Last sunday was the hottest day in six years, high of 102 degrees. What better place to spend the day than at at outdoor festival!
To start from the beginning, I got there about noon on saturday, marveled at the lax security, and caught the last few songs of the Int'l Noise Conspiracy's set, which luckily included the only song of theirs that I know "capitalism stole my virginity" which is quite possibly the best song title of all time. Leave a comment if you can think of anything better. It did seem rather ironic, however, that the band played this at Lolla, on the SBC East stage, sponsored by a million giant corporations, to people that have paid the same amount for a ticket than people earn in a year in a third world country. But I'm down, yo, national health care would rock. Then i sat on the grass while M83 played their guitar based electro/instrumentals and applied a generous amount of sunscreen. Then moved back over to hear the Trail of Dead, who were loud as hell and pretty entertaining, they predictably smashed all their equipment at the end; even though i knew it was coming it was kinda cool to see not one, but two drum kits flying off the stage.
Then i traveled to the opposite corner of the field to see the Kaiser Chiefs. There were four stages, each in one corner of the giant field, and two stages played at once. The weird thing was while this was a relatively large area, you could still hear both playing at the same time if you were anywhere near the middle, and if you were up front by one of the stages you'd hear the other band when the one you were watching stopped. Anyway, the KC's were fantastic, I'd barely listened their album twice and seemed to know every song anyway (I described them to a friend as being Franz Ferdinand plus the Clash, but that seems kind of lazy). One of the highlights of day one for sure despite the singer losing his voice. He even brought a couple fans on stage to sing one of the songs. Incidentally, this is the second time I'd see a band do that, the first was Beulah in 2001 (with opening band being then-unknown Mates of State). Afterwards I saw about half of the Brian Jonestown Massacre's set, and then took off for a break, found food (giant burrito) and airconditioning. Came back to watch Blonde Redhead's show, which was OK (the other option was Billy Idol). It rained on me for about 25 minutes while i was waiting for the Black Keys to start. They finally did with me as close to the stage as I'd get on saturday. They were one the most anticipated bands to see for me, but I was worried how they'd sound outside as opposed to a small smokey club. Well, they definitely didn't disappoint at all, I was surprised to see the singer/guitarist didn't even use a pick despite sounding so loud and brutal at times. They played fantastic, and the songs were stuck in my head the rest of the day.
I had to rush across the field to get a decent spot to see the Pixies. They came out and played over 20 songs in 75 minutes, rarely speaking between at all. They sounded great, Frank Black sweated about 39 gallons but his voice was perfect, hitting all the screams and everything. It was cool to see them, finally, but I wish I would have in 1989 rather than 2005. They said goodnite and then slooooooooooowly walked off stage while the audience shouted for more, then went back and played 'Where is my Mind?" as the sun completely disappeared. That was fricking sweet right there.
Weezer was last, and i was pretty far away, but I felt they had somehow turned into a band that's going to end up playing state fairs when they're in their 50s. They played 6 songs from their first album and only 4 from their most recent. I was in the back, shouting for them to 'play the hits!'. I had seen them in 2001, and they were pretty good then, but now I was annoyed at Rivers' lame between song comments and the lack of energy they had. Their newest album is shit, by the way, remind me to delete it from my iPod.
I caught the train home and began my coughing and sneezing fit (I'm apparently allergic to outdoor music festivals). Went back around 2:30 on sunday, with M in tow, when it was about 100 degrees. Saw Dinosaur Jr play most of their set (another band reunited in the name of cashing in). They were loud and good, J Mascis now has long grey hair and a potbelly, which is kinda funny. M liked their set too, and recognized more songs than I. This lead me to the following conclusion about her taste in music: If she listened to them up to the year 2000, she would like them no matter what they sounded like. If she discovered them after the year 2000, she would like them only if they were 'pretty' sounding, not loud, not offensive in any way. If she heard a recording released prior to 2000 that wasn't pretty sounding, she would like it only if she had listened to it in her younger days. Which meant Dinosaur Jr. = good, but Sonic Youth = bad. Also, weirdly THe pixies 'doolittle' album is good, but the 'come on pilgrim' ep is bad. What a friggin nutbar!
Anyway, we spent the next couple hours hanging out in the shade, there were a lot of buses around, idling with air conditioning on. We refilled our four water bottles and went to see the Arcade Fire. They were fantastic, probably the best performance I saw all weekend. They came out in three-piece black suits, with the girls in long dresses and opera gloves. 9 people on stage, and all of them had tremendous energy. Though I haven't given their record enough spins (it didn't make the best of 2004 cut due to lack of singles) I did know most of the songs, and I recommend catching them live at any cost. I was blown away.
We saw Spoon next, my 5th time, had the best view of the weekend. They packed a lot into an hour, but only played songs from their last 3 albums. Which was fine, but i was hoping for '30 gallon tank'. Oh well. They played good, even the keyboard player didn't screw up at all (usually the weakest link of a spoon show). Played all the 'hits', I wish it could've gone over an hour.
After some 'cooling bus', saw some of both the Dandy Warhols and the Killers, then we had to get a spot for the last band of the night, Death Cab for Cutie, whom M loves with a fiery passion. (Their second album is great, third is okay, the rest are kinda blah, IMHO). They played and it was predictable and okay, but this point my allergies had started to kick in and I was busy worrying about Monday at work. M loved it, screaming like a 13 yr old between songs and jumping up and down and doing her weird dance when her feet remain planted but her torso moves rapidly from side to side. We left and caught a bus home, having finished about 9 liters of water between us. Still not sure if it was worth the ticket price, especially when compared to the previous weekend, but I'd stay it still was a good time, and I hope it comes back next year with a better lineup.
So after two days of working my new job, I'm officially disliking it. At least the days go by quickly, as I'm struggling to keep up with everything. I keep waiting for the 'Coffee is for Closers' speech. (First Prize: a new cadillac, Second Prize: a set of steak knives, Third Prize: You're Fired!) I'm sure it'll get better eventually (i hope) but this week is going to suck for sure. Friday I'm seeing the Olivia Tremor Control play in a club, which i'm stoked about. Also, no more outdoor concerts for the rest of the summer.
