Man, by Sunday morning I was kind of a mess. Calves and feet were sore from walking and standing for hours on end. Nose was all stopped up from the dust and grass. Sunburned - even my freaking lips got fried. Right ear still ringing from the Foo Fighters. Nothing two big beers and a pile of Pluckers can't help though!
While I was a tad sad to miss out on Ume, I am very glad that we took it easy on Sunday morning before going out. I was tired.
Lord Huron. One of the most beautiful sounds of the weekend, I love his music. This was a perfect Sunday afternoon jam to enjoy in the grass while sipping a cold one and chatting with my niece and friend. I've come to love this type of band in this time slot, and these guys didn't disappoint. "End of the Earth" was gorgeous.
Strand of Oaks. Fun, kick ass rock and roll. These guys tore through my favorites like "HEAL" and "Goshen 97" with abandon, also playing even the more soft/introspective tunes like "Shut In" (which is damn nice, if sad, if you haven't listened to it) with more of a rock edge than on the album. The lead singer is a big ol' tattoo'ed beard-o, too, but he was smiling and having a great time up there on stage during the tunes. Good stuff.
The Decemberists. While he didn't necessarily heed my instructions to just play the new album from start to finish, they did give me a nice heavy dose of the new album and the one just before it, which were grand. They definitely sound great in a live setting, Not staying too far from their album sound, but good tight harmonies from backup singers and clarity to enjoy their lyrics. I don't know some of the songs they played, I swear one went on for 30 minutes of the show, but it was a fun time.
Chance the Rapper. Sadly, this guy was not especially impressive to me. I get it that he has a good flow and mixes in clever lyrics and wordplay, but using the live jazz band as his backing track was not doing it for me. I ended up sitting on a blanket with old friends chatting with this in the background once I realized what was going on. So, honestly, I didn't give it a full chance to work, but so it goes.
Of Monsters and Men. Sweet stuff. The crowd was psyched, and they ripped right through "Dirty Paws" at the outset, with "Crystals" surprisingly tucked right in the middle of their set. This is not a band that is doing a lot of theatrics or movement, it is all about some really nice indie rock that can get pretty cranked up in the live setting. "Wolves Without Teeth" was awesome, and they ended with a handful of songs from the old album, including "Little Talks." My friend and I thought this a few times, that it was interesting how many bands didn't end with their biggest hits, as we would have expected. Foos playing "Everlong" first. Walk the Moon playing "Shut Up" before the end of the show. These guys with "Crystals" in the middle of the set. Nothing wrong with it, just interesting.
Hozier. Fantastic. His original tunes, especially "Take Me To Church," "Angel of Small Death," and "Jackie and Wilson" impressed - he sounded fantastic and excited to be there. I thought he fell off some when trying to do covers - his version of "Blackbird" was not especially well executed, and the Ariana Grande thing was wrong place, wrong time to me. But when he stuck to his own stuff, it was powerful and fun.
The Strokes. Yawn. I mean, they did their songs just fine. The lead singer still looks like he cuts his own hair with his eyes closed using two spoons. He still sounds like he's just mumbling and wailing through his boredom. The band still sounds raw and grimy. I guess it was spot on for what people expected, but I just could have cared less. I got relatively close even after having been to Hozier to the end - not a huge crowd for these dudes - but even among the people who should have been most interested in the band, I wasn't getting much energy. A clear sign of a reduced crowd, I was getting texts all of a sudden once I got over there from the Hozier stage. I stayed for about 6 songs and then decided to go wander over to the Weeknd.
The Weeknd. I don't get the appeal at all. Well, that isn't entirely true. "I Can't Feel My Face" is an unstoppable jam, I fully get it. But the rest of the music? Gloomy R&B? Festival closer? When I got over to this crowd, the vast majority of people around me were playing on their phones or talking and not really paying attention. One couple near me were rapt with attention, but one big group to my right was sitting among the standing crowd to just look at their phones. I happened to get there in time to hear the big hit though, and you would have thought there was a prize for the best fan-shot video of the song, because I swear everyone around me filmed the entire song with their phone. Which is, frankly, dumb. That video is going to suck, and you'll never actually sit there and watch the whole thing, and your friends certainly aren't going to care to watch a bad video with bad sound of a song they can watch on YouTube right now. Just weird. But the crowd went wild behind their phones for that track, and I decided I should go back and hear the Strokes finish their set.
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