Show of the Month

Treasure Island Music Festival

Treasure Island, CA

September 20-21, 2008

The sun broke free and fans flocked to the middle of the San Francisco Bay for the second annual Treasure Island Music Festival this September. With a green bent and a breezy, beach party theme, the two-day celebration of music and art did not cease to amaze with its excellent booking, immaculate views and all-around smooth-sailing execution.

Opening Day One was the winner of imeem’s Mutiny and Mayhem competition, San Francisco’s very own The Frail. Kicking off its early set with “Addicted,” the energetic dance-rock quartet put on a strong performance that included songs off its new Firefly EP. Soon after, the crowd migrated to the Bridge Stage for Loquat, another SF mainstay. With an ethereal performance full of chimes and harmonious vocals, Loquat contrasted the rampant energy of the previous band with songs from its latest, Secrets of the Sea.

Following Chester French, East Coast transplant Aesop Rock energized fans with his mastery of crowd-rousing wordplay, joined onstage by DJ Big Wiz and Rob Sonic. Hands were readily in the air for their performance of “Ready Aim Shoot.” As the end of their set neared, Aesop jokingly commented on being timed, “I keep looking at my watch like I’m waiting for my girl’s pregnancy test,” garnering a mixed reaction of shock and laughter. Nortec Collective followed on the Tunnel Stage with a unique blend of electronica and Norteño themes. Hailing from Tijuana, the genre-melding five-piece encouraged inventive dancing among the crowd on songs like “Shake it Up.”

Later that afternoon, local DJ and turntablist extraordinaire Mike Relm unleashed an innovative and almost comedic mashup of popular songs, ranging from Rage Against the Machine’s “Killing in the Name” to Vince Guaraldi’s “Linus and Lucy” (yes, the piano piece from Peanuts). His was an appropriate set, ushering the eclectic energy of the following acts, TV on the Radio, CSS and Justice, and turning the island into one big dance party before the first day closed.

Or, the Whale, another Mutiny and Mayhem winner, opened Day Two with an organically strong and harmonious performance, establishing the mood for an already sunny day. With the tambourine-laden “Call and Response,” the scene was set for more alt-folk acts to follow. Local music hero John Vanderslice graced the Bridge Stage with a full band, playing a standout sampling of old and new songs, including the marching “Time to Go” off of 2007’s Emerald City. He exhibited enormous gratitude to a crowd more than willing to reciprocate.

Continuing the string of Bay Area bands was Port O’Brien, with a huge seven-piece ensemble in tow to match the impressively large crowd. They concluded with the disbursement of pots and pans, allowing the crowd to participate in a rollicking performance of “I Woke Up Today.”

Later that afternoon, Berkeley’s The Morning Benders performed a set of catchy alt-pop hits, including new song “All Day Day Light” and finishing with a sing-along to “Grain of Salt.” On the Bridge Stage, a faulty cable couldn’t faze Austin’s Okkervil River as lead singer Will Sheff joked, “A lot of these sets here at the festival are very, very professional, and I hope you can appreciate the difference.” Okkervil’s poignantly rambunctious set included songs from new release, The Stand Ins. Fleet Foxes followed with an impressively tight performance full of glorious vocal polyphony. The “baroque pop” band from Seattle started its set a cappella and filled the show with offbeat banter (including a discussion on the Judeo-Christian paradigm), for a captivated audience that included The Raconteurs, stageside. The last performing West Coast band of the weekend, The Dodos featured at most three performers onstage, however their percussive sound easily filled the entire field. The hometown group utilized a variety of instruments, producing a huge wave of echoing melodies over complex rhythms.

As Sunday night came to a close, the final presentation was perhaps not The Raconteurs’ frenetically awesome set, but rather the San Francisco skyline setting off a quiet light show of her own.

-Review by Keane Li; photos by Brian Echon

MUSICFEST NW

Various Venues

Portland, OR

September 3-6, 2008

Since Musicfest NW was created in 2001, the annual celebration of music from all over the U.S. has grown exponentially, to the point where in its eighth year, it could boast Vampire Weekend, Bouncing Souls and a reunited Polvo among an already bursting lineup. As successful as it has become, though, the festival is not without its share of issues. The number of fans left out of these big-ticket shows because they hadn’t paid upwards of $150 for a VIP pass or bought advance tickets for each show they were hoping to see were left waiting outside the only venues holding shows on Wednesday night, right along with the hundreds like them who were only willing to pony up for a wristband.

Thursday night, however, offered up a full slate of performances happening in about two-dozen clubs and theaters around the city. On this night, the hottest ticket to be found was at Berbati’s where three bands with roots up and down the West Coast – former Seattleites Love as Laughter, Portland’s Pseudosix and San Francisco’s Port O’Brien – held court. It was the hometown group that fared the best in the club’s sweaty environs, rustling its way through a booming set of indie Americana. It helped to have the core trio of the band bolstered by three female back-up singers, whose energetic performance and goofball attempts at synchronized dancing were wonderfully disarming.

One block over at the Ash Street, it was garage rock heaven, thanks to positively blistering sets by the likes of Pure Country Gold, the blues/punk duo who tore through its songs with the brashness and volume of a band with four times as many members, and Coconut Coolouts, the sextet from Seattle who added a healthy dose of new wave synth and attitude to its hip-shaking songs.

Friday night saw the bold return of one of Portland’s finest indie labels, Jealous Butcher, to the festival as it held its first showcase in six years at the Someday Lounge. It was a warm, if sparsely attended evening, highlighted by a country-folk set by former Team Dresch member Kaia and the drone-rock attack of Wow & Flutter. Back at Berbati’s, the evening was capped off by a triumphal set by The Builders and the Butchers, all of whom attacked their instruments with an unusual aggression, resulting in an abundance of broken strings, banjos and some rather exhausted looking percussionists.

The last night of the festival was filled with moments both bittersweet and jubilant. In the former category was the final show by the much beloved Portland band Eskimo and Sons. The octet seemed positively overwhelmed by the outpouring of affection coming from the many local fans shoehorned into the tiny Towne Lounge just to see them, and from each other. The members of the group shared huge smiles and plenty of friendly jostling as they rumbled through a set of joyous, epic-length pop.

-Review by Bob Ham

LEOPOLD AND HIS FICTION /

THE STONE FOXES / CANDY APPLE

Red Devil Lounge

San Francisco, CA

September 25, 2008

Like its namesake sugar-bomb-on-a-stick, Candy Apple is an incredibly likeable live band. It was obvious the barely year-old Chico-based quintet’s set would be nothing but fun, fun, fun from the opening chords of Scott Barwick’s signature Farfisa Duo combo organ, which culminated in shouted harmonies between Barwick and guitarist Jake Sprecher on the short rocker, “Jeanie Was a Motorbiker.” Whether sounding Kinks-ian in the quick and catchy “Standin’ in Line,” riding a hot bass line from Katie Kelley’s black Rickenbacker or continually bringing to mind the quintessential combo organ one-hit wonder “96 Tears,” Candy Apple’s mid-1960s garage rock, protopunk vibe was consistent. Why the entire audience was not doing the jerk was a mystery.

As the poppy psychedelia of one era paved the way for the harder blues of bands like Cream and the Southern-infused rock of the early ‘70s, so too did the night’s lineup. The Stone Foxes began with the blistering “Walk on Down,” drummer Shannon Koehler and Aaron Mort dueling on harmonicas through the slow-building intro. Each Fox sang a verse until the song burst into full-blown guitar riffage and all four belted out in unison, “Walk on you devil now leave me alone!” Avi Vinocur and Mort exchanged bass and guitar for a few songs about halfway through the set, and vocal lines were traded round and round as well. This showcased individual styles like Shannon’s anguished wails in the cheeky “Lookin’ Pretty Good” (perhaps the only rock song to feature “cucumber” prominently in the lyrics), Vinocur’s deep soul on “Sweep a Road” and Mort’s full-bodied scream on the closing “Record Machine.”

Headlining local trio Leopold and his Fiction closed the night with the challenge of matching the Apple’s tickling Farfisa and the Foxes’ full timbre. And though their set was mellower, almost by default, they succeeded in embodying the sonic sum of the previous two bands, offering a combination of delectable garage pop with dirty blues. Jon Sortland started on double duty, playing an organ processional with his left hand while manning the drums with his right. Looking like a cross between a body-building Jesus and Devendra Banhart, singer/guitarist Daniel James crooned in his characteristic woodsy warble, occasionally breaking out the slide for some slippery blues licks and dancing a quick shuffle in his snakeskin boots. Harmonies by bassist Micayla Grace added warm texture to the too-short set.

All in all, the three bands were impressively complementary, rocking out mutually and musically supportive performances without any low points – a rare and special show indeed.

-Review by Kat Renz; photos by Miles Cole

TARTUFI / BUILT FOR THE SEA /

LOW RED LAND

Slim’s

San Francisco, CA

September 18, 2008

At a triple CD release show, who says the opener can’t have an encore? And after Low Red Land’s spine-tingling acoustic rendition of “Hawks Die,” there was no letting them get away without one! Playing mostly songs from their new full length, Dog’s Hymns, and managing to squeeze quite a few into their opening set by making one blend seamlessly into the next, Low Red Land chose “one for the O.G.s” for their encore, cranking it back up full force for “The Duke” off of 2006’s Weight of Nations. Especially after such a delicate and sparse closer, where there was space in the air for goose bumps to send shivers, it was impressive to watch this San Francisco trio do loud and intricate.

Celebrating the release of their new EP, Mise en Scène, Built for the Sea took the stage next as a five-piece with guest cellist Michael Fecskes in tow. Built for the Sea is one of the most expressive and transcendent bands in San Francisco. They can fill a room with a volatile and beautiful soul, combining elements that are tender and strong, experimental and melodic, atmospheric and organic. Armed with a crew of some of the area’s most talented musicians – guitarist Jon Latimer, bassist Daniel McKenzie, drummer Eric Kuhn and Fecskes – frontwoman Lia Rose doesn’t perform for people, she carries the audience on a journey with her. She has a knack for making everyone in the room feel special, like she’s playing that song for them, and whether she’s pouring over the keyboard or strumming the guitar, audiences hang on her every breath. On “Pictures,” the second song from the new EP, Rose’s words resonated with an especially unshrouded quality: “You should know it’s not been easy, you would know it’s not been fair.” Stripping it down to just Rose and Fecskes, “Release” brought out the pure velvet emotiveness and honesty of Built for the Sea’s sound while “Pacific” demonstrated how well Rose’s poetic lyrics and the band’s dexterous instrumentation can support the other.

Surprisingly, the third release of the night was not Tartufi’s new album, Nests of Waves and Wire – that will have to wait until early next year – but the highly anticipated Thread Productions compilation, Dragon Slayers, Volume III, featuring a track from all three bands on the bill plus songs from other standout groups in the Bay Area. That didn’t stop Tartufi from playing some new songs though. The San Francisco duo has such an interesting relationship with music and it’s only getting tastier. “We’re more coffee, less sugar now,” drummer Brian Gorman said about Tartufi’s sound prior to the release of their last album, Us Upon Buildings Upon Us – well, tonight they were Philz Coffee, with the mint and the cardamom. Gordon worked the megaphone like a Peruvian flute and alternated wildly fierce drumming with xylophone and keyboard touches, never leaving his post. Meanwhile, Lynne Angel, with four microphones in front of her and a slew of pedals at her feet, looped together a fearless conversation of sound, bowing the guitar and switching back and forth to bass, ultimately filling the room with layers of epic proportion. At the heart of Tartufi’s music is exploration and discovery more so than any prog-rock structure, or lack thereof; it’s childlike and primal; it’s ghostly; it’s bloody; it’s friendly. It appeals on a gut level and a brain level. Most importantly, like the rest of the night, it’s cathartic and fun.

-Review and photos by Katherine Hoffert