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We're sitting in Moe Bar, and the key word there is "sitting." After four different bands we needed to rest our sandaled feet, and so we retreated from the steadily darkening, crowded intersection of the Block Party. No photos to share (yet) but here's what we've seen so far!
Truckasaurus: After hearing the sugary strains of U.S.E. from afar while we waited in line to get into the Block Party, we decided we'd rather experience some dirty electronica in the pink flourescence of King Cobra than pay further attention to the Main Stage. What's so appealing about Truckasaurus is that 90% of the time, we can't predict what we'll hear next; the 10% of predictable soaring rhythmic transitions are that much more satisfying for their rarity. This music would probably be more mind-blowing if we were tripping on something stronger than an iced Americano from Peets, but we loved the psychedelic square dancing and construction video footage playing on the projector screen.
Menomena: Boring. We have their cd and like some of the tracks, but live...just boring. To be fair, we were comparing Menomena to the excellent $6 cheeseburger from Quinns in our hands, and that's not really a fair fight.
More on Girl Talk, Thee Emergency, beer gardens, and The Corner after the jump!
Girl Talk: We didn't know anything about Girl Talk before this weekend, except that Cap To The Hill really likes him and so does The Stranger. The first person to come on stage was a sweatpants-clad dude (Girl Talk, natch) with a headband around his forehead: strike one. The music was pretty catchy, all rhythmic and pop, but then--and here's where Girl Talk completely lost us--a horde of girls and boys bounded up on stage and began to dance, badly. They didn't leave. This wasn't some kind of flash mob; this was planned. Something about the schtick was actually offensive to Seattlest, and it's only now, sitting here in Moe Bar, that we're even able to figure out why; it's something to do with the fake happiness factor, the fact that the entire set could have been an American Apparel ad, Target commercial, or a High School Musical reunion. Why does everyone love this band so much? Are we missing something? We left after fifteen minutes, because Thee Emergency was playing thirty feet away and Dita Vox is extremely hot.
Thee Emergency: Dita Vox is extremely hot. Thee Emergency was in fully fine form tonight, all soulful and punk-rock and spitting on the crowd, and this was antidote aplenty to Girl Talk for us. This makes two Emergency shows in a row at which we've teared up, all thanks to Dita's throaty Janis Joplin-esque vocals. (Turn that girl's mic up!) We want her to be our friend, all the time, forever, and we want her to sing our children to sleep so that their dreams have her voice as soundtrack. Uhh... maybe we should slow down on that cheap vodka.
Now: Les Savy Fav, and then we're headed down to the Rendezvous Room in Belltown for "The Corner." You should come too. The Stepcousins (aka Macklemore and XP), JFK solo, and Larue will be performing, and it's $5. 21+.
Seattlest Editor Kim just texted us, and apparently she's stuck outside in the "Very Normal Person" beer garden (as opposed to the VIP beer garden to which she's accustomed) and she had to *gasp* pay for a beer! With money! Quick, someone help her!
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hey now, you made me sound all elitist, like barack obama. i was trapped after getting kicked out of the dodos' show for standing on the stairs (not really. i was just asked to get off the stairs, but the only way to go was out). woe was me. luckily les savy fav was at least entertaining from behind.
Please, stop making the rest of us music bloggers look bad please...with your laptop at Moe's and such. :P
with the double pleases -- apparently I should also lay off the cheap vodka.
the thing you're missing about Girl Talk is that it's for real.
(and I'm with abbey: let's all stick together and slack off together, shall we?)
The Stranger promotes crap so they can pretend not to like the obvious, that's my theory.
Girl Talk = the Family Guy of music
Best band of the night was The Dodos.
That Girl Talk write-up could be the most accurate depiction of his shows I've ever read. I'm glad other people can see through the illusion that is Mr. Greg Gillis' shit parade. A bunch of drunk hipsters dancing to strictly sampled based music, while the whitest dude in the world messes with his macbook is not my idea of good music. Especially in this day and age where there are so many talented acts out there. Your loyalty is forever mine because of this write-up. Thank you!
i second sciencevsromance. girl talk is beyond being just about the music in a blender approach, it's about the experience, which is scarily genuine. it's fine if that's not your thing, but from where i was, that joy was 100% authentic and fun. so yes, you are missing something. the contrast is the afterparty at neumos. 15 seconds of viewing the crowd on that stage compared to girl talk's crowd is all you'd need to see to know which was real and which was fake.
and kris, best band was the pleasureboaters for the block party proper, mika miko at a secret party for best band of the night.
Thanks for the feedback, everyone. I'm interested to hear Girl Talk's cd and experience the music separately from the weird show dynamic.
Saturday's crowd was 300x better
Girl Talk really brought out the douche on Friday
I went with a group of friends and I was the only one who wanted to see Thee Emergency at the same time. They were absolutely shocked I had no intention of hanging out for Gillis. "Why don't you care?" they said. I said "I can play what he does at home on my laptop WITHOUT the obnoxious beat. That and there's a BAND playing."
Saturday WAS better!!
The most memorable bands for me were Chromeo, Thee Emergency, The Saturday Knights, and the Builders and the Butchers. (Zeke too, for non-musical reasons.) I wish I could have seen every band, I know for a fact I missed out on a lot of great performances.
did anyone see kay kay and his weathered underground? i wandered out there and caught the very end. for 10 people, they did a remarkably fun set after being one of maybe three people enjoying kristen ward.
i meant to say "i wandered out there and caught the very end, after being one of maybe three people enjoying kristen ward."
I didn't catch them but Abbey sent me some Kay Kay songs today and now I'm upset that I missed them. That Santa Cruz song is glorious!