Two Door Cinema
Club was just as dull as the last time I saw them. An uninspired live
performance. I didn't stay long. They weren't good enough to overcome the cow
field smell of all the hay covering the muddy tractor tracks and the
other unsavory scents of the unwashed masses. Festivals are better with a
strong breeze.
Okkervil River put on a good show, if you are into
their music. I'm not, but I respect their stage presence and talent. Same for
Grace Potter and the Nocturnals.
Cut Copy was ok - not special, but
ok. Not as engaging as I had hoped, so I ducked out and went to !!!
(chk-chk-chk), which was one of the best surprizes of the festival for me.
You can't imagine 6 more nerdy-looking 40-somethings that the members of !!!,
and yet, it was very fun and dancable music. The lead singer steals all his
moves from Mick Jager and is really fun to watch. If there had
been a bit
less pot in the audience, it would have been perfect.
Patti Smith was
old. Really old. So were her band mates. Not my thing at all. It's
disconcerting to see a 70 year old man in a leather vest.
I saw one song
by Cee Lo that was broadcast in while they set up TV on the Radio and felt I
missed nothing. He's a big dude, so all he does is pace up and down the stage
while he sings. His band was a bunch of very attractive women.
TV on the
Radio was hugely disappointing. Much of their set was frenetic noise. They
should fire their sound guy. The tempo was faster than the recordings,
the instruments overpowered the vocals, and the overall volume was louder
than every other act at the festival. The sound quality ruined any
appreciation I might have otherwise felt, and I do like a lot of their stuff.
I was glad that I didn't pay to go to the 9:30 Club to see just
them.
Black Keys was my best experience at the festival. They rocked out!
I didn't know they fit in the classic-rock genre just as well as they fit
into bluesy rock. I intended to watch only the first half of their set, but
they were so good, I couldn't tear myself away until a few songs before the
end. This is the only one I'm tempted to go see again next time they come to
town. Really excellent.
I went to check out all the hype surrounding
Deadmau5. There certainly were plenty of people dressed up for it all day
long. (Though I learned that the aliens were actually part of the circus side
show.) I don't get it. It was just trancy dance music - a low key rave with a
fantastic screen show to accompany it. I think you have to be high to truely
fall in awe to the alter of Deadmau5. He's got great merch, though. The
mouse-ear booty shorts were especially striking on the young ladies. (Oh to
be 20 again...)
I went to Ghostland Observatory for a couple songs to
kill some time letting the parking lot clear out. They were a great dance
act. Crazy pretty laser lights show, and I think they were playing real
instruments on stage, though it was hard to see. Guitar-driven music with
some vocals that went on and on, but was fun to dance to. I would have
understood the Deadmau5 hype if Deadmau5 had
been more like Ghostland
Observatory.
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