HFStival

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HFStival
Location(s)	United States Washington, D.C. Baltimore, Maryland
Years active	1990–present
Date(s)	various
Genre(s)	Alternative rock

The HFStival is an annual rock festival sponsored by Washington, D.C. / Baltimore, Maryland radio station WHFS. Currently in its seventeenth year, the HFStival is the largest yearly music festival on the East Coast. 55,000 to 90,000 people attend the annual event, which had traditionally been held at RFK Stadium until the station moved to Baltimore in 2005. That May, the new WHFS at 105.7 held its first HFStival at M&T Bank Stadium. Though not originally called HFStival, two earlier concerts held on the Fourth of July were the foundation for the first festival and are considered part of HFStival history.

Contents 1 History 2 Lineups 3 See also 4 Trivia 5 External links 6 References

[edit] History

The HFStival began as the WHFS Fourth of July Festival, an all-day concert followed by a fireworks display, which was held twice at Lake Fairfax Park in Reston, Virginia; on July 4, 1992, the first proper HFStival was held in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, and the following July 4, the event was moved to RFK Stadium, to which it would annually return for the next six years. In 1993, when the first RFK lineup was revealed, some controversy arose among the station's listeners over the inclusion of the Stereo MCs; the previous events had only included mainstays of rock and alternative music and the MCs, a hip hop group, seemed out of place. Once the concert went on, however, the audience's enthusiasm paved the way for WHFS to include more artists from outside the station's normal playlist on the HFStival's stages — which would, in future years, include more hip hop acts, electronica artists, and such disparate musicians as crooner Tony Bennett and performance artists the Blue Man Group. The weather during the 1993 concert was so hot (reaching over 100 degrees on the stadium floor) that the concert date was moved to May for subsequent years^{[citation needed]}.

HFStival 1999, headlined by Red Hot Chili Peppers, left RFK Stadium for the larger PSINet Stadium in Baltimore, Maryland; the following year's festival was held at FedEx Field in Landover, Maryland, and, with a sold-out crowd of 90,000, it was WHFS's most-attended concert ever. RFK was still the festival's official home, however — not only would the festival return in 2001, but in September, 1999, the first (and, so far, only) "HFStival Fall Edition" was held there.

2000 is generally considered the HFStival's peak year — that year's concert, headlined by Rage Against the Machine, would be the last to sell out on the initial day of sale, and attendance has gradually declined since. However, the strong ticket sales of the previous few years' festivals inspired the station to expand the HFStival, beginning in 2001, into a two-day event; between May 27 and May 28, over forty artists took the stage and, in 2002, the two-day formula was repeated to similar success.

On the first night of HFStival 2002, during a performance by Eminem, several members of the audience were injured when the crowd surged forward as the rapper took the stage. When the fans refused to obey his instructions to move back, the performance was suspended, allowing security and first aid personnel to act. The injured people removed from the crowd included five who required hospitalization and one man who suffered a heart attack, and the incident cast doubt on whether the event, or the second day, would be allowed to continue — especially in light of the negative publicity the venue received when a concertgoer was hospitalized after a lightning strike at the 1998 Tibetan Freedom Concert. Eminem's performance, the following DJ set, and Day 2 of the festival did, however, eventually go on as planned.

Lagging ticket sales seemed to threaten the festival's future for a while, first when it was reduced for 2003 from two days back to one, and again when a planned second Fall Edition was cancelled — a scheduling conflict required a change of date and venue, and several big-name artists were forced to pull out, severely affecting ticket sales. Finally, in early 2005, the station abruptly went off the air, replaced by a Spanish language Latin pop format, and listeners feared the HFStival's days had come to an end. Shortly afterward, parent company Infinity Broadcasting revived WHFS with a new frequency and a new city and, with it, brought the HFStival back. HFStival 2005, held at Baltimore's M&T Bank Stadium, was notably different from previous affairs, featuring a lineup of artists from all points of the station's long history: original punk rockers The New York Dolls shared a stage with hard rock icon Billy Idol, veteran alternative band They Might Be Giants, and current rising stars like The Bravery. Approximately 53,000 seats were filled — nearly equivalent to a sold-out RFK Stadium.

The 2006 HFStival was held the weekend of May 27 and May 28, 2006, at Merriweather Post Pavilion in Columbia, Maryland, which more than doubled its normal capacity in order to accommodate the event's more than 40,000 attendees over the weekend event. The Pavilion's amphitheatre-style main stage featured the event's headlining artists, with the two additional stages located in the parking lot and in the surrounding woods.^[1] Despite being advertised up until a week before the event, the "Buzz Tent", a dance / DJ area, was cancelled shortly beforehand..^[2]

[edit] Lineups

Lineups are listed in reverse order, with the first band listed playing last.

Date	Location	Lineup
July 4, 1990	Lake Fairfax Park, Reston, VA	The Pursuit of Happiness, Neal Coty, Jay Bone and the Hackensack Misfits of Soul, Concrete Blonde, The Tragically Hip, Winter Hours, Lori Carson, Gang of Four
July 4, 1991	Lake Fairfax Park, Reston, VA	Violent Femmes, Too Much Joy, The La's, The Ocean Blue, The Pursuit of Happiness, Robyn Hitchcock, King Missile, Stress, Peter Himmelman, Y-Not?!
July 11, 1992	Prince George's Equestrian Center, Upper Marlboro, MD	They Might Be Giants, Catherine Wheel, The Soup Dragons, Too Much Joy, The Wolfgang Press, The Ocean Blue, The Charlatans UK, Graham Parker
July 3, 1993	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	INXS, Iggy Pop, Ned's Atomic Dustbin, Stereo MCs, Belly, Matthew Sweet, The Posies, X, Velocity Girl
May 14, 1994	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Inner Stage						Outer Stage
		Counting Crows, Cracker, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Meat Puppets, James, Pavement, Rollins Band, Violent Femmes						Afghan Whigs, Gigolo Aunts, Tuscadero, The Greenberry Woods, Lotion, Madder Rose, Edsel
June 3, 1995	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Inner Stage						Outer Stage
		Ramones, Tony Bennett, Soul Asylum, PJ Harvey, Primus, Courtney Love, General Public, Bush, Mike Watt, Better Than Ezra, Juliana Hatfield, Shudder to Think						Suddenly, Tammy!, Mother May I, Candy Machine, Tripping Daisy, Scare, Archers of Loaf, Hum
June 1, 1996	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Inner Stage						Outer Stage
		Goldfinger, Foo Fighters, Cracker, Afghan Whigs, The Presidents of the United States of America, Garbage, Jewel, Gin Blossoms, Everclear, No Doubt, Lush, Jawbox						Gravity Kills, Fred Schneider, Girls Against Boys, Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Dishwalla, Guided By Voices, Solution A.D., Howlin' Maggie
May 31, 1997	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Inner Stage						Outer Stage
		The Prodigy, Beck, Jamiroquai, Echo & The Bunnymen, Local H, Luscious Jackson, The Verve Pipe, Blondie, Kula Shaker, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Cardigans						Squirrel Nut Zippers, Ben Folds Five, Third Eye Blind, Reel Big Fish, K's Choice, Soul Coughing, Jimmie's Chicken Shack
May 16, 1998	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Inner Stage				Outer Stage				Trancemissions Tent
		The Crystal Method, Green Day, Scott Weiland, Foo Fighters, The B-52's, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Everclear, Barenaked Ladies, Wyclef Jean, Marcy Playground, Soul Coughing, Semisonic, Tuscadero				Cherry Poppin' Daddies, Samiam, God Lives Underwater, Save Ferris, Fastball, Harvey Danger, Fuel, Agents of Good Roots, Love Nut, Grant Lee Buffalo				Propellerheads, Josh Wink, Scott Henry, liquidtodd
May 29, 1999	PSINet Stadium, Baltimore, MD	Inner Stage				Street Stage				Trancemissions Tent
		Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Offspring, Moby, Goo Goo Dolls, Live, Sugar Ray, Orgy, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Silverchair, Blink-182, Lit, Jimmie's Chicken Shack				2 Skinnee J's, Freestylers, The Living End, Buckcherry, Ozomatli, Citizen King, Beth Orton, Fountains of Wayne, Sev				Moby, Josh Wink, Thunderball, Hive, Feelgood, Todd Terry, DJ Rap, Scott Henry, Lieven
September 25, 1999	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Main Stage			Street Stage			Locals Only			Trancemissions Tent
		Limp Bizkit, The Chemical Brothers, Bush, 311, Everclear, Filter, Buckcherry, Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Powerman 5000, Fuel			Long Beach Dub Allstars, Staind, Sev, Bis, Uncle Ho, Splitsville, Jact			Underfoot, Laughing Colors, Mary Prankster, Colouring Lesson, Good Charlotte, Live Alien Broadcast, Modern Yesterday, The Waking Hours			Thievery Corporation, Dieselboy, DJ Touche, John Tab, Feelgood, Lovegroove, Scott Henry, Lieven
May 28, 2000	FedEx Field, Landover, MD	Main Stage			Street Stage			Locals Only			Trancemissions Tent
		Rage Against the Machine, Stone Temple Pilots, Blue Man Group, Third Eye Blind, Cypress Hill, Godsmack, Filter, Deftones, Staind, Bloodhound Gang, Vertical Horizon, Sev			The Kottonmouth Kings, Eve 6, Nine Days, SR-71, Good Charlotte, Tugboat Annie, Jepetto			Smartbomb, Brickfoot, Phaser, Lake Trout, Mary Prankster, Laughing Colors, Rebel Amish Radio, Jepetto			Dieselboy, Dave Ralph, Cut La Roc, Sandra Collins, John Tab, Lieven, DJ Feelgood, Scott Henry
May 27 – May 28, 2001	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Main Stage, day 1			Street Stage, day 1			Locals Only, day 1			Trancemissions Tent, day 1
		Fatboy Slim, Live, Green Day, Incubus, Tenacious D, 3 Doors Down, The Cult, Fuel, Lifehouse, Sevendust, Coldplay, SR-71, New Found Glory			Good Charlotte, Nothingface, New Found Glory, Dust for Life, Saliva, American Hi-Fi, Powderfinger, Guttermouth, Cactus Patch			The Long Goodbye, Ballyhoo!, Barcelona, combinationLOCK, Fidel, Rebel Amish Radio, Ebo, Great Mutant Skywheel			Bradley Jay, Thunderball, Lieven, Max Graham, MJ Cole, Keoki
		Main Stage, day 2			Street Stage, day 2			Locals Only, day 2			Trancemissions Tent, day 2
		Mike D & Mix Master Mike, Staind, Live, Fatboy Slim, 3 Doors Down, Fuel, Linkin Park, Stabbing Westward, Coldplay, Lifehouse, Good Charlotte, American Hi-Fi, Little Kingz			SR-71, Powderfinger, Saliva, Cold, Sum 41, Tantric, Idlewild, Cactus Patch			Margret Heater, Juniper Lane, Supine, Lennex, The Beans, Live Alien Broadcast, Jepetto, UXB			John Tab, MJ Cole, Micro, Charles Feelgood, Scott Henry
May 25 – May 26, 2002	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Main Stage, day 1			Street Stage, day 1			Locals Only, day 1			Buzz Tent, day 1
		Paul Oakenfold, Eminem, Hoobastank, Sum 41, The Strokes, Our Lady Peace, N.E.R.D., Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Quarashi, Sev, The Lloyd Dobler Effect, Little Kingz			New Found Glory, Goldfinger, Trik Turner, Citizen Cope, The Vines, Greenwheel, Ash, Graeme's World Boy Band			Imbue, Margret Heater, Cactus Patch, Fidel, combinationLOCK, Jah Works, Swift Holly, Val Yumm			Deep Dish, Morel, John Tab, Scott Henry, Timo Maas Starecase Sound System
		Main Stage, day 2			Street Stage, day 2			Locals Only, day 2			Buzz Tent, day 2
		X-Ecutioners, P.O.D., Papa Roach, Sum 41, Hoobastank, Unwritten Law, Our Lady Peace, New Found Glory, Good Charlotte, Dashboard Confessional, Trik Turner, Little Kingz			Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Phantom Planet, The Vines, Citizen Cope, Gob, Loudermilk, Abandoned Pools, Lloyd Dobler Effect			Jepetto, UXB, Lennex, Moodroom, Phaser, Rotoglow, Rezin, Green Machine			DeepSky, Micro, Sandra Collins, Dave Ralph, Paul Oakenfold
May 24, 2003	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Main Stage			Street Stage			Locals Only			Buzz Tent
		Godsmack, Audioslave, Good Charlotte, Jane's Addiction, Chevelle, The Roots, AFI, Jack Johnson, The Used, The Donnas, Finch			Getaway Car, Vendetta Red, (Həd) P.E., Hot Hot Heat, Interpol, Northern State, Smile Empty Soul, Switchfoot			Lloyd Dobler Effect, Juniper Lane, Bicycle Thieves, Niki Barr, Custom Blend, Urban Style, High School Hellcats, Malvado			Sandra Collins, Josh Wink, Scott Henry, DB, Sage, John Tab
May 22, 2004	RFK Stadium, Washington, D.C.	Main Stage			Street Stage			Locals Only			Buzz Tent
		The Cure, The Offspring, Jay-Z, P.O.D., New Found Glory, Violent Femmes, Cypress Hill, Papa Roach, Lostprophets, Yellowcard, O.A.R., VooDoo Blue			Modest Mouse, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Lit, The Living End, Fall Out Boy, Taking Back Sunday			Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Stars Hide Fire, Washington Social Club, Army of Me, Jah Works, Aphile, Ballyhoo, Subculture, underscore, Evenout			Reid Speed, DJ Swamp, Loco Dice, Feelgood, Scott Henry, Hybrid, JuJu, John Tab
May 14, 2005	M&T Bank Stadium, Baltimore, MD	Main Stage			Street Stage			Locals Only			Trancemissions Tent
		Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Billy Idol, Good Charlotte, Social Distortion, New York Dolls, Garbage, Echo & The Bunnymen, Interpol, They Might Be Giants, Louis XIV, The Bravery, Gold Mind Squad			Sum 41, Unwritten Law, Pepper, Stereophonics, Jimmie's Chicken Shack, Citizen Cope, Washington Social Club			The Pietasters, Adelyn, Victory Twin, Plunge, Colouring Lesson, Crash Boom Bang, Can't Hang, Vote Quimby, Girl Friday, Third Kind			Sandra Collins, Scott Henry, DJ Rap, Grayarea, Photek w/ MC Sharpness, Reid Speed w/ MC Armanni, Evil Nine, Buster, John Tab
May 27 – May 28, 2006	Merriweather Post Pavilion, Columbia, MD	Main Stage, day 1				Side Stage, day 1				Locals Stage, day 1
		Matisyahu, Kanye West, Cypress Hill, Rise Against, Panic! At the Disco, Atmosphere, The Misfits, OK Go, Jimmie's Chicken Shack, All Time Low				Cute Is What We Aim For, Rock Kills Kid, The Working Title, J Paris, VooDoo Blue, Anti-Flag, 2 Cents, Nico Vega, Dropping Daylight, Too Late The Hero, Downtown Singapore				Fools and Horses, Throttlerod, The Black List Club, Jah Works, Colouring Lesson, Blonde Hair Blue Eyes, Big Hurt, Doug Segree
		Main Stage, day 2				Side Stage, day 2				Locals Stage, day 2
		Counting Crows, Dashboard Confessional, The Strokes, AFI, H.I.M., Coheed and Cambria, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, The Fixx, Matchbook Romance, All Time Low				Flyleaf, Kill Hannah, Plunge, The Riverboat Gamblers, Boysetsfire, Forty Acres, People in Planes, Damone, Augustana, Love Arcade, As Fast As				Havok in Hollywood, FallTown, Jarflys, Niki Barr, East Is East, Agents of the Sun, Rezin, Octane

[edit] See also

• List of HFStival performers
• Music of Maryland

[edit] Trivia

• Good Charlotte's close relationship with WHFS and inclusion in the 1998 and 1999 HFStivals were significant initial driving force in their rise to fame.^[3] They wrote The Festival Song for their self titled album in 2000 which was released as a single paying tribute to "The Festival". Their music video for the song was filmed during both days of the 2001 HFStival. ^[4]

• In 2001, Weezer signed on to play a special intimate show for a few select "delegates" at the "Weezer Convention".^[5] WHFS did a promotion where listeners and concert-goers would plead their cases on why they should be a "delegate" to represent the WHFS listeners at the show. The show was done in a conference room, inside of RFK Stadium. The performance of "Hash Pipe" was shown on the video screens in the stadium as well as on MTV2.

• Due to a bus accident in Europe, in 2002, Alien Ant Farm were unable to play^[6]. Taking their place on the main stage, New Found Glory, who had played the street stage the day before.

• Scheduled to play in 2003, the band Blur cancelled their performance due to "relationship issues," in which the lead singer would not commit to perform^{[citation needed]}.

• The cancelled 2003 Fall Edition was to have featured Limp Bizkit, Staind, O.A.R., Yellowcard, Jet, Deftones, The Black Eyed Peas, Rancid, Thrice, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, Eve 6, Three Days Grace, Citizen Cope, Electric Six, Interpol, and SR-71. Duran Duran was also scheduled to appear, but the event was cancelled before they were announced.

• On January 21, 2005 when HFS came back on the air on 105.7 Dave Grohl of the Foo Fighters called in to congratulate HFS and to say if there was an HFStival that year he would be there^{[citation needed]}. The Foo Fighters would go on to headline that year's HFStival.

• In 2006 the band Yellowcard scrapped many of its tour dates, HFStival being one of them, due to singer Ryan Key's throat surgery. ^[7]

[edit] External links

• Unofficial site
• 105.7 WHFS
• WHFS2 HD Radio

[edit] References