Not a typical horde of raving lunatics. We're talking about the H.O.R.D.E. Festival '94, which is made up of a horde of raving rock 'n' roll lunatics. The groups in question in this third edition of the H.O.R.D.E., which comes to Shoreline Amphitheatre Sunday, include the Allman Brothers Band, the Black Crowes, Blues Traveler, Big Head Todd and the Monsters and a vast supporting cast of storming rockers. In addition, H.O.R.D.E. also comes with a "Psychospace" concourse, featuring crafts, vendors, activities, games and informational booths that make the eight-hour festival as much a fair as a concert- and a sort of mainstream rock counterpart to such alternative touring festivals as W.O.M.A.D. and Lollapaloza. While those festivals have a cutting-edge image, the H.O.R.D.E. (which stands for "Horizons of Rock Developing Everywhere") specializes in straight-ahead rock, with its more traditional blues, R&B and funk offshoots. The Allman Brothers were one of the leading groups of the Southern rock scene of the '70s, and their music is as bluesy and brassy today as it was then. The Black Crowes' music has much in common with the rock of the Rolling Stones, Faces and other '70s groups- beefy, brash and loud. Blues Traveler has a bar-band roughness and fervor. The other acts are newer, for the most part, but their sounds seem familiar. Big Head Todd and April's Motel Room display traces of R.E.M. and others of the post-folk rock scene of the '80s, whicl Cycomotogoat has a nervy, edgy sound and a post-punk feel. Other H.O.R.D.E. acts reflect older and sturdier musical virtues. Ugly Americans pump out burning funk, while Screamin' Cheetah Wheelies has a soulful sound and Mother Hips wallows in '60s psychedelia. But the H.O.R.D.E. Festival isn't all about the past. With its "Psychospace" concourse, it makes an effort t odraw in slackers as well as rockers. The concourse, designed by Peter Barsotti of Bill Graham Presents (who has provided concourses for Lollapalooza and other festivals) is a splashy affair with a range of distractions and activities. These include an "LSD Flight Simulator," essentially a mask hooked up to a kaleidoscope that approximates the "psychedelic experience." there isthe Jimi Hendrix Exhibition, a museum that tours on a 45-foot tractor-trailer, offering a display of rare photos, prints, videos and an "interactive music machine." A wood carver, Shane Eagleton, serves up his "primitive interactive" show, in which festivalgoers can create their own art projects. The concourse als ocomes with such contraptions as a "bungee trampoline" and a robo-surfer gizmo that's a cross between aan electronic bull and a surfboard. There are also a wide range of vendors selling everything from arts and crafts to ethnic foods and "smart" drinks. And those who have tried out the bungee trampoline and the robo-surfer can get low-cost rubdowns. Every touring festival also has to have a cause- or maybe scores of them. H.O.R.D.E. comes with the usual suspects, including Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, Rock The Vote, Zero Population Growth and others, all of which will have representatives handing out leaflets and dispensing information. What it adds up to is a complete entertainment package, with the music as the main draw. |