I've lived in the Mpls./St. Paul area for almost 20 years now. I don't know why, but I didn't start attending the Taste of Minnesota Festival until the late 1990's. I'm not even sure what year it was the first time I went. It used to be held on the grounds of the St. Capitol in St. Paul. I remember some of the first shows I did go to see there though: Rick Derringer along with ELO II (a great show) and the following day I was back again to see pop singer John Waite, formerly of the 70's group The Babys . In 2001, we went to check out the Go-Go's. (Yeah, I know, not really my usual thing either, but it was FREE so what the hell, right? We had a great time.
(Images via: NYCDreamin Archives)
In 2002 a friend and I made it to the Taste on July 5th to see Joey Molland's Badfinger and The Guess Who. We met up with some other friends of ours and we all had a great time. I had to work the next day, but was excited at the idea that after I got off work I could come back to St. Paul and see a long-time favorite band I'd never seen before, Blondie. It was threatening rain all day but it held off. I got off work in the mid-afternoon and raced over to St. Paul. Shortly after I arrived on the Capitol Grounds, the clouds broke and the rain began. And it continued to intensify as time went on. I grabbed a bite to eat and found some cover from the rain and it was announced shortly thereafter that Blondie would not be playing because of the weather. I was really bummed out that I'd driven all the way there for nothing. To this day, 8 years later, I have still not seen Blondie in concert. And I'm gonna miss 'em when they're near here again later this summer - but that's another story.
In July 2003, the Festival changed locations. Gone were the days of crowding in on the lawn in front of the State Capitol. Now the Festival moved to the much more spacious Harriet Island Park on the banks of the Mississippi River. I thought this was a great development and it turned out to be just that. The extra room made for a much nicer time enjoying the day in St. Paul. On July 5th that year, we were super excited to bee seeing legendary hard rock/heavy metal monsters Blue Oyster Cult. The weather was opressively hot but we were on a mission to rock and a little heat never stopped us from that. The show was amazing. We were back again the following afternoon to see John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers George Thorogood & the Destroyers. While Thorogood was on stage, Dickey Betts (he of the much hated - on this blog anyway - Allman Brothers Band), who had played on another stage earlier in the afternoon and had made us wish we'd been born without ears (God, this guy SUCKS!!) tried to get up on stage to jam with ole' George. Apparently he didn't discuss it with Thorogood before the show, and, being a moron and not wearing any kind of backstage passes or anything to identify himself, came walking out on the stage to jam.
One of George's beefy security guys walked over to him and quickly escorted him right back off the stage. My buddy "337" and I looked at each other and laughed and laughed - it was hilarious and I was thinking "Take THAT you talentless fuck!!" HAHA. Good times. Of course Lonesome George and his band absoulutely KILLED. Below is a clipping from the Minneapolis Star Tribune from a few days later - Dickey's humiliation had made the news! I blogged about this incident previously HERE.
I laughed again and looked forward to the following year and wondered who would be on the bill.
On July 1st, 2004, a few days after seeing Kiss absoulutely BOMB in Somerset, WI, we were back at Harriet Island in St. Paul for Taste of Minnesota 2004. On this particular night we were treated to the hard-rockin 70's sounds of Foghat. They were great and really looked like they were enjoying playing to such a large crowd. The following evening we were back again to check out Jefferson Starship (I think there may have been one or two original members), and 80's heart-throb Rick Springfield. Rick was better than I thought he'd be, a surprisingly good guitar player, we even stayed for the whole show instead of leaving like we'd planned, and man, that guy makes the ladies go crazy - it was fun to watch.
On July 1st, 2005, we were in store for a real treat. Dave Mason and his band opened the show on the main stage and was followed by one of the best of all time - Deep Purple. This was the second time I'd had a chance to see them, the first time a few years prior, I'd paid $85.00 for the experience, this time it was free. Harriet Island was absolutely PACKED for this show and the Brits absolutely rocked the shit out of every last person on the grounds that night, playing old classics from 30 years previous and newer material that seemed to go over just as well. The following evening we were back again, this time to see legendary blues man Bo Diddley. Bo was getting on in years and was ailing a bit, so he was forced to sit in a chair for his performance, but he still played a mean guitar and it was a real treat to have seen him play that old cigar box style guitar of his. Later that evening, on the main stage, we saw former vocalist of Styx, Dennis DeYoung and his interesting and large band which included friends and family members. He played all the great Styx material you would expect and a handful of songs from his mildly successful solo career post-Styx. He also told a funny story about how Tommy Shaw had at one time back in the day dated Linda Blair, she of "The Exorcist" fame.
In July 2006 I missed the Taste of Minnesota for the first time in 6 or 7 years. Alice Cooper, Supertramp and local boys-done-good Soul Asylum were among the many acts that played in '06. I was in New York during the week of July 4th, so I really didn't mind missing it. I figured I'd go the following year. But, I had such a great time in New York that I decided upon my return home that I would be going East again in July of 2007. In 2007 the Taste of Minnesota, now in it's 25th year as the "Largest FREE Festival on the Mighty Mississippi." featured the triumphant return of George Thorogood, The Village People (did I miss that or did I dodge a bullet? I think the later.) Sub-Level, the Gear Daddies and many more national, regional and local acts. Same story in 2008 - In NYC again, I missed the 2008 Tatse of MN and featured acts REO Speedwagon, Eddie Money, Badfinger, and Minnesota Garage Rock legends the Trashmen.
I had fully planned on being in NYC during the July 4th weekend last year, 2009, as well. But pleasant unforeseen circumstances changed my plans and I found myself home over the holiday and able to once again attend the Taste of Minnesota. But there was change afoot - and not all of it good.
When the lineup for the 2009 Taste was announced I was pleased to see some real heavy weights listed among the artists scheduled to perform - Judas Priest, Whitesnake, Chevelle, Stained, the Romantics and Elvis Costello. What I was NOT pleased to learn was that for the first time in it's history, the Festival was no longer a free event. It would now cost you $10.00 to gain admission to the festival grounds. Granted, you DID get $10.00 worth of food tickets along with your paid admission - but as anyone who has attended this festival over the years knows $10.00 won't get you much in the way of food. Maybe a burger. But then you gotta buy more tickets to get a drink to go with it. And as had always been the case, the tickets were sold in a way that you always seemed to wind up with extra tickets, 1 or 2, but never enought to buy another food or drink item. So you had to buy more tickets. This situation was not new - it's been that way as long as I've been going to the festival. It was tolerable - in my opinion, until they decided to charge admission. Over the years the quality and quantity of the food seemed to be lower and less. Instead of great restaraunt food there was alot of "Fair Food" - bloomin' onions, french fries and donuts by the bucket, cheese curds...pork chop on a stick - you get the idea. Anyway, we decided we would, despite the new "Not Free" policy, attend the Taste for two consecutive days, July 2nd and July 3rd. So we paid for gas for two round trips to St. Paul - figure that at about $10 - $12 covering both days. $10.00 admission X 2 each day X 2 days - so that's $40.00. Extra food tickets, drinks, etc. Oh, and parking $10.00 X 2 days. So we spent a bit of cash. We did NOT choose to pay for upgraded seating near the front of the stage that would have cost us an additional $50.00 each. This was also a new development at the 2009 Taste - "Gold Circle Seating." It used to be if you could get there early enough you could get up to the front of the stage to see your favorite band up close. Now you gotta pay what I feel is an exhorbinant fee for the experience.
It was enjoyable to see Chevelle, Halestorm, Priest and Whitesnake, even though it seems David Coverdale's best days are behind him now. We DID have a good time. I blogged about our 2nd day at the 2009 Taste HERE. Here's a bit of Judas Priest's July 3rd performance at the 2009 Taste of MN shot by yours truly...they tore it up!
...which all brings us to 2010. The Gorgeous One and I will be in New York again over the 4th of July, but I've been keeping my eye out for the announcement of the 2010 Tatse of MN lineup, curious to see who would be playing this year. Earlier this week a partial lineup was finally announced on the official Taste of MN 2010 website. The festival runs from July 2nd - 5th this year and so far the big guns announced are Sammy Hagar, Lou Graham of Forigner and John Waite, 311, The Offspring, Counting Crows and Gin Blossoms. More acts will be announced shortly. It has also been announced that the Festival is under new ownership and management. In previous years, the end of each evening was capped off with a huge fireworks display over the Mississippi River in front of the St. Paul skyline. Starting this year there will only be fireworks on July 4th. I guess they just can't afford that kind of a big pyrotechnic show each night. Read on:
The WORST news to come with this years announcement is the prices. Keep in mind that this was always a FREE festival up until last year. In 2009 it cost you $10.00 to get in the grounds.
In 2010 it will cost you $20.00 PER PERSON to get in from 11:00am until 4:00pm. After 4:00pm it will cost you $30.00. PER PERSON. So I'm wondring with all that money coming in, how come no nightly fireworks? They are promising over 100 hours of music on several stages and more "Family Friendly" entertainment this year.
Well, at least kids under 12 get in free with a paid adult admission. But lets say you have a few "over 12's" in your family and they want to go see the Offspring. Well, for a family of four that's gonna set you back something like this: Gas to get there (let's say $5 to $8 - and that's if you live in the Mpls./St. Paul area only), parking (gonna be about $10), admission for family of 4 (4 X $20 = $80. If you get there later, after 4:00pm it's 4 X $30.00 = $120). So you've spent almost/or over $100.00 and none of you have had a bite of food yet. With a family of four you can bet you'll easily spend another $100 or more on food and drinks. So you can figure for an evening of 4th of July fun in St. Paul will cost you about $200 - $300 easily, maybe more if you're not careful.
Small price for family fun? I don't think so. I'm very curious to see what kind of attendance numbers the Taste festival has this year - I think people will still go - but just not as many as in previous years. And it makes me kind of sad to think this is what has become of this once great Minnesota tradition. Maybe I'm wrong - maybe I'm cheap - I've been called worse, but I just don't think people are gonna be to thrilled with all this "change". I guess we'll see. I look forward to reading and hearing about it when I get home from NYC. I guess my days of attending the Taste of Minnesota are over.
It was a good run while it lasted...
