(for Day 1 coverage click here)
Day 2 was spent cramming in seventeen bands (and perhaps you thought thirteen bands on Day 1 was crazy). That’s a lot of bands so let’s start if off:
Just like Day 1 with Wildcat! Wildcat! kicking things off, AV Club eased us into the music for Day 2.
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NO was second and looked ready to start their set way before the Festival was ready for them to start playing. You could just see it in their body language that they planned to give us a set. And when they were finally given the green light, it was awesome.
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THE LONELY WILD
The Lonely Wild was playing with Silver Lake Contemporary Ballet. It was beautiful poetry.
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BATWINGS, CATWINGS
I did a quick stop to catch a portion of the wild music of Batwings Catwings.
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MANHATTAN MURDER MYSTERY
Then I was off to catch the equally wild Manhattan Murder Mystery. The bass player spent 90% of her time playing with her back to the audience. Their garage rock did not disappoint with various musical instruments and components of instruments flying all over the stage as well as off the stage.
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SUMMER TWINS
I believe someone in the photo pit suggested heading off to see Summer Twins. They provided us with a summer-day-in-Los Angeles inspired set. I do want to catch one of their sets again. I see they’re playing June 19th at the Bootleg.
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CONTACT FIELD ORCHESTRA
I admit that at this point of the day, I needed the coolness of the El Cid stage so off I went to El Cid to catch Contact Field Orchestra, which provided us with what the musician calls field recording.
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INCAN ABRAHAM
I caught a brief portion of Incan Abraham and the thought that hit me, “Silver Lake magic.”
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EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS
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What follows was what I considered my core trio for the day. It started off with Eastern Conference Champions. They started the set out by pounding the drums. I loved it. I had to leave early in order to catch Lake. As I was leaving, I felt like I was leaving a best friend. Note: they’ve added a fourth member to the group.
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LAKE
Lake comes to us from Washington State so they don’t come around too often.
Band comment one: “Any questions for us?”
Band comment two: “My ears are lopsided so they look weird.”
Though they are from Washington State, they did have their fans show up as there was some friendly banter going on.
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FAMILY OF THE YEAR
It was then off to Family of the Year. This band is so good they’ll have you weeping. I wrote in my preview that the Intraffik editor told me about this band long ago and that I do believe I love them more than she does. Go see this band, you’ll love them too. They win the Day 2 award for the best smile.
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TEARIST
Tearist started out the set with the lead singer rushing over to the side of the stage and banging on the railing. Like XBXRX on Saturday, this caught the attention of the photographers. She kept up the energy and I can only assume she does cardio workouts like crazy. Words that came to mind: synth. chanting. dancing.
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LA SERA
La Sera’s comment one: “Are you Jubilee? We are.”
Comment two, “Yeah, we broke a string.”
In the Notes from Vivace book: bonus points for a broken string. There was one moment during the set where the lead singer looked to her left and then to her right as if asking, “So who’s starting this one off?”
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ABE VIGODA
Abe Vigoda. The earnest sounds of Abe Vigoda. They get the award for the best audience/band conversation of the day, which went as such: “I love you Juan.” “I love you Kate.” “I told her to say that.”
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MAYA JUPITER
Maya Jupiter. I only caught her last song. I so wish I’d seen more, like way way more. I see she’s playing June 2nd at 6 p.m. Sounds like a date to keep.
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ALOE BLACC
Aloe Blacc gave us an hour plus of pure bliss. Everyone was dancing away except for those of us in the photo pit. One of his songs was about life passing us by because we’re pre-occupied with other things. I couldn’t help but feel like he was talking to us in the photo pit. Here was this beautiful set and we were clicking away on our cameras. To close out the set, he had the audience form a soul train line. It lasted for a few moments and then broke down into an all out dance.
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GOTHIC TROPIC
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The night ended back at El Cid to catch Gothic Tropic. The drummer disappeared. A friend of the band went rushing off to find her. This is my second time seeing Gothic Tropic. The first time I saw them, I felt like they were three musicians going for their own sound and somehow it all worked out. Their Bartok-like inspired music seemed to hide away for most of their set, but it broke out in all its glory for their final song.
In my Jubilee preview, I said to check back here and I’d mention which band stole the show over the weekend. I need to back away from that statement. Aloe Blacc and Kinky gave great performances, but it seems unfair to highlight them when they’re much bigger acts than the local Los Angeles bands. And saying Family of the Year or Eastern Conference Champions would show total bias. Since FIDLAR had to cancel due to illness, I’m going to make that my excuse for not picking the stand out band of the weekend. Yes, I’m being chicken.
Next year . . .
P.S. On Monday, I noticed this bruise on my right hand. Later in the day, I noticed all these scratches on my hand. What’s going on? Ah, the camera strap.