I anticipated for Bumbershoot to be crowded on Sunday, since for some reason the days where hip-hop artists headline the place fills up like the community pool in 100-degree weather. Thankfully we didn’t have 100-degree weather on this particular Sunday, but oh lord was it crowded.
My first stop of the day – after getting an iced coffee to both cool and down and warm me up – was the Fisher Green stage for Mad Rad, whom I saw part of their set at Sasquatch, but didn’t get the full effect. This Seattle band is absolutely everywhere – Sasquatch, Capital Hill Block Party, Bumbershoot, Musicfest Northwest, City Arts Fest – it’s crazy. But it’s well-deserved, because even if their albums and EPs and singles are hard to come by, you don’t even need to know the songs for them to get you pumped. “Party Mountain” and “I Want Your Blood” were definitely the two most well-received songs of the set. The band was full of an exorbitant amount of energy and it was still early in the day!
After that I went to my new favourite stage the Fountain Lawn stage for San Francisco’s Thee Oh Sees. This was one of two bands that day that I had no prior knowledge of, and I was thoroughly impressed. Frontman John Dwyer jumped around the stage, licking his guitar and shouting out lyrics all while keeping the crowd engaged for this early afternoon punk show. An odd juxtaposition, I know.
Next was Portland’s AgesandAges at the EMP Level 3 stage, which was a perfect small venue for them since the crowd that day was overwhelmingly hip-hop fans. I couldn’t stay for too long for the Portland indie pop band, but what I saw I liked.
The rest of my evening was a bit of a blur, as I was running from stage to stage at a lightning pace (not really, but roll with me here).Tennis was at the Fountain Lawn stage, who were good, but I would have sadly forgotten had I not taken photos of them.
Then I ran over to Fisher Green, really looking forward to Das Racist’s set because they were so good at Sasquatch, but I was sorely disappointed. After what seemed like a ten-minute DJ intro, the trio took the stage, lackadaisical and possibly drunk, and they didn’t even seem like they wanted to be there. It saddened me because I knew a friend that came to Bumbershoot for the first time partly just to see Das Racist, and they let her down. I don’t know if it was because it was early in the day, if they hadn’t had much sleep, or just because the new songs suck, but I wish I hadn’t made time in my schedule to see them.
Thankfully my mood was uplifted when I caught the Lonely Forest’s acoustic set at the Free Yr Radio stage. I was too late that day to see their performance at the main stage, but I’ve seen them oh….at least 6 times so I figured it was okay. That band is seriously the warmest and most likeable band around. I can never say anything bad about the Lonely Forest, because they rock. Even in an acoustic setting when a borrowed guitar craps out.
As the afternoon sun started to take its toll and the line for the main stage grew and grew – wait, I’ll backtrack for a second. By the mid/late afternoon, the line for the Key Arena wrapped all the way around it and down the main walkway in the middle of the Seattle Center. I hadn’t realized that many people were there to see Macklemore (or Wiz Khalifa). I mean, Macklemore deserves all the attention that he gets, but wow.
Okay, back to the present. Warpaint was next on my list, and they blew my expectations out of the water. When you hear them on record it’s not music that you would think played out well in a live venue, but these girls – for the lack of a better term – shredded. I wish I’d seen them when they opened for The xx last year, and I’m hoping they’ll come back at some point this year. It’s always nice to see an all-girl group rocking harder than their male counterparts.
I made a quick pit stop to see my favourite new white soul singer in Seattle – Allen Stone at the EMP Level 3 stage. Seriously, this guy is amazing. He doesn’t even have a full-length album out and was already featured in USA Today. Completely unassuming in his appearance, Stone is like Ray Lamontagne on spicy steroids. This guy, I can tell you, is going places.
I wasn’t planning on venturing into the black hole of teenagers that was the main stage at this point, but I figured I’d try to see Macklemore, because his set at Sasquatch was so grand and he’s such a nice guy. Thankfullyy I did, because I have never seen the Key Arena this crowded, and this full of life. It was magical, seeing all these (mostly) teenagers so excited about this local artist who isn’t even on a label yet. I’m sure after this month though, Macklemore will have labels lining up at his door. I could tell that it was mostly teenagers when Macklemore started out his song “Crew Cuts,” which is all about the 80s. He shouted out to the crowd asking who was born in the 70s (like 10), who was born in the 80s (maybe about a third of the room), and who was born in the 90s (the entire place exploded with sound). It made me feel old, and I was born in 1989. My favourite moment of the night came when he did “My Oh My,” the love song to the Seattle and Dave Niehaus, and the whole room lit up with lighters. Like at Sasquatch but even more so, it made me tear up just a little. Later on Macklemore’s Twitter page, he proclaimed that the evening’s performance at the Key Arena was a “dream come true.” I can see why.
Apologies for the slow updates, but I will have Monday’s post up tomorrow. I’ve been running around Portland for two days for Musicfest Northwest – and you can look forward to those posts coming next week.
Oh, SXSW. Sure it sounds glamorous with all the free tacos and beers, but honestly, this is one of the most tolling festivals you can attend.
This festival lasts a week to two weeks depending whereas most festivals are a mere weekend. Hot Austin days swiftly followed by breezy Austin nights makes it incredibly hard to choose how to dress. Then you have the tiring volume of walking and standing you have to do. With something like Bonnaroo you stay on a central farm and you have the option of grass to sit on. With SXSW you might start in the 6th Street area, but end up forty blocks away at the UT campus. Ohh, the foot blisters! Want somewhere to sit? Good luck unless you’re ok with getting your skinny jeans covered in the red dusty dirt. Finally, there’s the biggest challenge of SXSW: getting your phone charge to last the entire day. Other festivals can get away with a small booklet of the set times and a single map of the location. No phone necessary. But the vastness of SXSW not just with location, but also with where to find information on who is playing where with all the surprise performances, unofficial parties and whatnot, your phone is lucky not to be drained within the first three hours. Heck, something like Lollapalooza is walk in the park by comparison (literally, Lolla is a walk in the [Grant] Park).
So why go to SXSW if it is that brutal? Because the payoff of discovering new and fresh bands surrounded by people as genuinely excited about music as you are is 100 percent worth it.
This was my second time at the festival after first attending during Spring break back in ’09. It’s a huge advantage to already know how things work and to have a rough idea where things are located, but that doesn’t mean that I wasn’t in for a few surprises.
Our caravan arrived Tuesday night and too late to pick up our wristbands. Fortunately, for those like us wanting to get a jump on the shows, unofficial parties were already happening and they didn’t care about our credentials. We wholed up at the Scoot Inn and eased into the festival with some great psychedelic rockers such as Pujol, Bare Wires and Thee Oh Sees. Pujol was love at first sight with their intense energy and Thee Oh Sees were just as much fun to watch with their crazy expressions as they were to hear. Our group retired early from this Panache Party though so we could get an early start with the first official day of SXSW Music.
Wristband check-in was a smoother process than we anticipated, so we had plenty of time to grab breakfast tacos before checking out our first band day of the day. Breakfast tacos are a must if you’re in Austin. Not only are they tasty, but they give you plenty of energy — something you need to hop from one venue to the next.
From breakfast, my comrade and I set forth for Johnny Mellow’s: a bike shop. Bands will and do play everywhere they can in Texas: actual venues, pizza shops, streets and bike shops. It’s just another part of the SXSW experience. We were planning on checking out Seattle six-piece The Head and the Heart, but along our journey, we got distracted. Though it was only 11 a.m., a large crowd had gathered in a parking lot and our curiosity got the better of us. We edged our way through the crowd until we were just feet from the source of all the attention: Jack White. If for some reason you live under a rock and have no idea why Jack White is so such a big deal, it’s because he is the founder of Third Man Records and he’s the singer and guitarist in bands such as The Dead Weather, The Raconteurs and the former White Stripes. Pretty impressive resume. He was at SXSW for his mobile record store and when we arrived he was just beginning a rendition of “Dead Leaves on the Dirty Ground” from his former band, the White Stripes.
SXSW was already off to a strong start, but we were determined to make it to the Head and the Heart’s set and we had several blocks to go. So from Jack White we continued West and finally found ourselves at Johnny Mellow’s. The Head and the Heart was quite possibly one of the (if not the) best bands of the entire week. They played upbeat indie pop rock enhanced with tambourines, piano and violin. The band was all smiles during their performance, so it was hard not to fall in love with their talent and enthusiasm.
Reinvigorated by the Head and the Heart’s set, we returned to the main drag of SXSW. From the Head and the Heart, it was dance time with the cheeky tunes of Auckland’s Kids of 88 and from there to synth-heavy Xylos. We cooled down with some distorted garage rock with Weekend (not to be confused with the extremely different The Weeknd) and later some unknown rock trio that was a bit of a letdown when I was expecting electronic act Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs.
I didn’t stay disappointed too long because my musical A.D.D. quickly led us to move on and go up the street to the Mohawk patio where we caught the explosive set of Givers. I had been blasting “Up, Up, Up” in my car for the last year, but never really made it on to checking out more of their songs. Well, I can now affirm that all their songs are just as catchy and fun complete with the guy-girl harmonies, dual percussion and happiness. Moments of the set were clean cut pop, but then other moments bordered on tribal, yet all of it came together to be yet another of the more memorable SXSW sets.
So how do you follow up a band like Givers? You have to pick someone equally awesome, but in a completely different genre. So from their pop tunes at an outdoor patio, we checked out the very crowded bar Peckerheads to see Portland’s Starfucker. Now this band is catchy like Givers and they also have explosive drum parts, but the sound is vastly different. They’re loop-laden electronic rock. Starfucker is one of those bands that most people have probably heard without realizing that this is the band you were listening to all that time. Their music sneaks up on you because it sounds like you’ve been listening to it for ages even though they’ve only been around a few years.
We kept the piano-dance music going by next watching the much buzzed Oh Land at Lipstick 24. Oh Land is the type of female pop music I wish would catch on – not the crap on the radio that is Ke$ha. It’s smart, authentic and entertaining. She had just dropped her album the day before this performance, so there was a song that she hesitated on due its unfamiliarity, but otherwise, this was a flawless performance. Maybe this type of music will takeover yet…
Braids literally drew us in from the street as we were walking out of Oh Land. I didn’t even have this particular performance listed on my schedule, but the music was so warm and the harmonies so simple, yet so beautiful, that we had to stop and listen to a song or two.
Paste had a sweet party going on at the Stage at Sixth Street, so we stopped in for some indie rock fromEzra Furman and his Harpoon, Sondre Lerche and Eisley. We only caught the tale end of Furman, but it was a pretty smooth transition from that set into Sondre Lerche’s, so if you’re a fan of one, you’d probably enjoy the other. Eisley changed things up a bit, but introducing female vocals, but they proved just as entertaining to the Lerche crowd. Also, being Texas-natives, there was a lot of strong local support for Eisley, making the set feel extra intimate and helped it standout just that much more.
At this point, you might be noticing a trend. 1. Pianos/synths and 2. Female vocalists. I always knew I was a piano girl, but usually I’m all about the guy vocals. Is it just that the females were just doing an impressive job representing at the festival this year? Whatever was going on with the girl power, I kept my trend going by watching Gold Motel next. That’s right, girl vocals and piano! The Gold Motel was on my list of bands to check out, but I never got around to it. Back in the day, the Hush Sound awed me with their well-crafted lyrics and piano lines that drove me to the piano to see if I could replicate them. They were the exception to the usual cookie cutter acts that Fueled By Ramen, their label, usually produced in an effort to find the next Fall Out Boy. And as the exception, they were refreshing. But then the Hush Sound broke up. From its ashes, Greta formed the Gold Motel. The Gold Motel even drew members from another Chicago band I loved, This Is Me Smiling, so it’s extra surprising that it took me so long to catch them. The Gold Motel still contains elements of both The Hush Sound and even This Is Me Smiling, but its dialed back a bit and falls more into a jazz and bluesy groove. This genre seems to be a better fit for Greta’s voice, which while it was always lovely in the Hush Sound, it could easily be overpowered by the bigger guitar riffs or her fellow vocalist’s voice in that band.
I was excited for the band immediately taking the the stage after the Gold Motel. The Boxer Rebellion is a band whose album Union really caught my attention when it first came out. Compared to many of the indie pop bands I had been watching for most of the day, the Boxer Rebellion was considerably darker musically. The band has emotional lyrics and lush guitar lines. The music has an epic sort of quality, which is probably what led them to be such a good fit perform in the Drew Barrymore film, “Going the Distance.” This is the band that writes songs for the soundtrack of your life.
Being as that we were in Texas and had driven past the Texas Motor Speedway where racer Dale Earnhardt Jr won his first Nascar Cup, it was only fitting that at some point we listen to the guy’s namesake band: Dale Earnhardt Jr Jr. The band definitely got into the spirit of their name. A big “JR” cutout flashed bright lights in the back of their set up and the guys were dressed like racecar drivers just like their namesake. There’s a wee bit of a stereotype that goes along with the Nascar crowd, so it’s a little shocking to see these guys in their racer suits open their mouths and belt out harmonies that would make the guys in the hipster-friendly Fleet Foxes envious. If we’re going off stereotypes, the way this band sounds makes it seem like they’d be the type of guys who should be embracing the plaid, not the leather. As if the shock value of the racing theme weren’t enough, the band continued the outfit surprise by breaking out a light up suit jacket. They’re serious when it comes to the music, but they know not to take themselves too seriously.
So up until now, I had been dictating what bands my friend and I should see. What a trooper! She humored my whims and never complained, so I went with her to check out the one band she wanted to see: Idiotape. This Korean trio had one–just one–performance scheduled for the entire festival. Since they were from abroad, Austin was pretty much our only hope of ever seeing them. The guys were pretty expressionless, so it was hard to get a read on them. They looked like they meant business. Then a pre-recorded robotic sounding voice, said, “first you have the drums,” and then it continued out a beat, “1,2,3,4.” As commanded, the drummer started in on a drum pattern. Then it got more complicated. It was tongue-in-cheek and had me eagerly anticipating what the next pattern and command would yield. But then…nothing. The guys just rocked so much that they blew the power in the tiny room. Not sure if they’d be able to get things back and running, my friend and I reluctantly bailed. Hopefully, Idiotape will decide to do an extensive tour so we can complete a set with them. Alas.
With our heads bowed in sadness, we trudged up Sixth Street to our next destination. OK Sweetheart, a band previously featured in a PopWreckoning interview, was about to take the stage and they had some surprises in store, which quickly cheered me up from the Idiotape incident. As frontwoman Erin Austin hinted during our interview, some string players joined for several of the songs. They were a beautiful addition to the smooth vocals of Austin; the instrumentation for these songs were so lush and graceful sounding. The album comes out this April and is worth checking out.
From OK Sweetheart we crossed the street to Buffalo Billiards for Young the Giant. This was a band I was eagerly awaiting SXSW for, but they were perhaps the most disappointing band of my day. They sounded fine, but after all the standout performances I had already seen, they came across as too generic. I thought they’d get us moving more with their radio single sounding like a big anthem, but that big engagement moment just never came.
As I walked out of Young the Giant into the neon-lit streets, I noticed that activity had significantly picked up. Austinites who had gotten off work had now joined the fray of wristbanded and badged out-of-towners. Based on experience, I knew that this was the time of night when venues hit capacity. So it was time to plan ahead to be sure I would see the act I really wanted to see: Alexander. Alexander wasn’t scheduled for another hour and a half, but I decided to trek over to the Phoenix to be sure I got in. I’m glad I got there early – the venue was near capacity and I got there just in time to see another act that would be a top contender for my favorite of the festival: Naked and Famous.
Their radio single, “Young Blood,” had a bit of a Passion Pit sound to me, but their set was a lot more diverse than just that one similar reference. It was hard not to jump up and down or dance to all of their songs, especially “Punching in a Dream.” Though I thought my body was going to die right before their set from sheer exhaustion, they got me re-amped on SXSW. Naked and Famous are poised to be the next big thing, so do yourself a favor and get their new album now.
Alexander was my final act of the night before I could retire to the comforts of my sleeping bag. If I hadn’t been anticipating this performance so much, I probably would have bailed. But for those of you who don’t already know, Alexander, is the new solo project of Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros frontman. If you got on the Edward Sharpe bandwagon this past year, you’ll probably enjoy Alexander. Giant tambourines, soulful singing and good vibes continue to abound. Even some of the backing members were the same between the projects. Yet there are some differences. Edward Sharpe songs are more happy family, romance songs. Alexander, as the solo project, features less harmonies and more introspective lyrics. There was something almost religious about the experience. Maybe it was the way Alex Ebert swayed every time he sang or the revered way the audience looked at him, but it was a very spiritual and uplifting set. Alex Ebert continues to remain one of the nicest people in music and when all was done – they honestly had no more songs left even though the audience was clamoring for an encore – Ebert did his best to appease fans with hugs, high fives and pictures. It was such a happy way to end the night and the first official day of the music festival.
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Check back for more to come from PopWreckoning’s Bethany and her experience at SXSW. You can see more photos from Day 1, Wednesday, March 16 below:
Those in Kansas might have spent the last few months mourning the loss of the Wakarusa music festival. Now the only fest that this area of the country could claim is the mohawked, beer belly-filled Rockfest. But not anymore! There’s a new fest in town and in this blog’s opinion, it is pretty kick ass.
Scion Garage Fest will showcase local and national acts Saturday October 2 in downtown Lawrence, KS. An RSVP by August 30 gets fans in to the fest for free.
It’s set up like a mini-SXSW. You get to pick and choose what bars/venues you go into, but you need to plan accordingly for age restrictions (Jackpot is 18+) and capacity. The shows start at 4 p.m. and run until 12:30 a.m.
Some of the acts of note include The Oblivians, The Raveonettes, The Ponys, Best Coast, Thee Oh Sees, Times New Viking and Rooftop Vigilantes.
Sure, they’re some other hipsterfest going on at Starlight (*cough* Vampire Weekend *cough*), but this is FREE!!!! Make sure you RSVP here by August 30 so that it stays FREE! This is something you won’t want to miss.
After having been asked to headline the Village Voice’s infamous Siren Festival at the historic Coney Island for several years, Built to Spill finally accepted the honor, following in the footsteps of some of indie rocks latest and greatest such as Ra Ra Riot, Broken Social Scene, Steven Malkmus and the Jicks, New York Dolls, M.I.A, Cursive, Popwreckoning favorites White Rabbits, TV on the Radio, and Death Cab for Cutie, to name a few. It’s generally speaking a who’s who of both up and comers as well as hard-hitting indie heavyweights and it’s FREE!
The last time I attended I was young 21 living in Williamsburg. It was the first year the festival took place. It was 100-plus degrees and by the end we were crispy, stuffed with zepolis, covered in beer and sand, and eventually everyone started to look like the side show freaks that Coney Island is famous for. That year we saw Peaches, Rainer Maria, Guided by Voices, andJon Spencer Blues Explosion. It was quintessential New York, one of those amazing days where you keep pinching yourself, “Do I really live here?” But for some reason, I never returned to Coney Island or the Siren Festival after that. Truth, Coney Island was dirty, run down and kinda sad. A forgotten NYC treasure with a giant price tag and an expiration date that every New Yorker was aware of. Coney Island was finished…or so I thought. In terms of the festival and it’s stellar lineup each year, I always thought to myself, ‘Well, I can catch them at The Bowery….right?’
I had a change of heart this year. Lured by the opportunity to see Built to Spill under the shifting sky, by the beach, at the end of a perfect Summer Saturday, I returned to Coney Island nine years later, and now I’m left wondering why I waited so long. This years lineup included Built to Spill, The Raveonettes, Spank Rock,Frightened Rabbit, A Place to Bury Strangers, Grand Duchy, Monotonix, Thee Oh Sees, Future of the Left, Japandroids, Michachu & The Shapes, Tiny Masters of Today, Bear Hands, The Blue Van, Justine D., and Deadheat DJs.
Grand Duchy is Frank Black, a.k.a. Black Francis, a.k.a. lead singer of The Pixies, and if you don’t know that…well shame on you, go do your homework before continuing. Anywho, Black Francis and his wife Violet Clark are Grand Duchy and they played songs on the main stage from their debut album, Petits Fours. The hooky songs feature vocals from Clark paired with Francis’s trademark storming guitar riffs. Clark, in an artist statement, describes the music as a set of opposites: “eclectic and consistent, raw and cooked, smooth and rough, punky and pop, guitar and synth, he and she…Dinner and dessert.” Anything Francis does, in my opinion is genius. See Teenager of the Year as reference. Grand Duchy is another feather in his hat.
Built to Spill took the stage to play the last set, just as the sky was changing from day to eve and the Cyclone lights flickered on. The band that inspired Modest Mouse, Death Cab, and the ubiquitous Northwest Sound that followed, played for over two hours. They played everything you’d ever want to hear, giving the crowd just what they came for. Everyone knew every lyric. You almost didn’t belong if you didn’t. The first note of “Carry the Zero” dropped and the hardcores were high-fiving. Doug Martsch turned four-minute songs into eleven-minute epic guitar jams busting string after string as fireworks blossomed in the purple sky overhead and lovers clutched each other closer. It was ridiculously magical. People were literally turning to the stranger next to them with Cheshire cat grins. And again, nine years later, I’m asking, “Do I really live here?”
Coney Island hasn’t changed much in nine years. It’s still run down, forgotten, and kinda sad, but that’s what you love about it. It buzzes with nostalgia for a time when everything was hustling and bustling, when honey roasted almonds were five cents on the boardwalk, when the skyline mattered, and people believed in two-headed snake babies and one hundred pound rats. To visit Coney Island is a suspension of disbelief. Seeing Built to Spill in this context is a somewhat of a similar act, so good it must be fiction.
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Concert Calendar
Nov 23, 2011
HaHa Tonka @ Recordbar, Kansas City MO
Nov 25, 2011
Thee Oh Sees @ The Granada, Lawrence KS
