Once More Into The Breach!: The Hammer of the Godz Levels Atlanta Rock Freakout and Leaves Good Taste in Mouth! Rain & Rock = Transcendent Experience

My pal Justin and I drove up to Atlanta to catch Wolfmother at the Soco Music Experience - a 2nd annual freebie put on by a booze company (last year was Big Star & The Flaming Lips). Anyway, perfect day, no traffic cluster fucks coming into Atlanta, BLUE SKY, a little hot, typical May day in the South. We got there a little early as the gates were opening (I left early in case we hit what is usually the nightmare of Atlanta traffic on a Friday at rush hour) and the people started coming in. The first band was Rose Hill Drive - who I had never heard before (though I see on their website that they are off to Europe to support THE WHO) so Pete Townshend & I highly recommend them - they were the full package! We caught about Half of their show because as they were ripping into Black Sabbath's "Fairies Wear Boots" the heavens literally opened up and the rain came down - first just a few drops - no big deal, i looked up and saw what seemed to be ONE black cloud and then the drops got bigger, and bigger and bigger and the wind began to HOWL! It was an awesome rock n roll experience - the energy level of the band and crowd was totally amped by the arrival of the wind and the rain. The roadies were scampering about like wet cats to cover amps, instruments, etc. though the band just kept right on playing, even harder and with more gusto. By the time they neared the end of the Sabbath song, the rain & wind were WHIPPING and things were blowing all over the place! We were getting soaked, the band was getting soaked and the music was the perfect soundtrack to this incredible burst of mother natures fury! LOUD, FAST and IMMENSE! It was only when massive bursts of Lightning began to crack all around us that they decided it might be best to continue this freakout at a later time. The last time I had a weather related Rock N' Roll religious experience was when it rained all over Jason & The Scorchers at Riverbend in Chattanooga in the mid-80's: they just unplugged & sat on the front of the stage and rocked out thier hits accoustically and the rain soaked and mud splattered crowed just ate it up, even more so than when they were plugged in. In fact, it is one of those epic gigs still gets brought up by those who were there - t'was pure magic & made of the stuff I am ALWAYS seeking and well, for a brief, perfect, shining moment, I found it with a band (ROSE HILL DRIVE) I'd never heard of before, being lashed by the rain, in Atlanta, during a WICKED southern storm (they eventually cancelled the entire night). So at the end of the ride, no Wolfmother, oh well, I got what I went there for and that's the point isn't it?

a perfect Atlanta Day at this point - a great day for an OUTDOOR concert!