It's been a few weeks since the annual trip home and I've had time to process the glories and digest the slew of new tunes that I brought back with me, so wanted to stop in and share some of the highlights. Unsurprisingly it lived up to all the anticipation, remaining my favorite weekend of the year for ten years running now. And while in previous years the excitement came from lineups that seemed like I handpicked them myself, this year was a little different as it was largely a bunch of newer bands, ones whose catalogs often weren't much larger than the number of years most of the concertgoers had been out of high school. For every Metallica or Paul McCartney with decades under their belts, there were twice as many bands working off their debut or sophomore albums, which made this year all about discovering the next wave, with more hopscotching between stages than ever.
And all the hustling paid off -- I got to catch some or all of the sets for forty-odd bands, with high notes including hearing one of the two living Beatles sing Blackbird under a full moon by the lake, seeing Austin's Black Pistol Fire absolutely detonate the stage in the mid-afternoon heat, and seeing acts I wouldn't normally pay to see (like Sam Smith and Florence + the Machine) and being truly impressed with their sincerity and showmanship. Overall, though, the weekend came down to the number three -- three sets from bands I knew all about and was excited to see (in some cases for the fifth or sixth time), three sets from newbies that instantly won me over, all shared with three folks who tagged along and made the weekend even more enjoyable.
For the oldies, they shook out nicely, with one mindblowing performance per day. Day One winner (and maybe overall weekend champion) were the Alabama Shakes. This was their second time on the Lolla bill, but their first time actually performing, thanks to the monsoon that shut the festival down three years ago and wiped out their set. Brittany and the boys came ready to wow this time, though, and wow they did. The band's new material sounded fantastic live, like a Stax-style revue of old with Brittany she-cocking across the stage and whipping the crowd into a lather with her bright, flowing burgundy and orange getup and electric yellow mohawk. For a minute it looked like the band might be cursed, as the power blew out midway through and it looked like they might not get to finish the set they'd been building so steadily to a climax. Thankfully, though, they got things squared away and unleashed an amazing finish, including a version of "You Ain't Alone" that brought tears to the eye. Unbelievable stuff for a band only on their second album.
Day Two's winner was one of my overall faves, the juggernaut that is Death From Above 1979, who I actually ended up seeing twice over the weekend. Between the two sets, the boys played pretty much every song they've recorded over their ten year (and two disc) existence, and it left the main stage at the south side of the park a smoldering ruin. There's nothing complicated to what they do -- drums, a distorted bass, and Sebastian's strangled wail (the latter piece being what usually determines instantly whether you love or hate them) -- but once they get going, they are unstoppable. They are so loud, the grooves so irresistible, I can see them (or listen to them) a hundred times and never tire of them. And they surely didn't disappoint here -- I think they made more than a few new fans in the scorching heat this year.
And speaking of not disappointing (or not tiring of a band no matter how many times you've seen them), that brings us to Day Three's winner, the Lolla stalwart of Eugene's band of merrymen, Gogol Bordello. I've seen these guys probably a dozen times (half of them here at Lolla) and they are always a blast, but this year was one of their best. They unleashed their usual brand of Gypsy-infused punk and got people into a frenzy, but it wasn't until the end of the set when they surprised even me. That was when Eugene threw a bass drum into the crowd, paused for a moment, and then pounced like a Ukrainian panther on top of it, where he stood and sang the remainder of the song -- on top of a drum held up by the crowd. ?!?@?!##! Holy. Crap. Seeing the band live remains one of the things every human should do before they die, and this just proves another reason why. Incredible.
The three new discoveries may not have had the jaw-dropping impact of the previous three's performances, but they make up for that with plenty of potential. All three are debut bands, both at Lolla and in their broader recording count, and all three have been on constant shuffle in the month since the show. First up is Catfish and the Bottlemen, a UK-based band of Welshmen, Englishmen, and an Aussie, whose debut, The Balcony, (and their Lolla set) are crammed full of belt it to the rafters indie pop. Lead singer Van McCann (whose name sounds like a cartoon villain or porn star) has one of those great rock voices that can go from melodic croon to gravelly yell without breaking a sweat, as he shows off routinely in songs like "Homesick," "Pacifier," and "Cocoon." The songs are catchy as hell, none moreso than "Kathleen," which will have you yelling along in tandem as it blazes from your stereo. Check it out here:
Newbie #2 comes from a St Paul four-pack of kids who aren't old enough to drink from said beverage caddy, the delightful lads of Hippo Campus. And while these kids may have just graduated high school, they sound more polished and confident than bands twice their age. They've only released a six-song EP thus far, but it (and their Lolla set) are chock full of jaunty, bright little tunes that evoke an island vibe similar to Vampire Weekend (without all the esoteric literary or grammatical references...) At times lead singer Jake Luppen sounds so much like Vampire's Ezra Koenig it's uncanny, but these boys aren't a knockoff of VW, more like inspired proteges. Songs like "Sophie So," "Souls," and "Suicide Saturday" are all winners, as is "Little Grace," which was an instant favorite during the show. The band was pogoing up and down at the release, as was the crowd, and the effect still works on repeated listens. Check it out here:
The final discovery of the weekend came in the middle of the unrelenting heat on Day Two when I shuffled over to the refuge of the BMI stage (which remains the best stage at the concert year after year, both for its lovely shaded view of the lake and the number of bands I've discovered there) and caught a magical set from the London trio Bear's Den. It was a deja vu experience to when I first heard Boy & Bear a few years back, both because of where they were playing and how similar they sound (as well as the animal in their names and the beautiful harmonies they set free). From tracks like "The Love we Stole" and "Isaac" to "Magdalene" and "Agape," the band wins you over from the minute you hear them. They're beautiful tunes, and their debut Islands is full of them, none better than the knee-buckling beauty of "Above the Clouds of Pompeii," which builds to a lovely three-part harmony at the end. Check it out here:
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