Rock And Roll Revival Tranquil

ROCK AND ROLL REVIVAL TRANQUIL

(People should understand the way I experienced the Rock and Roll Revival. I spent most of the day working in the OD tent or patrolling the crowd. I didn't write about the bands cause with the exception of Black Sabbath I didn't hear much of them. This article has a definite prejudice to it, but from where I was, it's hard to feel otherwise.)

The second Detroit Rock and Roll Revival took place in Detroit last weekend and it seems to have stirred up quite a row. Even Bill Milliken seems to be getting into the act, saying there was massive drug traffic, and because of this there will be no more festivals held in the State Fairgrounds. This may not be an altogether bad thing, for at least it will stop the Eastown Boys from ripping off the people with yet another Rock and Roll Revival.

The Rock and Roll Revival was a pretty ugly thing. A good deal of the blame has to rest on the shoulders af the promoters, Eastown Productions. It seems that they didn't really care much for the people's well belng, as the facilities at the site were simply awful. Toilet facilities were completely inadequate, with one john each. Worse yet, there was only one water fountain in the whole site. Cleverly enough, these were all located right next to the first aid/bad trip tent, which caused an incredible hassle with long lines snarling the first aid area all day. There were however, plenty of fast-buck vendors selling enormous amount of skonk food, hot dogs, pop corn, coca-cola, and popsicles, with the Eastown getting a cut. ft was very obvious where the promoter's priorities lay.

The rest of the site contained some more treats, too. You had your choice of sitting on scorching hot asphalt, or in dust and dirt an inch deep. There were no public phones at the site either, well there were, but they were outside, and you had to pay to get back in. The renta-cops, straight from the Eastown, were fairly friendly, but no help at all, since they had no Information about anything, and were only there to prevent crashing and protect property. You only have to have been to one concert in Oughton Park to realize how little the peoples interest were taken into consideration.

At one point Brownsville Station ended a killer set by dedicating Link Wray's Rumble to John Sinclair as they had done two years ago at the Original Rock and Roll Revival, and alot of people got up on their feet, screaming and dancing. But alot of people there were on a Death Culture Trip. I found a sign after the show ended Sunday that said "Free Sparklers with one hit of Goofy Grape Acid," they probably gave Green Stamps too. There was also incredible amounts of bad dope. Everything from bogus Reds, that didn't do anything, to the perennial THC/PCP ruse. Lots of people were also hurt, or otherwise fucked up (flipped out) by firecrackers and sparklers. People were doing weird shit like throwing M-80's and sparklers into the crowd, shooting Roman candles at people, weird shit like that.

About the weirdest, boguest thing about the whole thing was the downers. Maybe it comes from living in Detroit, but there were so many downer OD's that the MASH (Medical Assistance for Sick Hippies) people had them spread all over the floor, with a couple of people checking pulses and breathing, and trying to keep them awake. (Normally downer OD's are dealt with one on one. ) I can't give enough praise to the MASH people, for they did a great job handling flip-outs, as well as patrolling the crowd, bringing in OD's. Without them, God knows how many brothers and sisters would have died. I'm not sure what makes people take downers, I guess it's the same thing that makes people shoot smack, but it's really weird to see them at an outside, summertime, Rock and Roll show. People have got to realize that death drugs only trap us deeper into the death culture that makes us take them in the first place, if we get our shit together, we can put an end to the Eastown Boys, and all the rest of the Death Culture. We'll never do it if we're downed out though. Death to the Death Culture and All Death Drugs. Life To The Life Culture! Stay High!

-Joe Tiboni