Basilica Block Party Day 2

Chester Bay

Best Moment: Chester Bay kept it fun throughout, and drew a much larger crowd than Robert Francis, the next act to follow. The ska-tinged sound was perfect for the atmosphere.

Worst Moment: After a while the sound started to get tiresome and the useless saxophonist

was annoying as hell, dancing around with his eyes closed mouthing the words to every song.

Robert Francis

Best Moment: There really wasn't one, this is one of the worst sets I have ever seen. It was so bad in fact that I didn't even care when he sat down right in front of me for one of his many "guitar solos."

Worst Moment: The whole set. Every song seemed to start with some motivational words along the lines of 'I'll pick you up if you're down,' and they got worse from there. Each song seemed to drag on for ever, featuring a guitar solo and some terrible humming/moaning.

V.V. Brown

Best Moment: Songs such as "Shark in the Water" that showed off the skills of her backing band were strong. She was the perfect act for people waiting for the Avett Brothers, as she changed up the pace nicely.

Worst Moment: Songs that featured mostly pre-recorded tracks weren't as good as other songs, but everything was pretty fun.

The Avett Brothers

Best Moment: Everything was great, but songs from Emotionalism and Four Thieves gone were stronger than I and Love and You stuff. "Colorshow" was great, as was songs I haven't seen live before such as "Weight of Lies," and "Distraction #74."

Worst Moment: "Living of Love" and "Pretty Girl From Cedar Lane" dragged a little bit, but everything was really amazing.

Edit this setlist | More The Avett Brothers setlists

Basilica Block Party Day 1

Here's a quick summary of the bands that played the M&Ms stage on Friday July 9th at Basilica Block Party.

Hunter Hero

Best Moment: The second-to-last song this "Battle of the Bands winner" played skewed away from their country tinged sound and took on a more enjoyable tone.

Worst Moment: The band seemed to be trying too hard. The bassist had an American flag pinned to his bass, and the lead singer looked like he was trying to be different, with two

stripes of black paint under his eyes.

Rogue Valley

Best Moment: Although their was a non-existent crowd, Chris Koza's crew seemed to be having fun. This was especially on second song "Red River of the North," where the band led a clap along for the few dozen people that were actually paying attention to them.

Worst Moment: After a couple of songs, the set dragged, plagued with slow numbers that failed to grab people's attention.

Grace Potter and the Nocturnals

Best Moment: Grace Potter's backing band, the Nocturnals, captivated my attention for most of the set. The three men in the group all had color-coordinated suits and cool hair, and the chemistry between them was great. Grace Potter's voice was a force, and the audience quadrupled in size during her set. The drum circle was during "Medicine" was also extremely fun.

Worst Moment: Grace Potter playing a flying-V guitar as big as her was funny, but she even pulled that off.

Edit this setlist | More Grace Potter and the Nocturnals setlists

Spooooooooooooooooooooooooooon

Best Moment: I love Spoon, so I can't say anything bad about them. Their set was tight and loose at the same time. It flowed perfectly, and reverb and improv were used at the right time and in the right amounts. Britt Daniel's croon can't be matched.

Worst Moment: My one complaint would be that not enough tracks were played off of their best CD, "Kill the Moonlight."

Edit this setlist | More Spoon setlists

Rock the Garden 2010

I have so much to say about this event, too much in fact. So I will highlight the bests and worsts of each performer of this wonderful day.

Retribution Gospel Choir

Summary: Hard, boring, repetitive Rock and Roll.

Best Moments: When they walked on stage, because it meant that Rock the Garden had started. Alan Sparhawk's emotions while going through his dozens of guitar solos were also mildly entertaining.

Worst Moments: Everything else. Not a memorable sound, everything blended together and sounded the same. "Hide It Away," was a lone standout.

Ok Go

Summary: Energetic, Creative, Fun, Prince-infused Pop. A definite crowd pleaser.

Best Moments: Pretty much everything, my personal highlight of the day. Confetti was constantly shot out, and every member of the band was engaged. "This Too Shall Pass" and a version of "What To Do" played only on handbells were both amazing.

Worst Moments: The only lagging parts were the couple of slow numbers, but even those were hugely entertaining.

Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings

Summary: Practiced, synchronized, beautiful soul music.

Best Moments: A funky Woody Guthrie cover of "This Land Is Your Land," and new album track "I Learned the Hard Way." Sharon Jones was a dancing bundle of energy. Watching members of MGMT and Ok Go enjoy the set from the side of the stage, dancing and singing along.

Worst Moments: The middle of the set lagged, and the group struggled to give any sense of variety in their one and a quarter hour set.

MGMT

Summary: Sloppy Yet Fun Electro Rock, No Stage Presence

Best Moments: Oracular Spectacular Hits "Electric Feel" and "Time To Pretend," and Congratulations tracks "Brian Eno" and "Congratulations."

Worst Moments: Lesser known tracks from the new album seemed to drag on forever. A fun band to hear live, not a fun band to see live, all Andrew VanWyngarden could manage to say after every song was "Thanks So Much." Overall an extremely enjoyable experience though.

MGMT Setlist:

Pieces Of What

Flash Delirium

Destrokk

Electric Feel

The Youth

Song For Dan Tracy

Weekend Wars

I Found A Whistle

Siberian Brakes

Time To Pretend

Of Moons, Birds, & Monsters

Brian Eno

It's Working

Someone's Missing

Kids

Congratulations

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros at First Avenue - June 6, 2010

Wow. What a great night. Two of my favorite groups at the moment, Dawes and Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, were playing at First Avenue on Sunday night. One exceeded my expectations greatly, and one fell a little short, yet was still one of the more fun bands I've seen.

Dawes came on at around 8:45, and everyone was a little bit restless. Once the four men were on the stage however, everything changed. Their country-tinged sound on record wasn't evident at all Sunday night, and you could tell these guys were going somewhere. Two new songs were especially good, but the highlight by far was "When My Time Comes." Kudos to 89.3 The Current for playing this song so much, as it created a truly spectacular moment. During the last chorus, Taylor Goldsmith turned his microphone towards the crowd and 1200 people sang the chorus. I had goosebumps running up and down my arms, and you could tell the band did also. It was truthfully one of the most spectacular moments I have ever experienced at a concert.

Next, after a short wait that included a massive influx of people near the front of the floor, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros trudged on. Edward was dressed like a modern day Jesus, and often his lyrics sounded like one too. Opening with "40 Day Dream," the party was started right away, with everyone dancing and singing along.

Unfortunately, the 10-piece then rattled off three of the strongest songs from their only album, "Carries On," "Up From Below," and "Janglin." After those highlights, the middle of the show dragged on a lot, with Jade (who is clearly the star of the show) even leaving the stage for minutes at a time. Finally, things picked up again near the end with "Come In Please's" amazing guitars and every one's favorite song of 2009, "Home."

After ending with "Om Nashi Me," which built up beautifully and ended with a bang, the band walked off stage. What happened next was rare, a second magical moment. Five of the men from the band, including Alex Ebert (Edward Sharpe), came out and played the beautiful song "Brother." What made it particularly special was that Alex came into the crowd and sat down, urging all of us to sit also. He was only three feet away from me, and it was truly an amazing experience and a great way to end a fantastic night.

Set List:

40 Day Dream

Up From Below

Carries On

Janglin

Desert Song

River Of Love (Jade Solo Song)

Come In Please

Jade

Home

Black Water

Om Nashi Me

Brother

Note:

I wasn't able to take any videos for the show, but I'll post a couple that other people took.

Gayngs at First Avenue - May 14, 2010

P.O.S., or Stefon as He's Known In Gayngs

The Gayngs Stage

First Avenue was less than half full for the first of two Gayngs shows on Friday night, but that didn't stop the 23-piece band from putting on a show. This was supposedly the first and last time the whole band would be together, and they seemed to be having a lot more fun than the crowd did.

The band, almost too predictably played the whole album, "Relayted", all the way through, but constant microphone problems marred the set. The sound worked best when Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) and Ivan Howard (Rosebuds) were the main singers, because their mics seemed to be the only ones turned all the way up. Songs such as "Cry" and "The Last Prom on Earth" were extremely strong, while tracks like "Faded High" and "No Sweat" lacked their album strength.

My highlight of the night "The Last Prom on Earth," with Justin Vernon switching between rapping in auto-tune and singing in a unusual deep voice. At the end, we were all showered in confetti. Everything seemed kind of false though, with only a smattering of people looking remotely interested, one could not help but to feel sorry for the band.

Setlist:

1. The Gaudy Side of Town

2. The Walker

3. Cry

4. No Sweat

5. False Bottom

6. The Beatdown

7. Crystal Rope

8. Spanish Platinum

9. Faded High

10. Ride

11. The Last Prom On Earth

12. No One Is to Blame (Howard Jones Cover)

Yeasayer at First Avenue - April 27, 2010

Yeasayer

The Blur of Motion That Is Sleigh Bells

First Avenue was the most crowded I had ever seen on Tuesday, and the venue change 3 months ago may have lead to an overselling of tickets. Nevertheless, Yeasayer rocked First Avenue with old, beautiful harmonizing and haunting choruses, and new, rocking love-song synth pop.

Almost everyone knows, according to the "cool" music blogs, that buzzed about opening act Sleigh Bells is pretty much gonna be the most awesome shit in the world in about three months. So, as Sleigh Bells walked on stage, you could tell who would be jumping on the bandwagon. About a dozen people were singing every word, bouncing up and down, and moshing obnoxiously during the whole set. I'm sure it was great for them, but it ruined Sleigh Bells for the rest of us. Live, Sleigh Bells' sound is lacking. With only two members, a back up, pre-recorded track is needed in the background, which takes away from the overall experience.

Next up was Yeasayer. From the minute the curtain went up and the stage began flashing green, you knew Yeasayer was a totally new band. When I saw Yeasayer last June, they were still technically touring for 2o07's All Hour Cymbals. The album is way slower paced than the knew one, and personally the show left my unsatisfied. With the new material from Odd Blood, Yeasayer's concerts have been turned into one big middle-eastern tinged party.

The middle of the main set was the concert's strongest point, with highlights such as "Wait for the Summer", "I Remember", "2080", "Tightrope", and "O.N.E" all packed into a space of six songs. The crowd, aside from being giant, was also crazy. Response to Yeasayer was amazing, and even the band themselves seemed bewildered at the response as people found a way to bounce up and down even on slower cuts.

A few of the weaker tracks from Odd Blood, such as "Strange Reunions," and "Love Me Girl" lagged, but overall the set was a huge success. The encore of Grizelda and Sunrise was perfectly blended, but Yeasayer decided to stay on and play one more song. It was easy to tell that this was a spur of the moment decision as "Red Cave" was sloppy and points.

Overall, Yeasayer pulled out the strongest tracks from both of their albums on Tuesday night and pleased a crowd that was ready to dance.

Setlist:

The Children

Strange Reunions

Rome

Wait for the Summer

I Remember

2080

Love Me Girl

Tightrope

O.N.E.

Mondegreen

Madder Red

Ambling Alp

Grizelda

Sunrise

Red Cave

Summer Festival Season

Summer is coming, and that means festivals. With Coachella happening last weekend festival season has officially started. This year I will be going to three festivals, two small and one large. In Minneapolis I will attend The Current's Rock the Garden, which features MGMT, Sharon Jones, Ok Go, and Retribution Gospel Choir. I will also be going to Basilica Block Party, featuring Spoon, The Avett Brothers, Weezer, and a few un-announced acts. I'm crossing my fingers for Broken Bells. Finally, in August I will be going to Lollapalooza in Chicago. Lollapalooza has an amazing lineup, click on the link to see my custom lineup. Stay tuned and turn to this blog for all the reports of festivals around the mid-west this summer. Thanks!