Download Festival 08

[DonGately]

Spent the day at Download Festival 08 yesterday -- 28 bands for $20. Largely Next Wave type stuff, so I'll post my thoughts here:

Opening set was by The Airborne Toxic Event. These guys were great. Their first album comes out in about 3 weeks. They come out of Silverlake, in Los Angeles. Really tight band and very talented musicians. Almost all were multi-instrumentalists. 3 Guitars, Keyboards, Violin, Drumes. The keyboardist/violin player dressed like she had a bit role in "Xanadu". There's an Arcade Fire influence in the sound. If there album is anything like their set, these guys are ones to watch out for.

Next set was by The Duke Spirit. I have their album and wasn't overwhelemed by it. But their live set was fantastic. And the lead singer is hot. She owned the stage. She's hot like Debbie Harry was hot in the late 70s. We met them at an autograph session later in the day and she's still hot close up. Sound wise, they've got a heavier sound with vocals up in the Hope Sandavol range. Definitely worth seeing live. I have to go back to the album now and see if I feel differently about it.

Next up was Tapes 'n Tapes. I've heard about these guys but never had never actually heard their music. These guys weren't for me. I don't know if the mix was screwed up or if they intentionally keep the vocals low, but I didn't dig them at all. However, I was in the minority. At the point in the day, the crowd was mostly under 20 years old and they dug these guys.

Next was a Dj set from Flostradomus. These guys were terrible. Really arrogant, cranking out mainly early and mid 90s based mixes and were offended when the crowd didn't get into it. They were really smug and threw a number of comments out to the crowd that basically insinuated that it was the 2:30pm crowd's fault that their music selection sucked. One of the DJs actually checked his watch during the set to see how much longer he had to be on there.

Next up was Datarock. These guys absolutely ROCKED!. They totally ownded the stage and their live show was fantastic. Heavy emphasis on rhythm & percussion, a bit of a Beastie Boys influence. These guys were really great. I picked up their CD immediately after the set but haven't listed to it yet. Later in the day, they did an impromptu, very punky 2-song set near the autograph tent for about 30 people. These guys were great. Really worth checking out.

Next up was M83. I was so unimpressed I have nothing to say about them. We didn't stay for the set.

At this point we were walking around the festival, so we came back for the last few songs in a set by The Whigs. These guys had cool concert T-Shirts, but were not my thing. Too much of a lingering grunge influence, but their last tune, with a nice keyboard melody was ok.

Then came Mates of State - Very Indie Pop. Main group is a man on drums and a woman on keyboards and they share vocal duties. They had some other musicians who came on stage to supply string support. I only heard about three songs (because I had to go meet Datarock!), but it was enough for me to pick up their CD. I'd listen to them when I'm in a Magnetic Fields 69 Love Songs kind of mood.

We missed Yeasayer because we were getting dinner. So nothing to say either way about these guys.

Cut///Copy was great. This was the most new-wave influenced band and one here that most NWO memebers would probably like. There's an OMD influence in there for sure, and any number of other bands. Definitely worth picking up. The crowd loved these guys.
They were really good.

Mutemath were not doing it for us, so we headed over to the second stage. Unfortunately, we missed the best-named band on the night, "Natalie Portman's Shaved Head".

A band named Alberta Cross was playing. These guys were ok, though watching the early-20s guy standing in front of the stage with his super hot drunk girlfiend who obviously had a crush on the band was more entertaining than the music. Poor guy was way out of his league.

Next up was Louis the XIV. I loved their first album and we wondered why they weren't on the main stage. The first two songs were really tight. Then the suckage began. Their big song, "Finding Out True Love Is Blind", which is a nasty little bit of sex sleaze rock (in a good way), came off really poorly. More disturbingly, on record, there's a bit of dirty line that's song by a woman very nicely. In concert, it's song by their bearded bass player who somehow mimics the woman's voice a bit too well.

So while we were watching them, we missed a band called "Brand New". I don't know a thing about these guys, but there were a shitload of "Band New" concert shirts in the crowd throughout the day. They have a huge following and many of the youger crowd left after this.

We got back to the main stage in time for Gang of Four, which, as I said on a different post, absolutely kicked ass. I'm so glad I've now seen these guys live. Absolutely great set. They play so well together. Just mesmerizing.

Then it was time for the Jesus and Mary Chain. Three guitars, drums, vocals, and three mics pointed directly at the amps. They played a great set, but they still don't move around much, except to get more feedback going. They played tunes from across the discography and closed with "Reverence", which sounded great. They're sound was very good, though it's kind of funny to see the brothers Reid in sport coats. Gang of Four brought more energy for sure, but I'm a longtime JAMC fan, so it was great to finally see them.

As a closer, they brought RJD2, another DJ set. We didn't stay for it. We were going to try to get up to San Francisco for another set by Datarock at 11:30 pm, but there was no way we'd make the 40 minute drive and get there in time.

All-in-all, a very good day.

[Frau_Blucher]

Very cool Don. Can't disagree with you on Tapes n Tapes and Louix the XIV. Surprising M83 didn't impress at all. Congrats on catching Gang of Four and JAMC...incredible 2fer!