Portland, OR had two big rock stations back in the day: KUFO and KNRK. Every year they both had a summer show with at least a few big bands. This was my first experience for KUFO’s Rockfest. I was increasingly starting to go to Portland because of Rose’s parents in Corvallis. Besides, Seattle and Portland are both pretty equidistant from Kennewick, WA. The Portland Meadows is a horse racing track in North Portland that was definitely not made for concerts. The area right in front of the stage was just loose dirt that whipped up into a dust storm whenever someone good was on stage. I was excited to see Clutch, Jimmie’s Chicken Shack, Deftones, and Creed. Clutch didn’t end up showing up for some reason so Jimmie’s Chicken Shack was the first band I wanted to see of the day. Roscoe turned me onto them somehow and they were exactly what I expected-they rocked. I only remember the singer/guitarist saying that he wrote the song “High” in his bedroom when he lived in Portland. The second time seeing Deftones was not as cool as the first but they rocked just as hard. I was cracking up with laughter when they decided to cover Weezer’s “Say It Ain’t So” and nailed it. I heard of Creed from Rose and am ashamed to admit it but got into their first album My Own Prison, which is what they were touring for at this point. This was before Scott Stapp turned into a Jesus-Christ-Pose little bitch. I do remember being very impressed with their guitar player Mark Tremonti, who fucking killed it that night.
A friend and I were just discussing this show today. Jimmie’s Chicken Shack killed it, I got hit with an airborne trash can, and I remember the Deftones being terrible. One if my favorite concert memories though, thanks for the write up.
One of my favorite memories of this show was someone throwing a plastic water bottle filled with piss on stage during Deftones set and Chino (singer) picked it up, analyzed the color, and then told the crowd that whoever’s that was they needed to “eat more broccoli” because it was cloudy!
I vaguely remember that now that you mention it. Thanks for the memory share! R.I.P. KUFO
Oh no! What happened to KUFO? I moved to Hawaii a decade ago, they were still around when I left.
Not sure what happened but one of my friends that still lives there told me KUFO disappeared.
I was at all rockfest at timberbowl and went to rockfest in 2000 at meadows.
i was fock rest dancer, which basically meant I was a stripper in my pink thong bikini and had to walk out like a boxing ring girl would with a sign that said DEFTONES. before the show started, one of the kufo radio guys took me into the trailer where the Deftones were drinking and smoking weed before their set
i was trying to have a conversation about music with Stephen carpenter,.their guitar player, who wasn’t taking me the least bit seriously in my pink thong bikini. he told me I should come on stage during their.song 7 words and do a little dance ..then he told me I had chicken legs. (they may have been a bit on the white side truthfully 🤪)
years letter I was backstage at one of their shows, and I was sitting at a table with Stephen, he tried to hand me a joint and I thanked him but politely passed. i then told him that the first time I had met him, he seemed very ego filled and he was a complete dick to me. he apologized and said I feel you. we’ve been cool ever since.
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