Firefly Festival, June 21, 2015

Sunday began sunny and humid, but without the threat of rain. The grounds were in much better shape than any of us expected. There were some mud pits, but not the majority of the terrain.

The first act we saw was Prinze George. I wanted to stop by because their song “Victor” was one of the few I liked from the free Noisetrade mixed tape. The lead singer had pretty hair and a white dress on. All the band members wore white, actually, and there was some racial diversity in their group. They also had a female drummer. It looked like at least three of the moms of band members were standing in the wings, watching, which was cute. I found their sound good, but unmemorable.

I heard Jeffrey James for only one song in the coffee house. My preview description was bluesy male voice with throwback arrangements. He was soulful sounding in person with a nice voice, but I didn’t hear much. Mostly, I was in the coffee house for the shade.

I passed by Max Frost (neo-soul from a white dude from Austin). He was very energetic and wore white, so I could see him from a distance. I don’t like soul, so I didn’t like his music.

Børns was next up. This was the shocker of the day – so impressive! Both Dana and Jill recognized the name for “that song I hear all the time.” Best guess is “10,000 Emerald Pools,” but I swear I haven’t ever noticed it was playing, and we all listen to the same few radio stations. He’s got a crazy high, beautiful voice – like soprano high – and a metrosexual, feminine-leaning look about him, though he didn’t read as necessarily gay to me. Complicated, yes, but I couldn’t tell if he was bi, gay, straight, trans – his whole persona is quite confusing. I think that’s the point. I loved his cover of “It’s My Party and I’ll Cry If I Want To.” His movements were big and flamboyant. He had pretty hair. Apparently, he’s famous because Taylor Swift plugged him on Twitter.

Steve Akoi was next. EDM to the MAX should be his motto. He did a lot of self-promotion in his lights show – his face and name were on the screen graphic constantly. Apparently, his shtick is to throw cake and champagne on the crowd. There were people with “Cake Me” signs.

Falls was an Australian folk duo that I confused with Luluc. They don’t sound identical, but I swear they look like the same people and one of the stories from the Falls singer sounded very similar to a story the Luluc singer told, plus they are both from Australia. Take a look at the comparison: Luluc vs. Falls.  Freaky, right? Falls used more male vocals than Luluc.

Cold War Kids sounded good, but Jill wanted to move on and we were very far from the stage, so I don’t have much to say about that act.

Benjamin Booker was really good, and I got a great photo, but I couldn’t take the heat so I listened from the coffee house in between sound checks while napping. If you don’t know Booker, you should. My preview descriptions was “Garage rock. So cool. The real deal.” I saw him at Austin City Limits and fell in love.

I missed the electronic set of Broods because they started late, and I wanted to see most of Hozier. Hozier had a HUGE crowd and I was in the back. I liked the cover song he did for “funsies” best: Warren G's “Regulate.”

Raury is a critic’s darling, and citied by a lot of artists as an inspiration for the way he melds genres. He’s only 19 years old from Atlanta. His act was very interactive and self-promoting, which is good, but he talked a bit too much. Eventually, I just wanted him to shut up and sing. He encouraged hugging and talking to strangers next to you, which was nice, except the sleazy drunk shirtless men had a funny glint in their eyes after he said that. Sound quality was much better than at Sweetlife Festival and there was a good vibe and energy. I think his live show has promise, but could use some more work relating to the crowd.

Bastille (the mega famous pop group from down under) was crazy crowded. I gave up in no time. My friends stayed and loved it.

I bailed and caught the melancholy acoustic coffee house set of Broods. It was an intimate setting and holy moly she could sing! They had just flown in from New Zealand the day before and were suffering from weather shock and lack of appropriate clothing. She called her outfit a “slutty doll,” apparently not noticing that most of the crowd was wearing half as much as her.




Last of the night was Empire of the Sun, and they rocked my world. I don’t have any attachment to their music at all – couldn’t pick a song out of a line up – but their live show lived up to the hype. I inflicted live text messages on Dana, Jill, and Trish as they were driving home with a play by play. Here’s what the texts said:

Insane stage show! Crazy elaborate. I’ll post video.

Streamer cannons AND confetti cannons. Costume changes out he wazoo. Pyrotechnics. Over the top screen show…wow!

It’s a tron video game now and the dancers are tron ducks.

There were space-faring angels in the last song.

He’s in the crowd now, singing.

He just literally smashed his guitar to end the show.

It’s not over…wtf could be next????

Pokemon meets apocalypse in fair take Asia…damn!

CONFETTI!!

This is hands down the most entertaining show I’ve ever seen.

Taking bows now.

Exits on platform elevator through the floor.

Beat that, Snoop.*

Note: Snopp Dogg played the same time slot on a different stage.