When you go to a music festival, you can almost always guarantee that three things will happen: 1. your shoes will be ruined; 2. your ears will be ringing for days after; and 3. you will have a really great time!
Even attending my first festival, I knew these basic facts. What I didn’t know relates to the awesome opportunities I got to have!
90 Days - 16 July 2021
The Mid-America Music Festival could not occur last year, due to the pandemic. And now a year has passed, and live music has returned.
The music festival itself was rather a conclusion in a short series of concerts: the first occurred on April 16 AKA the battle of the rock bands! The following night was a battle of the bands for country bands, but since my heart is devoted to mostly rock-n-roll, I only attended the rock night.
Little did I know that this would just be the start of opportunity!
An event like battle of the bands is such a classic because it typically showcases local talent. In this case, some of the bands were from practically right next door. Monday’s Child was the first band - a blues-rock trio from St. Joseph. Since then, they have released a debut single and are working on more music. Their set was filled with sizzling guitar solos and soul. The Ghosted followed - a cover band for 90s and 2000s alternative rock from Trenton. Super fun since you know the songs and can sing along. 90 Days was another cover band, only rooted a few years back specializing in 80s, 90s, and modern rock. Unwritten Rulz finished the night, displaying the side of rock ’n’ roll with heavier riffs, thrown drumsticks, and the ever-building sense of energy that filled the venue.
So, why were all of these bands gathered in the first place? Besides just having a good time, they were competing for the opportunity to be the opening act during the festival on July 16, sharing the stage with Autograph, Slaughter, and Great White. Ultimately, the winner was 90 Days! After their set, I had walked onto stage and asked for a setlist, chatted briefly, and now, NOW they were going to open for these legendary bands!
The day of the festival finally rolls around, and I have already arranged an interview with 90 Days! If it was possible, I badly wanted to have the opportunity to interview all the bands, but ultimately I was happy enough just interviewing 90 Days. Because you have to understand, I started out writing about small bands and I use my work to support such artists and bands; always root for the underdog.
I am a sucker for a good story, and the tale of the underdog has been discussed many times before with odes and devotions in its name. And when you look at it, it is possible to think that 90 Days was the underdog of the day in regards to the festival lineup. A local band who has yet to make a name for themselves - yet, a great opportunity like this comes knocking.
I got to chat with the band after their set and the band told me that they were at first worried about being seen as inferior, considering the name of the band did not have as much of a status. But I thought that their style of music was the perfect match for the gig, as their covers of 80s and 90s songs helped convey the flow to the bands who were around in the 80s.
90 Days was originally called 90 Proof, like whiskey. But as singer Chad Smith told me, their new name came along by accident: an earlier bassist in the band had always confused the name when introducing the band and for whatever reason always ended up saying ‘90 Days’ instead. Smith tells me after that, it was almost like ‘“f*ck it, I guess that’s what we’re called now”. And the name stuck.
Their set was similar to what they had played at the Battle of the Bands, due to set times being affected by a rain delay. Still, it was energizing to hear the opening riff to “Boys of Summer” as their set kicked off. Now, there is always something about this song that tricks me up: I’m most familiar with the original by Don Henley. But 90 Days plays The Ataris' version from the early 2000s, where there is a slight lyric change of the Cadillac sticker being related to the band Black Flag and not The Grateful Dead. It’s just one of those small things that’s amusing and you look around as the music is hitting you, and you just live in the moment.
90 Days' setlist Battle of the Bands - April 2021
Of course, 90 Days had to play Alice in Chains' song “Man in the Box”. It was one of those songs at the Battle of the Bands that had gotten the crowd fired up. Suddenly, instead of standing by the stage by yourself, you’re surrounded by a real, proper crowd and everyone is shouting along to the song.
90 Days’ whole set had moments like this that you can find only at a concert: watching the band walk onto stage, get their instruments set up, and then the music kicks in! The energy flows from the soundwaves, both traveling outwards across the swampy fields. Despite being a cover band, I think playing the festival was a really great opportunity. Chatting with the band afterward, they all said it was amazing since they had grown up listening to the other bands; if someone had told them that they’d be sharing the stage with Autograph, Slaughter, and Great White one day, the band would have thought it to be unbelievable. But it IS believable because it happened. I was there and I have the setlist to prove it.
90 Days' setlist Mid-America Music Festival - July 2021
The rest of the bands were awesome, too, of course. I really enjoyed hearing some classic songs of the 80s and the sheer intimacy of being in the front row, where you can see the band and the band can see YOU! It’s just an awesome feeling: the magic of music as it flows, and you can’t really compare it to anything else.
Incidentally, I ended up getting setlists from all the bands, thanks mostly to making a sign that said “SETLIST PLEASE? (heart) MISS K” [a pen name I had taken with inspiration from Pamela Des Barres]. I ended up getting the 90 Days one signed during the interview with the band. It was such a cool opportunity!
When I started writing, all I wanted to do was support small bands and musicians. I didn’t care how popular a band was, how many Spotify listeners they have, or the amount of music they have out; if I like their music, I like their music. I don’t think it has to be much more complicated than that. In the case of 90 Days, it isn’t much more complicated than that. I was just happy to support the local scene, watch these great opportunities unfold, and be a part of it all! Saying that, I did have the chance to meet Great White and ask for their advice on music journalism: “Ask honest questions and keep it real” which is advice I will keep with me as long as the pen shall be in my hand.
My sister, me (in white fringe), and Great White!
So, yes, my shoes were muddy, my ears were ringing, but I had an awesome time! Besides, you can always clean shoes and your ears will adjust. What will not change is the memories that come with live music, the opportunities lurking there, and the experience of your first music festival! In my case, I truly got a lot out of it and got my share of materialistic souvenirs, but now when I hear one of the songs played, I am taken back to that night where live music had returned and you could feel the hot sun on your skin as you ignore the potentiality of sunburns and just listen to the MUSIC. You can’t replace it so don’t even try. You can’t expect the opportunities that will arise either, when you return home with setlists, interview answers spinning around your head, and the buzz of live music.
You can’t replace it, so make the most of it. Especially now when live music was shut down last year for a few months. The return of live music is triumphal. Nothing will get in its path; nothing will get in the path of 90 Days, either - not even the quirk of lead singer Chad Smith living in Florida while guitarist Curt Parker, bassist Boston Parker, and drummer Brian Prewitt all hail from St. Joseph. Not just another cover band, but one who has had the great opportunity of this festival as well as knowing the right kinds of songs to play to have a great time.
And I had such a great time. So as summer starts its crawl towards winding down and autumn starts to creep in, I find myself returning again to thinking about the festival. It has been two weeks since. It still feels surreal in some ways, but it did happen. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end, but the excitement from the first concert - The Battle of the Bands - is still present in my bones and was something carried all the way through the festival. I know it will be awakened again next time I hear live music. Because you can’t replace live music. Don’t even try it. It’s irreplaceable. The Mid-American Music Festival proved that to me, and I would be a fool to think otherwise when the evidence was right in front of me. So, no, don’t even let the thought simmer in your head; if you have any doubts - ANY AT ALL - go out, now, and find yourself some live music. The perfect little pick-me-up after a dreary year of political unrest, global unrest, and no live music. My first festival and certainly not my last, nor the last of the opportunities for 90 Days. What the future holds for the band is more live shows, and I’m sure the energy and love for live music will be carried through their music and throughout the rest of their year. Because it’s yet another irreplaceable thing - the love for live music.
And I certainly have a lot of love for live music; I am thankful for the opportunities I had thanks to attending The Mid-America Music Festival one hot day in July.
Autograph setlist - July 2021
Slaughter setlist & guitar pick - July 2021
Great White setlist & Meet-n-Greet pass
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