The weekend’s biggest party was off the hizzy at 4 p.m. Saturday. More than 50,000 teenagers were crowd-surfing and moshing with their pushy, sweaty peers – and loving it. The HFStival rocked RFK Stadium with performances by the Offspring, Violent Femmes, Jay-Z, P.O.D. and the Cure, to name a few.
The rock star anger, angst and edge vanished as soon as the musicians left the stage and entered the backstage Elephant Room. In the blue-clad VIP oasis they ate mac-and-cheese and chicken kebabs, drank as much free beer as they could, and partied with celebs including Redskins linebacker LaVar Arrington and Brad from MTV’s “Real World San Diego.”
But these rockers weren’t exactly fraternal. “I don’t give a [bleep] about Jay-Z or anyone else. There really isn’t anyone I want to see,” said Andy Strachan, drummer for the Aussie group the Living End. Fellow band mate Scott Owen was willing to make an exception. “I want to see Beyonce,” he said without shame.
When the luscious pop star whizzed by on a golf cart with boyfriend Jay-Z (the VIP room wasn’t VIP enough) even the security guards chased after them with cameras. But in the end, the only people partying like rock stars were your children.
