popwreckoning

While Friday’s staggering lineup kept spirits pumped despite the slosh, Saturday’s sun was a fresh start with bikini tops and fedoras aplenty. We started the day off proper by discovering the backstage VIP Media area, as well as the VIP bathrooms and VIP booze. Kicking ourselves for not discovering this music Mecca when the monsoon hit the day before, we didn’t hesitate to take shade when invited to enjoy a refreshing Grey Goose with Mr. Kool Keith himself. Wrapped in a silvery-sequined-babushka and sporting a deer-in-headlights vibe, Kool Keith, Dr. Octagon, and all of his multiple personalities of dysfunction and smut, mingled backstage with Ice-T who made a special appearance during Keith’s set.  Adrian Grenier chilled out back there before his set with The Honey Brothers, as well as members of My Bloody Valentine…and all their kids.

Lured by the sounds of sweet St. Vincent, we ditched backstage and caught Annie Clark making beautiful noise. It seems as if only she can make distortion seem elegant. Then we moved on to Chairlift, a band which has unfortunately ended up being a bit of a guilty pleasure for me. While I really like their debut, I couldn’t help but feel kind of silly as tweens, in their braided headbands and high-waisted stonewashed short shorts, bum rushed the stage. Maybe it was the iPod commercial (look what happened to Santigold after her Coors commercial) or maybe it’s the fact that there are lots of bands, past and present, making dream pop with a synthesizer and a Brooklyn-based siren doing it a lot better, but I lost interest after the third song and headed over to the Main Stage for My Bloody Valentine, with a brief stop off to check out Neko Case.

I can only describe My Bloody Valentine’s set as a music geek’s wet dream. If you didn’t do your homework, you just won’t get it and I think it’s safe to say many Tool fans played hooky that day. There’s a certain danger to the music. It’s challenging, both physically and mentally. It’s deafening, ear bleeding, soundscape is an almost violent experience, yet there’s something thrilling in the sheer destruction of the sound, something refreshing in the utter obliteration that the music promises.

Crystal Castles hands down stole the night for me. Everyone showed up to see Alice Glass and Ethan Kath blow the big top off All Points West including John Norris and the MTV crew who were broadcasting from the side of the stage. Dear Alice & Ethan: please don’t do a beer commercial no matter what Norris and his ridiculous turquoise skinny jeans tease you with. Wielding a strobe as her weapon of choice, Alice fired and screeched from the top of gigantic booming speakers and revelers gave over to the piercing thrash of electronica’s reigning king and queen. Worship I did.

Educated by Tool as a teen and never having seen them live, I was hungry for a peek at Maynard James Keenan’s mug and wanted to feel the Undertow. Unfortunately, the notoriously private troupe denied photo privileges and Maynard remained cloaked in shadow throughout the entire set. While I understand that graphics and visual art play a large part in the band’s schema, there was definitely an element of disappointment. We came to Jersey to see you, not a video of a stone baby melt into some sort of unidentified arthropod. We rode the subway for an hour and a half, took the stank PATH train, a shuttle, and then walked 1.5 miles in the sulfur-simmering mud to see you.  You. There’s nothing wrong with giving fans what they want. You wanna rock about transcendence? Show Your Bones, like Karen O.

Photos: Dese’Rae Stage

Friday Night // Concert and Movie Viewing

The Achievers (fans of The Big Lebowski) trickled into the 8^th Annual Lebowski Fest’s movie night on a humid Friday night in Louisville. Many were dressed in simple Achiever shirts while other, more fervent fans were dressed as characters (or even concepts) from the film. White Russian, beer and food stands lined the outside of the lawn as festival goers set up chairs to enjoy the evenings events including performances by local acts Whistle Peak and Black Diamond Heavies, the comedy of Rob Riggle, an appearance by Philip Moon (who plays Woo the Carpet Pisser in the movie) and, finally, a large outdoor showing of the reason for the festival, The Big Lebowski. The long and narrow lawn gave off the feeling of a company picnic or rather than a festival, but it was the perfect for groups of friends and Lebowski fans due to its more intimate nature.

The crowd mingled and drank as they waited for Whistle Peak to take the stage at 8:30. The five piece included keys, a harmonica and a ukulele in additional to the usual guitar, bass and drums. Keeping true to their Louisville roots, a subtle twang was noticeable in their rock sound that also featured poppy overtones. On the whole, I found Whistle Peak’s sound mellow, inoffensive and fairly easy to ignore – perfect background music for catching with old and making new Achiever friends.

The festival’s creators, Scott Shuffitt and Will Russell, walked around dressed as bowling pins, posing for pictures with other Achievers before introducing Black Diamond Heavies. Black Diamond Heavies, whose drummer Van Campbell hails from Louisville, have a dirty garage rock sound that still manages great melodies in all its grungy greatness. Singer James Leg’s got distinct smoky and gritty vocals similar to Tom Waits’, no doubt due to years of a nicotine habit (he lit up on stage). I’d heard of the duo before, but never realized how awesome they are until they tore up the stage at Lebowski Fest. Several audience members jumped up to dance around to the fast-paced, lively sounds. They really got the crowd amped for their beloved Big Lebowksi when they ended their set with covers of Kenny Rogers’ “Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)” and “Man In Me” by Bob Dylan.

Following Black Diamond Heavies, and crashing hard, was comedian and Louisville native Rob Riggle. He made jokes about the TARP and the Detroit auto industry bail out, mens bathrooms at sports stadiums, sell out jokes about a watered down horse piss beer and he trashed Spencer Pratt, recounting fantasies of wanting to murder the realitard celeb. Rob Riggle is not funny. At all. Neither I nor none of the people around me laughed at all. This was the only lowlight of the evening.

Before The Big Lebowski viewing, Philip Moon came out on stage to “piss” on a carpet (he turned his back to the crowd and opened a can of soda, letting the contents spill from near his crotchal region) like his character, Woo, in the film. The crowd got a huge kick out of this and cheered loudly. He then told an anecdote about his scene, in which Jeff Bridges (Jeff “The Dude” Lebowski) asked whether or not the toilet he was about to get his head dunked in had been washed. Directors the Cohen Brothers, totally deadpan, informed Bridges that the crew had all shit in it. This also drew roars from the crowd, but only received about half the applause that a “satellite link” (it was totally pre-recorded) message from Jeff Bridges himself received. Then it was time for The Big Lebowski. Achievers quoted the film, hooting and hollering at key scenes, reveling in all they’ve come to love about the Cohen Brothers’ cult hit.

My only grievance with the Fest is that I wish they’d had compostable cups and plates, or at the very least recycling. Other than that, I had a blast and couldn’t wait for the next day’s documentary, lawn party and bowling party.

Check back for coverage of the Saturday afternoon Garden Party and Saturday night Bowling Party

Speed of Sound Tour Dates (A Lebowski Fest near you!:
Denver - Sept. 8th & 9th
Minneapolis - Sept. 11th & 12th
Chicago - Sept. 13th – 15th
Toronto - Sept. 17th & 18th
Boston - Sept. 19th & 20th
New York City – Sept. 22nd – 24th
Philadelphia - Sept. 25th & 26th
Washington DC – Sept. 28th & 29th
Austin – Oct. 9th & 10th

Lebowski Fest: website | tickets