What's that? Con report time again?
Nov. 3rd, 2010 07:02 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sabinetzinSo, Moogfest was this past weekend, and despite assorted problems (which I will not detail except in another, locked entry), I had a pretty good time. I am informed some people find con/festival reports interesting, and I needed something to write for ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-community.gif)
mini_nanowrimo, so here are the awesome concerts I saw.
On Friday, we were waylaid by jackassery and broken-down vehicles, so we didn't get to the Civic Center until MGMT was on. It was kind of a cool experience, because we walked into the building just as they were playing Kids, so we're walking up this massive cement hallway with the song just reverberating around us. A very cool way to start the festival.
So we went and saw Mutemath, which my friend was really into. They sound kind of like a less obnoxious, more techno-y Coldplay. I wasn't particularly into it; they weren't bad, just not really my thing. My meh response may also be influenced by the fact that I nearly passed out during it. No food, no sleep, no water, and bright lights just do not go together.
Saturday was the big day, of course. We made it just in time to get a really good spot for Thievery Corporation, and, oh man. I didn't really know anything about those guys past the fact that they're touring with Massive Attack, but they were fucking AWESOME. I mean, I'm down for anything with a sitar player, and their vocalists were tearing it up. In terms of energy and overall vibe, it was probably one of the best concerts I've ever been to. They really brought it.
So directly after that was Massive Fucking Attack.
MASSIVE FUCKING ATTACK.
The stage design was really, really cool. They had a whole wall of... you know, I'm honestly not sure what it was. Like, a giant LED display? And they were using it to great effect, mostly to flash political propaganda, which really went with the whole dark trip-hop aesthetic.
I kind of wish they'd played more stuff off of Heligoland- they didn't do Paradise Circus, which I thought was kind of weird, but they did do Babel, Girl I Love You, Atlas Air, and Splitting the Atom, all of which were excellent (and now that I think about it, that's like half the album). They also did Teardrop (the theme song from House, for those of you not up on your Massive Fucking Attack); it's already a really gorgeous song, but it was so beautiful live. Most of the other stuff was older, though, with some unreleased stuff mixed in. Overall, it was a pretty good balance.
The only thing that sucked was that nobody else I was with was really into it. They were all, "Oh, it's so dark!" and "Oh, there were too many political messages!" and "Oh, the vocalists are so creepy!" and I was all, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, THIS IS MASSIVE FUCKING ATTACK, THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT MAKE IT TOTALLY AWESOME." But, whatever. There's a concert I can cross off my bucket list, though obvs I will try to see them as much as I possibly can.
Sunday was more chill, comparatively speaking. On a whim, we went and saw Omar Souleyman; I was highly skeptical of the promise of "Jihadi Techno", but he was actually really good. I've never seen anybody with worse stage presence who got a crowd more pumped, but his DJ was fucking tearing it up.
Then more jackassery, which caused us to miss DJ Spooky, which is a damned shame, but we did make it in time to see Hot Chip, who put on a really great show. They played in a smaller auditorium, and the acoustics were just perfect. They were really sweating, literally, running around all pumped and excited. They were, like, seriously committed to rocking.
I've been listening to their studio stuff now that I'm home, and it is nowhere near as good as they are live. I Feel Better doesn't sound awesome until you have the steel drum really kicking, and I am disappointed in how little of it you can hear in the album version.
So that was pretty much Moogfest. I don't know if I would go back, honestly, but that's mostly a function of the people I was with and not of the festival itself. It was one of the most well run conference-type events I've ever been to. The venues were close enough together that walking wasn't a real problem; getting from the Civic Center to the Orange Peel only took maybe ten minutes on foot (this was too far for me by about one in the morning, but I have two jacked up knees). Police presence was good; I didn't see anybody get hassled, and the officers I did interact with were really very cool.
The timing of everything was also really good- nothing started until 5 or so, and everything was over at 2. Reg took no time at all, even during prime time on the first night (ARE YOU LISTENING DRAGON*CON). Getting patted down at every venue was kind of a pain in the ass, but I prefer it to the alternative. There was even good, cheap, available parking. WTF.
mini_nanowrimo, so here are the awesome concerts I saw. On Friday, we were waylaid by jackassery and broken-down vehicles, so we didn't get to the Civic Center until MGMT was on. It was kind of a cool experience, because we walked into the building just as they were playing Kids, so we're walking up this massive cement hallway with the song just reverberating around us. A very cool way to start the festival.
So we went and saw Mutemath, which my friend was really into. They sound kind of like a less obnoxious, more techno-y Coldplay. I wasn't particularly into it; they weren't bad, just not really my thing. My meh response may also be influenced by the fact that I nearly passed out during it. No food, no sleep, no water, and bright lights just do not go together.
Saturday was the big day, of course. We made it just in time to get a really good spot for Thievery Corporation, and, oh man. I didn't really know anything about those guys past the fact that they're touring with Massive Attack, but they were fucking AWESOME. I mean, I'm down for anything with a sitar player, and their vocalists were tearing it up. In terms of energy and overall vibe, it was probably one of the best concerts I've ever been to. They really brought it.
So directly after that was Massive Fucking Attack.
MASSIVE FUCKING ATTACK.
The stage design was really, really cool. They had a whole wall of... you know, I'm honestly not sure what it was. Like, a giant LED display? And they were using it to great effect, mostly to flash political propaganda, which really went with the whole dark trip-hop aesthetic.
I kind of wish they'd played more stuff off of Heligoland- they didn't do Paradise Circus, which I thought was kind of weird, but they did do Babel, Girl I Love You, Atlas Air, and Splitting the Atom, all of which were excellent (and now that I think about it, that's like half the album). They also did Teardrop (the theme song from House, for those of you not up on your Massive Fucking Attack); it's already a really gorgeous song, but it was so beautiful live. Most of the other stuff was older, though, with some unreleased stuff mixed in. Overall, it was a pretty good balance.
The only thing that sucked was that nobody else I was with was really into it. They were all, "Oh, it's so dark!" and "Oh, there were too many political messages!" and "Oh, the vocalists are so creepy!" and I was all, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, THIS IS MASSIVE FUCKING ATTACK, THOSE ARE THE THINGS THAT MAKE IT TOTALLY AWESOME." But, whatever. There's a concert I can cross off my bucket list, though obvs I will try to see them as much as I possibly can.
Sunday was more chill, comparatively speaking. On a whim, we went and saw Omar Souleyman; I was highly skeptical of the promise of "Jihadi Techno", but he was actually really good. I've never seen anybody with worse stage presence who got a crowd more pumped, but his DJ was fucking tearing it up.
Then more jackassery, which caused us to miss DJ Spooky, which is a damned shame, but we did make it in time to see Hot Chip, who put on a really great show. They played in a smaller auditorium, and the acoustics were just perfect. They were really sweating, literally, running around all pumped and excited. They were, like, seriously committed to rocking.
I've been listening to their studio stuff now that I'm home, and it is nowhere near as good as they are live. I Feel Better doesn't sound awesome until you have the steel drum really kicking, and I am disappointed in how little of it you can hear in the album version.
So that was pretty much Moogfest. I don't know if I would go back, honestly, but that's mostly a function of the people I was with and not of the festival itself. It was one of the most well run conference-type events I've ever been to. The venues were close enough together that walking wasn't a real problem; getting from the Civic Center to the Orange Peel only took maybe ten minutes on foot (this was too far for me by about one in the morning, but I have two jacked up knees). Police presence was good; I didn't see anybody get hassled, and the officers I did interact with were really very cool.
The timing of everything was also really good- nothing started until 5 or so, and everything was over at 2. Reg took no time at all, even during prime time on the first night (ARE YOU LISTENING DRAGON*CON). Getting patted down at every venue was kind of a pain in the ass, but I prefer it to the alternative. There was even good, cheap, available parking. WTF.