Day 1 was aces all around Random thoughts from poorly scribbled notes.
The additional 10k people at the festival could be felt. I did like the idea of having all the food on one boulevard away from the stages. It made for less of a clusterfuck in the food area; unless you were in line waiting for a burger from Kuma’s the food lines moved quickly and easily.
Taste-A-Palooza
Young the Giant’s Sameer Gadhita left a piece of his soul on the Bud Light Stage. Los Bunkers, despite sound issues that plagued the Play Station stage all afternoon, were a delight with their 60′s pop soaked tunes. They also can take credit for having one of the biggest crowd swells of the day. I saw several kids walk by the Play Station stage on their way to the bar and they’d stop and join the crowd to dance to Los Bunkers. Grace Potter & The Nocturnals brought their blues-rock to the Bud Light stage. Despite the howling and Tina Turner-like dance moves, Potter seemed much more subdued than at last year’s North Coast Festival. I caught the beginning and end of Les Butcherettes who were one of the most intense experiences I’ve had a festival ever. Teri Gender Bender throws her raw fuck-all energy in your face and you can do nothing but stand in awe. Gabe Serbian (drums) almost didn’t make it through their last song and at the end of their set puked on stage. Rock ‘n-fucking-roll, kids. I heard and saw a good chunk of Smith Westerns and they’ve remained the same: very polished performance, slowly coming through with band chemistry and audience banter. The Kills were fierce; Allison Mosshart growled and Jamie Hince didn’t even break a sweat. I wandered over to the south end of the park where the crowd was dense. I sat for most of Two Door Cinema Club’s set and was surprised by just how big a crowd they drew and each person jumped and danced along. A Perfect Circle was one of the few bands I was really excited to see and despite their reworked cover of John Lennon’s “Imagine” (which fell flat) the rest of their set was note perfect. How you imagine a big power rock festival band to sound. At this point things took a turn for the very weird. I finally found The Naughty Librarian in one of the south baseball fields. We caught the last half or so of Skrillex who turned Perry’s tent into a dance party, Afro Jack (whose set started late) continued the party. Festivals are all about the people watching and at Perry’s I had a blast sitting and watching/observing/judging/laughing. That’s where this video happened:
We stuck around for some of Girl Talk before heading home. The weather was gorgeous, the heat wasn’t oppressive, the kids had a great time and a few made a mess of things – not a bad Day 1. Here are a couple more pictures from yesterday but the full lot will be up on the Facebook Page.
Teri Gender Bender
Jamie Hince
