| Author | Message | ||
     Dynarider |
might turn out to be a soggy night. Its raining right now at my place & Im about 35 miles south & the rain is headed north. | ||
| Davegess |
Tim Mcgraw | ||
| Davegess |
If it starts to rain I suspect folks will head out pretty quick. Most of the bikes are parked on rock hard grass that will turn soft in a hurry. From what I saw down there today nobody much cares who performs they are having too much fun already. DAve | ||
| Dynarider |
The doobies were on stage followed by Tim Mcgraw. Kid Rock just got finished & Dan Ackroyd is trying to get the crowd excited. Lots of folks leaving who appear to be very disappointed so far in the acts. Waiting for the final big suprise. | ||
| Dynarider |
The local news is reporting the big suprise is Elton. If that is true I really dont know what to say about what the hell Harley is thinking. Elton??? Aerosmith, Metallica, The Stones...all would be much better choices for a Harley crowd. Waiting with anticipation right now. | ||
| Dynarider |
BTW Dave..its been raining just south of Milwaukee since about 4pm. Hopefully it will miss the party | ||
| Dynarider |
Dana...you need a better source. Its ELTON!!! OMG WTF is Harley thinking????? | ||
| Davegess |
No rain showing on the doppler rader as far south as Kenosha. | ||
| Rattler |
Yeah..he'll mix real well with the HD folks...LOL! Dale A. | ||
| Dynarider |
Just stopped raining here about 5 minutes ago. Watching the news to see how more interviews with exiting folks go. The pics on tv are showing people leaving by the thousands. I expect a big fireworks show after Elton is done...maybe they will set him on fire? LOL | ||
| Bads1 |
Boy this guy I heard from was full of shit.So hey Dyna did he play song's from the movie Lion King or what?????  | ||
| Spiderman |
ELTON LMFAO !!!!!! Thats tooo funny WTF Explains why who couldn't play the 20th  | ||
| Jim_witt |
 -JW:> | ||
| Dynarider |
He is playing all his old shit. Bennie & the jets etc. The crowd is definately not happy about the choice of bands. The only one people are actually happy about are the Doobies. The women like Tim McGraw but I cant believe anyone at Harley actually would pick Elton for harleys 100th. | ||
| Jim_witt |
 -JW:> | ||
| Bads1 |
Maybe they will have George Michaels next time. | ||
| Dynarider |
LOL!!!! You know I spent 4 days in Milwaukee doing a lot of events & I have to say that all of the dealer & or independant setups were pretty decent & well thought out. The only Harley deal that wasnt a total cluster was the Franklin P&A facility tour setup. The dealers & everyone else get an A+ for effort & execution. Harley gets a D-. They simply didnt deliver. They couldnt even handle 1/3rd of the crowds that showed up at events like plant tours or demo rides. Did you hear that they had up to 2 hr long waits for food at the party today???? PS..The club HOG deal was decent. Hmmm is that a Harley event or a HOG event? LOL, kinda like the difference between Harley & Buell. | ||
| Bads1 |
I see the vendor's will still be at Uke's tomorrow as well,will the vendor's still be at the dealer's in Milwaukee as well or no????? | ||
| Dynarider |
A lot of them were packing up today & heading out to get a jump on traffic. | ||
| Awprior |
Elton... I have that fucking Bennie and the Jets sone stuck in my head. Where the hell is my beer... At least Tim McGraw was there. Pike Prior | ||
| Imonabuss |
Gotta give Elton credit for coming on at all. During the pre-show stuff they were doing interviews on the big video screens asking people in the crowd who they thought was going to play. One person said Elton John, and there was a huge boo from the audience...man that would be tough to hear backstage. What were they thinking? | ||
| Dynarider |
Next time Harley has a big event & if they try the "mystery" act deal it wont work. Maybe Bads1 is right & they could have George Michael from Wham sing a duet with Boy George of Culture club? Hell I think Tina Turner & Cher woulda put on a better show & got the crowd more enthused. You see the boring ass show McGraw put on? Walked back & forth on the stage & sang his fricken ballads...how gay. Rather have his wife out there, he coulda stayed home. | ||
| Dynarider |
Jim, ya might want to let the builder of that Basket case Harley know that they have the brake & clutch cables reversed.  | ||
| Nevco1 |
Court...nice guess, but you were wrong. Bads...Good thing you are not in charge of shooting down enemy airplanes. To the rest of you...Di and I sat, slept and were absolutely bored to tears by the commercials and newscasts on the big screens until 6pm when they opened with the Doobie Brothers. Problem is, they didn't stop there!!! Tim WTF was as boring as hell. They did not have the mike set up for him and all you heard was mumbling. Later in his set he announced, cover your kids ears and immediately said "Fuck It" and promptly followed it with "Suck my Dick." Sorry folks but that is something that even the Stones never had to come out and say that Bluntly. Bottom line is that is one Southern White Boy Menopause Music Dork that should not have been allowed on stage. Dan Akroyd (sp) was the MC and it was apparent from the get go that he was screwed. He had his presentation down pat, but when he had to keep treading water to fill in for all the indecisions, it was very obvious that he was up a creek as well. That continued all night long with more filler Harley commercials and the exec's getting up one by one to say circle jerk stuff. The check to MDA was great, but we knew we were in real trouble when Willy G got up and stammered through the introduction of his offspring and let us know what scoots they ride. It was a Friggin' Fiasco from the get go. Then more friggin' commercials and finally, Elton John. You should be glad you were not there. Almost every one did an immediate about face and headed out. If the Stones or any other group was to follow Elton, I am positive that they refused to play to an empty park. Would have been career suicide. Speaking of career suicide, knowing the size of HD and the committees that the entertainment decision had to go through, all I can say is that there most likely will be a scapegoat selected for Termination on Tuesday! On the brighter side, this was good for the bars and other venues in the area as they had to have been full. I stopped at the local HD watering hole and you could have heard a pin drop. A few of us were having a good time but the HD folks were definitely drowning their sorrows silently. The general consensus is that we all wish we had attended the traveling anniversary celebrations that toured the country and world last year. The reviews most certainly were be better than those that will be given for the "Party of the Century." If you were here, and saw the local news casts, you would have seen helicopter coverage of the mass exodus. It was truly overwhelming. Quite simply, can you imagine folks from all over the world coming to celebrate and be insulted with this crap. It just did not fit the image. Heck, we all like Elton John in a way, but there is no Bad Boy Motorcycle association to him. Hell, they might as well have dug up Liberace!!! Must admit that at least I got a 2-1/2 hour nap in the afternoon while Di went to get some sandwiches and water. Yeah, the lines were that long, the food that bad and to top that off, the Rubber Rooms were out of toilet paper!!! Wish I had a Kaopectate Stand and TP franchise at the Party. Could have financed a new American Motorcycle Venture with the proceeds! Then again, if Harley had not had the "Party" they single handedly may have cured MD. Got the feeling that I was underwhelmed with the effort and lack of coordination with the event. Yep, you are pretty intuitive. Now multiply that by the number of paid attendees and you will get my drift. Oh, one thing that should be noted. I mentioned earlier in the week that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel was in hot pursuit of who the headliners may have been. Early on they settled on Elton John and almost all the entertainers at the dealer events were making jokes during their acts about Elton prancing out on stage in Black Leather Drag and then saying things like "Oh No, Harley wouldn't do that to you." Think the stage was set for failure or what? In conclusion, the 100th was an interesting week. Action packed with a lot of excitement and some really weird stuff. I bumped into a very close friend, the Milwaukee City Attorney, on the way out and after all the jokes about a poor selection for the crowd was, in his opinion, that at least those traveling long distances tomorrow will get a good nights sleep before they hit the road. Looks like the "Party of the Century" became the "Disappointment of the Century." Too bad, it could have been a wonderful experience. Good thing I won't be alive for the Bicentennial. I could not stand another fiasco like this. Beyond a doubt, you can rest assured that Spidey, Bads1, Lake Bueller, Court, Erik and their all star supporting cast did a much better job on the Buell 20th than HD and all the money in the world (at least from our perspective) did on the 100th. Kudo's to the "Real People" and up yours to the "Posers." edited by Nevco1 on September 01, 2003 | ||
| Nevco1 |
Whoops...I did forget to report the most common comment heard during the exodus..."I stayed and extra day for this!!!" Best believe the next time anyone pulls a "Mystery Entertainment" deal like this it will fall flat on its face. | ||
| Blastin |
I know college cover bands that would have been more exciting!!!!!!!! Any one of the headliners from summerfest would have been a better choice. Hell a 80's hair-band reunion would have been better. Everyone felt like they were HOSED, even the Irish and Scotish guys we walked out with. If this is the start of the next century, then I sure am glad I ride a BUELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! | ||
| Dynarider |
Bill, at least the Concert by Ted Nugent at state fair on sat night was good....Oh wait that was set up by a dealer not by Harley. Harley dropped the ball on this whole event. The dealers & others did a great job, Harley simply sucked. BTW...I am so glad its over. Got real tired of folks who have never been on a bike talking about what they were going to do or asking me if I had been up there, etc etc. I just want to be left alone & ride. PS...I dont see how Harley could have been so unprepared for the crowds at certain venues when there were folks predicting 750,000+ & yet it appears the actual number was around 250,000. For harleys 100th I would have expected a hell of a lot more. I have been in Sturgis with 700,000 & that absolutley blows away anything that happened this week. | ||
| Nevco1 |
Check out the white wash the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel put out in todays paper at www.jsonline.com. Is pretty interesting, especially when you consider they were the "investigative reporters" that started the Elton John rumor that ended up being true. Of interest, all the entertainers at all the venues during the 100th are sell outs every time they play Milwaukee. However, you have to remember that the people paying for those tickets want to see those performers. Heck, a lot of my friends that were at the "Party" and walked out paid up to $300 a ticket to see Elton John (and Billy Joel) here just a few months ago! This crowd just happened to be comprised of fun loving nostalgic sex, drug and rock'n'roll folks looking for some real thumpin' entertainment. Had HD signed a few more of the acts they booked for the other days to do the "Party", like they did with the Doobie Brothers, the event would have been all it was hyped to be. Kinda reminds you of the bible story about Jesus turning water into wine at a wedding. The host got some really great reviews about saving the best for last. Get my drift? Incidentally, the website listed above has some really great pics and videos of the weeks festivities. Is a great site to visit if you want to get a feeling for the international nature of the event. | ||
| Rustyx1w |
The "Thunder in the Heartland" in Kansas City last weekend with Charlie Daniels was alot more fun IMHO. Weather was damn hot, but there were one hell of alot of great people and bikes present in Kansas City for the party. They should have a big event in KC again next year just off of how many people and scoots showed up. | ||
| Dynarider |
For bikers, Rocket Man never took off Harley's hush-hush guests mostly flop By DAVE TIANEN dtianen@journalsentinel.com Last Updated: Sept. 1, 2003 Elton John is the Rocket Man. He is Captain Fantastic. He is not a biker brother. As expected, Elton turned out to be the big mystery guest at Harley-Davidson's 100th anniversary bash Sunday night at Veterans Park. In keeping the entire lineup secret, Harley planners forgot what would seem to be a basic fact of life in the concert business - people go to concerts because they happen to like the performers in question. By keeping their lineup secret, Harley guaranteed that their all-star lineup would play for an audience that was essentially indifferent to their presence. Moreover, it was a lineup that seemed selected by someone who didn't know any bikers. Bikers like their music with a streak of the renegade, a touch of larceny and a nip of danger. These are party-like-Cossacks, show-us-your-you-know-whats folks. ZZ Top and George Thorogood are their fare. Elton John is a pop star, arguably a great pop star, but a pop star nonetheless. For a biker audience he figured to be an awkward fit, and he was. Wisely Sir Elton stayed with the hits: "Bennie and the Jets," "Daniel," "Philadelphia Freedom," "Rocket Man," "The Bitch Is Back" and "I Guess That's Why They Call It the Blues." Mostly huge hits, and it scarcely mattered. Monster hit after monster hit was met with scattered applause and a smattering of boos. At the end the crowd had thinned out so much up front that the concert staff let down the barriers and let everybody filter into the VIP area. It wasn't so much an outright disaster as an unmitigated flop. Things were worse with Tim McGraw. Tim is a country singer with a fan base that skews young and female, not exactly the prime Harley demographic. From the start it was clear that the crowd didn't know songs like "Where the Green Grass Grows," "Indian Outlaw" and "She's My Kind of Rain," and they weren't in any mood to learn them. Two songs into McGraw's set, the guys behind me were yelling "Take the rest of the night off" or "You're done. Thank you. You're done." McGraw certainly didn't help his cause with love songs like "She's My Kind of Rain." These guys came to party, and he gave them a romantic weather report. The day's one bright spot was Kid Rock, who blasted into the middle of McGraw's set as a guest and stayed for a three-song solo set. Rock has charisma and energy to burn, and he got the crowd briefly fired up with "Cowboy," and his talking blues rumination on a possible Kid Rock presidency: Turn the churches into strip clubs and give all the at-home moms two weeks paid vacation. Although his rapping clearly irritated some older bikers, he did seem to find a possible constituency with their younger brethren. Opening were the Doobie Brothers. The younger portion of the crowd seemed to have only the vaguest idea who they were, and they never quite succeeded in getting the older folks pumped. Moreover, they were supported by the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra in one of those ridiculous supporting roles where the orchestra is totally drowned out by the rock band. In a battle between amplified guitars and an acoustic string section, always bet on the rock band. Appearing as emcee was a portly and apparently unprepared Dan Aykroyd. Aykroyd didn't seem to have written anything for the occasion and resorted to introducing his staff from the House of Blues and gushing over the crowd with lines like "I love all of you! We are all part of the brotherhood!" After about 10 minutes, the crowd was clearly tired of the patronizing. From the Sept. 1, 2003 editions of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel |
