Finally, almost a full week after I put up my coverage of Day 1, you get my final thoughts from last weekend. I went to Day Three sore and exhausted. I’d gone to my only afterparty of the weekend the night before featuring Jay Reatard (I expected better) and the fantastic and highly entertaining King Khan and the Shrines. Unfortunately, even a fantastic and highly entertaining band (complete with dancers in drag and matching band costumes) couldn’t stop me from sitting down at about 1am…and realizing 15 minutes later as they said, “This is our last song” that I’d fallen asleep. This…preceding my two hour trip home through a Radiohead-worthy deluge. A trip which probably would’ve been longer had the Pitchfork writers on the bus I’d hopped on in a desperate attempt to head north somehow not given me very good directions. (Thank you Pitchfork writers on the N9 who gave me good directions.) So I had no problem parking myself in front of one stage for three sets…especially when the shade hit my little niche on the barrier.
Mahjongg
Hooray for local flavor! These guys came onstage a good thirty minutes later than they were supposed to (ostensibly so as not to interrupt a church service going on next door) and they came on with a smoke machine. My understanding is that these guys change up their show a whole lot and unfortunately, I don’t know enough about their back catalog to offer more than a few tidbits of insight. The musicianship was incredible even if the energy came and went in waves. They’re the sort of band where it pays off to pay attention but even if you don’t, their set was diverse enough (sometimes math-y, sometimes a bit more straightforward rock and roll, always well thought out) to be enjoyed by the casual listener.
High Places
High Places are apparently the spots where one should go to get out of the sun. That’s really the only reason I watched their set. The music that these two create is quite good. Mary Pearson has a very clear voice and they have lots of fun toys to play with. They actually dumped out a bag full of their auxiliary percussion instruments, pulling them up between creating bleeps, tapping out beats and creating a sound in general that was rather relaxing for such an experimental act. The music itself is good, but really the purpose of me going to that set was to remain in the shade and stay in the great position I’d nabbed for when HEALTH took the stage. Boris was playing on the Connector Stage during the High Places set and thankfully I’d caught them in DC earlier that week because I knew that at that moment I was not watching the better set.
HEALTH
I haven’t tried to listen to HEALTH’s latest album and I’m not sure how well I’d do at getting through the noise considering that my thoughts some other famed noisy albums (like Here Comes The Indian) are that they’re not so much a collection of songs as an exercise in patience. That said…the HEALTH live show falls under “must see.” This was my third time watching the extended freakout that is a HEALTH live set and it doesn’t get old. The sounds that they coax out of their guitars, microphones, pedals and drums are especially impressive because of the sheer energy that they throw into the set for an extended amount of time. The same audience that had been static during High Places started thrashing their bodies around or else standing with jaws dropped in awe. One of them had a T-shirt on which they’d written something along the lines of “If Rocking Is Illegal Than Throw Me In Jail.” They’d have to throw everyone else in, too.
Les Savy Fav
I was nervous as to how well this set would go over. The last time I saw these guys outdoors with a barrier between band and stage (opening for The Arcade Fire on Randall’s Island) it did not go over well. For one thing it was incredibly difficult for Tim Harrington to move in amongst the audience from whom he derives his energy and for another thing, the Randall’s Island crowd wasn’t really there to see them. However, even with the press barrier, Tim Harrington had no problems moving in and amongst the crowd, webcam attached to his forehead, went through a slue of fun costumes, including a pirate mask, torn red tights, a bodysuit complete with drawings of the inner anatomy…which got completely covered in mud as he dove through a puddle before putting it on. He also went out into the audience in a large garbage can, put mud on various audience members (and band members) as he made up a tale of a Native American ritual and wondered aloud why we can’t just buy this park and put on a Sherlock costume and do this every day. They proved once again why they’re not just a “must-see” band. They’re a “must-see-as-often-as-possible” band.
The Dodos
I saw the Dodos twice in a week earlier this year. Once opening for Les Savy Fav and once doing a late night headlining stint at a place down the street shortly after Visiter had received the Best New Music nod from Pitchfork. There were maybe fifty people in the audience at that little DC club so it was a little surreal seeing that number of people in the photo pit alone while an additional ten thousand or so people watched them do their shtick on the ginormous Aluminum Stage where I’d just seen Public Enemy two nights earlier. They had to have been exhausted as they were one of the bands that had hightailed it out from Coney Island’s Siren Festival the day before but these guys are living proof that one need not be standing up to exude unbelievable amounts of energy. Meric Long spent the majority of the set seated, except when he stood on his chair upon breaking out the trombone for “Fools” and when he fell out of his chair during “Jodi” and continued to play. He didn’t skip a beat. I love Logan Kroeber’s drumming since the percussion nerd in me is amazed at the sounds he’s able to create using other parts of the drum, a tambourine tied to his foot and very sparing use of the crash cymbal. Plus, I mean…they have a xylophone! Hooray, xylophone! My only gripe is that they didn’t play “The Season” but this very Visiter-heavy set had everyone around me who was watching because there was really no one else to see at that moment saying things like “These guys are fucking incredible.” So incredible that the last time I attempted to write a review of their set, I’m pretty sure my outpouring of praise rendered me incapable of writing complete sentences. I don’t see why this should change now. I. Love. This. Band.
I took a break around this point so I could only hear that M. Ward was having considerable technical difficulties (since at times he was blaring in my left ear and at other times I couldn’t hear him at all) and I only caught a little bit of the Ghostface Killah & Raekwon set on the Balance stage. I watched just long enough to hear the audience break into a chorus of “Oooh baby I like it raaaaaaaaw” which must be the standard no matter which members of the Wu-Tang Clan are actually onstage. I do wish that I’d been able to catch that full set.
Spiritualized
Spiritualized look like fucking Rock Stars. With those haircuts and those sunglasses they look cool as hell and listening to “Shine A Light” and “She Kissed Me (It Felt Like a Hit)” seemed like a revelation. I was rubbing my eyes, sucking down water and praying that my bag wouldn’t fall apart (again) but I felt like this smooth music from a band I barely listen to was penetrating my soul. The gospel singers definitely added to this effect as the guitars wailed in ways that would make Roger Waters proud. This was the set where all the couples held on to their significant others and danced like maniacs or like high school lovers (depending on the song) because even the drunken assholes couldn’t help but be moved.
Another band that I only really watched via Jumbotron was Dinosaur Jr. Embarrassing and shameful, I know, especially after my admission that I didn’t really watch Jarvis Cocker but due to my shortcomings as a music nerd, I’m familiar with about three of their songs whereas I’m very very knowledgeable with the vast majority of the Spoon catalog. Sorry, guys.
Spoon
Spoon has never been known for their incredible live show but back in April they gave one of the most stellar performances I have ever seen at a venue in Baltimore. This comparatively short hour long set was not going to match up. However, Spoon has learned something from the critics of their live shows over the years. True, Britt Daniel still carried most of the emotional energy of the set but the songs have actually been appropriated for a live setting instead of sounding exactly the way they do on the album. Bringing out the horn section for the minimalistic “Stay Don’t Go” works surprisingly well and “The Ghost of You Lingers” which sees Daniel picking up the bass is haunting and fantastic live. But therein lies the beauty of a Spoon set. They have so many albums filled with so many great tracks that really, they could pick and choose what they want to play and no matter what they leave out, the set will be filled with songs where everyone knows all of the words. They didn’t have much room for an encore but even with time constraints, they pulled one out, bringing out Deerhunter/Atlas Sound man Bradford Cox for guitar and backup vocal duties on a truly raucous yet moving version of “Mountain of Sound.” Hell yes. I should do this again next year.
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the dodos are really great. have you listened to ‘beware of the maniacs’? it’s almost as good, if not as good, as ‘visiter’ but in a different way.
spoon’s live performance is like going to see the weakerthans – if you’re a fan of the band, they can do you no wrong because their back catalog is so solid that it will be a good show no matter what. they’re not super energetic or technically amazing, but i still enjoyed their show.
Looks like an awesome show! Thanks for letting us know about it.
Spoon was great! I was fully expecting them to play, “Chicago At Night,” given the circumstances, maybe that was planned, before they had to cut the set short.
Actually, MrCrothers, I was surprised not to hear “Chicago At Night” as well. They played that one in Baltimore which I thought was cool.
@jaymonger – I haven’t listened to Beware the Maniacs but I’m seeing them again at the end of September (yay!) with Wye Oak (yay!) so I’ll pick it up from them then.