Editorial Note: Dave is on hiatus while he fulfills a secret mission he will no doubt update us on in a few months. Meanwhile he selected one of his all-time favorite columns from the past to share with SDM readers.

Against my wishes on a September weekend I found myself, wife and daughter at a little soiree called “RiotFest 2014.” Seven stages, four inches of mud and 120 dB of 30+ punk rock bands for three days in Humboldt Park in Chicago. The crowd was huge, over 20,000 people on Sunday. I had managed to get out of going on Friday and Saturday, but my attendance was mandatory for the Sunday Cheap Trick show. The attendees sported bizarre hairdos, lots and lots of tattoos and apparently some people think that they can now self-medicate since Illinois recently passed a medical marijuana law.