Saturday, June 27, 2009
die slow
We took it easy for a couple of hours before heading to the mainstage (at the Olympic Plaza instead of the sprawling Mewata Field this year) in time to see Liars. I thought they were a little ill-suited to the venue the last time I saw them on a big stage (opening for Radiohead), but they were pretty great last night in a place that, while smaller, was still pretty huge.
The Breeders were up next on the mainstage. I felt the same way about last night as I did about their performance at Sasquatch a year or so ago. The old material was awesome, but it sort of made the newer stuff they played seem boring by comparison. They were once again worth seeing though, if only for "Divine Hammer."
After a quick stop at our hotel, we made it down the block to the Marquee Room(a great little venue in the same building as an arthouse theatre) and caught Puberty's last few songs. The female fronted group played pretty straight up garage punk pretty well. Keith from Sex Negatives lent his sax skills to their last track.
Twin Crystals repped Vancouver and repped it well next. I'm a fan of Jesse's keyboard playing, but he rocked a guitar for their entire set, which meant they were even more intense than usual.
HEALTH headlined the Marquee and were absolutely awesome. They tore through a set that balanced out stuff from their s/t debut and new songs, presumably from the forthcoming Get Color. If you were into the first record, you'll be stoked on the next one, by the sounds of things
die slow
I started off yesterday by catching (or I guess "attempting to catch" is more correct) Monotonix at Tubby Dog (aka the best hot dog place, this side of Japadog). It took us a little longer than expected to saunter our way down there, so unsurprisingly, the rather tiny "venue" was packed to overflowing when we arrived. One thing about hearing Monotonix while not being able to see them is that you quickly notice that they're much better performers than they are a band. Speaking to the former though, they made sure all the people stuck outside didn't go home disappointed by dragging all their gear out onto the sidewalk to hammer out a few riffs. I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've seen anyone dive off of a mailbox to crowd surf.
We took it easy for a couple of hours before heading to the mainstage (at the Olympic Plaza instead of the sprawling Mewata Field this year) in time to see Liars. I thought they were a little ill-suited to the venue the last time I saw them on a big stage (opening for Radiohead), but they were pretty great last night in a place that, while smaller, was still pretty huge.
The Breeders were up next on the mainstage. I felt the same way about last night as I did about their performance at Sasquatch a year or so ago. The old material was awesome, but it sort of made the newer stuff they played seem boring by comparison. They were once again worth seeing though, if only for "Divine Hammer."
After a quick stop at our hotel, we made it down the block to the Marquee Room(a great little venue in the same building as an arthouse theatre) and caught Puberty's last few songs. The female fronted group played pretty straight up garage punk pretty well. Keith from Sex Negatives lent his sax skills to their last track.
Twin Crystals repped Vancouver and repped it well next. I'm a fan of Jesse's keyboard playing, but he rocked a guitar for their entire set, which meant they were even more intense than usual.
HEALTH headlined the Marquee and were absolutely awesome. They tore through a set that balanced out stuff from their s/t debut and new songs, presumably from the forthcoming Get Color. If you were into the first record, you'll be stoked on the next one, by the sounds of things
Labels: breeders, health, liars, monotonix, puberty, show recaps, sled island, twin crystals
