I was totally psyched heading into Jamboree '98. I had seen the Foo Fighters in Normal IL in October, and I wanted to see them again. Ben Folds Five is one of my all-time favorite bands and I couldn't wait to see them either. So, we got up at 8 and drove up to Chicago, downing hamburgers and donuts on the way.
After getting in the theatre, I went to check out FASTBALL, the first band of the day. I only stayed to hear 2 of their songs. They were okay, but I couldn't really get into them. I headed back to the main stage in time to see Spacehog. Spacehog played a short set. They included Mungo City, their new hit, and In the Meantime. Their playing was very good and the lead singer voice was clear, since I was way up on the lawn and far away from the action.
Ben Folds Five was up next. Folds started out with the Theme from Dr. Pyser to get the crowd warmed up, then broke into the Battle of Who Could Care Less. He also played Selfless, Cold and Composed and Philosophy. On "Steven's last night in town" Ben played clarinet and piano at the same time. They finished with Brick. I wish they had played "One Angry Dwarf" or "Retarded", but in all, they sounded good. I just wish I was closer.
I went to take a break while Creed began the next set. On the Buzz stage, Harvey Danger was finishing up. Their singer had a good repoir with the crowd, and they played pretty well. I stuck around to see They Might Be Giants.
I had seen TMBG when they toured with Hootie, and they were vastly improved from the last time. Lots of people were crowd surfing, and I had to save one girl before she crashed onto the pavement below. TMBG had a cool confetti cannon, and played some of their hits like Particle Man and Birdhouse. I got pretty close to the stage, and TMBG really got the crowd involved. On the Planet of the Apes song, everyone shouted when they told us too. After hearing most of their set, I left to go back to the Main Stage to see Scott Weiland.
Scott Weiland came out in a big fur coat and walked all funny. He started with an STP song and broke into Barbarella soon after. He dedicated one of his songs to Kurt Loder, who he has been publicly feuding with recently. He played Vasoline from his old STP days, and some of his new stuff like Mockingbird Girl and About Nothing. He seemed rather nervous and uncomfortable. But his voice was much better than I expected it to be. It also helped that I had moved to the front of the lawn at the World.
The next act was Barenaked Ladies, from Canada. The only song I had ever heard by them was "The Old Apartment", and I thought it pretty much sucked. But the Barenaked Ladies changed my mind. Their show was incredible. Everyone in the audience knew the words to their songs. They even covered "Spice Up your life" and "Brick". Several of their songs were also very good, like "Brian Wilson" and "If I had a $1000000". The lead singer sang "Memory" from Cats as well. Barenaked Ladies were by far the most fun and comical band of the day. They really seemed to enjoy performing, and that made it fun for everyone there.
Following the Barenaked Ladies was Soul Asylum. I didn't really get into their show. They didn't play "Runaway Train", instead they played their crappy new album and a cover of Wyclef Jean's "Gone to November". People in the audience were sleeping while they played. The only good part of their show was the song "Just Like Anyone" because I liked the video with Claire Danes in it.
The Foo Fighters saved the night after Soul Asylum. Dave Grohl came out and broke right into "My Hero". He forgot the lines to "Hey Jonny Park" when he invited a girl onto stage to dance. He also complained about giant bugs and raved about how Rammstein, the German band, was "kick-ass" because they light themselves on fire. My friends and I jumped and moshed the whole time the Foos played. They played Everlong, I'll Stick Around, Monkey Wrench, and my favorite New Way Home. The Foo Fighters were by far the loudest and techically best band at Jamboree. I was exhausted after they finished with "This is a Call" but I thoroughly enjoyed the set. It was better than when I saw them in Normal since I could actually move around and get into it.
Q101 Jamboree was a blast and I can't wait to go next year. I found out that Barenaked Ladies are awesome, Soul Asylum sucks and Dave Grohl loves Rammstein.