Mohawks, dreadlocks, crew cuts, tie dye, leather, Chucks, boots, and Birkenstocks filled the crowded Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore Saturday as 40,000 people turned out for the Virgin Festival sponsored by Virgin Mobile.

The festival was co-headlined by The Who and the Red Hot Chili Peppers with upwards of 20 other bands and DJ’s both new and old performing on three separate stages. With numerous vendors, booths filled with advocacy groups, a “Freak Lounge,” and even an environmental awareness recycling campaign, the festival was, as Sir Richard Branson, chairman and founder of The Virgin Group put it, “...about more than just the music.”

After making it through the tedious drive blasting The Who at full volume, hassle-free parking, and drunk college students playing beer pong in the parking lot at noon, I could already feel the positive vibe emanating from the show like the plumes of smoke billowing out of the crowd during The Who’s intense hour-long set.

Upon entering the venue, I was bombarded with pamphlets advocating peace and love as well as pieces of paper telling me that if I recycled a certain amount of bottles and turned them into the “TRASHed Recycling store,” I could win prizes like CD’s, clothes, and video games. That was about 20 feet into Pimlico.

As I delved further into the concert I approached the Clubhouse Stage, the second largest of the three stages at the concert featuring mostly up-and-coming bands. Standing at the far back of relatively large crowd, I found myself surrounded by hippies of all ages, punk rockers, high schoolers, English teacher Karl Savage, college students, families with kids on their shoulders, and thousands upon thousands of other people there sharing the same interest: music.

After checking out the Clubhouse Stage I made my way to the enormous Grandstand Stage which featured the main performers of the show and was located on the other side of the race course (about a two-minute walk). On my way there I passed through the seemingly never-ending line of food vendors and bars on both sides of the track, featuring the most eclectic variety of foods that ousted even Montgomery Mall’s food court. The only real downer of the whole concert was that water was three dollars and everything else was four times as expensive.

Needless to say, for the next eight hours I made my way between both stages and rocked harder than I’ve ever rocked before. And I’ve seen my share of rock. Some of the highlights included Andrew Stockdale, lead singer of Australian rock band Wolfmother, parading around the stage, going wild as he threw his white Fender through the air, slamming it into the ground and grinding it against the microphone pole in a Hendrix-esque fashion.

While the Grandstand Stage highlighted the main acts, the New Pornographers, the independent Clap Your Hands and Say Yeah, and Thievery Corporation brought their less mainstream music to unfamiliar listeners as thousands crowded around the smaller Clubhouse Stage.

At approximately 4:00 p.m., twelve men and women strutted on stage dressed in togas and laurels wielding microphones and guitars, kicking off the most intense six hours of the concert at the Grandstand Stage. With roaring approval from the crowd, lead singer from Gnarls Barkley, Cee-Lo Green, sauntered on stage wearing an outrageous golden breast plate and matching Trojan helmet. “Hello you sexy mother f***ers!” yelled Green into the microphone. The hordes of music lovers went wild. “We are the chariots of fire!” shouted the tattooed Green as a female string quartet, backup singers, and band tore into the band’s distinct fusion of hip-hop and rock n’ roll. Their hit “Crazy” was one of the greatest songs of the evening as every member of the crowd seemed to bounce in unison.

After a sub-par performance by the Killers and a constant flow of crowd surfers, the minutes seemed the hours as I stood, crushed between a five-foot Irishman and two middle-aged staff members who were chemically enhancing their experience at the festival. Standing twenty feet from the stage with mere seconds left, the crowd began their religious chanting, “Who, Who, Who,” gradually crescendoing into overwhelming volume as Roger Daltrey and Pete Townshend, accompanied by their band graced the stage. Moments later, they tore into their 1964 hit, “Can’t Explain.” I had never heard so much noise in my life. Then they played “Baba O’ Riley” half way into the set. The hour of music was more than any great Who fan could have asked for as they cranked out hits ending their set with a powerful medley of their 1969 landmark rock opera “Tommy.”

The final band of the night that performed on the “Grandstand Stage” were the Red Hot Chili Peppers backed by their critically-acclaimed new album “Stadium Arcadium.” In an unbelievable set that highlighted their entire career, the Chili Peppers drew most of the younger members of the audience while the older ones enjoyed a psychedelic trip through the music of The Flaming Lips.

“The music we play is art imitating life,” said Cee-Lo Green during a break in their set. With the eclectic mix of indie, punk, alternative, rock, hip-hop, funk, and more, every one of the artists contributed to the positive ambiance that was truly art. After about ten hours of solid music running through my body from which I am yet to recover, I can safely say that I have never rocked so hard in my entire life.