Landmark Music Festival, September 26-27, 2015, Washington DC, National Mall

I’ve been excited about the first year of the Landmark Music Festival on the National Mall since Dana first brought it to my attention, before we even knew the lineup. A metro-accessible music festival from the producers of ACL and Lollapalooza, during the best time of year to be outdoor in DC? What’s not to like about that? We bought tix within the first 24 hours they went on sale, when they were dirt cheap. Dana even made a contact with their marketing department and scored some extra free tickets, so Eric had planned to use one and go with me for one of the days.  Then he ended up on crutches, so his ticket went to a co-worker of mine. Still, I was happy and excited to cap of my YEAR OF FESTIVALS (four in twelve months!) with Landmark.  On Saturday, Jill, Dana, and I all took the metro down together to Foggy Bottom and hiked the 1.5 miles to the FDR memorial, where the concert took place. All told, we walked about 10 miles a day.  Here’s what I remember, two weeks later.

Saturday, September 26, 2015

12:30 pm  - Ex Hex – Slow-motion girrl power punk-infused pop rock  Hot and Cold is the song I recognize most. Dana said “they look exactly like they sound”, which is true – they look the part of empowered punkish rockers, like Sleater-Kinney.  Not really our thing.  We went to the photo booth and Lemonade Love and for lunch during this act.

1:30 pm – Hunts – Seven siblings (last name Hunt) from Virginia in a folk band.  I didn’t care for their sound – very same old to my ears – but Dana was really impressed when they played the wood of a chair like a drum. Their dad produces and their mom does merchandise. The siblings trade instruments often. They were very smiley. We sat with a friend of Dana’s who was called away because her daughter had some sort of accident.  The daughter turned out ok, but she had to rush home. I was antisocial and sat for most of the act, so I didn’t actually see much with my own eyes.

2:30 pm – Mowgli’s and Twin Shadow.  I watched a bit of the Mowgli’s, but I will forever be spoiled by my initial contact with them in a parking lot in Austin. No stage act can compare to that experience. I think we hit the “experience” tents then, or maybe I just wandered off for a bit. I know I sat by the water for a little while with Twin Shadow playing in the background. The water right next to the stages was so very wonderful. It’s an amazing view out onto the Potomac under the weeping willows. Too bad the port-o-potties were right there, too. Seemed like bad placement to me.

3:30 pm – Vandaveer – I stopped by this country act before I left because there was nothing better from my perspective. (Honestly, the lineup was very dull for this entire festival.) The lady had white-blond hair and could really belt it out.  If I liked traditional country music, I think I would have liked this act. They seemed talented and interesting.  I left early to go to my college reunion that evening at GWU, conveniently the closest metro to the festival.  I was slightly jealous when I discovered that GW has its own Whole Foods now where the dining plan card is accepted. I remember cruddy cafeteria food.

Sunday, September 27, 2015

Sunday was the day that I took Natalie to the festival. Kids 10 and under went for free!  She was super excited. We put sticker jewels on our faces, like Chvrches, and took the metro to Foggy Bottom. We walked through the campus and I pointed the few things I recognized out to her (GW overhauls buildings at an amazing rate!) We even ran into someone I knew from school. (It was alumni weekend.) We saw some ducks on the way and eventually made it to the gate, early enough to hear the Star Wars music when the gates opened. First stop was Tag A Kid, then the port-a-potties and food. Natalie felt slightly let down by Lemonade Love because it had kale in it. We stopped by the kids zone where Natalie got her hair painted with red streaks and an airbrush tattoo, then took photos in some tents wile Avers (garage rock) played in the background. We also grabbed a recycle bag for later to earn Natalie a free shirt.

12:30 pm  - In the Valley Below – Not the band I expected. I expected hippy, they looked fashionista, with a very cool vibe. I only recognized the song Peaches. Natalie didn’t want to say even one word during any of the acts. Apparently, assemblies have drilled quiet respect into her. We sat in the middle of the crowd and listened.

1:30 pm  - Dr. John & The Nite Trippers – Dana and Jennifer (plus 2 sons)  found us and we all sat for a while at this old blues guy’s act, then we went to do more activities, like tattoos.

2:30 pm – Manchester Orchestra – We found Jill and her son here. It was VERY loud. Same old experience. Great sound, nothing special about the performance.

2:30 pm – Houndmouth – This was a hidden gem of the festival and we missed most of it. They are just a random mellow rock band, but they did a 50’s cover that was so much fun, and they had some energy on stage.  I wish I’d seen more. Natalie and I spent part of this act picking up cans. We filled her bag in about 20 or 30 minutes at Houndmouth and Lord Huron.

3:30 pm – Lord Huron -  Typical 4 white dude rock band. I thought nothing of them. We just focused on can collection.

3:30 pm – The Suffers – We passed by this jazz/funk/soul act on the way to turn in the cans. This woman really belts it out. Not my thing, but impressive.

3:30 pm – Rhiannon Giddens – My favorite of the entire festival, by far. She does traditional roots music in the same vein as the Carolina Chocolate Drops. I think she must be a prodigy. Her voice is impressive and clear, her stage presence commanding.  I loved this act.

4:30 pm  - TV on the Radio – We stayed for a song or two, checked out Joy Formidable, then got food. During our break for eating, we could hear Chromeo in the background.

4:30 pm – The Joy Formidable – Only caught a small amount of this act.

6:30 pm alt-J – We finally found Trish and Jack for this act.  We were very close to the front and filmed “Left Hand Free” for Sidney, since he’s fond of that song.







6:30 pm  We saw the neon lights for George Ezra on his stage as we made our way to Natalie’s favorite of the festival, Chvrches. We heard “Budapest” In the background.

7:30 pm CHVRCHES – Dana had hoped to get Natalie into the deaf area. She knew some of the interpreters working the festival. Unfortunately, her friends were at other stages, so Natalie had to settle for front row (boo hoo.) Dana wanted to see all of Chvrches, so I took and quick detour to see other acts and circled back to Natalie and Dana at the end. We all particularly liked her banter about Busboys and Poets and about the first DC critic to review them. Dana commented that every time we've seen Chvrches, the lead has improved her stage act.

7:30 pm Red Baraat – A world fusion band I had heard about and intended to see for a while. The reputation I recalled was that they had a ton of energy on stage. My experience watching them did not match that expectation. And there were next to no vocals with the music, so I really wasn’t into them. Interesting tidbit: they look like a very purposely multi-cultural band.

7:30 pm boots – This one was a weird experience. Boots is a critic’s darling. All Songs Considered did an entire podcast on why you should love boots. His music is interesting and sounds different that anything else out there. At least one of his songs reminds me of a mellowed out Nine Inch Nails, but others sound entirely different.  Problem was, he was up against Chvrches, which should have significant overlap with his potential fan base. I came to his set late and was able to walk up to the front row barricade.  There weren’t more than 100 people watching, total, in a crowd of (maybe) 25,000 people.  That’s really disappointing. Another disappointment, his sound mixing. You couldn’t hear the vocals over the instruments, and there was feedback sometimes. He was very nice and when the crowd said they couldn’t hear the vocals, he asked the sound tech to please adjust accordingly – points to him for that. He was also theatric and bold in his movements on stage, which is a really good sign in a new artist. I heard the one song and know and like by boots, and then a few songs later, there was a song that had a lot of anger and angst in it. It ended with him leaving the sound running, hopping the barricade, and walking away through the crowd, seemingly either pissed or theatric. I genuinely couldn’t tell if he was upset about the crowd or the turnout or if it was supposed to be part of the act. Enigmatic? Perhaps.  It was a little too abstract for me, but where his music intersects with slightly more mainstream sounds, I feel there’s a good chance I could like more by him. His set ended early, allowing me to return for the last few songs by Chvrches.

Natalie and I left right after Chvrches, walking back with Dana, who got us all to sing the Star Spangled Banner to distract from Natalie’s “Zombie Feet.” (More dead than even ghost feet.) It was another 10 miles of hiking that day – much more than Natalie is accustomed to. She liked it, though, and said she’d do it again.