This may sound a little over simplified but the most important part of a music festival is the lineup. A festival could be in heaven and if the bands sucked, I probably wouldn’t waste my time. Props to the people booking Download Festival at Shoreline Amphitheater. For the last two years they’ve padded the one day event with some of the best live acts out there.
While using the facilities at Shoreline I saw a poster from a Rascal Flatts show this summer. For your hard earned money you could either see them or Beck, Yeah Yeah Yeah’s, The Shins, Muse, TV on the Radio, and a bunch more bands play. Lawn seats for the show went for as little as twenty five bucks too. I’m not sure exactly how that’s possible but I recommend jumping on these kinds of deals while you can.
This was my second year at the heavily tech sponsored Download Festival (Download Festival 2005 Review). Last year Nate and I hooked up at the last minute and spent a couple nights sleeping in his sister’s car just so we could rock out to Arcade Fire, Modest Mouse, Doves, and more. Thankfully we live on the west coast and got the lineup that we did. Take a peek at the
east coast one to understand why we’re so lucky.
I picked up Jeremiah at 3:30 on Friday in downtown Los Angeles with full understanding that we’d be stuck in LA traffic for a couple hours before getting over the grapevine. Before we even stopped for coffee on the Bakersfield side of the range, we saw forest fires, a jackknifed truck, and we even gave away a few boxes of Cherry Heads to some new friends. The best quote of the day was “Free candy! That’s great, cuz I’m a stoner.” The drive to San Jose wasn’t all that bad. Jeremiah’s college buddy, Mike, was willing to put us up for a couple nights so we all had to do was get there and pick up some brews.
We arrived early on Saturday to Shoreline and worked out our pass situation. As we wandered around to scope out the second stage and our seats, we also headed over to see if the Dentyne Lounge was going to be in effect. You might wonder why this would be important but, as those that frequent fests know, food can be harder to come by than backstage passes. Damn….no luck. Once I got my Media pass we headed to the cool side stage area where we shot some hoops last year. Whoo hoo free beer, water, and Adidas. Actually I’m not sure if I could’ve wrangled some Adidas but they were giving away a lot of stuff back there.
The majority of the day was spent bopping back and forth from the main stage to the second. It was hard getting pulled away from TV on the Radio and Rogue Wave but that’s also part of the fun. I can now say that I’ve finally seen Coheed and Cambria. Well…..at least a lot of hair. With so many sponsors on board, there are bound to be some issues (sound bleed on the second stage from a horrible karaoke promotion) but as a whole, I’m a big fan of Download Festival. The sound was above par and the professional, permanent main stage was much better than the temp ones at most festivals. We stuck around for most of the Beck set, which was outstanding, then drove back to Mike’s pad for a beer or so before, in what seemed like a minute, we all passed out.
The following day we started off slow then took Highway 101 south so we could enjoy the scenic route home. After driving all over the country hitting up festivals, a small handful of hours up to San Fran in Bessita seemed more like a vacation. Let’s just hope next year we’ll finally be able to give away ice cream at Download.
Coheed and Cambria
Left the happy poppy Shins set to find myself in the back of a rather excited crowd getting down to Coheed and Cambria. I can’t really say I was surprised since all day long there were Coheed and Cambria T-shirt sightings that rivaled HIM shirts last year. CandC definitely bring the rock. You could call them a “hair” band because of the mad locks on leadman Claudio Sanchez, but that wouldn’t do ’em justice. I like breaking things down and CandC are Rock ‘n Roll, straight up. They’ve got thier gig down and i’m sure all the kids that were crowd surfing and crammed up against the barricade were happy as could be. It reminded me a bit of Rush with the high pitched vocals that almost mimicked guitar lines sometimes and the prog/fantasy overtones. My quote to Jeremiah was, “It is what it is and they do it well”.
Kinky
I still feel like I’ve yet to see the Kinky set to blow my socks off. I have full faith that it’ll happen, just need to be in right place at right time. I’ve been a fan for a while. Saw them play at Coachella a while back but it was from the far back of the crowd, which was similar to this time around. I’m thinking if Radiohead were Mexican and they weren’t so mopey, then you’d have a band something like Kinky.
The band has all the right pieces to the puzzle. They write good music, get down live, and…well….they’re pretty damn sexy too. They just released a new album Reina that i’ve yet to check out. Just found a couple tracks on www.kinkymusic.com that are worth a listen. If you’re in Tucson area, they’re playing Club Congress on October 23rd. Don’t forget those dancin’ shoes if ya go.
MUSE
Maybe I’ve been out of the loop but, as of a few months ago, I’d never heard of MUSE. I was a bit surprised to see they were billed at near headline status at Austin City Limits Festival so that piqued my interest a bit. I asked a bunch of people in Texas to explain their music and I don’t think I got two answers even close to each other. Here’s my attempt after seeing their Download set. Young bucks from England who mix the best of the last 10 years of Euro rock with some of the best aspects of metal. hmmm….I’m sure if I had to type that again it would probably come out differently.
Last year at Download it seemed like a major feat if a band was able to get the crowd out of their seats. MUSE managed to pull this off before they even hit the stage. The super minimalist setup with no monitors, no guitar cords, white backdrop, and pushed back drums allowed for movements that bands wouldn’t think were possible. As Matthew Bellamy came roaring onto the stage shreddin’ on his guitar everyone jumped to their feet because, at that moment, there didn’t seem to be any other option. They rocked the whole time and although I didn’t recognize any of their songs, it was obvious a lot of the crowd did. Muse put on one of the best sets of the day and I can only hope they’ll be hitting up more festivals next summer.
Rogue Wave
Rogue Wave are a band I think I’ll see about a dozen times before becoming a BIG fan. There kinda like Nada Surf, their ex tour mates. Both are good bands but, until you here their songs over and over again, you tend to forget how much you dig their music. They led things off on the main stage and my first note says “F^cking Loud”. I guess that might have more to do with our proximity to the right speakers but it was a little over bearing at times.
They started things off with a new track then, after stating, “we’re tickled pink and blue and brown to be here today” they broke into “Bird on a Wire”. They also played another new song, “Lake Michigan” as well as “Publish My Love” and a cover of the Pixies “Debaser”. The volume and the fact that The Like was playing across the way got me movin’. I’ll keep trying to catch Rogue Wave and i’m sure each time i’ll get drawn in by their catchy tunes.
Sean Hayes
Sean Hayes was the only artist I didn’t recognize that was playing Download. It was a good way to kick off the day though. Sean wasn’t trying to fake it either, he clearly stated during his set that this will be “the softest thing you hear all day”. He switched up between acoustic and electric guitar and his catchy pop tunes were pleasing to my virgin ears. “Alabama Chicken” put a smile on my face too.
The Shins
The Shins seem to have been touring off their last album for half a decade now. The difference is that their new album, “Wincing the Night Away” actually has a release date set for January 23rd. I think that probably takes a load off their shoulders for all the people out there, like me, who keep wondering where the new tunes are. Most of their set had the audience singing along to the familiar tunes. They were especially giddy when any of the Garden State tracks were played. I couldn’t decide if the guy mouthing the words to his girl a few rows up was heartwarming or disgusting. The one new track I caught, “Phantom” was catchy enough and I’m sure it’ll grow on all us after a few more listens.
The Shins deserve major props for being so damned down to earth. They signed posters for the a bunch of kids and even held, what seemed to be, and impromptu Q&A session for fans. Too bad the main question was “will you sign my poster?” Even when they’re on stage in front of tens of thousands of people they never seem to get too caught up in all the unnecessary hoopla. Some of the best moments were Marty’s brief rendition of U2’s “Where the Streets Have No Name” and shout out “this is for anyone with an animal backpack. Or, for those that snuck something in.” Ha….at least they’re having fun
The Like
The Like seem to have a way of getting onto all the festivals in California. They were at Coachella and more recently Detour Fest. They even played a Christmas Party for Indie 103 a while back. Honestly, I think I’m one generation removed from being a “fan” of The Like. Their cover of the Sex Pistols “Submission” is a bit fun and their songs are catchy enough to have built quite a following. I’m just curious to see where they’ll head next.
TV on the Radio
TV on the Radio was the band I anticipated seeing the most. A week or so beforehand, Brooklyn Vegan
Brooklyn Vegan emailed me asking what my favorite album of 2006 was (so far). I couldn’t really think of anything that single handedly blew me away so I put down Neko Case. TV on the Radio seemed to kick everyone’s butt in the poll, which only made me more curious. I’ve got to see TVoTR a couple times and they seem to be a band that, when on, is amazing. One thing is for sure, all the other bands playing the main stage seemed to mention TVoTR as the band to look out for.
The funniest and saddest part of the day was the fact that the schedules passed out to everyone had TVoTR listed as TV on the Road. Front Man/Vocalist Tunde couldn’t help but quip when he walked on stage, “Hello, we’re TV on the Road”. This didn’t keep them from bringing their unique sonic attack though. Main man David Sitek seems to work his quitar quadruple time while generating a fuzz that sets apart their music from anything else out there. Maybe that’s the beauty of it all, it seems familiar but you just can’t place where any of their influences specifically come from. Since then I’ve rocked Return to Cookie Mountain numerous times and it’s grown on me. Is it the best album of the year?
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
It’s no surprise that Karen O is the best front woman on the planet. When I saw the Yeah Yeah Yeahs open for Blues Explosion a long time ago in Seattle I wondered whether she was sane. The security guard there didn’t even want to let her on stage. Who’d a thunk she’d be one of the most mesmerizing figures in music today. Outside of songs off their first EP, I’m not too familiar with their tunes. It doesn’t matter though, when there’s that much energy on stage.
What works for YYY’s is that Karen O seems so happy and sincere while she’s up there strutting around the stage and freaking out. There’s a crooked smile on her face and a level (albeit small) of innocence that shows that she’s still enjoying it all. As much as I enjoyed the set, the music didn’t move me too much. Occasionally they’d be playing to tracks and you’d here a keyboard part only to find the keyboard on stage abandoned. Maybe I’ll dig around and pick up some YYY’s CD’s. For now, i’ll just enjoy the performance.
Mutaytor
Bringing Mutaytor to an event is a sure fire way to get the party started. It seems that we run into this crew at a lot of the festivals we’re at these days. It was nice to see they got their own stage for Download Festival. Last year there were some DJ’s set up in the same spot and there’s really no comparison.
Mutaytor consists of a lot of drummers and dancers and one of the best bass players around, John Avila. It’s quite a spectacle to see and the groovy funk music that’s created for the backdrop inevitably gets the crowd moving as well. When permissible they’ll bring in fire dancers and, this time around, they even had a flaming hula hoop. They’ve got some shows coming up very soon, including some gigs at Universal Studio’s Hollywood Horror Nights, check www.mutaytor.com for more details.
