My Friday began with a bit of running around, grabbing the obligatory complimentary breakfasts that a couple of the events were running. This resulted in me catching up with Jonquil again (see part one), as I surprisingly sung along to a few of their tracks in the process. It seemed that they had caught on from my viewings a couple of days prior. I also hit up the Barbados Party to listen to some music from the country of the same name. I wasn’t able to find out the name of the band playing as I enjoyed some ribs and rum (breakfast, right?), but it was exactly what you’d expect from that sort of music… Carribean fun times.
The focus of my Friday afternoon, however, was spent enjoying Jalapeño Brisket Tacos (seriously the best things ever) at the SPIN day party, which took place at Stubb’s – where Foo Fighters had played a couple of nights prior (and you may remember our coverage of Muse there last year). Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, aka OMD hit the stage shortly after I arrived, introduced by none other than Moby. We’d later get to check him out ‘slapping the bass’ for OMD – at one point seeing Andy McCluskey also hold the bass, in what was something of a bass off. Awesome.
While the current OMD tour sees the band in their first North American tour (with the original lineup) since 1988, the show at Stubb’s today was predominantly the Andy McCluskey (featuring Moby) show, with the full band set to appear on the same stage later that evening. “Souvenir (Moby Remix)”, featuring Moby, was a highlight of the set, as was “Sister Marie Says” and, naturally, “If You Leave”. You know the song:
It was a fun set, though far from as amazing as it could have been with the full band. Keeping the crowd pumped up between tracks was non other than Wolfgang Gartner, who was playing some amazing electro and house music, making me wish that the sun had set so I could dance my face off without embarrassment. Oh well, enough about me…
As much as I love (nay, adore) The Kills, they’re a duo that has never done it for me love. As amazing and talented as Alison Mossheart and Jamie Hince are, when you have someone like Sleigh Bells blowing audiences out of the water, this whole ‘too cool for school’ act can only go so far.
I felt this to be the case at V Festival a couple of years back, and it felt similar today. It’s not that they sound bad, it’s just that they never quite connect with the crowd, nor ever make an effort to – assuming that the music is enough to do them justice. Sure, there are times when this is probably the case, but today, where they played pretty much a set of new material (single “Heart Is A Beating Drum” was the only track I knew), was not one of those times.
Throw in the fact that following sound problems they grumpily walked off stage (albeit offering a slight apology for the problems later), and you just feel like they don’t even want to be there. All this said, the new album sounds great, and I’m very excited to pick up a copy. Just don’t count on me heading to their next performance, they just don’t seem to do it for me. Well, Alison does it for me – but in other ways…. *cough*.
The headliners of the party were TV on the Radio, who by contrast absolutely killed it. Introduced by The cast of a new TV show Workaholics and Yo Gabba Gabba (WIN), they jumped between songs old and new, cranking it up to 11, and speeding things up a bit. Of particular mention, “Dancing Choose” sounded better than ever, “Staring at the Sun” made me want to get a little naked with excitement, and “Wolf Like Me”, complete with its “March of the Pigs” moment (where the song breaks down, pauses, before kicking you in the gut making you want to fly to the moon), closed the set and gave us all a reminder as to why they’re one of the best live bands in the world. Of the new tracks, “Repetition” was my favourite.
As day turned into night, I headed over to the Billboard Bungalow to catch local heroes Boy & Bear in action. Performing in a room which seems to normally be something of a sports bar (drinks being served in the centre of the room), they guys sounded great – definitely impressing the crowd. A few Aussies in the room even going so far as to say how proud they were of the Sydney five piece (family and/or friends of the band – most likely!). “Rabbit Song” of course went down a treat, but there wasn’t a dud in the set.
