Last of the Summer Music

TV on the Radio is great. I noted on Saturday that even though they might not be the most stunning live act, they're engaging and in contrast to almost every other band in existence, their set is energizing. Most of the time after a show, no matter how great it was, you might be buzzing a little bit but also a little worn out. TV on the Radio are inventive and interesting enough that they actually give back energy to the crowd, which is something special.

Mogwai is really loud. Like, loud with my earplugs in. I'm still not sure exactly why people get so excited about them, though I might figure it out someday. Fuck Buttons went exactly as expected, which is to say perfect. I've never been part of a more attentive (standing) audience. Half an hour into the set it was an extreme aberration when a couple started talking sort of loudly, and they received more annoyed glances than I've ever seen. In my opinion this reflects quite well on both Fuck Buttons and their fans.

Then there was Bumbershoot. The Walkmen were strong and made great use of a horn section. And "The Rat" is still amazing even though I haven't listened to it regularly for a few years now. I actually had sort of forgotten about the refrain near the end ("When I used to go out...") so it hit me extra hard; a nice surprise.

Man Man are obviously on a different level from almost all other bands. I still don't know what I'd do with that racket coming through my headphones, but in a live context it all makes perfect sense.

Black Keys played the only full set I saw on Sunday, and they did their thing as solidly as they always do. The Black Keys in a small room are to the Black Keys in an arena as a sports car on asphalt is to a sports car on gravel. Still a good time, though. The Shackeltons were kind of fun, The Whigs were kind of dull, Final Fantasy (I stayed almost until the end) was a good experience, especially the overhead projector art, if not my favorite set of music, and Tapes 'n Tapes sounded better than I'd imagined. Then again, everybody sounded great at the Rockstar stage.

Exactly the same way nobody (except The Thermals) makes any sense sonically in the Exhibition Hall. Dan Deacon played from a table on the floor, organizing a dance off, relay races, and a sort of square dance-type promenade thing which form a giant two-sided ring around the room. He also played with the house lights all the way on, claiming he'd prepared for an outside show in the sun. I don't know that I've ever seen security actually enjoy crowd control before, but they were obviously having a good time orchestrating the organized mayhem. I wonder how much they'd been briefed about this one beforehand. The sound was weird, and the bass actually only sounded good underneath the stairs.

Arthur & Yu were a revelation live, approaching the sonic richness of Fleet Foxes, which I hadn't expected from the demo-style fidelity of their album. I kind of regretted leaving early for Battles, whom I found amazing but still not compelling.

So now I'll probably take a break and skip The Juan Maclean (I don't relish anything approaching closing time in Fremont on a Wednesday night) and whatever else might happen prior to the Decibel Festival, when I hope to take in more electronic music than humanly possible. Highlights: Audion, sets in Volunteer Park, and Dixon very late Saturday night (4am?). It's very frustrating that My Morning Jacket precludes the ambient showcase, but I still hope to head over to Neumo's afterward for some of The Bug and hopefully all of Supermayer's set. Napping and strategically sleeping-in will be key.

And SXSW 2009 is very tentatively on the calendar. Plane tickets should be okay, and I'm sure hotel rooms are still bookable at this point. It'll probably be more film- than music-oriented, considering the insane stories I've heard about trying to get into the more popular shows there, but anyway.