this one

Krazyfest 1999

By Jason Koerner

Upon my fashionably late arrival to Krazyfest on the Belvedere on Saturday, May 22, there was a contest for the "Mr. Krazyfest" award. The "lucky" finalists, Jay and Jeff, engaged in such embarrassing acts as joke-telling, dare-taking and eating funnel cakes topped with everyone's favorite: ketchup and mustard! I almost forgot to mention the "bonus-round" of seeing who could vomit into a plastic bag first afterwards. Mmmm... sounds pretty "Krazy," huh?

One huge disappointment that I had about the whole shenanigan was the lack of organization. It seemed like every few acts there was someone canceling or postponing (i.e., Braid and Ink and Dagger), along with the fact that bands were few and far between, at least while I was in attendance. A crowd member put it best when he said, "This would kick a** if they would get goin'!" During this break time, several teens migrated to the huge "Niagara falls-style fountain" like ants heading for a Popsicle stick, both to gain relief from the heat and to fill the time during the lack of activity on-stage.

One band that I did see in its entirety on Saturday was Snapcase. When the group began its powerful set, I was almost immediately knocked over by the fidgety crowd, happy to hear anything other than karaoke and bad jokes. Great use of feedback, dynamics and a very notable bass intro are a few things that sparked my interest in the group. The outfit was very tight and had a pounding beat (thanks to the drummer.)

Many of the kids in the crowd knew the lyrics and sang along, and Snapcase seemed to be one of the crowd favorites. The security guards must have liked them too, as they didn't pay much mind to the stage-divers. One negative aspect that I find in a lot of hard-core bands is the incomprehensible and monotonous vocal/screaming pattern. All in all, though, it was a great performance.

Sunday brought bad weather and a new assortment of bands. Despite the weather, people toughed out the closing hours of the three-day festival. An acceptance speech by Mr. Krazyfest and a new contest for the Miss Krazyfest were the intermission highlights of the day. Bands included Metroschifter, Red Sun, Jazz June and Elliot. (Other headlining acts over the weekend included the Enkindels, Out., H2O, My Own Victim, Silent Majority, Buried Alive and others...) Elliot was the big winner on Sunday in the area of crowd response. They were also my personal favorite of the weekend. Initial Records did a great job of putting this event together and making a great contribution to the scene. A big thanks goes out to them.