Question: What's the least fun you've ever had at a place that was supposed to be fun?

Ok, I know I know. I was gonna blog more and then I stopped blogging....Again. Sorry. Ok, enough of that. Let's get on with the answer...



The year was 2001. Beverly (my wife) and I were in our early 20s. We still sorta followed the music that was popular at that time. Several bands we liked were going to be there. Creed was one of the headliners and we really liked them. Here is the lineup that year if you would like a little bit of nostalgia.



http://www.thebealestreetmusicfestival.com/2000-bealestreetmusicfestivallineup.htm



So us and another couple bought tickets. We were really excited. This was the first year where they had three days of music by a bunch of artists we actually like. Should be a lot of fun, right?



Wrong.



So the first night we get there and the main band we wanted to see was Creed. We thought we'd bring our lounge chairs and find a place to set up and just enjoy the scenery for a little while until an hour or so before Creed was supposed to take the stage. That didn't work out at all. For one, no chairs allowed. For two (is that even a term? oh well), it started raining really hard soon after we got there. And when I say hard I mean I think a tornado was close or something. We were watching Percy Sledge (of "When a Man Loves a Woman" fame - yeah, that time slot was pretty weak) and the bottom fell out. Completely miserable.



So after the rain stopped a bit, the ground was muddy. Not Woodstock muddy I guess, but still pretty darn muddy. And tons of people started flowing in the place. Before long, it was pretty much shoulder to shoulder traffic across the entire park.



Oh, and I haven't mentioned the alcohol. Now, I understand that those types of events are for partying and drinking. And even though we weren't really into that kind of thing, we knew most of the people there would be. What we did not expect was the huge crowd that basically made it impossible not to get stuff poured all over you. I think we had as much beer on us as the other folks had in them.



So anyway, we make our way over to the stage where Creed was going to be performing. The band performing at the time had just came on. Their name was Sevendust. I think I'll call them Satan's Minions or some such name like that though because they sounded more like something straight out of Lucifer's lair than anything I'd ever experienced before. Lots of yelling and screaming. Several fans in the crowd with bongs and who knows what else. Scared us to death (almost literally it felt like).



Good times.



So Satan gets off the stage and we wait for Creed to show up.



And wait...



And wait...



It's so long that one of our group decides to go back to the car and wait for us to be done. Yeah, he decided hanging out in a parking garage by himself would be more fun than waiting on and eventually watching one of the top bands of that day perform.



So Creed finally performs. Still a ton of people. Not as many crazy folks doing drugs in our area anyway, but it was really crowded and people were shoving and spilling beer all over us. Creed put on an ok show from what I recall and from what we were able to catch between watching them and trying not to get trampled on.



By the end of the night, we were completely exhausted. We went back the next couple days but didn't stay long either day really. It kept raining and the crowds were still crazy. But we had spent the money and there were a few bands we wanted to see so we braved the elements for those few bands and left ASAP each day.



That was the first and only time I've ever been to the Beale Street Music Festival. And the last time too. Never again. Never. Again.



When people tell us they are going and act excited we pretty much laugh in their face now. We are clearly not the type of people who that event is meant for. And that's fine by us.