Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood? People Watching at Rockville

Who Are the People in Your Neighborhood?

The Offstage Sights and sounds of Rockville

by M. Alberto Rivera

Music festivals; without an audience it’d be just a bunch of musicians waiting their turn to go to rehab.

Everyone came to Rockville for three days in the sun and for distorted guitars. Drawn by at least one act or more on the line-up, so theoretically, there’s a common ground among the attendees. There’s an overall visual cohesion to the crowd. To be sure the uniform of the day for most is shorts, rock shirt of choice and Converse/Doc Martens, or off brand docs. Former grunts are easy to pick out because of their choice of footwear. Combat boots that have probably seen combat.

But you also see a lot of are really, reeeeaaally questionable fashion choices.

Not like, there was a fire, we lost everything except for this bear suit/thong/dish rag as a cape, and we are happy to be alive. More like, I woke up more or less sober, and decided this insulated animal costume/Fairvilla clearance lingerie/combat boots and daisy dukes combo was what I needed to feel complete. This isn’t a body image/shaming thing. It’s more a question of competency to dress oneself. So who are the people who DARE to truly be themselves and be fashion forward?

Kilt guys. Some of the men sporting kilts can pull off the look. Others, well others . . . . . . sheesh.

Flags as fashion. Mostly men, but there are some women. And to be clear, it doesn’t bother me. What bemuses me to no end are the one’s proudly declaring, “Try Burning This One!” The same guidelines for how to treat flags with respect say it should never be worn as clothing. Just sayin’.

Costumes. Costumes can be fun, but I still question the need/want to dress as an angry monkey in 85 degree weather. Mosh Pit Jesus seems fairly well thought out and is popular. While I failed to witness it myself, he has been reported calmly crowd surfing, blessing the afflicted.

I want to be noticed, but am annoyed that YOU noticed me. This is also a version of I’m a let my ass hang out cuz no one I know will see me. This is a men and women thing, but mostly women. When most of your ass is outside of your pants, don’t get mad when those guys in the 3x shirts become aware of presence, and not just the cute ones.

Choice tattoo’s on display. This could be it’s own book. The only ones I was truly interested in hearing a story about were the two girls with positive messages inked next to execution devices on the backs of their thighs. Cult? Coincidence? Sorority double dog dare? Please, get in touch and let me know.

Sunburnt. Almost as an afterthought, lots of people from far flung places hidden from the sun all winter fail to realize the Sun don’t care ‘bout you. In particular, when you choose to get your prime spot early to see your favorite band 4 hours ahead of time.

Crew. Media, and vendors. I spoke with a camera man on day three and asked how many days he’d need to recover from this? “Man, at least 2. But it’ll have to wait. All this (pointing to the stage scaffolding) takes 2 days to pack up.” A wearyness soaks in deep on the faces and bones of those who have committed to being there on day 2. Doesn’t matter how old you are, how enthusiastic you are to see/hear (insert band name here), The days are long. And even when all goes as planned, it’s exhausting.

And fun. Really, really fun. Rockville was great. Weather was perfect and performances were memorable. And to the people who who can’t help but be themselves, thanks for making it interesting.