popwreckoning

The Mountain Goats’ fan base is made up largely of nerds. Don’t deny it. That’s probably the reason that they didn’t sell out the Showbox – because nerds generally don’t like leaving the house and being in large groups. But the crowd was surprisingly large, considering.

Arriving in just the nick of time, I walked into the Showbox, with people sitting on the floor waiting for the opening act, Midtown Dickens. Clearly, people were taking ownership of their rightful places in the crowd. So naturally, I sat down because everyone else was.

Once the members of the openers, Midtown Dickens, took the stage, people instantly stood up. The North Carolina natives put on a fantastic energetic show, considering the fact that vocalist Kym had just arrived to Seattle 20 minutes before they went on stage. Her guitar wasn’t even tuned when she got on stage, so they filled up that awkward time with some of the wittiest storytelling I’ve heard in a long time.

Midtown Dickens had a great stage presence, what they call on their Facebook page “post-folk punk grass,” preempting several songs with the story of their origin. It was the perfect precursor to the Mountain Goats, with the largely narrative songwriting.

After the highly entertaining set that Midtown Dickens put on, the Mountain Goats had one of the weirdest introductions I’ve ever heard. As they took to the stage, very excruciating indistinguishable death metal played over the loud speakers (emphasis on the ‘loud’). I couldn’t help but laugh, because of the sheer irony of the death metal juxtaposed to John Darnielle in his suit, tie, and nerdy glasses taking the stage. It was perfect.

This was the point when I realized that this crowd was full of nerds – because a.) most people danced like dorks, and b.) personal space was honored more than usual. People were spread out, which made the venue much more comfortable for the night.

While I love the Mountain Goats music, I just love listening to Darnielle speak. He’s incredibly eloquent and quite funny. At one point, bassist Peter Hughes brought up the idea of narrating the set like a DJ would on the radio. “That was ‘You Were Cool’vby the Mountain Goats, and here’s another one from the Mountain Goats,” Darnielle said aloud with the quintessential radio voice.

Speaking of “You Were Cool,” that song really needs to be on an album, like legitimately recorded. Mainly because I feel like it is the perfect theme song for, well, life.

Seeing that Darnielle is one of the most prolific songwriters of our time, I had no clue which songs we were going to get. It’s definitely a different experience than seeing an emerging band with only enough songs to play a full set. While a lot of songwriters try and hide the muddle the meaning of a song with metaphors and vague references, Darnielle’s songs are painfully honest and easy to relate to – especially us nerds.

To end out the set, the Mountain Goats played my favourite song of theirs, “This Year.”

“If the members of Midtown Dickens are still in the building, would they please join us on stage?” Darnielle shouted to the audience. So Midtown Dickens quickly made it to the stage, and “This Year” turned into a joyous, triumphant dance party. Again, it was perfect.

But it wasn’t over yet, because we got not one, but two encores. Heck, there are enough Mountain Goats songs to fill almost an entire 24-hour day, so two encores wasn’t surprising.

In fact, I would like to see 24-hour Mountain Goats marathon. I’d be all over that.

Lollapalooza is celebrating its 20th anniversary and as promised, the recently announced delivers some pretty hefty acts. 

Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5 and A Perfect Circle will headline the annual event in Grant Park from August 5-7, 2011.

If you missed Death From Above 1979‘s Coachella reunion, Lolla gives fans another chance. There’s also many other classic acts such as The Cars to up and comers The Naked and Famous. You can see the rest of the announced lineup below:

Eminem, Foo Fighters, Coldplay, Muse, My Morning Jacket, Deadmau5, A Perfect Circle, Cee Lo Green, Damian “Jr. Gong” Marley & Nas, the Cars, Ween, Bright Eyes, Arctic Monkeys, Big Audio Dynamite, Deftones, Beirut, Explosions in the Sky, Death From Above 1979, Ratatat, Crystal Castles, Flogging Molly, Atmosphere, Cold War Kids, Lykke Li, Cage the Elephant, OK GO, Local Natives, The Kills, White Lies, Portugal. The Man, Two Door Cinema Club, Ellie Goulding, Delta Spirit, Beats Antique, Mountain Goats, Sleigh Bells, Manchester Orchestra, Smith Westerns, Best Coast, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals, The Drums, Black Lips, Fitz & the Tantrums, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, City and Colour, Ryan Bingham and the Dead Horses, Cults, Noah and the Whale, Sam Adams, J. Roddy Walston and the Business, Tinie Tempah, Lissie, Dom, The Vaccines, Foster the People, Titus Andronicus, Mayer Hawthorne and the County, Chico Trujillo, The Naked and Famous, Phantogram, Rival Schools, Friendly Fires, Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr., Reptar, Maps & Atlases, Fences, Tennis, An Horse, Young the Giant, Los Bunkers, Imelda May, Grouplove, Wye Oak, The Joy Formidable, Lord Huron, Disappears, Walk the Moon, Gold Motel, Iration, Ryan Leslie, Tab the Band, Skylar Grey, Christina Perri, Black Cards, The Pretty Reckless, Boy and Bear, Patrick Stump, Kids These Days, Young Man, The Kingston Springs, Lia Ices, The Chain Gang of 1974, Ximena Sarinana, Typhoon, Electric Touch, Kerli, Ruby Jane, Julia Easterlin, and DJ Mel.

On Perry’s Stage:

Girl Talk, Pretty Lights, Kid Cudi, the Bloody Beetroots Death Crew 77, AfroJack, Modeselektor, Skrillex, Perryetty vs. Chris Cox, Chuckie, The Glitch MOb, Busy P, Joachim Garraud, Super Mash Bros., Jay Electronica, 12th Planet, Daedulus, Feed Me, JackMaster, Collie Buddz, Savoy, Kyle Lucas and Captain Midnite, Ana Tijouxana, Midnight Conspiracy, L1ght, and Lady D.

Early Bird tickets have already sold out, but you can now buy regular priced tickets for $215 while supplies last. VIP Passes and Travel Packages are also available. A limited number of
Single Day tickets will go on sale June 7. Go here to buy tickets.

Organizers are expecting over 240,000 people.

It’s been said many times, but it bears repeating: John Vanderslice is probably the nicest guy in indie rock. I’ve had the opportunity to meet him a few times. At an Amoeba Records in-store in Hollywood, and at a couple Mountain Goats shows. It saddens me to say he hasn’t made a record that has truly blown me away since 2005’s Pixel Revolt.

I wanted to love 2007’s Emerald City. I really did. Earlier that year, in San Francisco, JV shushed me near the end of a Mountain Goats show (John Darnielle was doing his torch singer thing during “California Song,” which I had seen more than once) when I asked about the album. I was told it would be out near the end of summer, and was expecting great things when I eventually heard it. It wasn’t bad, just not very interesting. 2009’s Romanian Names was a marked improvement, but it still didn’t have the fire of earlier album such as Cellar Door or The Life and Death of an American Fourtracker.

So here we are, it’s 2011, I’ve lost most of my faith in JV, and we have White Wilderness. The press surrounding this album is quick to point out what isn’t actually immediately obvious. This album was recorded in three days, with The Magik*Magik Orchestra, a collective of classically trained musicians in the Bay Area led by artistic director Minna Choi. Vanderslice is known to spend long periods of time mixing, and tweaking his songs. The absence of that can be heard in one of the album’s best songs, “After It Ends”, but not many other songs. “After It Ends” is a pretty simple acoustic guitar number that contains some of the album’s best lyrics: “I’m so hungry/like I was just born/I’m still aching for life”. The song is haunting, and pretty great.

The other highlight of the album, for me, is “Convict Lake.” There is one moment that blew me away when I listened to it on headphones about 1:45 in. The song cuts away to just a string part, and an acoustic guitar playing in the right speaker. A few seconds later another acoustic lick plays twice in the left speaker, and the song kicks back in.

Ultimately, though, White Wilderness has the same problem Emerald City had: it’s just not very interesting. I appreciate the guy’s willingness to experiment, but can’t help wishing the results were more appealing. I hate to say it because Vanderslice has made some of my favorite records. He can do great stuff, but this is not. If you’re a fan, you already have this record. If you’re not I highly recommend you go pick up Cellar Door or Pixel Revolt instead.

Track listing:
1. Sea Salt
2. Convict Lake
3. White Wilderness
4. The Piano Lesson
5. After It Ends
6. Overcoat
7. Alemany Gap
8. English Vines
9. 20K

I woke up Monday morning to a thin layer of rainwater on top of my tent, hoping that the weather would still go our way that day.

What do you know? It did.

Determined to see more bands that day than I’d seen Saturday and Sunday, I went and stood in line at about 11:30, even before any bands started playing. We made our way onto the festival grounds to a small crowd watching local band Jaguar Love, which features one half of the former Blood Brothers. Let’s just say I didn’t stand there for very long. Instead I went to the Yeti Stage for Shadow Shadow Shade, a much more pleasant sound for that early in the day.

Shadow Shadow Shade sounded quite nice in the open air, with their multiple instruments and multiple vocalists to create sweeping harmonies fitting to both dance to, or just stand and listen to. I quite liked “Your Perfect Wilderness.” And even though they were playing at noon, they had a nice-sized crowd who had passed over Jaguar Love on the larger stage.

While waiting to head down to the main stage to see The Temper Trap, I caught a bit of Past Lives, also on the Yeti Stage. Unbeknown to me, Past Lives featured the other, less annoying half of the Blood Brothers. Literally, if you’d put Jaguar Love and Past Lives on stage together, you’d have the Blood Brothers. Past Lives weren’t bad. I’m not a big fan of hardcore music, but this was toned down a bit, mixing louder hardcore vocals with darker and subtler melodies.

Next, I went to see The Temper Trap, and I caught the last ten minutes or so of Mayer Hawthorne, who was quite fun from what I saw. I thought he was an odd choice for Sasquatch, but you really never know what to expect. The Temper Trap was about 15 minutes late to the stage, but it was worth waiting for. I have to say that they surprised me. In a good way. I expected a decent show for 2 o’clock in the afternoon, but they were awesome. Lead singer Dougy Mandagi’s falsetto mixed with the pulsating rhythms, and bassist Jonathon Aherne’s stage antics (and a glorious head of hair) made for a moving live show. At one point during “Drum Song,” Mandagi poured all the water out of his bottle onto the floor tom he was beating to create a cascade of droplets across the stage that went along with the light drizzle that had began. I didn’t even mind the rain actually, because at that time of day it was quite hot and the rain was refreshing. The Temper Trap’s songs also lent themselves to the crowd singing a long, like the repeated “lost, lost, lost” during “Love Lost,” and the “ooo-ooo-oos” during “Fader.” And especially for “Sweet Disposition,” which began with a drawn-out intro, everyone sang along. The songs have a driving tempo that’s just right for rocking out without looking like fools.

Looking like fools came later.

But I give The Temper Trap the honor of best performance (at least that I saw) of Monday. I was thoroughly impressed.

Following that great show, I went back to the Yeti Stage for a couple more shows, both starkly different from one another, but both local. First was Fresh Espresso, one of Seattle’s most promising hip-hop acts. Being so well known in the local scene, they drew a huge crowd for 3 o’clock, and I can see why. Mixing hip-hop, pop, and glam, they sure brought the energy. Also, during their set they brought this random guy out on stage, who then proceeded to propose to his girlfriend right now. That was sweet.

Telekinesis was next, who I also saw back in November opening for The Lonely Forest. Frontman Benjamin Lerner was very at ease in this large arena, even if it was the smallest stage at Sasquatch. His light power-pop drew a less energetic crowd than Fresh Espresso had before, but Lerner’s songs were just as enjoyable. One girl from the crowd shouted a song that she wanted to hear, and Lerner replied with, “You really did your homework, that isn’t even on the record.” And then she spouted out something else I couldn’t hear. “That’s your favorite song? Ever? Dang.” Lerner said, very flattered.

As the sun was starting to set, Dr. Dog started their set on the Bigfoot Solar Stage, bringing their bluesy folk rock to the festival. I would have liked to hear their great cover of Architecture in Helsinki’s “Heart in Races,” but their set was still really good. At times it almost had a hint of a gospel vibe along with their strong 60s-pop influences, which I liked, especially “Army of Ancients,” with its relaxed melodies and passionate vocals.

The Mountain Goats, who came next, were one of the bands I was really hoping to see at Sasquatch, and I was not disappointed. Of all the performers, I’m pretty sure John Darnielle had the most fun on stage. He said, “I know it’s corny, but I love playing music.” It wasn’t corny, John. Of all the places to make that declaration, Sasquatch is it. With how much joy they had on stage, evidenced my Darnielle’s wicked awesome facial expressions, The Mountain Goats fans had even more joy. “No Children” turned into a giant sing-along, about “hoping we both die.” No really. It was charming and hilarious and joyous, and perfect for Sasquatch.

After the Temper Trap, the Mountain Goats got my second best performance of the day.

I made my way back down to the main stage for the final time that weekend to see Band of Horses and MGMT, who I wouldn’t say disappointed me, but didn’t wow me either.

I couldn’t get close enough to see anything but what was on the jumbotron, so that could be the reason why I didn’t react to their performances as strongly. Band of Horses were fine, good ol’ southern rock. And I was glad to hear that they did play a lot of songs off their first two albums, because I personally was a bit under whelmed with Infinite Arms. By far the best part of Band of Horses’ set was during “Funeral,” when virtually everyone started screaming the lyrics along with them, which always makes a concert better.  A concert shouldn’t just be great music, but also a shared experience with the dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of people surrounding you. Lots of people went to go see Band of Horses, so at least they accomplished that much.

Figuring that it would be a mass exodus leaving the amphitheater after MGMT and it would take forever, I went and sat on the grassy hill for the first and last time that weekend to enjoy them. I wasn’t expecting crazy stage-hopping MGMT, but I also wasn’t expecting the glazed-over possibly high MGMT either. The third song in Andrew Vanwyngarden introduced “Flash Delirium,” the inexplicable hit from their new album Congratulations, but instead they played “The Youth,” from their first album. Hmm. And about a third of the way through, bass player Matthew Asti asked the huge crowd of people in front of him, “has the sun set yet? No, it’s still holding on!” Okay. But the one thing that I do enjoy about MGMT is that their music is so odd and entertaining that you don’t really need a lot of stage presence to pull it off. By the last twenty minutes of MGMT set, the rain began to fall. It was like the sky couldn’t hold on the precipitation any longer and had to let it go.

But the best way to end Sasquatch when MGMT played songs like “Electric Feel,” “Kids,” and “Time to Pretend.” When they came on, I had to get up off the grass and dance around like a crazy fool, because that’s just what you do.

Here’s hoping next year’s Sasquatch is just as good. Or better. That’s always an option.

For the final set of photos from Sasquatch 2010, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/abbigshmail/sets/72157624191722284/

Sunday’s coverage: http://popwreckoning.com/2010/06/03/sasquatch-festival-sunday-with-local-natives-kid-cudi-dirty-projectors/

Saturday’s coverage: http://popwreckoning.com/2010/06/02/sasquatch-festival-saturday-with-ok-go-the-national-vampire-weekend/