The Live Music Thread

[acidbasement]

The Paganfest America tour has just been announced with dates, for anyone whose metal tastes run in the Northern European folk direction, and holy shit, they're coming to Winnipeg.

 

The lineup, in reverse chronological order:  Ensiferum, Tyr, Heidevolk, Trollfest, Hellsott.

 

I've seen Ensiferum thrice before, and they are very good live.  Tyr were okay when I saw them in 2008.  I'm super excited to see Heidevolk.

 

The dates:

 

3/30 - Denver, CO @ Summit Music Hall
4/01 - Tempe, AZ @ 910 Live
4/03 - San Francisco, CA @ DNA Lounge
4/04 - Reno, NV @ The Alley
4/05 - Portland, OR @ Hawthorne Theatre
4/06 - Seattle, WA @ Studio Seven
4/07 - Vancouver, BC @ Rickshaw Theatre
4/09 - Edmonton, AB @ Starlite Room
4/10 - Regina, SK @ The Exchange
4/11 - Winnipeg, MB @ Zoo Cabaret
4/12 - Saint Paul, MN @ Station 4
4/13 - Chicago, IL @ Reggie's
4/14 - Columbus, OH @ Al Rosa Villa
4/15 - Baltimore, MD @ Soundstage
4/16 - Philadelphia, PA @ The Note
4/17 - Toronto, ON @ Opera House
4/18 - Montreal, QC @ Metropolis
4/19 - Poughkeepsie, NY @ The Chance Theater
4/20 - Worcester, MA @ The Palladium (NE Metalfest)
4/21 - New York, NY @ Gramercy Theatre

[Dusty Chalk]

Damn, I might have to go to the Baltimore date Just got out of Hilary Hahn She was superb, as always Sent frum mah phone-blet using Tapatalk.

[tyrion]

Saw Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. If you haven't seen them yet, go. She rocked the f'ing place last night.

[jp11801]

My invite must have gotten lost in the mail, damn the USPS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Tortuga Music Fest coming up in April, right on the beach 5 miles from my condo! 

 

PS Glad you enjoyed the show 

Edited February 17, 2013 by jp11801

[tyrion]

It didn't get lost.

Tickets on sale yet?

[jp11801]

yes! they are on sale and Franti is playing along with Ben Harper $149 

[tyrion]

Don't forget the Avett Brothers and G. Love. Too bad no 1 day passes. I'm pretty sure Gail will go at least one of the two days. It is a great location for a festival. I saw O.A.R. There and it was a great time.

[CarlSeibert]

Saw the Fred Hersch Trio tonight in the concert hall at Nova. Absolutely silent in the hall. Nobody breathed let alone coughed. The show was spellbinding. If you get a chance - see these guys.

[acidbasement]

Saw Raffi last night with my wife and kids. A good time was had by all. "Singable Songs for the Very Young" has gotten more spins on my turntble than any other record, by far. Possibly more than all the rest of my collection put together.

[jvlgato]

Going to the Chicago Symphony tonight to hear the Bach Mass in B minor.

[skullguise]

Had a nice full weekend of music:

 

- Friday night, at my Temple, they had a service for Yom Hashoah (remembering the Holocaust),  We have two cantors who both are very wonderful and emotive singers, and they were accompanied by guitar and violin (including a beuatiful piece from Schindler's List)

 

- Saturday night, my wife and I saw Antje Duvekot, and modern folk singer with a wonderful passion and personality that came out in her songs.

 

- And this afternoon, we saw Hiromi and the Trio Project.  While I have picked up her CD's on recommendations here and like them a lot, seeing her and the trio live was simply stunning!

 

I think the nicest part of this all was that my wife really liked Hiromi; normally she doesn't get so excited about most music.  It was very nice to share this, and I'm glad she enjoyed it.

[Dusty Chalk]

You Won't -- pleasantly entertaining.  Example of some of the between song banter:  "So we're touring with Blood Red Shoes and Joy Formidable, both from the UK, and we're from MasNoNoNoNoNoNosetts, the birthplace of liberty...and we had some difficulty with the UK before, I don't know if you remember, so you're probably wondering, 'why are you touring with them'...well, we've worked out our differences.  We've found a middle ground that we can all be happy with..."  The music was highly entertaining, too -- I would say the 'drummer', but he played so many other instruments I'm hesitant to understate just how much of a multi-instrumentalist he is.  Album is worth hearing, but really does not capture how entertaining they were live.  See 'em if you get a chance.  A note to the ladies (and...uh...others) -- they're both extremely handsome.  I was the only male asking for an autograph at the merch stand.

 

Blood Red Shoes -- Visually it's like one of the Bangles is playing with Seth Green, but couldn't be further off -- I hope they maintain this dichotomy between presentation and music, because I found disturbingly enjoyable.  The music is more like White Stripes meets Black Mountain meets the Kills, with that Sabbath-y guitar, with some definite punk leanings.  I particularly liked "Black Distractions" which is currently a free download.  They didn't have vinyl on sale at the show, but I'll be ordering what I can (not sure what that consists of besides The Water EP).

 

Joy Formidable -- totally love these guys, they make a nice huge sound for just three people, but I actually kind of liked the opening acts more.  Not sure they did anything wrong, I may just not have been in the mood for their brand of upbeat power-rock.

 

EDIT:  Lollers @ auto-edit of MasNoNoNoNoNoNosetts.

[Dusty Chalk]

So my sister just saw The Bad Plus...twice.  (Yoshi's)  She texts me, "You must must must check out the band The Bad Plus.  Genre defining jazz."

 

So, don't know if it's sold out, but they got one more show tomor...er...later today (5/2) at Yoshi's...go see if it's not sold out.  Also a couple more California dates.

[Voltron]

I've seen them a couple of times and they are great live.  Tonight, I'm going to see Robyn Hitchcock's 60th birthday show with Colin Meloy and Peter Buck and other special guests.

[Voltron]

I'm not sure how many people around here know or love Robyn Hitchcock but I am certain that it should be more than it is.  Claire and I have been fans for 30 years, and had a great time at the 60th birthday party, Viva Hitchcock, organized by Colin Meloy (Decemberists).  Many great musicians paid tribute and all performed Hitchcock songs in a wide variety of iterations from solo to combo to barbershop quintet to rock band to mass vocals.  Here is a quick rundown of the evening, for those who give a damn:

 

Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket) was the fawning yet funny MC for the show, and in fact performed one of Robyn's songs while accompanying himself on the accordian

 

 

The first group, however, was led by Andy Cabic of Vetiver (second from the right below).  He did a couple of nice renditions along with Peter Buck on guitar, Sean Nelson (Harvey Danger) and the "house band" bass player and drummer whom I do not know.

 

 

Next was a combo of Sean Nelson and his wife on the Kurtzweil.  He seems to know every single Robyn Hitchcock song, and he appeared way too much in too many of the groups.  Oh well.  Then came Rhett Miller (Old 97s, etc.), and he was the only singer of the night who needed a music stand to sing his couple of songs.  He wasn't bad and told a couple of good stories, such as going to see Robyn in concert in the 80s and then coincidentally seeing Robyn walking onto his hotel balcony in his underwear.  He also claims that he had to pawn his Rickenbacker guitar many years ago and later learned that Peter Buck bought it two days after he pawned it.  Here is Rhett with the ubiquitous Sean Nelson:

 

 

Next up was Young Fresh Fellows with Scott McCaughey, and although they are neither young nor fresh they played the hell out of a couple of great Robyn tunes, including a favorite of ours called Ted, Woody, and Junior

 

 

Charles Nelson Reilly is apparently the guitarist in YFF

 

 

We then moved on to Eric D. Johnson (Fruit Bats) and some of the regulars

 

 

Amanda Palmer was next up and finally Robyn himself joined in to duet with her.  She was great and is seriously infatuated with Robyn.

 

 

 

She also introduced the Robyn HitchcockBlockers, an impromptu barbershop quintet who sang Uncorrected Personality Traits from the balcony while Robyn looked on from the box to the right

 

 

 

Colin Meloy did a solo rendition of a Robyn Hitchcock song in his distinctive vocal styling to the point that it sounded like a Decemberists song.  Peter Buck and some others joined in as well

 

 

 

Robyn came out again and chatted and played and then linked up with Buck, McCaughey, Bill Reiflin and the ever present Sean Nelson to form the Venus 4 1/2, as he called it (Venus 3).

 

 

 

 

 

The last bit was an all hands finish first doing an a capella rendition of Furry Green Atom Bowl and then a super (which I recorded and will post on YouTube) and then a super group song to finish with Peter Buck and Colin Meloy (not pictured) playing drums side by side. 

 

 

Much fun was had by all and I wish I had a real camera to take some better shots.

Edited May 3, 2013 by Voltron

[skullguise]

Al, that's just incredible!  Chalk full of awesomeness!

 

I got into Robyn Hitchcock because he sounded like a reborn Syd Barrett on Balloon Man; have always enjoyed, though never really got deep into his catalog.

 

But that night just looks like a great celebration of a great creative talent, by a bunch of others with great talent!

[Voltron]

It was a lot of fun, Todd, even though he let others play his most fun and quirky tunes. If you want to check out some great albums, here are a few suggestions:

 

Classics:

• I Often Dream of Trains, 1984
• Fegmania!, 1985 (with the Egyptians)
• Element of Light, 1986 (with the Egyptians)
• Globe of Frogs, 1988 (with the Egyptians)
• Queen Elvis, 1989 (with the Egyptians)

More recently:

• Goodnight Oslo, 2009 (with the Venus 3)
• Propellor Time, 2010 (with the Venus 3)

Right now, I am listening to his new record, and it's good too:

• Love from London, 2013

 

[Absorbine_Sr]

Debbie and I are off to see Patti Smith and her band at the Vic Theater in Chicago. I saw her probably 10 years ago and it was a great show. I'm expecting nothing less tonight.

[Voltron]

Claire and I saw her a couple years ago and she was great.  Have fun!

[jp11801]

Ana Popovic live I'm seeing it with Carl and Bonnie. Great Stuff

[Voltron]

Have fun JP, Carl and Seed Lady!

[postjack]

Repost of my impressions of Hangout Festival 2013 in Gulf Shores, AL. Great weekend of music on the beach.

 

Thursday Pre-Party Impressions

 

Traffic / Parking / Arriving At Festival

 

I drove from Mobile, took the "back way" because I'm an OG. Traffic in Foley was standard beach traffic. Pulled right up to the T with just a small amount of traffic, around 2:15pm. They have the roads into the neighborhoods one wayed now, it was a smart move. Found street parking pretty darn close to the Hangout with no problem.

 

No line to get into the gate. Moderate bag search. I was asked to open my glasses case, but she didn't say anything about my e-cig or the various tins of snus I had. At this point the crowds at the festival were super small. During Future Rock I wandered around, filled up my Camelbak, got my bearings. Couldn't get on the beach yet, but as far as the street side goes I didn't notice any large changes. 

 

Wick-It The Instigator

 

Started at Reptar, but wasn't really feeling it. I think I could dig them, but wasn't familiar, and felt like something more high energy, so I went over to the Boom Boom Room. Glad I did, this was a great time. I'd describe it as hip-hop / dubstep / mashup. Wick-It just looks like a big ole southern white boy, like a dude you drank beer with at a lot party sitting on the back of his truck. He definitely had the crowd going, lots of crowd pleasing rap numbers, and cool mashups I can't really remember right now. I know he did a long string of 90s rock stuff, rage/nirvana etc, van halen Jump was in there somewhere, all I do is win, clique (kanye west), really all over the place. His transitions were more of the fade out fade in variety. At one point during a song he pulled out a guitar and played a pretty decent solo, it was fun. He also had a turntable he did actual scratching on.

 

After he stopped the music he thanked everyone, told us to take care of each other this weekend, and had us all hold up the peace symbol, and on the count of three we all said "peace". right when we said peace he started playing the ignition remix and walked off the stage. it was pretty gangsta, definitely put a smile on my face.

 

St. Paul and the Broken Bones

 

Neo soul act out of B'ham. I swear the lead singer looks like Drew Carey but sounds like Otis Redding, it is nuts. I really enjoyed both of their short sets, they played some old soul stuff and some of their own stuff. Talented players, could probably use a little more time to polish up their sound, but they were still pretty damn tight. Will definitely continue to follow their career, check them out if you dig old soul.

 

Quixotic

 

A drummer, a guy on a violin and a laptop, and half naked women dancing and contorting themselves all over the stage. It was strange but pretty cool. Middle eastern electronic vibe.

 

Conspirator

 

awwwwwwww daaaaamn! Conspirator was awesome. A little noisy and chaotic, but these guys are a live band that gives the feel of seeing a good DJ better than any other jamtronica band I've seen, if that makes any sense (and that's a compliment, their sound although live was very tight and controlled, if a little busy, without deviating too deeply into cheesy techno/rock territory). Brownie seemed really stoked and happy the whole set. I don't know enough of Conspirator's stuff to comment on specific songs, but I know they had a piece of "another brick in the wall" somewhere in there. I've never been a big Bisco fan but I will definitely catch Conspirator again (Bonnaroo). 

 

The Mad Wikkid

 

DJ. Played a lot of Brassft Punk, some other stuff. I'm guessing he is a NOLA guy. I honestly was just chilling on the benches during this set, wasn't paying too close attention. Small crowd.

 

Lotus

 

What I always forget before I see Lotus is how boring their music is. I know, I know, people like them, and I believe they are good at what they do, but what they do is play really low key jamtronica that doesn't really go anywhere. The crowd was eating it up, but the only thing I was eating up was my SPICY PIE OOOOOOHHHHHH!!! Early in this set the cops busted some guy, I didn't see what for, but two cops were standing there talking to him, he wasn't restrained or anything, when he suddenly decided to make a run for it. Unfortunately he ran directly into the arms of another cop not seven feet from where his great escape began, and said cop took his ass down, and other cops joined him. In my unprofessional opinion in was a clean take down, the kid was struggling and the cops handled it well. But it was still a huge bummer, I don't know what the kid did but I'm guessing it was just corn related. So take note, if it hasn't been said enough in this thread, cops in Gulf Shores don't play. Be smart.

 

After that I left Lotus and went to Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, but I didn't pay attention, I just sat down and watched videos of my dogs on my phone. Cute dogs!

 

Quickie Mart

 

DJ. I'd say it was trap. Not annoying though, kind of fun actually, very bass focused instead of lazer sound focused. Crowd was loving it. He said he was bringing a special guest out, it turned out to be a female vocalist, apparently they have a group together called Bang You're Dead. The vocalist said she had a song for all the drinkers in the house, anybody got a drink in their hand? and everyone was like "wooooooo". So I was quite mystified when the song was called "Wasted" and was about being too wasted to achieve anything in life, like "all the missed opportunities because you're too wasted..." and "how can you be a good father if you're always wasted..." Not exactly the kind of party anthem that her introduction made it out to be. Hell I haven't drank in eight years and it still depressed the hell out of me. She wasn't exactly nailing the vocals either. The crowd was confused.

 

Railroad Earth

 

My first time seeing them, in fact I only started listening to them based on longinus's recommendation in this thread. Really great set, well played, and I even recognized a few songs, not by title but by ear. Well played jamband newgrass, will definitely catch these guys again.

 

Umphrey's McGee

 

The #1 reason I was here, it all built up to this. Over the past few years Umphrey's has become my #2 favorite band to see live, and in my opinion they are the most talented touring rock band that I've heard. Here is the setlist via The Bort:

 

bridgeles, slacker > 3x > kitchen, day nurse, the floor$, come as your kids& (11:00)

 

 

Stasis in obnoxious pants

$ w improv, quacking slayed domes

& crowd loving it. Quack off haters

 

If this was 2 sets they would have to call in the national guard

 

Set was AWESOME. Crazy high energy rock and dance party. Bridgeless opener clocked in at 17 minutes, if I timed it right, as usual UM made it clear this was serious business right from the start. Slacker was great, Triple Wide arose seemlessly, and sounded very different from other versions I've heard. The crowd was completely at UM's mercy when In The Kitchen started. Day Nurse grooved things down for a bit, and then The Floor was huge, lots of cool unique improv in this one. Come As Your Kids (with you spin me right round at the end, not sure if they always throw in a verse from this) was fun, but I was secretly hoping for a Forty Six & Two to close it out. 

 

What a set! I saw UM for three nights over New Years, and it was amazing, but I love that even in just one festival set they can make me feel like I caught a whole show. Very glad I made this show, will be acquiring the tape and listening to it many times.

 

Exiting the festival was easy, as usual very little traffic coming home. Got a vanilla shake from sonic (half off after 8PM).

 

I need to shower. Stoked for tomorrow, but I wouldn't be surprised if nothing this weekend tops that UM set.

 

-------

 

Friday Impressions

 

Traffic was a little thicker than yesterday, but again no big deal. Paid to park today because I didn't want to be late for The Breeders. Very little line to get in, although my bag search was extremely thorough today.

 

Logistically, I noticed they have laid out wider passageways entering the beach, and have put grass down in these areas. A smart move, as before it was just stairs, and these always created bottlenecks. I have to hand to to Hangout, every year they review what they could do better and continue to slowly improve.

 

The Breeders

 

I admit beyond Cannonball I know nothing of this band. Apparently on this tour they are playing The Last Splash in its entirety, and man that must be a great record, because I really enjoyed this set. I can't vouch for how well it was played, due to my lack of familiarity with the music, but I definitely liked what I heard. Some light banter between the songs kept things upbeat. A great way to start the day! I'll definitely be listening to more Breeders stuff, and would definitely catch them again if I have the chance.

 

Toots and the Maytals

 

What can I say, its reggae on the beach, it was awesome. I got a perfect position directly behind the soundboard. This was the Chevy stage, a stage I have ranted about at length primarily due to the sound not being loud enough, but of course it sounded great where I was. The soundboard also is further back this year, and visually is much wider open, providing better sightlines to the stage for those standing behind it. It was a well played set, and the crowd was going nuts for Toots, they loved it. I don't know enough about Toots to comment on song selection, but he did do a cover of John Denver's "Country Roads" swapping Virginia for Jamaica, it worked surprisingly well.

 

Jim James

 

I love MMJ, and Jim James is one of my favorite vocalists. I also enjoy listening to the new album at home, its good, 3/5 stars for me, but not great. James did what he has been doing this whole solo tour, and played the solo record in its entirety. While I enjoyed some of the jams in the songs, most of this set was a snoozefest. Its always exciting to see James, and hearing his angelic voice is always awesome, but the material is slow and a little weird, and I found myself wishing I had chosen Afrojack instead. After the album he played one more track I didn't recognize, could have been MMJ, more likely something from MOF or another side project. 

 

So if you are planning on skipping something else you wanted to see at Bonnaroo in favor of Jim James, keep in mind you are going to get the new record, and a few other tunes. If you are not OK with a slower, more chill show then you are used to seeing with MMJ, then I suggest you attend another set, and get your Jim James party down fix at the superjam.

 

Grizzly Bear / Ryan Bingham / The Weeks

 

Wandered around and caught a bit of each act. Nothing turned me on.

 

Passion Pit

 

My second time catching them this year, previously saw them for the first time at Buku. Again they delivered. Fantastic high energy set, well played, lots of fun. I was on the rail in front of the left speaker, sounded amazing and had plenty of room to dance. I'll continue to catch Passion Pit again and again so long as they keep playing at this level of awesomeness.

 

And that was pretty much my day. I caught a little bit of Anders, but I was so incredibly exhausted I called it a day. Can't remember the last time I was so tired at a festival. Hangout just wears me out, must be all the sand walking. So in the end not the greatest festival day ever, but it was worth it for The Breeders and Passion Pit primarily.

 

Going to NOLA tomorrow, y'all have fun. Ready for a long and awesome day on Sunday!

 

------

 

 

Sunday Impressions

 

Got there real early today, 11ish. Really awesome walking into the festival when there is almost no one there. In general it took the crowds longer to fill in today, a lot of folks were probably sleeping in after a long weekend. Generally speaking the crowds seemed thinner overall on Sunday than Friday (and generally thinner all weekend compared to the previous two years), but there were still plenty of fans in attendance. Less people meant it was much easier for me to get around, get to restrooms, etc.

 

Zion I

 

First act of the day, and the only act playing during this timeslot. I knew nothing of them going in, but there was nothing else going on, so what the hell right? Boom Boom Tent was about a quarter full maybe, enough people to call it a crowd. Turns out Zion I is a hip-hop duo, conscious rap would be the term I believe. Pleased to say they put on a fantastic set. The DJ did a bit of his own thing at the start, then the MC came out, and he was very talented. The mix was perfect, beats and vocals were both easy to make out. The crowd, though small, was enthusiastic. The DJ also had an MPC (I think that is the right term, whatever araabmuzik uses) and did some live beats as well, it was a cool. A very good set, I'll be checking out some more Zion I.

 

The Revivalists

 

A recent discovery for me, I saw them at Voodoo this past year and thought they were pretty good, then started listening to their studio stuff, which is good, then saw them open Gentilly at Jazzfest this year, and they were amazing. They are a NOLA rock/jammish kind of band. Super high energy live show, every member plays like they are a headlining act, they all seem very happy to be doing what they do. The lead singer has this Iggy Pop carved from a piece of wire look, but less punky and bloody and more beer drinking hippie kind of thing. It was a good set, really looking forward to catching their Cafe Where set at Roo. Hope some inforoo'ers check them out as well!

 

Baauer

 

Oh man this was bad. I watched Baauer's set streaming from Coachella and it looked pretty fun to me, but this set, at least the first half that I caught, was awful. It was like one big drop, just the worst kind of "dubstep". The mix was horrible, a complete 180 from the good mix I heard from Zion I just an hour before on the same stage. Loud, abrasive, waaaay too much top end/brightness, not nearly enough bass impact. Sounded like the speaker system in a car where all the speakers are blown out. Nothing is worse in an EDM show than when you can't even feel the bass. I need a clean mix if I'm going to get down. So we left and walked down the beach for...

 

GROUPLOVE

 

Pleasantly surprised by this set. The girl singer it turns out is cute as all get out, and I had a great time just watching her. I'd heard their single and don't care for it, but the rest of their stuff was cool. I'll have to listen to their studio stuff.

 

Galactic

 

Awwwwwww yeeeaaahh! Galactic is always talented but can be hit or miss for me, but today I was really digging it. Corey Glover was outstanding, great song selection, fantastic playing. In fact one of the best times I can remember having at a Galactic set. The time just flew by, I could have listened to them play for another hour easy. I think them being on a beach stage this year helped the vibe tremendously. We were right behind the soundboard, and the sound was perfect, sightlines were perfect, and we had plenty of room to dance. Love this band.

 

Porter Robinson

 

Again in the boom boom tent, and while the mix wasn't nearly as bad as it was for Baaeur, it was still really loud and I could have used more low end. Not that I'm complaining about the volume, once I put in my etymotics they lowered the volume and cut off just enough of the top in to let the bass and SPL come through. I'd much rather it be too loud than too quiet, because too loud can be fixed with earplugs. Porter put on a decent set, definitely not as good as Buku 2012. I could use more minimal electro and less ZOMG LASERS PEW PEW IN YOUR FACE electro. Had me thinking I might actually catch Pretty Lights instead of Porter at Roo, but we'll see how I feel when that LN rolls around. Plenty of people in the tent, but not so packed that it wasn't easy to get a nice spot to the right of the soundboard. I danced and had fun, so it was all good.

 

moe.

 

I haven't seen moe. in probably 10 years. Song selection was good, playing was good, but on the whole I wasn't inspired. Probably just because I'm not as into them as I used to be. The set started at 4:15pm, which means festival social hour had begun, so there was a lot of people chatting, which was also distracting. Huge crowd for the Letting Go stage, so I couldn't get to a spot where the sound was loud enough to drown out the chatters, so that was distracting as well. I wandered over to Space Capone for the last 15 minutes of their set, and wish I would've caught it all, because they were bringing that hard funk, very cool stuff.

 

Steve Aoki

 

Oh man this was pretty bad too. Mix was better than Baauer but worse than Porter, and by far the loudest of the three. Aoki doesn't even pretend to be doing anything up there, he hits play then just stands on his rig and flails his arms around. He threw his customary cake into the crowd. I could have dealt with the sound and him not doing anything issues, but the music just wasn't moving me. Again just very in your face non-stop peaks, just peak peak peak peak peak peak, no cool midbass beats or anything. I like to feel that bass in my chest getting my blood pumping, not a wash of bright treble coming over me. I did not stay long at all, maybe half hour tops. I went and posted up at the Chevy stage behind the soundboard for...

 

Trey Anastasio

 

I'm a Phish guy, and am always happy to see Trey live, but putting on my critical phan hat this was a subpar set. Again, its still Trey, and I love him, but the set was flub heavy on Trey's part and the song selection was low energy for the most part. Highlights include Money Love & Change and Simple Twist Up Dave and the customary rocking Push On. First Tube could have been awesome but Trey completely blew it, worst First Tube I've ever heard. He missed all the good parts, it was bad. Still the two hours flew by pretty quick, I danced and made the best of the set. Even though it was mediocre I am glad to again have had the experience of seeing Trey on the beach.

 

Stevie Wonder

 

First half of the set was my favorite music of the weekend. We Be Jammin, Higher Ground, I Wish, a handful of awesome covers. Stevie's band is razor sharp, and his vocals were awesome. Stevie told a genuinely touching story about his mom being born in Alabama, and how back then society told her she would never amount to anything, but then she had him, and he was so grateful to everyone for giving him the opportunity to give his mother some comfort before she died. Stevie actually cried on stage telling this story, it was really uplifting. After this though his mind sort of seemed to wander, seems like he went off the setlist, started doing a lot of random acapella stuff, ordering his band to play certain things and whatnot, and became kind of obsessed with getting the crowd to sing certain parts. This is fine and everything, but when an artist I paid money to see gets to obsessed with getting the crowd to sing all kinds of stuff (See Dave Gahan) in literally every single song it starts to piss me off. I paid money to hear YOU sing the chorus famous rock star, not you spend ten minutes getting the "ladies to sing la di da da da" and the "men now you sing do do dee do da", like training us before you even start the song. We made it till about 10:30pm and bailed, my buddy had to work the next day. Heard Signed Sealed Delivered when we were walking out, don't know what we missed after that.

 

Kind of weird to see a set go from such a spiritual high to such boring lows. Curious what other attendees thought of the set.

 

In conclusion, Hangout 2013 was a success for me. I enjoyed it more than 2012. Definitely smaller crowds this year. Sound on all the stages was generally good, except for the Letting Go stage not being loud enough sometimes and the mix being awful in the boom boom tent sometimes. The sound on both beach stages was thankfully great this year, in previous years the volume has sometimes been too low. I totally would have bought one of those 2014 tickets had I known where to go to get one. Guess I'll buy them in the November/December presale like every year.

 

Thanks for another great year Hangout. Now the Bonnaroo focus begins!

 

 

[Absorbine_Sr]

Preservation Hall Jazz Band. And the bartender could not make a Sazerac. Music is making up for it though.

[Aura]

At the Aragon right now waiting for She & Him to get on stage. Camera Obscura opened.

[Voltron]

At the Aragon right now waiting for She & Him to get on stage. Camera Obscura opened.

Have fun. I'd like to see both she and him and camera obscura