So you'll have to settle with a brief re-cap for now:
Day Two - March 19th
First surprise of the day? Those Darlins. Take the country punk of the Knitters, make Exene Cervenka alot more sexy and times her by 3, and you're getting close. These gals (with a token guy banging the kit) are truly redneck women who probably also happen to love the Gossip. The three of 'em traded off vocal duties and belted it all out with mucho gusto.
The chaos of Dark Meat also left me counting the number of people performing on stage (and off) while being simultaneously covered in confetti. Rock, jams, riots, laughs all ensued. I think there were 7 or 8 people playing. I really have no idea what was happening, but it was a good time.
The Grates: One of the happiest, rowdiest Aussie bands you can hope to see. Patience, the lead vocalist, is either a little touched in the head or the most enthusiastic person on the planet; perhaps a little of both. No one could possibly look like they are having more fun while performing... She fronted her pop punk outfit with a frenzy seldom seen, and even hopped onto the shoulders of a willing male audience member for some good old fashioned ribbon twirling...
Tricky played the Fader party, and it was... well, rockin'. Which wasn't what I was expecting, because I still consider him a trip hop guy. He also licked his lips an awful lot. And rarely opened his eyes. And didn't sing as much as I expected (his back-up singer carried most of that duty). And he jumped around alot. It was a great rock show, but I wasn't really there for that, so my bad. He did end by getting into the crowd, where he stayed, causing quite a ruckus as he posed for pics with fans and such, which was nice.
Discovery of the Day!!! Efterklang! My new favorite Danish band. Another act with a hundred people on stage (besides the regular guitar-bass-drum dealio, we had a violin, trumpet, flute, 2 sets of keyboards, and a modified xylophone)that played beautiful, layered, jubilant songs with just enough drama, yet also enough lightness to balance it all out. They were absolutely captivating and I'm totally in love with all of them (and their pervy moustaches).
I ended the night with The Very Best. Otherwise known as Radioclit and Esau Mwamwaya. This is a project between a South African singer and a British DJ fusing gorgeous world rhythms and vocals with hipster beats and grooves. They were so fucking fantastic that they shut the place down... like literally. Management was pissed off at how rowdy the dance crowd got, and shut off their power. I was fortunate to be a major cause of that, as I got pulled from the floor to join a couple other girls on stage for a dance party with the DJ. We had about 5 songs to ourselves when security told us it was time to get off the stage, and that was when the MC invited everyone else up... chaos ensued. Glorious, frenzied chaos. (Fortune cookies were thrown!) It was great fun.
That's all for now... gotta hit the pavement and hope my camera doesn't die in the process...
