After a somewhat sleepless night — one must grow accustomed to sleeping on the bumpy ground surrounded by bongos, fireworks and crazy people — I awoke Friday morning…afternoon about 12:45-ish…stoked to catch Man Man, local Philly guys I adore, Broken Social Scene who I’d never seen live before and Girl Talk, another act I’d never previously had the fortune of catching in the flesh, among others.
Brett Dennen // Ranch Arena
After managing to get my ass in gear, Jon and I made out way onto the festival grounds to catch the barefooted, ginger headed Californian known as Brett Dennen. Dennen has been all over the place all year long and it’s no surprise he’s garnering critical praise. His happy folk pop is crowd friendly and fun. Catch Dennen opening for O.A.R. later this summer.
Man Man // Sherwood Court
The before their scheduled performance at Rothbury, Man Man front man Honus Honus (nee Ryan Kattel) tweeted, “Heading to Rothbury fest to freak out some jam heads. We WILL be giving some poor fucker a terrible trip. Hehe…” Just one reason to love this mischievous quintet, who sported a new member at Rothbury.
Man Man is a wonderful cacophony of sound and a party on stage all dressed in white with war paint on their faces, jumping and running around throughout their set. Though tighter recorded, it’s nothing short of a treat to join the Man Man party as the fellas pound on a the stage, bang on an upside-down and hollowed out fire extinguisher, blow a duck call, or pour water into a bowl as if they were your everyday instruments.
Set List:
Hurly / Burly
Top Drawer
The Ballad of Butterbeans
Against the Peruvian Monster
Harpoon Fever (Queequeg’s Playhouse)
I, Manface
Mister Jung Stuffed
Big Trouble
Rabbit Habits
Black Mission Goggles
Rachel Goodrich // Tripolee
During sunlight hours, Tripolee was reserved mainly for greening efforts, panels and the occasional artist. I was lucky enough to walk by when Miami Beach darling Rachel Goodrich graced the stage with her bouncy indie pop. Goodrich has a sweet voice yet commands the full band that backs her. And they all play kazoo! Definitely someone I’d like to hear more from and encourage you to hear any of.
Broken Social Scene // Ranch Arena
Broken Social Scene kicked off their set with an Allman Brothers Band cover, and informed the audience of the fact just to make sure we all knew. Front man Kevin Drew then announced that they weren’t going to play any love songs, but would rather jam out instead, fitting for a festival like Rothbury. BSS played a mix of old and new, jammy but tight, and created a dance party for a very interactive crowd. Stars‘ Amy Millan joined Broken Social Scene on stage, lending her lovely vocals to the set. I spent the majority of the set transfixed by the band and wondering how this could possibly be my very first time seeing them.
Damian ‘Jr .Gong’ Marley & NAS // The Odeum
I unfortunately missed Damian and NAS, due to being occupied by Broken Social Scene and then probably finding some dinner before the main act. Jon took some awesome pictures, though, and promises me that this set was awesome.
Flogging Molly // Ranch Arena
I never ended up getting over to Ranch Arena to check out Flogging Molly, but Jon took some pictures as the fellas no doubt let loose some good ol’ Irish punk rock hell.
The String Cheese Incident // The Odeum
As the headliners of Friday night, The String Cheese Incident had no direct competition whilst they played, so needless to say, the lawn at the Odeum was packed. It wasn’t until this night that I decided that the String Cheese Incident, who played Rothbury the previous year and jumped at the chance to come back, are awesome. I’ve never really been into jam bands, but String Cheese’s great beats and jammy piano melodies got me into the mood to twirl around to their mesmerizing sound.
(no Popwreckoning photos available)
Chromeo // Sherwood Court
I don’t doubt I’m going to catch a bit of flack for this, but Chromeo is totaly overrated. Had Gregg Gillis, a.k.a. Girl Talk, not been up next, I would’ve promptly headed back to my tent for some shut eye. While I had a bit of fun getting dancing with the Chromeo fanatics would chanted “Chromeo, Oh-oh” in hopes they’d come on despite the String Cheese Incident running 20 minutes over, it’s really lame to name drop your band in all of your own songs. I appreciate P-Thugg donning a Phillies hat, but Chromeo’s novelty wore off rather quickly and I bided my time waiting for Girl Talk.
Girl Talk
It almost seems ridiculous to try to capture a Girl Talk set in words. Gregg Gillis’ energy is a force to be reckoned with. It’s obvious he loves what he does, despite the fact he arrived at 8PM, mixed from 2AM to 3AM and bolted almost immediately thereafter. His energy was off the charts as he was allowed to have 50 members of the audience join him on stage (though I suspect many more ended up dancing around him) and had the rest of us on the lawn cheered him on as we were possessed into frantic movement by the beats of his mash-up magic.
Dancing around like a nutter to Girl Talk was the perfect end to the night. I made my way out just a touch before the set was over so I could see how things looked 100 yards back, then 200 yards back. As I lingered on the edges of Sherwood Forest, I thought that Girl Talk would have no problems properly playing a major arena. Hopefully that will keep him in the game longer if the aforementioned rumor is true.
Stay tuned for Rothbury, Days 3 & 4
Photos: Jon Gitchoff
except Rachel Goodrich photo by Jessica McGinley
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