popwreckoning

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/

For a late April show, it was uncannily cold with an eerie mist enshrouding the dark night. Once inside the venue, it didn’t take long to warm up. If the packed room with bodies inches apart didn’t do the trick, then the band’s music would get the job done. True to their name, headliners The Thermals got the people moving and made played some fun songs that even with the morbid lyrics, could warm even the most frozen human Popsicle.

Opening for the The Thermals was Point Juncture, WA, an electro-acoustic quartet helmed by a powerful female singer who also played drums, and an even more powerful backing band. Any band that throws in vibraphone is a winner in my book.

Already content with Point Juncture WA, The Shaky Hands‘ high-energy opener quickly showed that this show was only going to get better. There’s plenty to love about this band: danceable bass beats, plenty of clap-your-hands moments and a singer who’s voice who has that nasally quality loved by so many hipster, but unlike so many other hipster singers, you can actually understand what he is saying (I’m looking at you Clap Your Hands Say Yeah). Their music was ridiculously catchy, but they didn’t shy away from a few moments of experimentation. Although, even if they sounded like shit, I think there drummer still would have made me like them as he constantly bounced out of his chair and intensely banged on cymbals. Check The Shaky Hands out; these guys will probably move up to headlining soon.

When the Portland trio The Thermals took the stage, the room practically exploded into a dance party. OK, that might be a bit unfair, but a few guys definitely tried really hard to get everybody involved in a big dance party as they moshed back and forth in the front, but the indie kids of Omaha do not like to be touched and fight nearly broke out. Maybe the band couldn’t see what was going down, while they played “Now We Can See”, but the near-fight didn’t make them miss a beat. It’s probably for the best.

Touring behind the release of their new album Now We Can See, the band played a majority of songs from it, but also digged deep into the catalog for some oldies to please the diehards. As much as I love Hutch Harris and his Josh Darnielle (Mountain Goats)-esque voice and the pop chords, I must confess that some of their songs started to blend. And that is a risk when you use as many power chords as they do. Nonetheless, the heart of this band is in their lyrics and the stories within.

I must note that this tour is also a sort of debut for their drummer Westin Glass and he makes a fantastic addition to the band with his fantastic drumming and even more fantastic facial expressions. His addition also helps free bassist Kathy Foster from those duties, which I imagine makes it easier for her to do her little jumping jack move.

Check this band out both on recording and live. You will not regret it.

The Thermals: website | myspace

Of course I had to get through Kaki King first on Saturday night. A year ago, I would’ve been all about the technical wizardry (one of my favorite bands is Joan of Arc), but I’m less impressed by it now. This girl certainly is talented, I must admit. My biggest qualm with her set was the schizophrenic nature of it. She would play a really techy song on the acoustic, then go into a shoegaze song, and then a “hardcore” song, as she puts it (Ray Cappo is shaking his head somewhere).

As the lights went dim, The Four Season’s “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” played on the P.A. Once the drummer and the bassist swaggered out, John Darnielle entered the stage as The Four Season’s Frankie Valli sang “Oh I-I-I, get that funny feeling when she walks in the room.”

He kicked the set off with an exciting three-banger: “Have to Explode”; “Heretic Pride”; and “Pigs That Ran Straightaway into the Water, Triumph Of”. Of course, the evening wouldn’t be the same without Darnielle’s classic banter (this show’s highlight was his Mario story as he segues into “Thank You Mario, But Our Princess Is In Another Castle”).

He played some solo songs, some songs with Kaki King from their new Black Pear Tree EP, a Morrissey cover (“Suedehead”!), and a song that sounded nothing like Mountain Goats (“Super Genesis”). After that lull in the set, enter crowd pleasers! “This Year” jump-started the energy and the end of the set. A mellow rendition of the classic “Dance Music” got the audience pepped as the drums stopped and everyone bellowed “And I don’t want to die alone!”

After “The Mess Inside”, the band walked off the stage. . . without playing “Palmcorder Yajna”. The very song that introduced me to the wonders of The Mountain Goats, and a popular one from his repertoire, was nowhere to be found! Thankfully, after the security guards back stage teased us by kicking the side door open, The Mountain Goats came out again and played the song I was waiting all night to hear.

Though the middle of the set was lacking a little, the beginning and end of the set more than made up for it.

The Mountain Goats: website | myspace | Heretic Pride review | @ the Slowdown
Kaki King: website | myspace | @ the Slowdown

Guest Reporter: Shaun Seneviratne (NYC)
Photos: Bethany Smith, @ the Slowdown

Photo: Jason Quigley

Last week I got the chance to chat with folk pop outfit Old Believers. Nelson Kempf manned the phone but band mate Keely Boyle was at his side and chimed in every once and while. We discussed everything from Alaska to the East Coast.

Check out what Nelson had to say and also preview “That’s All” below:

Jessica, PopWreckoning: How did you personally first get involved with music?
Nelson Kempf, Old Believers: As music fans, I guess. There’s a really strong choir program in my town in Alaska, where we’re from. I think that was kind of.
I grew up a lot with my grandma who listens to a lot of classic country music and bluegrass music. I think that I really have a lot of nostalgia for those sounds. That turned me onto a lot of that kind of music.
There’s also quite a bit of music in my family, so it’s kind of a natural thing.

PW: How did you and Keely meet and start making music together?
NK: Keely’s dad was my English teacher in middle school. Our parents went to high school together, so our families knew each other. At some point in high school we finally met. I don’t even know how, some kind of school program. Then we just kind of hit it off and started playing guitars together and eventually formed a band. We played in blues rock bands and cover bands in high school together, and decided to continue afterwards.

PW: As Alaskan natives what prompted the move to Portland?
NK: We were originally planning on moving to Seattle — Keely has family in Seattle, and we wanted to be on the water. Our drummer that was in our band originally told us to go to Portland because there is just so much going on there, so we were like, “OK. We’ll do it.”
He didn’t end up going with us but we decided to follow through with our plan anyway.
PW: I’ve been to Seattle — it’s gorgeous — but not Portland. I do hear great things about it, though, especially the music scene.
NK: It’s great!

PW: You’re sound encompasses so many different styles without being overwhelming or becoming muddled with all that’s going on — who were your musical influences growing up and now evolving?
NK: Everything, really. For Eight Golden Greats we were listening to a lot of Patsy Cline and a lot of electronic music: Hot Chip and David Byrne and Brian Eno. Also The Smiths and Mount Eerie or The Microphones, The Talking Heads, Mississippi John Hurt. A lot of everything.
For the album we were definitely trying to fill out a nostalgic sound. I think I naturally went those ports — roots and Americana music. It’s just warm and homey.

“That’s All”
[audio http://www.greenlightgopublicity.com/clients/content/theoldbelievers/audio/Thats_All.mp3]

PW: The new album, Eight Golden Greats, is beautiful. What did you guys learn from the making of the Some Songs By Old Believers EP that you were able to apply to the new record?
NK: We actually started the new record before the EP. When we left Alaska we started recording Eight Golden Greats. We ran out of money because we’d been recording in a professional studio, but we had a little 8 track recorder album and a microphone. We didn’t have enough money to continue working on the project so we decided that we would do something simple. Just something to represent us. We made Some Songs By Old Believers in the mean time while we continued to save money.

PW: Two of the songs made it on the EP – “Waltz #3″ and “There It Is” — how did they make the cut from the EP to the album and the others didn’t?
NK: Those were already set. Some Songs By Old Believers was kind of on a whim. We just recorded in our apartment so it didn’t need a lot of planning. We just wanted to make it simple so we just recorded the songs we were playing a lot live at the time.
They were just kind of fresh in mind so it was just a natural thing. There wasn’t really any intention there, as far as having songs on both albums.

PW: Speaking of touring, do you guys plan on hitting the east coast to tour the new album, since you recently finished up a west coast tour?
NK: In March we toured the US. We’re kind of tired. We’ve had an apartment for a year and we haven’t had a lot of time here. Everything we own is in storage. We really want to get back to Portland and settle down and start thinking about a new record.

PW: So even though you don’t want to tour for a while, if you could put together a dream tour, who would you want to share the stage with?
NK: Oh, man. That’s a good question. [to Keely in background] Dream tour, anyone living or dead, who would you want to share the stage with?
[Keely inaudible]
NK: Nooo… [pause] Keely says Billie Holiday.
PW: That’s a good answer! I like that answer, Keely.
NK: I’d say, more that I’d love to tour with them than it would work really well: The Talking Heads. We both love The Talking Heads. For the “Stop Making Sense Tour” maybe the Funkadelic players. That would be really fun.

PW: What are you guys listening to right now? Anything new and good or some stuff that’s classic?
NK: I just bought the new Bonnie ‘Prince’ Billy record. They’re awesome. I just bought a Microphones record, Mount Eerie. No New York, it’s a New Wave compilation by Brian Eno. Get Lonely by the Mountain Goats.
A lot of Portland music. There are so many great Portland bands. There’s a band called Doubledutch that just released a CD that’s awesome that you should send everybody out to check out. And then Eskimo and Sons. They’re another Portland band that’s really, really wonderful.

PW: I will be sure to check them out! Thanks so much for taking the time to chat.
NK: Thanks for the interview and for really liking the album.

Old Believer: website | myspace | Eight Golden Greats on iTunes