Jubilee Weekend 2012 was jam packed with bands. Day 1 was spent cramming in thirteen bands. That’s a lot of bands so let’s start if off…
Wildcat! Wildcat! eased us into the music groove. Comment of the set, “That’s a lot of reverb.” I couldn’t help but notice that the photo pit was jammed, which was a theme for the day.
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Leslie Stevens & the Badgers included only one Badger on this day. The result was the wistful sounds of acoustic Americana. Lyric to remember, “Falling in that deep dark hole.”
Comment of the set, “I like that the stop lights are still working.”
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A stop was made at the Molossus reading where I do believe I heard Mandy Kahn’s poetry reading. “Why do you fish?” the sheep asked the fisherman.
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It was off to see Dunes next. The thought that came to my mind while watching them, “They are driving it home.”
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Did the lead singer of XBXRX break a guitar string during sound check?
If so, bonus points, but they really don’t need any. The band started their set with a bundle of energy and didn’t stop. To start the set, the lead singer immediately stormed the stage. All of us photographers immediately took notice. Glancing through their Facebook page, I saw the word “mayhem.” That perfectly describes their set. In order to force a mosh pit in the audience, one of the band members jumped into the crowd to help get it started. If something needed climbing, they climbed it: the stop light pole worked just perfectly. Two friends of the band dressed in animal costumes wrestled away during the last song. We also had hot-balloon inspired fashion. They came prepared to give us a memorable set and they succeeded. Award for best stage show of the day goes to XBXRX.
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I remember watching photographers at prior festivals running from band to band and I would think about how unfortunate they were. To me,a band’s set is like a story. If you miss a significant portion of a set, it is like listening to half an album or reading half a book. I got caught up with that “running from stage to stage disease” (. . . that’s probably too harsh of language).
It started with Moses Campbell, which provided us with The Smell attitude.
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It was then off to JJAMZ, which my friend over at Picksysticks suggested that I check out. All he had to say was that the lead singer was from The Like and I was there. After catching a very short portion of their set (and luckily they’re the residency band at The Satellite for June so I’ll be able to catch a full set soon enough.
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I sped over to El Cid to catch LA Vampires and their psychedelic sound. For a moment, I wasn’t able to recognize them –I previous saw them nearly two years ago – and was thinking, “The lead singer is blond and looks different. It sounds like LA Vampires, but I’m not exactly positive.” Since this is only my second time seeing the band, I think my confusion can be excused. Go see them.
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The Mo-Odds played at a jam packed Eagle Bar. I noticed going through the photos that the lead singer had a flower behind his ear to start off the set. It didn’t stay there long. His clothEs didn’t stay on for very long either as he stripped for a girl who was at the front of the stage. I’m convinced that if someone had given him one more drink he would have gone nude for us all. A side story: I was off to the side when the door guy came rushing through. He is a large guy and I literally had to speed walk to an area with more space so that he could pass by me. After he rushed pass, I and another The Mo-Odds fan gave each other a what-was-that look. After their set finished, I walked out of the Eagle Bar and as I was walking pass the door guy he said, “Sorry about that. I’m a big guy.” That is a perfect example of the Jubilee weekend,the friendly neighborhood vibe.
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I headed off to Las Cafeteras. As they mentioned on stage, their music is inspired by the sounds one would have heard 300 years ago. It was one great history lesson in music. A second side story that shows the friendly neighborhood vibe of the Jubilee: I was in the photo pit and I felt this hand nudging me. I turned around. A young woman was pointing, tugging at my jacket that I had clipped to the side of my camera bag. She looked at me and said, “Sorry, I thought your jacket was falling out of your bag.”
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“Letting Up Despite Great Faults gave us soaring calmness.”
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Autolux has a drummer that rules.
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Kinky ended the day for me. Their set was in Spanish, but it really didn’t matter that I don’t speak Spanish. It was just a great way to endt he night. The band closed out the night in style. I watched the audience and this band gets the award for the best audience of the day. Their fans were dancing like the night was nowhere near the end.
PART II of Notes from Vivace’s Jubilee adventure will be up tomorrow