For the last seven years, the folks of Missoula, Montana, and
Wäntage Records have been throwing one of the best music festivals
in the Western U.S. Total Fest is a total party—as if 44
bands across three nights in one three-stage venue weren’t enough, the
locals also go out of their way during the daytime to treat their
visitors to every- thing great the city has to offer. Bands are given
every incentive to want to return to Montana: beautiful rivers perfect
for tubing or just standing in with a beer, record swaps, barbecues
every night, and of course the festival itself. This year showcased
some of the best rock bands in the West, such as Saviours, Akimbo,
Triclops!, and Black Elk.
A key ingredient for a great festival is free beer, made
possible again this year by Pabst. With nonstop music all night, cold
tallboys, and 1:00 a.m. breakfast buffets following sun-soaked days of
rivers, food, and more beers, some nights’ afterpartying required more
energy than was available. When the whole day is a party, after-hours
happily became an excuse for a room full of people to crack open a
30-pack of Hamm’s and watch women’s Olympic gymnastics until 4:00
a.m.
Three straight days of party takes a lot of energy, but the drain is
rewarding in the sense that you feel you’ve really accomplished
something even though you haven’t. Until the bitter end, I hope
to find myself standing in a Missoula river every summer.
Want The Stranger to extol the joys of the red state of
your choice? E-mail the date, place, time, and party details to
partycrasher@thestranger.com.