The Hideout Block Party Day Two
I have to be honest. I really love The Hideout and I especially love its owner, Tim Tuten, but overall I had a much better experience on Sunday (Day Three) I think that the harshness of the music for some reason just didn’t appeal to me as much although the day was not without its highlights. I did catch just about every band except Big Black and Shellac and posted more pictures here on flickr Once again, if you want to see pictures of Big Black or Shellac, I suggest you visit The Underground Bee or Jon B. on flickr. Also, click the title of this blog post to make the pictures I took that I did post amongst the text larger.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
The day started out with The New Year who I appreciated the way the songs came across live a bit more as the set progressed. They also appeared more into the songs themselves as time went on. I really love their 2001 album Newness Ends and although I enjoyed hearing some of the songs from their 2004 album The End is Near, definite highlights for me were “Gasoline,” “Half a Day” and the title track, “Newness Ends.” Listen to their songs and see remaining tour dates on their myspace page
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Next came Uzeda from Italy. On their myspace page, they have the following in their “About” section:
Uzeda is a four piece band that hails from Catania, a city in the region of Sicily. Catania is known for its close proximity to Mt. Etna, a volcano so consistently explosive that it makes the most obvious and closest point of comparison for Uzeda’s music.
I liked that and I think it seems to be on the mark. Although, there were moments when lead female singer Giovanna Cacciola’s vocals drifted across the crowd almost ethereally in contrast to the explosions of the harshness around her. These moments were the closest they came to transferring a transcendent experience in my opinion. It was also really nice to see the guitar player enjoying Black Heart Procession on Sunday evening.
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Pegboy. was sloppy but fun. Larry Damore came out insisting us of his intoxication and I’m sure some were equally intoxicated with him but I felt like it was really a set for the people who had grown to love Pegboy’s songs and not a set for someone who wanted to hear more. Although Damore was a fun showman, the songs just didn’t feel together enough. Visit them on myspace
—————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
The Ex was another highlight for me because there were some definite gentle moments of the set, especially when Kat (who also plays drums) came out to the front and sang. They definitely didn’t feel like as much of an assault on the senses as Uzeda. Hailing from Amsterdam, this four piece is definitely worth seeing if you enjoy their records. It was also really great to see Ted Leo enjoying their set from the side of the stage. You can hear a song they have posted on their myspace page
———————————————————————————————————————————————————
Jon Langford of pivotal punk rock band The Mekons came out and played just a few songs in a short set with Kat from The Ex, who is apparently now actually writing songs with (and if I remember correctly, might be releasing an album with)
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
The Didjits unlike Pegboy actually played a very tight set that rocked out and yet managed to be catchy and this was perhaps the first point of the day when I realized I was having fun instead of just listening. I wasn’t familiar with their material before and if anyone wants to suggest a place to start, I’ll look into their stuff.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
PW Long of Mule and Reelfoot played some laid back country esque songs that I wasn’t really into but there were some nice moments when he was playing solo on his guitar sitting down and leaning forward into the fading sunlight.
——————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
I really didn’t like Negative Approach but I suspect maybe it is just because it’s really not my thing. I often don’t appreciate this type of music as it tends to grate on my eardrums. I often think of a running dialogue I’d say if I were to be brutally honest when giving feedback to bands like these: “Hey I just heard of a new upcoming thing. It’s called melody. Maybe you should look into it!” My approach sounds way too negative, though, I admit. Enough said. You can hear their music on their myspace page
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
It was rather jarring to go from Negative Approach to Sally Timms also of The Mekons who played some odd arty folk that I wanted to end up liking more…I felt perhaps if it had been on a different day I would have felt more engaged by it. The highlight was when she was joined by Jon Langford who she joked around with amicably on stage and accused of hogging the spotlight a few times. She was pretty candid and blunt but I found her banter and personality rather enjoyable at times.————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
(The top picture is also a Scratch Acid picture.)
I didn’t plan on liking the music of Scratch Acid and I really didn’t but I at least counted on an entertaining show as their performances are a bit of the stuff of legend I’m told. But I didn’t really find their live set appealing either. Again, not my kind of thing.
————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————-
Man or Astroman was definitely the highlight of the day for me. This is quintessential space geek rock….do you like space? Do you like old films involving space? Do you like theramins and Van Der Graafs? Then, chances are you will like this band. They were such hams up there really giving it their all between the jumping and the headbands, space suits-they were really exciting to behold. Although unfortunately the Van Der Graaf machine did fry my friend José’s camera battery. The only complaint I had was that there was so much interesting stuff happening at the bottom of the stage level that you just couldn’t see. They had these great synced up film clips from various old television shows and films that basically only the first three rows of people could see as the televisions were set at their feet. It didn’t seem very practical to me especially for so much work setting up and putting the clips together. Otherwise, it was a great show! Hear their songs on myspace
