« Denver/Boulder: Shows this week | 6.23 - 6.29 | Main | My Morning Jacket, Live @ Radio City Music Hall 06.20.08 »
June 24, 2008
Postcards from the Festival
Mollie from Ponytail looks unsure of that guy's "pants"...
Day photos by Devon Banks
If you're still tired from a concert that happened four days ago, is that a testament to the quality of the day or to the deterioration of your body in general? I'm inclined to say both. But my creeping decrepitude aside, 36 bands in 14 hours would take a toll on anyone. OK, so that's how many bands played the 2nd annual After the Jump Fest, but we've got to dial that down a bit. With periodic bouts of frantic troubleshooting and general laws of physics, I probably personally witnessed 20 (in full, or more likely in part) at most. But the beauty of teaming together with 19 other documenting web sites is that the Rashomon effect of numerous overlapping accounts provide the definitive composite that one fragile recollection could not. You can ask Spin Magazine even.
Here's how I remember it, anyway...
Bell
Olga and her boys kicked off the fest in the dark and cozy confines of Galapagos' main stage. The band's live show has evolved beautifully from the first time I saw them play, on the inaugural Neon Lights bill. She began seated on the floor with laptop, as drummer Jason Nazary coaxed some engaging clicks from his digital set up. Two intimidating long haired giants snuck in behind her to add some heft and crunch eventually, but as the band name suggests, it's Olga's show. She's compared to Bjork more often than anyone else, which is understandable. That allusion has more to do with "bigness" of voice than strangeness, though. For a small girl, she can certainly fill a room.
Hiding From the Sun in Galapagos
Lissy Trullie & the Fibs
I think the entirety of Lissy Trullie's rooting section was girls over 6 feet and under 115 pounds (and if that's not an endorsement for attending the next Fibs gig...). But that signifies nothing but the fact that fashion stylist/burgeoning rock star Lissy Trullie is well-known in New York style circles and a bit of a mystery still to the indie rock unwashed. The sharp pop songs that accompany her intriguing tomboy style should easily correct the disparity. Probably my outdoor stage highlight for the day, though truthfully I mainly kept to the dark.
Dinowalrus
OK, so I missed the majority of the drone Valhalla conjured by Dinowalrus, but my girlfriend/photographer classified it as "bitchin' " and I've no grounds to contradict...
Snake & Jet's Amazing Bullit Band
The polite and cheerful Danes whose gear I helped unload early in the day bore little resemblance to the two man dance party that later took the Music Hall stage. The drummer's six-paneled digi pad was surprisingly heavy, and the singer (Snake? Jet? I should have researched...) had dozens of impressive rock star maneuvers somehow hidden in the back pocket of some dangerously tight pants. On a scale of one to delightful, they were wildly amusing.
Monotract
A sleeper pick for the most underappreciated band of the day had to be Brooklyn's Monotract. Nancy Garcia and Roger Rimada made a glorious racket in the cave-like confines of Galapagos, while most of the boots on the ground had migrated to catch Bryan Scary or Chairlift. Fine choices, both, but I wasn't moving--spellbound by frontwoman Garcia's PJ Harvey-esque intensity. It was occasionally obtuse, I'll admit, but with enough songcraft and stage presence to remain continually compelling.
Power Douglas
I couldn't make it over to the Music Hall in time for Power Douglas, but there's at least one cameraman in the world who will never forget it.
Fiasco
Fiasco's main selling point is teenage abandon, and there were no disappointed customers during Saturday's set. I like the above picture especially, as it seems Lucien Buscemi is receiving psychic guidance from the Norse God of rocking out. The Sky Father has counseled his charges well, as sacred head banging abounded.
Ponytail
Ponytail's feel good set of the festival also drew the biggest crowd of the free day fest (with Pela's N. 6th Street performance coming close). There had been an ever shifting mass of people cruising in and out of the venues at a whim all day long (just as we'd envisioned), but once the magnetic Maryland band started screeching like they meant it/they were on fire, the Music Hall filled and stayed filled.
As tight as the band was, as fierce the guitar shifts, as thudding the beats, it was impossible to watch them without giving the majority of your focus to possessed pixie Mollie Siegel. She was dressed like she just came from 5th period gym class, and spent the entire set hopping around the stage with body language that translated roughly to "I am a gorilla, and I will grab your balls." Her insane yelping vocals were animalistic as well. The pithy quip around my immediate circle of smarties was "Liars meet the Lion King." Which is not to say that everyone didn't have a great time, just that we like pithy quips. Just a pleasure of a set, really.
Night photos lovingly Flickr napped from Bryan Bruchman. You Tubes from here.
Hoo boy, by the time the night show rolled around, I was fairly possessed by the Christmas cheer, and thus unlikely to do much but unspecifically gush and hurt my head trying to remember what was actually happening...
Pattern is Movement
Pattern is Movement look like a pair of beet farmers, yet rock out convincingly and sing like choir girls. It was a pretty confusing ear to eye conversation. But they were quite impressive. I mean, you can't pull of something like the pitch-perfect cover of Kid A's "Everything in its Right Place" below without some serious technical chops. The originals were pretty stellar as well. A band to investigate...
Pattern is Movement - "Everything in its Right Place
Titus Andronicus
If you're planning on seeing Titus Andronicus on their impending cross-country tour, I'm gonna go ahead and advise that you just get piss drunk ahead of time. I'm in no way suggesting that alcohol is a precondition for enjoying the band's music. Really, I feel like it would be tough not to, with as much energy as these guys bleed out. But there's something in their reckless abandon on stage and the ready-made scream alongs of their lyrics that just seems weirdly perfect if you're a bit unhinged yourself. Also you can pogo without feeling totally embarrassed about it (whether you should feel embarrassed or not).
HEALTH
On record, I have a bit of trouble fully committing to the aural assault of L.A.'s HEALTH, but man, that was quite a show they put on. Bodies flailing, guitar strings abused, beats completely relentless--THIS is how you put on an avant-garde rock show without demanding your audience just nod politely and acknowledge your genius. This show was all about moving your body. It was viral, and aimed right at the gut. The clip below will probably be better illumination than I can muster...
HEALTH - *Man, I Don't Even Know*
At this point, it was for everyone's safety that I usher my self home, I hear Project Jenny, Project Jan were some tasty frosting on an all-day cake, but there are other sources to fill you in on that front, I'm sure.
Sincerely though, thanks to every band who played, every sponsor who contributed, and every person who showed. It was a quantum leap from last years' show, and it'll only get better from here. Exciting times, friends...
Posted by Jeff Klingman at June 24, 2008 02:00 PM
Trackback Pings
TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.merryswankster.com/movabletype/mt-tb.cgi/1651
Comments
What? duh? how about none of the above... just say it with me: Crappy baltimore knock-off of the modern successful version of DEERHOOF. again, pithy quip not needed.
Posted by: Liars vs Lion King??? at June 25, 2008 05:27 PM
I disagree with you man, I've seen both live, and it's a different energy. Two small girls fronting complicated guitar bands, yeah, but it's a different energy.
Posted by: Jeff K at June 25, 2008 06:40 PM
