WHFS Nutcracker Review

The much-hyped 24-minute sellout 1998 WHFS Nutcracker greeted its early arrivers when the doors opened at 5:30 with the sounds of the "Hula Monsters," a Hawaiian-style band to go with the Hawaiian style backdrop and huts that decorated the stage. The Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA was filled with people handing out free stuff as soon as the concert-goers walked into the door…free 'HFS miniature flashlights, Soul Coughing calendars, pamphlets on various subjects, and booths were set up where people could sign up for numerous contests.

The opening act was Mary Prankster, a woman with a guitar who wasn't very striking other than the fact that she cursed a lot. Luckily, she didn't play for long, and the concert moved on to the headliners.

The first artist to perform that night was Everlast, the former frontman for House of Pain. He was accompanied by a full back-up band that seemed to really get into the music that they played. Too bad the audience didn't, though...Everlast's hit single on the radio is entitled, "You Don't Know What It's Like," which is a slow funky ballad extremely atypical to the rest of the faster paced hip-hop Everlast performed. "Jump Around," the hit from House of Pain was also performed, but got barely any reaction from the audience. Everlast concluded their set with the single, which got cheers, and then exited the stage.

A surprise 'HFS guest appeared onstage to announce the next band. Isaac Hayes (currently best known as Chef on "South Park") came on in a pair of bright red pajamas and brought out Cake (the band, not the dessert item).

Cake played a relatively short set mostly of songs off of their latest album, "Prolonging the Magic." John McCrea, the lead singer asked a stagehand to give his California driver's license to Isaac Hayes to sign, which was probably the most amusing moment of their set. The audience didn't act very different from the way they acted when Everlast performed. McCrea, tried to get the crowd pepped up by having them sing along to the trumpet part from "Satan Is My Motor," but got upset when it was obvious no one in the audience could follow along to the melody. All in all, Cake most likely would have been more entertaining playing in a smaller club where people could move to the music than in the giant Patriot Center. Cake closed with their latest single "Never There," a catchy, if repetitive tune, and walked offstage.

Isaac Hayes walked onstage once more with two of the DJs from the radio station to announce Soul Coughing.

Soul Coughing made up for the follies of its two predecessors. The lead singer, M. Doughty's charisma got the audience dancing (even those not on the ground level were dancing on the precariously steep staircase). They opened with the first song off of their latest album, "El Oso," "Rolling," a song which showcased the beat poetry / rock music stylings that Soul Coughing is best known for. Doughty's deep voice and wide gestures onstage captured the audience's attention. They closed with "Super Bon Bon," an energetic tune that was wonderfully performed.

Garbage, one of the biggest headliners of the night was next to perform. Shirley Manson and crew came onstage to the greatest cheers so far of the night. Going with the idea, that this was a radio station gig, their set turned into "Garbage's Greatest Hits," as they played every one of their singles. Due to the sheer volume and time-constraints of a multi-band radio show, they only played three songs that weren't singles. Because they played songs the audience had all heard before, this could have been the reason for the constant cheering causing Manson to comment on what a noisy crowd it was. However, the more likely reason was the amazing performance Garbage put on. Manson's stage presence was the best of any artist of the night. She danced and jumped around the stage for their set which consisted of mostly fast-paced rock songs powerfully played by the band.

The last band of the night to go on was greeted by a tremendous roar from the audience. Courtney Love and the rest of Hole sucked it all in, and opened with their current single, "Celebrity Skin," and the crowd went crazy. The sound people had turned up the microphones louder than any other band of the night's, however the rest of Hole's set was painfully lacking something. Courtney Love's idea of witty stage banter was to comment on the fact that the concert was being broadcast on the radio, and then getting the audience to scream a curse word. Most of their music blended together, and about a third of the audience walked out early to their cars.

All in all, the 1998 WHFS Nutcracker was a good experience, as the good bands outweighed the bad ones.

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