popwreckoning

For a young five-piece dance rock group from California, Funeral Party is off to a good start. They’ve gone from backyard shows to touring with Julian Casablancas, a member of a headlining act for this year’s Lollapalooza.

PopWreckoning caught up with singer Chad Elliott, while the band was touring with Casablancas. We found out how the young band got started with fun, but often violent yard shows, how they were discovered by Mars Volta‘s producer, the appeal of “Lord of the Flies,” and we discussed just what’s coming up in their future. Check the full interview out below:

Bethany, PopWreckoning: How are you? Have you been able to explore this area [Westport]?
Chad Elliott, Funeral Party: Well, we just got into town and were hanging out at a motel earlier, so we haven’t really explored much. I’m going to walk around more after.
BS: Yeah. This is a fun area with some good restaurants.
FP: I saw my first thrift store that I’ve seen on the whole tour here, so I’m going to go in there.

BS: How has this tour been going so far?
FP: It has been pretty good. It’s been really fun and different than our other tours. I feel that collectively as a band, we’ve finally reached the right amount of members, the right amount of people, so that’s working for us.

BS: I was kind of confused looking online, but how many members do you have now?
FP: Five. Percussionist, guitarist, bassist, drummer & me. Five, including me.
BS: Who are they? I only found four online.
FP: The guitarist is James Torres, bassist is Kimo Kauhola, drummer is Neil Gonzales, he’s a new one, and the percussionist is Tim Madrid.
BS: Neil is the one I didn’t have on my list. How long has he been with you?
FP: Five months.
BS: So you have a percussionist and a drummer. How do you divide the duties between that?
FP: The percussionist is also a slash keyboardist. He used to be our drummer, but he wanted to explore different things with more writing. So, he became the percussionist/keyboardist. He basically does everything that I wish I could do, but on stage, it doesn’t allow me to do it. On stage, it would just be too cluttered.

BS: How did you guys all meet and decide to form Funeral Party?
FP: Well, before Funeral Party, I was in a band with the percussionist and the bassist. It was kind of the same kind of idea as Funeral Party: a little avant-garde with post-punk. That band disbanded because the bassist moved. I got invited to be in a band with the guitarist as a keyboardist and he had no members. So I invited the bassist and the percussionist into the band and that’s how it all started.

BS: I read that you guys were in a lot of backyard shows, but a lot of them got broken up by the cops. What is kind of the craziest thing that’s ever happened while you were doing one of those shows?
FP: There were gang fights. There was a stabbing at one of our shows that was pretty gnarly.
BS: As a band, what do you do when something like that happens while you’re up on stage?
FP: At that particular one, we were playing. I had climbed up, well we were playing at a warehouse outside, and I had climbed up a building. So I saw it happening and I was like, “Oh, shit,” but I still kept singing. Then the mother of the kid who threw the event came up screaming in Spanish, “Please stop. Please stop.” So we had to stop, but the band was totally oblivious at the time because there were just so many people that they couldn’t see. It was pretty wild.

BS: Wow. Ok, so speaking of Spanish, you had a Spanish song on the “Jackass 2.5” soundtrack.
FP: Yeah. How’d you find that out? Oh God. How did that leak out?
BS: Haha. You guys didn’t have too much information online, but I read everything I could find.
FP: The publicist isn’t even sending that one out.
BS: Is it not ok to ask about it?
FP: No, it’s cool. It’s just a dirty little secret, I guess.
BS: You don’t want to be affiliated with those movies or that song or…?
FP: I didn’t grow up in Spanish-speaking family, so that particular song I had to learn Spanish. So, I don’t really back it up because then people are going to start asking me to speak in Spanish and I don’t want to for fear of embarrassing myself.

BS: It’s still cool that you learned Spanish for this one song. You have the Bootleg EP out, which is a 3-song EP, you have the Spanish song that I know about, but what are kind of your plans album-wise?
FP: We’re putting out an album, our first LP, this summer…well, August. That’s pretty much our plan. We’re playing a lot of songs from the album now.
BS: Do you have a title?
FP: Yeah, it’s called The Golden Age of Nowhere.
BS: Where does that title come from?
FP: The idea for the album is comprised from dreams that I was having during the time that we were writing the songs and I kind of wanted it to be like a book title. I was really inspired by “Lord of the Flies,” and the whole imagery of just somebody creating a whole society of just kids and building from the ground up. That’s where the idea came from: going somewhere else like a new beginning.

BS: So do the songs on the album follow a similar story or inspiration?
FP: We’re redoing some songs off the Bootleg, so the concept gets a little thin because it is mixed in with that, but the newer songs, yeah, that’s the concept.

BS: I know you got involved with Mars Volta’s engineer for the Bootleg EP. Are you working with him again?
FP: Yeah, we worked with him recording this one.
BS: What is it like to work with such a prestigious engineer? He kind of found you guys, didn’t he?
FP: He wasn’t “prestigious” when we met him, so it wasn’t such a big thing until after that. He found us, we played at a backyard, and we had just come to this backyard where there were all these bands playing and we just asked if they could squeeze us in. We had like a 15 minute set. He just liked the energy and he came up to me after the set and was like, “I have a recording studio. I really want to capture the way the band sounds right now. Would you mind going?” And we were like, “We don’t have any money.” So he was like, “We can do it as low budget as you want.” So, we actually recorded in the same studio. We recorded in the storage facility, so the room that we recorded in was actually a backroom. So it was really, really low budget, but it was cool.

BS: That’s cool he came up and offered that. So coming off these backyard shows, you’re now finding yourself on tour with one of Lollapalooza’s headliners to a certain extent. What’s changed for you guys by getting involved with all these big name people that have faith in your music?
FP: It’s helped us become more professional and grow as people. We’re no longer doing it just for shits and giggles. We’re doing it as a career now. That’s the biggest change it has made on us.

BS: For a wrap up question, you’ve done some amazing tours. You’re with Julian [Casablancas] right now. You’ve gone out with …And You Will Know us By the Trail of Dead. Who would you go out with if you could pick anyone?
FP: It is hard to say. People I look up to, we don’t necessarily mix well with touring-wise. I mean, I would love to tour with David Bowie or something. That would be awesome, but I don’t think it would work out. But I’d also love to tour with the Strokes if they’d like to get back together.
BS: Yeah. Well, Lolla and they’re working on a new album. You don’t know, but you’re on tour with Julian?
FP: It is like a dirty word to bring up.
BS: Such a polite tour mate. I would’ve asked.
FP: It would be one of the first ones. I didn’t ask. The guitarist asked and he kind of joking around and he was like, “Oh yeah, so when will you be done with this shit?” So he [Julian] was like, “Are you not into it or what?” And he was like, “No, no, that’s not what I meant. I was just joking and wondering.” So he was like, “Yeah, I don’t know when it’d be coming out or anything.” He [Julian] kind of just blew that off.

BS: Ah. So anything final you’d like to say that we didn’t cover or just want to get out there?
FP: The record is coming out in August. So that’s awesome.
BS: Sounds good.

Standing within the box that is the Kansas City music scene, Thieves seem to have gotten a little lost.  Coming from nowhere, they’re suddenly everywhere, earning their role in a complicated and sometimes closed-minded blue collar music city. However, it is important to make it perfectly clear that sometimes being lost here isn’t always a bad thing. It seems to me that if anything, this group of guys finds itself ahead of the curve, leaving behind a scene three to five years behind the national trend, which hangs its hat on the fame of The Get Up Kids. While the godfathers of the modern emo movement have earned and deserve our praise, the time has come to reestablish and rebuild our struggling scene. I have little doubt that this could be the band to do it.

One would swear when spinning their new disc, Dividers, released Saturday, November 5 at the Record Bar, that the sounds spilling from the speakers surely must be a previously established, national act.   While half the credit of this must go to the production values of  Ryan Cork and The Punch at Premier studio in Lenexa, Kansas, the band’s polished, atmospheric tendencies offer entertainment by themselves.

Take “Swan Song,” Divider‘s opening cut, for example.  Ticky-tack electronic drums skip down a path towards a haunting guitar and vocal combo that would make even Mars Volta proud.  Blended in a way that makes the band appear to be a united force, rather than a group of individuals caught up in guarding their images and defined roles, the album’s first track sets the tone for this epic, flowing journey into a musical conversation with Thieves.   It’s pretty clear, they have something to say.  They’re not just vocal and guitar solos. They are their message.

“In House. In Host,” the album’s second cut, it escalates the intensity of Divider a touch.  With a fist pumping fury and an air raid feel, Thieves scream, “I try to fight it but the devil is breaking down the door,”  over pounding drums and muted guitar.  If for no other reason, this song’s ability to condition the listener to adopt the semblance and spirit of the song is breathtaking and worth the listen.

From power struggle to power ballet, the album’s third cut, “While You Were Sleeping,” is at its best if listened to through headphones.  The listener’s ability to pick up every casual drum beat and urgent radio transmission is imperative.  The calm piano introduction and soft vocals remind me of something one might find on The Virgin Suicide soundtrack alongside any number of Air tracks.  I also find it without a doubt to be the strongest track on the album and one of the best local tracks of 2009.

Skipping over the very pretty musical track in “Transit,” Divider’s fifth and sixth tracks “Mecca”  and “E. 130″ sport a very European style signature which cohesively constructs a sound that mixes the likes Radiohead’s quitar structures and vocal whails with The Postal Service’s electronic instrumentation.  You can check it out for yourself, free of charge, by downloading the album here, until December 31, 2009.

Trust me, you should.

Track Listing:
01. Swan Song
02. In House. In Host
03. While You Were Sleeping
04. Transit
05. Mecca
06. E. 130

Thieves: website | myspace

Considering how The Mars Volta‘s songs are so complexly intertwined, it would only make sense that the band’s ever-expanding family of related projects are bound together as well. In November, two such groups, Zechs Marquise and Free Moral Agents take to the road to show us how this brood continues to grow.

Zechs Marquise features multi-instrumentalist Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez (who also plays in The Mars Volta) and bassist Marfred Rodriguez-Lopez, both siblings to legendary guitarist Omar Rodriguez-Lopez. Free Moral Agents is a collective of musicians founded by The Mars Volta’s Grammy Award winning keyboardist Isaiah “Ikey” Owens.

While sharing The Mars Volta’s penchant for expansive passages, Zechs Marquise takes a hazier, psych-laden approach to its songs, as evident on its 15-track debut album Our Delicate Stranded Nightmare which was released in Fall 2009 via Rodriguez Lopez Productions.

Tour Dates:
Nov. 7 – Black Market / El Paso, TX
Nov. 8 – The Mohawk / Austin, TX w/Trail of Dead, An Albatross
Nov. 9 – The Star Bar / Beaumont, TX
Nov. 10 – Sadies / Lafayette, LA
Nov. 11 – Low Key Arts / Hot Spring, AR
Nov. 12- Smoke & Barrel / Fayetteville, AR
Nov. 13 – The Brick / Kansas City, MO
Nov. 14 – Reggie’s / Chicago, IL
Nov. 15 – The Frequency / Madison, WI
Nov. 16- Mixtapes / East Moline, IL
Nov. 17 – Bourbon Theater / Lincoln, NE
Nov. 18 – Old Curtis Tavern / Denver, CO
Nov 19. - High Mayhem / Santa Fe, NM

Zechs Marquise: website | myspace

The Midland theater’s classical opera house art style was the perfect setting for the Mars Volta‘s show. It was truly an appropriate stage for the masterful musicians.The dramatic architecture of the theater complimented the show’s storybook-esque theme.

The Mars Volta had four different backdrops that were featured during different parts of the show. It was like a new chapter was beginning every time a backdrop changed.

Chapter 1: The Arrival
The first backing of the evening was printed with swirling images of eyes and black wings.

Chapter 2: Welcome to the madness
Before the show began, the cloth quickly disappeared and was replaced with a Tibetan inspired backdrop.

The Mars Volta opened with “Son et Lumiere,” the first song from De-Loused in the Comatorium. During the song, lights of deep red and blue, and bright pink and green flooded the stage. The lights illuminated the backing image, shifting the artwork into two distinct images. Isaiah Ikey Owens (keyboards), Juan Alderete (electric bass), Marcel Rodriguez-Lopez (percussion, synths), and Thomas Pridgen (drums) surrounded Cedric Bixler Zavala (lyrics, vocals), and Omar A Rodriguez-Lopez (guitars); a mass of instruments lined the stage and two flags hung by the drum set.

Zavala’s energy filled the entire room. As he ran across the stage, his dark clothing and wild curly locks complimented the stage’s colorful background. Zavala flipped his white mic stand over the heads of his band mates, reminiscent of his days in At The Drive In. As Volta jammed into their next song, Zavala sprung up, twisting his body into a semi-flip. When Volta began to play “Cotopaxi,” people in the front section of the audience began to wave their arms hypnotically. During the song, I noticed something smoking by Owens’ keyboards. While at first I thought that perhaps his instrument had lit aflame from his speedy fingers, I discovered the “smoke” was in fact steam rising from Zavala’s beverage.

Chapter 3: Psychotic trips
Before the start of “Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of),” the backdrop changed again. This time, the cloth had a large collage of faces. Zavala reached an even higher level of energy during this portion of the show (I know: I didn’t think it was possible either). He swung around the stage, swaying like a matador preparing to fight. The singer suddenly jumped across the stage towards the set of drums, and balanced on Pridgen’s bass drum, which was covered in art. The song soon faded into a cool, sexy jam that was sprinkled with a series of electronic blips and bloops, and Rodriguez-Lopez’s whale-like guitar chords.

Later in the evening when Rodriguez-Lopez broke into a solo, the crowd went wild. Following his solo, Pridgen’s talent was showcased. He has some of the cleanest, most precise drumming abilities I’ve ever heard. While the audience jumped and flailed, a series of green and purple lights shown over the crowd, causing everyone to look as if they were vibrating back and forth in sync to the music.

The band didn’t say much during their performance. Although, Zavala did take a moment to dedicate a song to those in the crowd who had supported them from the beginning. He thanked the people that allowed them to crash at their place, and thanked the people who had faith that the two fuck-ups from their last band could make this one.

Chapter 4: The end
After his heart-felt thanks, another back drop was revealed that contained a haunting face, and skeletons of fish that appeared to be covered in hoods. The band’s performance of “Luciforms” created distinct mental images of an abandoned, wrecked ship. Zavala seemed to catch the song’s words as they came out of his mouth, and mold them into invisible shapes.

Volta finished up the show with the bluesy, “The Widow,” and the manic “Wax Simulacra.”

Although Volta put on an hour and a half show, no one was ready to leave the theater at the end of the night. After the house lights came up, people continued to stand and wait, hoping the Mars Volta would appear again.

Set List:
Son et Lumiere
Inertiatic ESP
Goliath
Cotopaxi
Roulette Dares (The Haunt Of)
Viscera Eyes
Halo Of Nembutals
Eunuch Provocateur
IIyena
Teflon
Drunkship Of Lanterns
Luciforms
The Widow
Wax Simulacra

Mars Volta: website | myspace | @ bonaroo 2009

Set list courtesy of Setlist.fm

Photos by: Joshua Hammond

Wait a second…is that…sun?

Yes, the second day of Monolith saw some sun. Though I must stress “some.” Granted “some” was a significant improvement to the cold, icy rain that drizzled on concertgoers the entire day before.

Feeling encouraged by the slight appearance of sun, Monolith’s second day promised to be good.

We Were Promised Jetpacks // Woxy.com Stage @ 1:40-2:20 p.m.

I started off with Scottish group We Were Promised Jetpacks. I couldn’t decide what I liked more. Their music or their stage banter with the audience.

During a brief break in their set, a girl shouted out, “Say four,”

“Whore?” asked Adam Thompson, causing the audience to erupt with laughter. “I’m not some kind of Scottish circus freak. I can’t roll into town and say whatever you want.”

The group just released their debut this past summer and while they cite their influences as Frightened Rabbit and Twilight Sad, I’d say they have mainly the accent in common and while I like those other two bands, I think We Were Promised Jetpacks had the most enjoyable live show after seeing all three at Monolith.

“I’m going to let you in on a secret,” said Thompson near the end of their set. “This might be our only good song. We peaked.”

I wouldn’t let Thompson’s modesty fool you. All their songs are good.

Rahzel // Esurance Music Stage @ 2:30-3 p.m.

I was a bit disappointed with the arrangement of the next options at the festival. I could either see DJ rapper The Pirate Signal or hip hop artist Rahzel. These genres are not really my thing and I was disappointed that there weren’t any alternative genre options when the rest of the line up was pretty good about having variety at different stages.

I decided to sit at the top of Red Rocks and watch some of Rahzel. Rahzel, is perhaps better known either as the “beat boxing champ” or as a member of The Roots.

The first ten minutes were painful. I find having a DJ yell, “We’ve got the champ; we’ve got the champ” over and over while some other guy simply talks kind of lame. That “warm-up” part was something I could have done without.

But then, Rahzel finally showed off his beatboxing skills. First it was White Stripes‘ “Seven Nation Army” then a little Justin Timberlake and countless other popular tunes. And that was bad ass.

Neon Indian // Woxy.com Stage @ 3-3:40 p.m.

Now Neon Indian was more my speed with its synth heavy lo-fi pop. It is the project of Alan Palomo of VEGA.

Monolith was the first ever live performance of the band, but as Palomo’s bold movements and twists of the microphone cord made it look like they had been performing forever. His female bandmate on keys was a bit more timid though and I’m not sure if that was her personality or nerves.

I expect this group to blow up soon because let’s be honest…who doesn’t love the synth?

Monotonix // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 3-3:30 p.m.

So I didn’t intend to see any of Monotonix and then I accidentally ended up seeing too much.

After emerging from the depths of Red Rocks, I was surprised to see a large crowd huddle in front of the Southern Comfort Stage, yet no one was on stage nor did it look as though anybody had been on stage. Crews were already setting up for the next band. Yet there was some weird sort of rap rock…I’m not quite sure how to describe what was going on soundwise…coming form the middle of the croud.

Suddenly, from the depths of the crowd, a skinny, shirtless man with long hair was lifted on to the shoulders of the crowd. This was Monotonix and the people were just eating his performance up. I finally got to see him, but this is also when I saw too much of him.

It wasn’t long before he was mooning the crowd and I decided it was time to take my leave from the spectacle and check out another band.

The Dandy Warhols // Esurance Music Stage @ 3:30-4:15 p.m.

Maybe it was the singer’s stripped shirt, but there was a definite sailor swagger to the Dandy Warhols.

They seemed happy to be playing, but there was also an aloofness that made it a little difficult to connect with their live show.

The group was at their best when songs called for extra percussion effects like on “The Legend of the Last of the Outlaw Truckers.” The band sounded better and seemed happier on songs like that.

Set List:
Burned
Trucker
Junky
Good morning
I Love You
Holden Me Up
The Last High
Bono
Get Off
U2BF
Wasp
P/Boys

The Love Language // Radius Earphones Stage @ 3:40-4:20 p.m.

Looking at the stage set up for The Love Language, my first thought was that two separate bands were going to duel for the ownership of the drummer. Two keyboardists faced each other and two singers stood side by side. It was crowded for such a tiny stage.

But once I heard the band start to play, it was quite clear that something different was happening on stage. Instead of two separate bands battling for control of the drummer, siamese twins would be a better image to conjure up. The band was a single entity, but at the same time, as they switched from song to song, they showed different personalities. The Love Language are Siamese twins, not joined at the hip, but at the drummer.

Aside from walking away from this review with that weird imagery, know that soundwise, they really are the language of love. They are just happy-sounding and sweet and tons of other things that make you want to curl your toes with glee. There was a carefree nature about the music and the performance, so carefree in fact, that the band hardly flinched when all their foot-stomping knocked one of their keyboards off the stand.

Set List:
2 rabbits
providence
nocturne
blood
brittney
blue angel
sparxxx
manteo
lalita
hello mary lou

The Thermals // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 4-4:45 p.m.

I’ve had the privilege of seeing The Thermals before.

I just love the nasally stretch of the singers vocals, “Nooooow weee cannnn see,” the bassists growth from nonchalance to lost-in-the-moment jumping, and the unabridged enthusiasm of the constantly smiling drummer.

Yet, since I had seen them before, I regrettably had to pull myself away to catch some acts I had never seen before. Next time, Thermals. Next time.

Set List:
Return
Afraid
Future
Trivia
Let go
How Know
Call Name
Back Gray
Sick
Trip
100 %
Strosa
Pillar
Culture
We See

Bad Veins // Woxy.com Stage @ 4:20-5 p.m.

Two guys, flowery wood boxes, a big film machine and a telephone. Sounds like the beginnings to a weird sitcom, but really this was just the beginnings of Bad Veins, a duo that features a tape machine named “Irene.”

The guys and “Irene” produced a really full sound, but I’m not entirely convinced I understand the purpose of the telephone bit.

While I’m sure many in the audience inadvertently wandered in, they stayed because they group was unique and good.

HEALTH // Radius Earphones Stage @ 5-5:40 p.m.

HEALTH – OMFG.

I can’t decide if I love the festival organizers for booking some amazing bands or hate them for booking some amazing bands in ridiculously small rooms.

If you were one of the lucky few who didn’t get shut out of HEALTH’s set, you know how amazingly fortunate you were to witness them live. Each band member was all over the stage, jumping and thrashing. I’ve never seen so much energy from a electronica rock band.

If you were unfortunate enough to get shut out, get in your car and drive somewhere to see them even if that means driving to an airport.

This is a band everyone must witness once in their life.

The Twilight Sad // Woxy.com Stage @ 5:40-6:20 p.m.

The Twilight Sad rounded out the Scottish trio performing at the fest.

A schedule change moving Savoy earlier and shifting Passion Pit and Phoenix later due to a cancellation from illness in MSTRKRFT‘s camp made it so I wasn’t conflicted with choosing between Twilight Sad and Passion Pit.

The set was hauntingly beautiful, but a bit of a downer. A technical hiccup in the set lightened the mood a bit as the band awkwardly stated, “Wish we knew some jokes.”

They were talented, but awkward and shy, which I suppose is fitting for their music. Plus, they had accents, and who doesn’t love a good accent.

Set List:
Doonstairs
Faster
Hit Single
Eyes Oot
Mooth
Rabbit
Sheepdng

(not typos, just how they wrote it out on the set list)

Tigercity // Radius Earphones Stage @ 6:20-7 p.m.

Tigercity was some smooth, easy-listening and I unfortunately was just too revved up to go see Passion Pit to truly enjoy this group.

It wasn’t that Tigercity was bad and they had the recipe for everything I love–synth! It was just that it was more so something that was more appealing to an older crowd that still wanted to be hip than what I’m into. Sorry Tigercity.

Set List:
Fake Gold Other Girls
Graz 75 B
Ancient Lover
Power Stripe Solitary Man
Red Lips D Water
A Better Place James
My Type
Let Her Go
?
Mallory

Passion Pit // Southern Comfort Presents Stage @ 7-7:45 p.m.

OK, again, I don’t know why the festival organizers didn’t put Passion Pit on the main stage because the entire day this was the band that I heard everybody talking about going to.

They were good the last time I saw them, but I can’t get over how much the stage presence has improved. Every band member was all over the stage, jumping off monitors and the kick drum and falling on the floor.

The crowd makes a Passion Pit set. They know all the right times to respond and sing back the vocals.

High-pitched vocals have the potential to be obnoxious, but in Passion Pit’s case, it is pure fun and add the electronica beats and you have a non-stop dance party.

I could have been content to end the night here, but some of my favorite French rockers were getting ready to take to the main stage.

Set List:
make light
i’ve got your number
let your love grow tall
little secrets
to kingdom come
better things
sleepyhead
smile upon me
…can’t remember what was played here…
the reeling.

Phoenix // Esurance Music Stage @ 7:45-9 p.m.

Phoenix has been in the music game for a long time, but it wasn’t until Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix that the States finally took notice of these French rockers.

Yes, the lyrics don’t always make sense (remember English is not their first language), but they sure sound good and are tight musicians.

Think Air with a dash of Daft Punk–this comparison shouldn’t be too hard considering all these artists are part of the Versailles scene.

Phoenix started strong with “Listzomania” and even stronger with “1901,” a song that blew audience away when performed on SNL.

My night ended with Phoenix. Sorry Mars Volta, but I had an eight hour drive that had to be completed before my roomies’ class the next day.

But it doesn’t matter. I couldn’t hope for a more perfect end than Passion Pit and Phoenix.

Set List:
Listzomania
Long Distance Call
Consolation Prizes
Lasso
…sorry, blanking on this part of the set…
Girlfriend
Rome
Too Young
1901

Monolith: website | day 1

It is hot, so we thought we’d cheer you up with a contest. We have a copy of Mars Volta‘s Octahedron that we’d love to giveaway (sorry folks, U.S. only).

To win simply comment with a valid email address and tell us a time that you were wrong. Comments must be in before Aug. 1 at 10:00 p.m. CST. We’ll then select a winner. Contest is now closed.

Also be sure to check out the Mars Volta’s video for “Since We’ve Been Wrong.”
The Mars Volta – “Since We’ve Been Wrong” fr. Octahedron

Mars Volta: website | myspace | @ Bonnaroo | Octahedron review

Day 3 of Bonnaroo promised to be huge. Unfortunately, after going to bed after 4 am and waking up to the ridiculously humid weather in Tennessee, the only thing I could foresee being huge was my headache. I honestly don’t know how some of those people can show up to this fest and hardly eat or sleep, while drinking and doing drugs and still function enough to make it from band to band. Is there some secret Bonnaroo trick that I was missing as a first timer?

After downing a few Advils and using a water bottle to semi clean up, we made our way back to the main grounds for Day 3. Though it was early in the morning, already ILO and the Coral Reefer AllStars were getting a lot of buzz. And rightly so, turns out this basically was a set of Jimmy Buffett and friends singing his songs. It was weird to see a usual headliner start things off.

So as Buffett was making his way down Margaritaville, Joshua and I made our own visit to Dearland and caught Elvis Perkins in Dearland. I had seen these guys before and they were just as bombastic, if not more. Constantly switching between instruments and tempos, the guys give folk tunes an edge. Just as before, the drummer really impressed when he came out from behind the set with his one man band get up. There was just one sad moment in this set when Perkins tried to get Becky Stark, who was at Bonnaroo on Saturday to perform with the Decemberists, to join him on stage for a song she had performed with them on the record. It must have been too early for Stark because the boys had to play on without her.

Like a ping pong ball, we bounced back to the Which Stage to catch a bit of Heartless Bastards. With a name like that, I was expecting something completely different and was pleasantly surprised by the front woman’s voice rock voice with a bit of a twang.

Bon Iver was next on the agenda and this group was apparently high on the list for many as Drew Barrymore and Justin Long were spotted in attendance. It was a good set to watch and for “Yo La Tengo” the boys in Elvis Perkins in Dearland even came back out to join in the number.

Saturday was a busy day, so Joshua and I had to split up for a bit to catch all the acts that we wanted to see. Having a love for redheads, he went over to That Tent to see indie darling Jenny Lewis who rocked her solo works and was even joined by Elvis Costello for a number.

Meanwhile, I stuck around This Tent for Of Montreal, which I think was the smart move. Their theatrical performance was one set that was not worth missing and whether you like their often high-pitched sound or not, I recommend seeing them at least once in your lifetime. In fact, this performance was so big, I gave it its own post.

We couldn’t miss the legendary Wilco, so Josh and I regrouped to walk over to the What Stage for some Jeff Tweedy action. As we were walking there, I had to stop to see the band that was rocking the Troo Music Lounge. Alas, BrakesBrakesBrakes, we will meet again. With the recent death of a Wilco player, and knowing that Tweedy has a tendency to be a bit more of a curmudgeon than most, I was surprised with how genuinely excited the band seemed to be at playing Bonnaroo. They delivered all the hits and left the crowd pleased, but as usual, there were so many cool things going on at Bonnaroo, it wasn’t long before we were off to see our next bands.

Partly because I knew my mom would kick me if she knew I skipped him, I went to That Tent to see some of Elvis Costello. I guess in this case, mother knew best, because Costello is a classic for a reason. He had me charmed the moment he waved his hat as he walked on stage.

From here I went over to the Decemberists, who were acting out their tale of the Hazards of Love. Not too different than when I saw them a few weeks ago, Shara Worden, really was the brightest of all the gems in that band. Although, I must admit, that Stark wasn’t as wispy and a lot more confident this time around. They ended with a cover of a Heart song.

Meanwhile, Josh was watching the rock storm that was Mars Volta. They were delivering old hits and new songs off their soon to be released album.

Nobody was up against the Boss, so Josh and I regrouped for Bruce Springsteen. Bruce was there to please and which was noticed by the crowd who was yelling “Bruuuce” not “Boooo”, which sound surprisingly similar when chanted by thousands. I preferred the people shouting “Bruceroo” instead. Not only did he bring out all the hits, but he even played requests from the crowd. That’s right, as a response to a crowd request, he even played “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” in the middle of June. If anybody can get away with that, it is the Boss.

Josh and I split again and he went to shoot NIN‘s final show on American soil. A weird mixture of sadness and great joy filled the crowd as they said goodbye to Trent Reznor amid a mix of smoke and stage fire.

I left early to see some of Yeasayer. I walked by a weird circus sort of performance on the Sonic Stage before witnessing the beauty that was Yeasayer’s set up.

Yeasayer played amidst a stage filled with glowing orbs of different sizes. Their indie yelps and synth heavy tunes resonated nicely off the orbs.

Ending out the night was MGMT. This finally explained Drew Barrymore’s strange face paint from earlier as I soon learned that it was actually quite common for MGMT fans to don facepaint for the group a la the “Time to Pretend” music video.

The band played songs from their album, about three new songs and were even joined by Chairlift‘s Caroline Polachek for a few numbers. That Tent was glow stick central as the crowd danced away to the band’s too cool for school rock tunes. If you couldn’t see, which was the main complaint from this packed tent, I wouldn’t worry. The guys weren’t that crazy on stage and mostly just delivered a tight sound.

Another late night, but overall a fun day. Just one more recap to go and loads more pictures. Look out for Day 4…

Bonnaroo: website | Day 1 | Day 2 | Of Montreal @ This Tent | Spotted: Drew Barrymore | Quick News 1 | Quick News 2

Photo: Autumn DeWilde

Beck‘s sold out September 20th show at the Hollywood Bowl will mark yet another milestone in the multi-platinum Grammy winner’s long and storied career. In addition to being Beck’s biggest ever hometown headline engagement, the show will now commemorate the first time he and his father arranger-conductor David Campbell have performed on stage together, when Campbell conducts the Hollywood Bowl Orchestra Strings as they accompany Beck’s performance.

David Campbell’s work appears on more than 400 gold and platinum albums. Over the course of his career, his work has received no less than 50 Grammys and two Oscars. As a performer, he has played on historic sessions with the likes of Marvin Gaye, Bill Withers and Carole King, while his arrangements can be heard on music by everyone from Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Johnny Cash, Neil Diamond and the Rolling Stones to Cat Power, The Mars Volta and of course on several of Beck’s albums.

Although Campbell has written string arrangements on most of Beck’s albums, Septmeber 20th will be the first time father and song will have performed together.

Beck: Beck: website | myspace | Modern Guilt review
David Campbell website