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Sunday, August 10, 2008

ALL POINTS WEST




I checked out the first day of the All Points West festival at Liberty State Park on Friday.

A bit of an ordeal getting there from Manhattan, a ferry - 30 bucks, huge line, about a mile walk from the dock to the festival.

I will say there's a great view of Manhattan from the festival site.

What's up with the beer jail?

Beer was sold in corrals, and had to be consumed there, with no view of the stage, before re-entering the festival proper. Wristbands with five detachable tabs were dispensed, one tab per beer; tabs gone, no more beer. Dragacious, severely dragacious.

We arrived in time to catch a bit of Duffy. Not really my thing, but certainly not awful.

Next we moved to the main stage where the New Pornographers were already in progress. Maybe it's me, but the New Pornographers seem to lack identity. I couldn't get a line on them. A cover of ELO's 'Don't Bring Me Down' made up for the Coldplay knock-off tune, but nothing really grabbed me.

Underworld followed. Again, not really my thing, but well executed, and well received by the crowd. I only knew the song from the 'Trainspotting' soundtrack - "Lager lager lager.....", but I tried to appreciate what they were doing, which isn't a whole lot actually.

The headliner was Radiohead. They were great. I have to say that Radiohead is a great band despite their predilection for inaccessible self-indulgent compositions, which they played a lot of. I suppose it would have helped if I was familiar with any of their post 'Ok Computer' material. In any case, my hat's off to them, they put on a truly superb show.

Comments:
I'm shocked they didn't give you bottles to throw at the band. Bands these days have it so easy.
 
I'm not digging Duffy. Seems like she jumped the post Winehouse retro-R&B bandwagon.. To be fair, though, I've only heard "Mercy".. That was enough.
 
The beer jail sucks. A product of corporate America and its lawyers. Heaven forbid that some one would get drunk at a festival. My fear is that it will not be long before such stupidity is instilled at most major venues.

Found this article which gives some insight to what Underworld is up to on the stage. Apparently there is no automation used in any part of the show..

http://remixmag.com/artists/electronic/remix_postcards_edge/index.html
 
i've never seen radiohead live. i guess that's a mistake.

i've seen the new pornographers twice and am quite fond of neko case.

something about redheads i think.
 
If Neko Case is a New Pornographer, redhead or not he's a stiff on stage and his band is lame.
 
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