Rage rules the crowd for Vegoose Day Two

By John Robison

Day two was a bit rougher to wake up for. Sore from yesterday's hard partying, we arrived late and had to stand in line waiting to be let in. Unfortunately, the gods that had smiled upon us yesterday took today off, and we already had the makings for a cloudless hot fall day in Las Vegas.

Finally entering the festival fields, we took shelter in the Sony Erickson tent in comfy seats and listened to music through tethered headphones until setting out for the stage where Ghostface Killa of Wu Tang fame and the Rhythm Roots All Stars would be holding forth.

Ghostface's music was consistently decent hip-hop, but we found ourselves sitting on dying grass through the entire set as the sun just continued to kill the mood. Seeking shade, we enjoyed a cold lemonde in the “Impersonators Café” tent while listening to a convincing copy of Johnny Mathis croon familiar hits.

We made our way back outside to check out Ghostland Observatory—a duo of singer and sometimes lead guitarist Aaron Behrens and cape-wearing, synth-rocking Thomas Ross Turner. Although the crowd seemed to enjoy them it wasn't my cup of tea. After another break to check out the venders and their overpriced wares, we returned to the main stage an hour before Muse was schedule to go on. There was already a sizable crowd forming but we were able to snag a decent spot.

Muse finally came on and I have to say that every song hit us like a shock wave. What an amazing, truly powerful band. Muse tore through all the songs a fan would want to hear and put genuine heart and soul into the set. As Muse rocked the crowd, giant balls filled with confetti were let loose on the crowd, which bounced them around for a bit before they burst open and confetti filled the air. It was more than a concert at that point, it was a party. I even let loose and enjoyed a majority of the set in the mosh pit getting tossed about like a rag doll, and that is no easy feet as I am a big guy.

We decided to back out of the swarming crowd for Rage Against the Machine, which may have been the smartest move we made all weekend. Even several hundred feet back, the crowd was in a frenzy when Rage took to the stage, seemingly out for one another’s blood. Impromptu mosh pits formed near and around us. At one point as the music fed the crowd's aggression, a fist fight broke out right in front of me and I found myself trying to break up the combatants. After I stepped in, the crowd wooshed in and swept the fighters in opposite directions.

On stage, Rage kept up the aggression right to the end, finishing up with a crowd favorite "Killing in the Name Of." As everybody again made the tired and spent walk to the cars, I can imagine that the thoughts running through all those sweat-drenched heads were just like mine—content in all I had seen and heard and already counting down to next years Vegoose.