Musical May

I was worried after April, and all of its Fauxchella fun, was over. What will I do on the weekends? How will I keep disintegrating my ear drums bit by bit? What if I get too much sleep on weeknights? Never fear, May was chalk full with great acts coming through town.

The month kicked off with Bottle Rock 5/8-5/12. I'll admit, I'm getting told old for a four day music festival so I went with the 3 day pass. This was the very first year of Bottle Rock, which takes place in Napa. A music festival in wine country? Yes please! Word on the street is that they got a 10 year contract, so this festival will be around for many more years to come. There was a little shadiness, as the fest got approval from the Expo board without consulting the city. The verdict is still out on if Bottle Rock hurt or helped Napa, but overall it sounds like the 35-40,000 attendees made most business happy. The lineup was pretty solid. I'd have to say my favorites were The Flaming Lips. Wayne puts on a crazy show with plenty of lights and lasers. Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros were pretty good too. I unfortunately missed Allen Stone, a soul and R&B musician from Washington, who's on the cusp of blowing up. I'll probably go next year, although I hope it's less hot next time. The lineup will hopefully be just as solid and the food/wine selection was one of the best I've seen in a while. Hopefully they'll finesse all the first year issues (namely the disastrous parking situation and the dust). Tip: Book your place to stay up there as soon as dates are announced, all hotels/airbnbs will fill up fast!

Next up I caught Dragonette and The Presets at the Fox Theater in Oakland. When you look out into the crowd and it's just women, gay men, glow sticks and sparkles, you know it's going to be damn good party. I've seen Dragonette live before and love them. Martina Sorbara, the lead singer, knows how to get the dance party started. She's energetic and gives her all no matter the size or enthusiasm of the crowd. I liked them better than The Presets, although they were good too. It's just with The Presets (a two man Australian electro duo with vocals, drums and keyboards), they're stuck behind their instruments which can limit the stage energy unless you're someone like Justice.

After that, we hit Tame Impala, which was also at the Fox but had a completely different feel. Walking into the Tame Impala show was like walking into the 70s, completely with psychedelic lights and weed. When bands play slow jams these days, everyone usually holds up their cell phone lights. At this how everyone actually held up legit lighters! I forgot how beautiful that looks. Tame Impala is a rock band that reminds me almost of the Australian version of someone like Dinosaur Jr, which more funk thrown in. Elephant is probably their most well know song but my favorite is Feels Like We Only Go Backwards.

Last weekend I went to Mumford & Sons at the Greek Theater, a gorgeous outdoor amphitheater in the hills of the UC Berkeley campus (seriously, we parked at a frat house). I love Mumford and these days it's hard to find people who don't, they've gotten so big. They played three nights straight at the Greek, which sold out in minutes. For those of you living in a cave, this four man English folk band formed in 2007 hit the scene big in 2009 with their release of "Sign No More," which won them the Grammy for "Best New Artist." In 2012, they release their second album "Babel," which in my opinion is just as good as their earlier stuff. Seeing them live is great because they really put their all into it and interact with the crowd. They were able to get the entire Greek Theater (8,500 seats + the lawn) to be completely silent while they played a couple acoustic songs, which was amazing to behold. While you never really know if artists are telling the truth, they said this was the most silent they've ever gotten a large crowd to be and a memory they would treasure. Regardless, it was a pretty great show.

Last Saturday (and technically in June), we went back to the Greek (should have just slept there, is this an option??) for the xx. Again, another English band, who started as an indie duo and added on 2 more once they started touring. Their sound is hard to explain. It's a little electro, a little instrumental, with almost eerie whispering vocals. They hit it big with Crystalised in 2009. They release "Coexist" in 2012. The lead duo is a introverted, so it's a totally different experience and while I love them, I could take them or leave them live. They did have a pretty decent light show with some cool lasers (you can't go wrong with lasers). When at the Greek though I hate being up in the seats because you can't stand up and dance.

Atmosphere outside of Minneapolis

One of my favorite artists of all-time is Atmosphere, a two-man hip hop group coming out of Rhymesayers in Minneapolis. I love seeing Atmosphere at First Ave in Minneapolis because they always give their hometown a lot of love. I've seen them in Milwaukee and Chicago and so far no show has lived up to the Minneapolis ones. This Saturday Atmosphere played the Greek Theater in Berkeley, CA. It's the largest show Atmosphere has ever headlined according to this article. I kind of wonder about this stat because he's the headliner at Soundset, which seems a lot larger. Anyway, the Greek Theater is amazing. This stone amphitheater is nestled in the hills next to the Berkeley campus. There's really not a bad view in the place. You can stand in the pit, sit on the stone steps or sit on the grassy hill above. Greives, a newcomer to the Rhymesayers family was the first opener, and my favorite by far. His CD is releasing later in June and promises to be a unique sound with horns, keys and guitar. Blueprint was up next and I've never been a huge fan of his sound. After that was Aesop Rock, who I really haven't followed recently and only knew his old school stuff. Finally as the sun set it was time for Ant and Slug to take the stage. They actually had an artistic set this time, which I have never seen them do before. The backdrop was very Minnesotan, a portrait of snow, birch trees, a cardinal and barn. Then they had 3D birch trees that glowed different colors set up on stage. It looked super cool, so I hope the continue with set design. Slug started out with some older material, getting the crowd going before he segmented into some songs from the new album, "The Family Sign." It was a little slow for my taste as his newer material is more deep and personal. But after that he went right back into some energetic tracks. He had the crowd going and I love the dialog he has with his audience. Of course he came out for an encore, as he always does graciously. I would say outside of his Minneapolis shows, this is the best show of his I've seen.

This was probably the only time I will meet Californians who will be envious that I am from Minneapolis....