Give Me Just a Second and I'll Be Alright

Who: The Superstars of Kiss the Summer Hello

When: May 26, 2003
Where: Darien Lake Performing Arts Center/ Darien Center, NY
With: Beth
Of Note: So much wonderful, wonderful terribleness.  So much terrible, terrible wonderfulness.

In addition to its many other accolades and distinctions, the prestigious University at Buffalo is also home to the world’s largest mud volleyball tournament.  Taking place in mid-April, Oozefest is a heralded tradition where everybody buys clothes to destroy with mud  at Salvation Army, duct tapes their shoes to their feet and tries not to die from either a (very slow moving ball) to the face or hypothermia.  As a fan of anywhere it’s socially acceptable to be drunk before 11am (if it contains milk or juice, it’s a breakfast drink!), Oozefest was always an event to forward to. 

The team evolved over the years, as did our ability to dress appropriately for the event.  Junior year’s rag-tag team didn’t have a chance of winning (one member showed up still out and drunk from the night before, another proclaimed the mud to be “icky”, and none of us were great volleyball players), but we certainly had fun.  That year, staff members from our beloved Kiss 98.5 were on hand to pump up the jams throughout the tournament.  As we’ve documented here, to Beth and me, Kiss 98.5 was no joke. 

It gets a little fuzzy here, but Beth and I decided that we needed to win tickets to Kiss the Summer Hello, the radio station’s annual kick off to summer concert.  Having missed the official contest to do so, we decided that harassing the DJ was the way to go.  He indicated that if we found some number of pieces of gum and chewed them, that he’d give us tickets.  Being so grossly covered in mud, this was a task not for the faint of heart.  We cleaned off our hands as best we could (keep in mind, we were COVERED in mud) and set off to find some gum.  After finding the right number of pieces, and chewing them (ooooh…gritty!), we were given tickets.  It was a pretty banner day. 

The concert itself was…certainly interesting.  It was an all-day event, with acts performing for 15-20 minutes each.  The highlights of the day included:

Jennifer Love Hewitt

Remember when Jennifer Love had a fledgling recording career?  Had I not seen her, I would not have either.  It was a nice day out, not overly hot – but probably 70?  She came out in jeans and a sweater and a scarf and asked us how we could stand to live where it was so cold.  Her one single, “Bare Naked”, was lackluster at best.  Though I love some Party of 5, I was not impressed. 

LL Cool J

As the night’s headliner, it could not be denied that the ladies did, indeed, love cool James.  He spent a lot of time lifting his shirt up.  There were older (definitely middle aged) ladies in front of us who went berserk for LL Cool J.  They made lots of frighteningly inappropriate sexual comments to him and about him.  It was kind like a train wreck, difficult to look at, impossible to turn away.  LL put on a good set. 

Sean Paul

Sean Paul was on the verge of having his 15 minutes and he did a great job playing his radio friendly reggae.  What I remember most is him instructing the crowd in the “row the boat” dance.  I cannot hear a Sean Paul song without thinking in my head, “row de boat, row de boat,” and making the appropriate nautical motions.

Daniel Bedingfield

I was strangely obsessed with Daniel Bedingfield.  His song ‘Gotta Get Through This’ was a staple on my Jen’s Motivational Music mixes; I spent a lot of time running to it.  I was also really into the very terrible ‘If You’re Not the One’ song, potentially because I went through a gross break-up when it came out.  In any event, what I remember of Daniel Bedingfield is that I really liked it and Beth made fun of me for liking it.  We all know that his sister went on to be way more radio successful than him. 

The internet tells me that Blu Cantrell (‘Hit ‘Em Up Style’ was having a moment), Seven Day Faith, Tyrese, and Stevie B (who are these people?) were also there.  There were also approximately nine million screaming 16 year olds, a fair number of desperate housewives and all of the Kiss 98.5 DJs.  I think Beth summed it up best when we got in the car to leave Darien Lake when she cranked some Dave Matthews and said, “I cannot deal with any more pop music.”  I suppose she’s right; after 8 hours, it was a bit much.  I stand by my decision to chew muddy gum to get there though.