All Points West

Summer has been upon us and how better to watch it fly by then running around in the muck and mud of our nations beloved music festivals.

All Points West has come and gone with well over fifty bands performing on three separate stages in Jersey’s breathtaking Liberty State Park.  The grounds were adorned with several artwork installations including tiki huts to lounge in and strings of numerous balloons floating through the sky.  And what a sky it was with Manhattan’s skyscrapers just on the other side of the Hudson river and Lady Liberty’s outstretched arm urging all us fellow festival lovers to “rock on”.  Rock on we did.  Friday night, despite the thunder and lightning and delicious downpours, was a great way to begin the festival.

Fleet Foxes brought out the folk in all of us and as they started the third song from their set, English House (from the Sun Giant EP), it was as if by sound alone they controlled the winds, ushering in a sprinkling breeze that rose and fell with each “whoa my love”.

Ra Ra Riot was popping away on the bullet stage setting the mood for dancing.  The strings really give this group the extra dynamic to set them apart.  They are like the heart.  There is always a constant and solidly strong beat while the strings of emotion play through it.

If you wanted your heart strings pulled, The National was the group to see Friday night.  Matt Berninger’s voice is deep and mysterious and on the live stage sang so intensely from the depths of his soul that you held your breath and yes, even tears would form.  ”Walk away now, you’re gonna start a war.”

By Saturday afternoon the rains had died and the clouds had moved on yet the grounds were still sopping wet with muck and mud.

St. Vincent, perhaps the best performance of the weekend, almost made you forget where you were.  Her short curls and red lips lured you in visually and her raw ingenious talent pulled you in aurally.  Laughing with a Mouth of Blood has such an intense build starting with the flutes and ebbing with the violins that slowly grow more violent while Anne Clark sings “You’ll Have to Shout Even Louder”. Suddenly it stops.

Chairlift’s Caroline Polachek’s style is wacky and adorable and she has one of the best singing shrieks.  Her presence is undeniable on stage and with Aaron Pfenning they together write some beautifully catchy songs, both unbeat and down.

A running animation video of elephants and cars played on the screens while Neko Case performed her set.  ”It’s all quite satisfying”, she said, “I hope it was satisfying for you too.”  She was a refreshing act, one to relax and allow yourself to be somewhat nostalgic for a moment in time.

Just when you started to feel the coming down from the days events Crystal Castles took the stage and revived all who were within ear shot making us all feel like this was where we belonged. The tent was packed and it didn’t matter whether you were standing front row or hanging out in the back, you still couldn’t help but move it, move it.  Alice Glass held a microphone in one hand and a strobe light in the other while exclaiming from the stage that we all looked “like a garden of hands”!

Sunday started out quite stormy but mother nature was kind and let up just before Elbow took to the big Blue comet stage.  Guy Garvey was so tender with the crowd and really pulled you in from the start with his gentle ballads.  The way I felt about elbow can be best described by the lyrics they themselves sing. “You are the only thing in any room you’re ever in.” He goes “straight to my head like the first cigarette of the day”.  The group was real with us, like we were all just hanging out in his back yard in Manchester.  The band took a shot of whiskey on stage and continued on graciously thanking and encouraging the fans to “fall in love, fall in love, FALL IN LOVE.”

Lykke Li dance, dance, danced the crowd right through her set.  Punching the air and waving her hips, she just wanted to have a good time with everyone else.  I enjoyed her closing song, “Tonight”, which brought the audience in and quietly pleaded, “don’t you let me go tonight, let me go tonight.”

The moon had been settled in the sky for hours at this point and the VIP ticket holders were piling in to the packed bleachers while the rest of us crowded in on the grounds waiting for a moment that doesn’t come around every day, a moment that one would like to say they were there for, even just once.  Coldplay.  Chris Martin was funnier than I expected and they played the hits that would surely please the ultimate fan.

Sneaking away from Coldplay (although no one really seemed to notice) was a great choice.  MGMT was on at the Bullet stage and they were playing some of their new works that will be on their upcoming album “Congratulations”, expected out sometime in early 2010.

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Tags: all points west, Chairlift, coldplay, crystal castles, Elbow, festival, Fleet Foxes, hudson river, lykke li, Manhattan, Music, nj, st vincent, the national

Fend Got Bonnarooed 2009

What might be the largest festival in the universe went down last weekend in Manchester, Tennessee.  Bonnaroo has been blowing the minds of music lovers since 2002 thanks to Superyfly Production.  Bonnaroo, slang for “a really good time,” is 700 acres of camping, music, art, and total bliss.  The festival had me in this numb, happy state of mind, I didn’t realize the greatness I was experiencing until I sat down to write.  It was only in the retelling that I started to comprehend what exactly happened there at Tennessee. 

Not only was the music amazing, but I was incredibly impressed with the festival goers.  Even without showers, in the hot muggy south, forced to pack into areas with other hot, smelly people, everyone was in such great spirits.

The eclectic mix of music fills the farm with ease, and for the entire 75 hours that Bonnaroo is going on there is always something to do.

 It is no wonder they say every year is the best Bonnaroo.  White Rabbits, Chairlift, Passion Pit, Of Montreal, The Dirty Projectors, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Grizzly Bear, TV On The Radio, Ani Difranco, Phoenix, Crystal Castles, and Gomez,, are just a few of the bands I was able to catch on stage this year.  If each succeeding year is the best year yet, I can’t wait to see what is in store for 2010.

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Tags: ani difranco, bonnaroo, Chairlift, crystal castles, gomez, grizzly bear, manchester, of montreal, passion pit, phoenix, the dirty projectors, TN, tv on the radio, white rabbits, yeah yeah yeahs

Bonnaroo Is Around the Bend

The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival begins next Thursday, June 11th in Manchester, Tennessee.  The lineup is vast and is sure to include at least one band you enjoy, in an attempt to preview the event we have picked out a few of the great bands playing on each day, for a complete lineup and schedule check out Bonaroo’s site.

 

Thursday- White Rabbits, Chairlift, and Passion Pit 

Friday- Animal Collective, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Tv on The Radio, Grizzly Bear, The Dirty Projectors, St Vincent, Santagold, Ani DiFranco, David Byrne, Gomez, Phoenix, Crystal Castles, Girl Talk and Pretty Lights

Saturday- The Mars Volta, Of Montreal, The Decemberists, Bon Iver, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Sunday- Citizens Cope, Andrew Bird, Band of Horses, Neko Case, Okkervil River, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists

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Tags: Andrew Bird, ani difranco, animal collective, Art, band of horses, Bon Iver, bonnaroo, Chairlift, citizens cope, crystal castles, david byrne, elvis perkins in dearland, festival, girl talk, gomez, grace potter and the nocturnals, grizzly bear, manchester, Music, neko case, of montreal, Okkervil River, passion pit, phoenix, pretty lights, santagold, st vincent, ted leo and the pharmacits, tennessee, the decemberitsts, the dirty projectors, the mars volta, tv on the radio, white rabbits, yeah yeah yeahs

Chairlift Inspired More Than Peter Bjorn and John? Debatable.

I urge you, readers, to please dig deeper into Chairlift.  Don’t allow yourself to be satisfied solely by their iPod hit, “Bruises”.  I was so taken by their live performance at Webster Hall on April 29th where they just may have out-shined the headlining and most sensationalized Peter Bjorn and John.  Caroline Polachek’s voice is without a doubt quite stellar to an average good voice.  The control she possesses is alluring to the ear.  Quite simply, it’s like butter.  Aaron Pfenning is a crooner as well, his deep voice is a perfectly erie compliment to Polechek’s.  Patrick Wimberly kept it all together as drummer, bassist and keyboardist.  These are versatile musicians, exchanging instruments and taking turns.  It was something of beauty to watch.  

Of course, the masses were there for some PB and J.  The Swedish indie idols caused the 123 year old floor of Webster Hall to shake, literally.  The crowd did not seem to mind as they bounced and rocked to favorites like “Amsterdam” and “Young Folks”, naturally, along with newbies like “Just The Past” and “Nothing to Worry About”.  Their encore was especially moving, with an intimate slow song from their newest album Living Things, titled “Stay This Way”.

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Tags: Chairlift, indie rock, Music, Peter Bjorn and John, webster hall

Chairlift Releases “Does You Inspire?”

The brooklyn based band,  Chairlift, releases its debut album Does You Inspire? on Columbia Records , Tuesday the 21st.  Complete with two new tracks, “Dixie Gypsy” and “Le Flying Saucer,” the album, which feels like its been out for a year, does Chairlift proud.  Caroline Polacheck’s pleasant vocals on top of synths and catchy beats evokes a hankering for careless summer days and grassy knolls.  

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Tags: caroline polacheck, Chairlift, columbia records, Does You Inspire

“I tried to do handstands for you”

Does You Inspire,  released in November, 2008, is Chairlift‘s first album.  The band began playing in 2006 in Colorado where they found themselves rocking a “new breed of pop” with their mystical, somewhat spooky tunes.  Chairlift created a lot of buzz when their single “Bruises” was featured in a recent Ipod commercial.  

Caroline Polachek, Aaron Pfenning and Patrick Wimberly, make up the Chairlift this awesome trio, and I suggest you check them out on October 18th @ Bowery Ballroom, or October 21st for the CMJ Music Marathon.

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Tags: 2008, aaron pfenning, album, bowery ballroom, brooklyn, bruises, caroline polacheck, Chairlift, CMJ, CMJ 2008 Music Marathon, commercial, concerts, Does You Inspire, ipod, live music, Music, November, nyc, October 18th, patrick wimberly, single, spooky, trio, tunes