Indie Concerts ROCK: Free Fest, Merriweather, September 21, 2013

Little Green Cars, Merriweather, 9-21-13

I arrived at Freefest at around 10:30 am on Saturday September 21, 2013, determined to get a parking spot in the main lot of Merriweather. It worked. I got in, got my T-shirt and cup (because I wasn't lucky enough to score a free ticket), and hung out in the dance forest until Ghost Beach went on. They were very good live, as I expected, since I'd seen them open for Robert DeLong the week before. They know how to work a crowd. After a while, I went to check out the other acts playing. First, I stopped by the Knocks. They were two guys at computers using samples. There was nothing entertaining about their live show. I don't understand their appeal. Then I stopped by Sky Ferreira. That girl has a great voice, even if I'm not all that found of her pop tunes. Next I went to Little Green Cars, who started out folksy and progressed towards a more rock sound during their set. They were a very pleasant surprise. All of the band members sing - all 5. Beautiful harmonies. I stopped by Washed Out briefly, but I don't love his music, so I left for CHVRCHES - one of my main reasons for coming to the festival. The lead singer was tiny, and looked almost fae. Beautiful voice and face. Reminded me of Grimes without the artist attitude and pot. Her two band-mates were on platforms next to her, and it just accentuated how short she was. They did a lot of new songs, including one that featured male vocals. The performance wasn't amazing, but it was good enough to see again when they come back to town. The rain started during this act, and Dana arrived just as they were finishing their last song. The next act - and the other reason I was excited for this festival - was Icona Pop. Dana and I got up fairly close to the stage, so we could actually see some of the stage show without the screen. The duo had a LOT of party girl energy, and they looked like their supermodel selves. They were very good live - worth seeing. They sounded good, though they did clearly have a fair amount of their background music recorded, not live. I thought they would have had a wilder, more gimmick-filled show, but no such luck. No one I saw all day had a great gimmick. The rain really started to come down during Icona Pop. Dana and I wandered around for a while listening to City and Colour in the background (meh) but the next act I wanted to see wasn't for 2 hours, so we both ended up calling it a day at around 5:30 pm. Since the rain never let up, and the photos I saw online were nothing special, I feel good about that decision.