Friday was a great opener for Saturday, if that makes any sense. In my opinion, the festival gets progressively better with each day - Sunday being loaded with bands I'm itching to see. The weather was cooperating with a sunny 85 degrees, the official "get used to your surroundings" day had come and gone and day 2 packed a punch.
I had decided to park on the KY side of the river, mainly because its free and I enjoy walking across the "Purple People Bridge." My camera enjoyed the walk too. Here are some pictures of the city and various snapshots around the actual park (Sawyer Point) Desdemona is occupying.
Kicking off the day, for me, was an energized set from the guys of
Apollo Up!. For a three-piece, these guys pack one hell of a punch. They're lead guitarist is very talented and their drummer gets so completely "in the zone" that its as if the two other band members just feed off of his "I'm playing the drums but jumping out of my stool" energy. They even dedicated songs to the bronzen Cincinnatus statue looming at the back of the crowd. They were my surprisingly awesome act of the day and judging by the reaction they received from a sun drenched crowd, they'd probably agree with me.
Apollo Up!
After the conclusion of Apollo Up! it was off to see
Mates of State, who I have been looking forward to seeing for quite sometime. They commanded the largest crowd of the day, easily, and played a great set. Besides them sounding fantastic live, their audience interaction via playing songs that were shouted out was neat. One fan was requesting the song "Think Long" and he kept slurring his speech and putting emphasis over the wrong part of the word. Here's what the in-between song conversation went like:
Fan: "THIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNNNNG LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVNNNG"
MoS: "What?!"
Fan: "DDDDTTTTHIIIIINNNNNNNNKK LOOOOOOOOVVGGGGN!!!!!!!!"
MoS: "..." "I'm sorry, I don't understand what you're saying."
Fan: "COME ON! DDDDIIIIIIINNNNNK LOOOOONGGG!!!"
MoS: "Pink love?" "Big love?"
10 seconds after the humorous conversation keyboardist Kori said, "Oh, I think I know what you were saying now. Tell me if this is it." They then played the intro to "Think Long" to a large scream and took the cue that it was, indeed, the correct song. Despite my skepticism on how the Mates would sound live with just an organ and drums, they destroyed any doubts that I had with their impressive range of vocal harmonies and the smiles they exchange with each other on stage. Despite their rising success, Mates still have fun on stage, improvise their setlist, smile and laugh at each other in between songs, and sell their own merch. To top it off, they're two of the most sincere people I've met.
Mates of State
Myself and Mates
After the dynamic duo, I headed over to see
Forget Cassettes. I didn't know too much about this band before seeing them live, but they ended up turning out just fine. The lead singer/guitarist from Apollo Up! was playing guitar for Cassettes during their gig. Since I knew absolutely nothing about their band or their lineup (I'm a horrible blogger, I know) I just assumed they were down a man. Although the female lead singer's voice was hit or miss with a lot of tracks, they're enthusiasm and amusing attempt at witty banter was enough to make their show worthwhile.
Forget Cassettes
As they played, Pearl Jam was playing at US Bank Arena (background).
I was in the same boat when I saw
Stellastar*, I had only heard two tracks from them but was still looking forward to seeing them. The band brought in a solid following and the audience seemed to be really into their show. They reminded me somewhat of a toned down
Interpol and I concluded their performance was only mediocre. They came out strong with good songs and then seemed to dwindle. I'll give props to their guitarist with the extreme haircut - he's really good.
Stellastar*
I think a lot of people will agree with me when I say,
Yoko Ono can't sing worth a beetle's ass. Seeing
Enon was something I was looking forward too, only hoping the lead singer didn't turn into a Yoko when she was live. No fear, she was anything but an Ono impersonator. Enon drew a huge crowd, slightly smaller than Mates, playing a 45 minute setlist that was warmly welcomed by fans. The lead singer, Toko Yasuda, still has a heavy Asian-American accent which made conversing with the crowd all the more memorable. Having a fan yell out a song and hearing a frank Asian-American accent reply, "No! No! We not playing that one tonight," can really make some people smile.. And if that didn't do it for you, then their awesome live show would've.
Enon
I used my "All Access" pass to slip backstage before
Annie came on and got to talk to their percussionist, a Norwegian rastafarian (stop smirking) who turned out to be one of the funniest people I had met that day. Rolling his own cigarettes, blowing his nose in a handkerchief, and talking about the perils of jet lag all added the quirkiness and enjoyable aspects of our conversation. Annie, a petite-blonde European indie-rocker (a lethal combination to any male fan), took stage to a large applause from the crowd. Her various dance moves, crowd interaction, and melodically perfect voice made for a good show that had the attention of the entire crowd and members of
VHS or Beta, Mates, and Stellastar*.
Annie
An essential to Indie Rockers.
The weather and music of Day 2 only built upon an impressive Day 1. However, Day 3 (today) is the day I have been waiting for all weekend. The lineup today includes
The Stills,
The Fiery Furnaces,
The Walkmen,
Rogue Wave,
We Are Scientists, and
Richard Swift.. All of who are helping to shape an awesome grand finale to the first annual Desdemona Festival.
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Sound Team
