Lollapalooza 2009

Last festival of 2009: Lollapalooza. The classic. Set in my favorite urban environment of Chicago. What a great festival. There are soooo many bands here. It was hot as is typically the case for August in Chicago. This festival would be a lot better in September. We did have one day of rain that made it hard to bear, but it was still great. Performances I remember:

• The Knux -- they really rocked it here at Lolla
• The Gaslight Anthem -- ehh. Not into the new Bruce Springsteen.
• White Lies -- now these guys rock.
  
• Bon Iver -- I really like the band, but Justin didn't have the same energy at Lolla...mainly because he played to a rain soaked audience.
• Crystal Castles -- another band that was solid, but just way better at Sasquatch
• Thievery Corporation -- Soooo glad I got to see them here. A favorite I always wanted to see live.
  
• Peter Bjorn - solid and I hope to see again
• Of Montreal -- solid, but stronger at Sasquatch
• Depeche Mode -- Oh man, great stage effects and killer sound. Blew me away! A highlight for me.
  
• Kings of Leon -- What's not to like?!! Great band.
• MoneyPenny -- played a really fun DJ set
• Atmosphere -- can't even recall
• Gomez -- dug it, but not remarkable
• Chairlift -- solid rock.
  
• Arctic Monkeys -- great set. Hard rock to the core.
• Rise Against -- Dig 'em. Solid set
• Lykke Li -- don't recall
• Ben Harper -- relaxing and good set. Not spectacular, but solid.
  
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- fun and solid, but I ditched out to hear...
  
• Tool -- Man they can really rock. Another super impressive band. The stage was amazing and the sound rocked. A highlight of the festival.
• Ra Ra Riot -- finally got to see them and was happy to check out their set
• Bat For Lashes -- I really liked her. Great stage presence, strong sound. Liked it.
• Portugal. The Man -- so glad Ben talked me into this one. Festival highlight for certain!
• Car Stereo (Wars) -- can't recall. (It was a year ago!)
• Cage the Elephant -- Feast and famine. One minute you can't believe how much they rock, then next you are getting ready to leave. Their album is the same though.
• Kaiser Chiefs -- fun and solid
• Dan Deacon -- harder than I thought. Not bad.
• Gang Gang Dance -- can't recall
• Vampire Weekend -- great sound!
• Cold War Kids -- Fantastic! Check them out!
• Snoop Dogg -- how can you miss Snoop? I enjoyed it, but cut out halfway to watch...
• Silversun Pickups -- best performance yet on their part! They tore it up. They were gracious to the crowd and raved about the city. They loved the city backdrop and you could tell they didn't want to leave the stage. Wonderful energy.
• Deerhunter -- ehhh
• The Killers -- Great performance!

Pitchfork Music Festival 2009

Next up, I went with a special someone to a smaller music festival in Chicago, the Pitchfork Music Festival. It's a great mid-size festival that is run by the musical geniuses at Pitchfork Magazine. (Okay, they probably hire a group to run it, but you know what I mean.)

Some good ones we missed: Beirut, Cymbals Eat Guitars.

I will give some brief highlights:

• The National - solid, but not remarkable.
  
• The Black Lips - can't recall
• Matt and Kim - oh man, they were good. Unexpectedly good. Is that really just two people on stage? Yeah, we were blown away.
• Yeasayer -- Loved it, loved it, loved it. Killer energy. I bought their most recent album afterward.
• Final Fantasy -- I've never seen anything like it. I haven't bought the music, and probably wouldn't because I'm not certain how it would translate, but check this guy out if you ever have a chance. Do it. He plays violin and constructs entire songs in front of you with his violin, keyboard, loops and pedals. It's unique and great artistry.
• The Dutchess & The Duke -- Great folksy rock sound. A surprise we stumbled upon and were glad we did.
• Mew -- solid
• Grizzly Bears -- a better venue for them than Sasquatch...or at least a more solid performance.
• M83 -- whereas M83 was better suited for Sasquatch, and played better there. Still solid though.
• Japandroids -- loud and unspectacular
• The Walkmen -- solid
• The Thermals -- simply a blast. They really outperformed my expectations of them. Super fun.
• Vivian Girls -- ehhh
  
• Pharoahe Monch -- very fun vibe and I would see them again.
• The Killer Whales -- another fun one.
• Blitzen Trapper -- do these guys ever get old? (Hint: no.)
• Frightened Rabbit -- strong performance
• Dianogah -- can't recall
• The Mae Shi -- impressive and fun
  
• The Flaming Lips -- trippy. Loved the performance, but they were overshadowed by...
• The Very Best -- the reason you go to music festivals is due to the sampler platter effect. You get to try lots of bands out in a short time...with the hopes of discovering a gem. The Very Best were that gem. Fantastic international rap-esque sound. They brought such energy that we were disappointed when we broke away to check out The Flaming Lips. I immediately bought there album afterward and listen to it frequently still. I rave about this group to everyone I meet!

Sasquatch Music Festival 2009

Here are but a sample of the many pictures that were taken at the Sasquatch Music Festival. The crowds were fun, the bands amazing and views spectacular! (Some of the pics include Silversun Pickups, Explosions in the Sky, Blitzen Trapper, Bon Iver, Ben Harper and Crystal Castles.) The festival is held at The Gorge Amphitheater, which leads to a stunning backdrop to the stage.

I will say that the area is dry and hot. I recall no reprieve from the sun -- it's basically a desert. At one point, a small cloud covered the sun for a brief moment at the end of a performer's song. The crowd erupted into excitement and cheers and the band must have thought they really rocked it. They were good, but even the sun worshipers appreciated a bit of cloud cover at that moment.

You can still access the 2009 Sasquatch Lineup, but I will give a quick review of who I saw. But first, the misses: Hockey, Blind Pilot, Beach House, Owl City, The Doves, Avett Brothers, Walkmen, Passion Pit, Ra Ra Riot, St. Vincent, The Dutchess and the Duke, Janes Addiction & NIN (later toured as part of the NIN/JA tour that I caught). It just didn't happen, but I have at least seen Hockey, Passion Pit, Blind Pilot, Ra Ra Riot, The Dutchess and the Duke, Janes Addiction & NIN since and all rocked in their respective genres.

Bands I caught:

• Kings of Leon -- they continually rock of course.
  
• Yeah Yeah Yeahs -- strong set.
  
• The Decemberists -- chill, but solid
• Animal Collective -- great tunes, but didn't fit the festival, or at least a day time, main stage slot. It seemed like a weird fit and most didn't appreciate them.
• M. Ward -- dug him
• Devotchka -- interesting and fun
• Bon Iver -- one of my favorite acts here. He tore down the site. Played in a passionate trance, and nearly set his acoustic guitar on fire with his fingers. It was a raw and beautiful performance and the audience reflected that energy back at him. Simply put, it was awesome.
• Crystal Castles -- man, this was fun, but why couldn't they plan deeper into the morning?
• TV on the Radio -- solid but unspectacular
• Street Sweeper -- sucked. Don't pay to see them. Worst band I caught there.
  
• Of Montreal -- they blew up the stage. It was killer. One of the highlights of the festival.
  
• M83 -- great show
• Airborne Toxic Event -- I really enjoyed this act
• Deadmau5 -- great DJ set
• Ben Harper -- typically a huge fan, but helluva show and I would see him again
• Erykah Badu -- same as above
• Silversun Pickups -- one of the main reasons I attended and they didn't disappoint. A solid, electric, smashmouth success. I loved it, loved it. Great band.
• Fleet Foxes -- smoooth and beautiful. Chirag partied with them in the campground. How cool is it that the band hung out with the campers throughout the weekend?
• Gogol Bordello -- crazy internationals! Amazing and fun show.
• Santigold -- or is that Santogold? In any case, she put on a funky and fun show.
• Grizzly Bear -- Not as good as I had hoped, but solid.
• The Wrens -- left no impression on me
  
• Monotonix -- Okay, these guys...they are not amazing to hear. In fact, I would never buy a CD, but I will see them again for certain! They threw instruments into the audience and dove in to play them. Climbed the stage. It was mayhem. Great entertainers.
• Explosions in the Sky -- It's like two young Jeff Becks. Killer guitars, no vocals. Solid.
• The Knux -- they were better later in the year at Lolla.
• Blitzen Trapper -- another one of the highlights as far as I was concerned.
• Girl Talk -- stumbled upon them for a last couple of songs. I was blown away by how much the audience loved it. I felt like I was at an outdoor house party. Very entertaining.
• Chromeo -- my favorite DJ of the festival.

As with any festival, you really have to play it one of two ways: run around catching half acts, etc. Or picking solid ones to watch. I had a few that I picked to watch fully: Silversun, Bon Iver, etc. Mostly, though, the venue is small enough to run between sets and catch lots of music. As I look back at the lineup, it was even more incredible than I realized at the time. I saw some amazing bands at a spectacular venue, but still missed some really good ones.

After the festival, Chirag and I drove around through the Cascades and enjoyed the scenery before returning home.

Music Retro

Admittedly, I've been remiss in updating.

When last I left you, we were heading to Sasquatch Music Festival, then later I hit Pitchfork and Lollapalooza. In 2010, I ended up going to Lollapalooza for one day and I've hit several single concerts in between. In my next posts, I will give you updates of each concert in dedicated posts.

Sasquatch

Heading to Seattle tonight to hang out in the city, then attend the Sasquatch Music Festival. I will probably also be going on a strenuous 13 mile hike. Nice relaxing and varied vacation. Oh yeah. I will try to update the blog, but likely won't have many options while I am gone. Also, I just found out that I can't take my D90, so I will have to rely on my older T100 for a variety of pics and vids. Hopefully, when I return, I can clean up my digital identity and various sites as well. (I get weird about things, but for instance, I have a YouTube page. Well two. /WebMooreVid and /WebMooreVids. It just makes sense to move everything over to the Vids site because, well, I have posted more than one video. HA!

Anyway, enjoy Memorial Day Weekend. I'm doing my part to help the economy.

I will try to grab some interesting experiences and captures.

Life is good, eh?!

Austin City Limits Recap

Austin City Limits Music Festival on September 27th.

The pic above details the schedule of Saturday's bands.

When in Austin, do it up Texas style!

The Fratellis jam out.

The Black and White Years plays (above).

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings funks it up.

Jose Gonzalez plays some sweet melodies.

Electric Touch above had a good crowd, but they played at the same time as MGMT.

MGMT had the crowd of a headliner. It was crazy.

Some of the crowd that gathered for MGMT. Click this pic for an enlarged version and a better sense.

Jumbo Screen shot of Beck rocking the stage (above).

Beck was the last act to perform

So the music festival was a great time. Unfortunately, lots of good bands played at the same time. However, it was a great time. Here is a summary of the bands we saw...

The Black and White Years really rocked it out. They were my surprise band for the day. I had heard one of their songs on XM or someplace, but they put on a a strong enough performance for me to recommend the album. Interesting dance/guitar/rock group based in Austin. They don't take themselves too seriously. Bit of a Talking Heads influence. Punchy guitar. Good times.

Next, we checked out Five Times August...basically a solo songwriter and guitarist. I wanted to like the guy, really, but I just couldn't. Very teenie bopper pop rock and trying too hard to be a heart throb. Probably featured on MTV reality shows. He's probably on Tiger Beat (if that even still exists), but I honestly wasn't impressed.

The Old 97's were a very solid rock band. I enjoyed their tunes. They really rocked it out and put on a good performance. I don't think they have a sound that stands out a ton, but they had a diverse rock sound with alt country, Kinks and some punk influences. Mainly just a solid rock band. Worth a look.

The Fratellis were fun to watch. Rockers from Glasgow if you can imagine. Nice hooks, strong guitar, fairly ordinary rock, pretty good sound.

Jose Gonzalez was sweet. As you can tell from the pic above, he had a massive crowd. This is the guy you want to see at a smaller venue. A real small venue, ideally. He reminds me of Nick Drake (he of tragic story) who had a slight revival when VW featured one of his songs in a commercial a while back. Sweet melodies. Great vocals, stripped down classic, around the campfire sound. Great story telling, and wonderful guitar throughout. He had a female backup singer join him at times to sing harmony or join along. Great time, but I just didn't feel in the mood to fight the crowd to get up front. He needed more wattage to push that beautiful sound out to the crowd better. Great performer. Would be better in a smaller venue.

Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings. This girl can ROCK it!! Man, she's like a female James Brown. Loved it! Killer funk. Great dance sounds. Must see live act, but like much of this genre of music, probably loses the energy on a CD. Don't miss 'em if they ever play near you.

The Concert Supremes. They provided a high energy gospel/soul groove that really got the audience moving. Stopped in for a short bit and glad I did, but I wouldn't buy an album. Not my style, but fun to watch. Got your feet tapping and your soul cleansed a little.

Electric Touch. Great band. They are another band that I've started to like. I have a couple of their songs and a friend recently gave me a CD with one of their good ones. These guys are good and I'll get an album after the performance. I wanted to stick around, but the massive storm of people gathering for MGMT at the nearby stage detracted. How many songs could I hear before racing over to MGMT? Would I find my friends....

MGMT. Not a chance in hell to find my friends. These guys had one of the biggest crowds at ACL. They were huge! They had the crowd of a headliner and because I checked out Electric Touch, I was left pretty far back. I fought up to the middle area, but then decided I was comfortable in the crowd with a good view, nice sound and with time to make an autograph move for a friend/crazed fan at the conclusion of their set. They put on a good show. Solid, but probably a little under my expectation. They had sooo many people, and I really think they could have taken and owned the stage better. They started off with a lower energy song. Sounded good, but never rocked it as hard as they could. They were probably stoned and chilling cause they certainly looked the part. Nonethless, they did a great job, had a nice cover and have a great sound. Shawn was stoked to check them out and I was happy not to have missed it. The debut album is great and the new one is being produced by the Chemical Brothers, so these guys are going to just keep getting better!! They are going to soon blow up out of control is my prediction.

John Fogerty. I thought this guy was from California?! He sounds like a good 'ol boy from Arkansas or something. To that point: he plays good 'ol Rock n Roll and added some good CCR covers.

The Black Keys. The Ohio band played just as expected. They play some hard rock blues. I have the most recent album. It was a strong performance.

Iron & Wine. Played the same time as Black Keys. I have some of their songs, but no full album. They are in the vein of Gonzalez in terms of style. They are the group you want to hear in a more intimate setting than the festival allowed. Great performance, but someone you really want to check out in a smaller venue. Or at an outdoor venue that they headline, such as White River State Park . Nice and easy. Great lyrics.

Robert Plant & Alison Krauss. The former Led Zep frontman is old. Real old. Still, he can kick out some easy tunes. Alison has a beautiful voice and plays violin wonderfully. They put on a good performance with some fun takes on old Zep songs, but time was running out... I had to run to the other side to catch and get close for Beck!

Beck. Amazing. Great stage presence. Interesting songs. Started out rocking it and then put a nice lull to the crowd before rocking it out again. Great stage show. The guy is a musical genius and it shows!

Other Notables:

CSS. Missed them. Heard a lot of good things about the performance. An interesting group, but we didn't make it. We soaked up the atmosphere a little and grabbed some food and drink instead.

Fleet Foxes. See above.

Back Door Slam punched out some killer guitar driven rock ala Stevie Ray Vaughn style solos. I didn't really truly catch them other than listening in from a resting area nearby.

Lastly:

Check here for Saturday's set list of all the performing bands. It was a good time. Austin is such a fun town and so musically focused. We met some cool and fun people throughout the weekend and had a great time in Austin. It's a comfortable town. Not real multicultural and not a true city feel, but man what a wonderful vibe!! Looking forward to visiting again next year and doing the entire festival. There were so many bands that we missed on Friday (Vampire Weekend) and Sunday (Silversun Pickups).

We may even do a summer music festival tour in 2009!

Austin

ACL was pretty incredible. I will give a brief update of the bands that I saw shortly.

Austin is a cool town and we met some interesting and fun people along the way. It's warm and active. I love the West nearly as much as I love true metropolitan cities.

Austin City Limits!!

We leave Friday for the ACL Festival!

Super excited, but kinda bummed that we will likely only be at the festival on Saturday. Tickets sold out soo early and even though we got ours when I returned from Europe, we had to buy the more expensive single day pass. We are missing some good bands on Friday (Vampire Weekend, G. Love is always fun, etc.) and we will likely miss some great ones on Sunday, such as The Kills, Against Me!, Foo Fighters, and most importantly: Silversun Pickups. Ugh. Another time.

My good friend who lives there will ironically and randomly be coming back to Indy the same weekend, but we have some other friends out there. We can enjoy the city and normal nightlife on Friday and then see some great bands on Saturday. Sunday, we will relax and enjoy the town more before heading out in the evening. I've been to Austin once before and I loved it. Different than the other U.S. cities that I tend to like...the more Euro style or traditional, vertical cities such as Chicago, San Fran, Boston, NYC, or even outdoor towns such as San Diego, Denver, Phoenix, Seattle, etc. Austin is fun. Unique sophistication with lots of outdoor activities and young, vibrant, active people in good shape. Very open and free-spirited and welcoming. An island oasis in Texas. Nice feel, good vibe, great town. We're going to have a blast!!

So, we will be at the Austin City Limits Music Festival on Saturday. As you can see from the schedule above, lots of the good bands are playing at the same time! We'll probably be running around like recently decapitated crackhead chickens!

It promises to be a good time. I'm sure we will do our part to "Keep Austin Weird."

Additional Euro Trip pics

A series of additional photos for you to enjoy...

If you want to read about the Euro Trip (Running of the Bulls and Swiss Alps adventures), then check through posts for the entire month of July 2008 for full coverage.