HirschStock

With Winnipeg’s annual rock festival, Rock on the Range taking place tomorrow, I thought it would be fitting to introduce something I’ve wanted to write about for quite some time.

MY dream music festival, appropriately titled HirschStock.

For this festival, I have selected 10 rock bands that I would want at my festival, but also, which version of that band I would want to perform.

(Example for all you non-rockers…would you rather have 2000 Britney Spears or 2011 Britney Spears performing? Exactly.)

I want this to be the best of the best.

And maybe with the way technology is moving these days, we’ll be able to bring some of these rockers back from the dead and straight to Hirschstock, which would be in Winnipeg, of course.

Let’s look at the Hirschstock lineup in order from the opening band to the headliner:

10. The Trews (2011)

Maybe this is a bit of an overreaction, considering it was the last concert that I attended, but the band from Antigonish put on an awesome show at SuperSpike at Maple Grove Rugby Park. Might have been the best 20 bucks I have ever spent. I have always been a HUGE supporter of Canadian rock and in my opinion, the Trews are, right now, the best rock band in the country and have many more great albums down the road.

9. The Doors (1970)

No need to get into how crazy lead singer Jim Morrison was during the band’s heyday, because we've all heard and seen it for ourselves. But I’ve said it before, when I fork out money to watch a concert, I want to see a damn good show. Jim Morrison made sure to do that every time he went up on stage. As long he holds off on the indecent exposure, this would be an awesome band to play HirschStock.

8. Pink Floyd (1980)

It’s a rare sight when Pink Floyd bassist Roger Waters and guitarist David Gilmour are together on the same stage. It’s happened only a handful of times in the last 25 years, and despite a lot of bands burying the hatchet and reuniting for cross-country tours, Pink Floyd is one band who have never really thought about doing that. Hirschstock would have the 1980 version of this band (right after "The Wall" was released) when they still got along enough that they could actually play a show together.

7. Foo Fighters (2011)

I believe the Foo Fighters are the best rock band in their prime right now and their newest album “Wasting Light” disproved the theory that bands get worse with age. Coming off easily one of their top three albums, this band is taking over the rock world, led by their superior front man Dave Grohl. Just one problem, WHY WON’T THEY COME TO WINNIPEG THIS YEAR? Hirschstock would solve that.

6. The Beatles (1969)

Those who know me are aware that I’m not the biggest Beatles fan. But let’s make something perfectly clear here. I dislike the Beatles stuff pre-1967 (“I Want to Hold Your Hand, “She Loves You”) but am actually a big fan of albums post-1967 such as “Sgt Pepper” and “Abbey Road”. And what would make this performance at Hirschstock even more special? Well as most people know, they never performed live after 1966 (except on a roof that one time), which would make Hirschstock the site of history.

5. The Tragically Hip (1998)

In my opinion, 1998’s ”Phantom Power” was their last superior album. So imagine a setlist with those songs + songs from “Fully Completely”, “Day for Night”, and "Road Apples". I’m drooling as I write this. And also, 1998 Gord Downie was a lot more rowdy than 2011 Gord Downie.

4. Rush (2004)

Many hardcore Rush fans would want to see this band in their late 70’s-early 80’s, but after watching the 2004 DVD "R30", I was left in awe at how heavy Rush sounded. Yes Rush, the same band whose fan base is sterotypically linked to geeks and nerds. Their last few albums have them going back to their hard rock style that helped them get noticed. And really, how much synthesizer do I want at my festival?

3. Metallica (1999)

Many devoted Metallica fans would disagree and would rather see a show with Cliff Burton as their bassist. But there was nothing wrong with Jason Newsted who played bass for the band from 1986-2001. My selection is also based on the fact that James Hetfield’s voice from 1996-rehab(2001) was the best it’s ever been (see the 1999 "S&M" DVD). And hey, Lars could still play double bass that year, too.

2. Led Zeppelin (1973)

They’re the greatest rock band ever, no questions asked. But now the bigger debate is when I would want to see them. Give me 1973, right after they released Houses of the Holy, my favourite Zeppelin album.

1. The Who (1971)

Roger Daltrey. Pete Townsend. John Entwistle. Keith Moon.

This band was an absolute gongshow (a good gongshow) on stage, from explosions, to guitar smashing, to microphone swinging, to windmills. And of course, unreal musicianship.

I don’t think I could ask for anyone else to headline HirschStock.