Once upon a time, WHFS was the Mecca for Alternative Rock. They played all kinds of Indy stuff you just couldn’t hear anywhere else. Eventually, in the mid 90’s, they were bought by Infinity Broadcasting, and adopted a more mainstream rotation of music, and the quality of the programming dropped gradually from that point. The HFS tradition of alternative rock finally died completely, earlier this month. They switched formats completely. 99.1 on my FM dial (hah… when’s the last time you saw a radio with a dial) now plays Spanish language pop music. I’m not upset about this, I stopped listening not too long after Infinity started pushing their corporate agenda on the music of HFS. The day I heard Metallica on there some time in ‘97 was the last time I tuned in. I actually like Metallica, but they do not belong on an “alternative rock” station. If you are curious a history of the station can be found here.

The biggest thing that HFS did was to, starting in 1993, organize the annual HFStival. This Festival featured a Who’s Who of modern rock over the years: 311, Fuel, Bush, Filter, Everclear, Soul Asylum, The Ramones, Juliana Hatfield, Better than Ezra, Linkin Park, Good Charlotte and Green Day to name a few. Of course, I never went to the HFStival. I couldn’t bring myself to part with 50 or more dollars to be squished, pushed and shoved in 90 degree whether by a bunch of drunk kids. What can I say, I’m a geek.

In 1995, I think, HFS organized a free concert, they called it the HF-Icicle. It took place in late October at the Nissan Pavilion in Northern Virginia. There were a number of bands scheduled to play, with Blues Traveler headlining. A couple friends of mine and I went to go check it out. I mean it was free, what did we have to lose. The temperature dropped like twenty degrees after sunset and we were cold. There is a good reason why they don’t usually have outdoor concerts in October. I couldn’t tell you anything about the other bands, I guess it wasn’t anyone of note. We were there to see Blues Traveler. The other bands got done. The sound check guys came out and did their thing. But no Blues Traveler. After a long and cold wait the band finally got on stage. John Popper waddled up to the mic, all 300 plus pounds of him. He said, “Sorry we didn’t get out here sooner, but I had to take a shit!”

That ruined it for me. They gave a great performance, but I couldn’t look at him without picturing his obese mass burying a toilet. That’s really the only thing from that concert that left an impression on me. A burning hideous painful impression. Yet another case of getting what you pay for. When I’m in the mood for the music I used to listen to on HFS, I just turn on the old XM Radio and Listen to Fred or Ethel.