KUFO Rockfest 6/21/98

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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.