Day 2 was definitely better than day 1. More bands, more fans, and less waiting between performances.
The first band I saw that night was Pewter Cub. They've been around for a few years, why haven't I seen them before? Why weren't there more people there appreciating them? I was really digging their set, and they're my first official good find of the festival.
Right after Pewter Club was done, Pink Lightning got under way on the other side of the room. Bow-ties, suspenders, and an electric accordion. Good fun by people who make quirky songs, and aren't taking themselves too seriously. Add another band to the good new find column.
I kept waiting for an extended dull moment that would allow to go next door to check out what was going on over at The Majestic, but Heavy Cream wasn't going to let that happen. They played on the Magic Stick main-stage right after Pink Lightning finished at the lounge stage. Their music is high energy post-punk rock that never slowed down. I also like the way they turned an old cliche on its head. Often when a mostly male band has one token girl in it, she's playing bass. This band, with 3 girls and one guy, had the guy playing bass. Reversing tired gender roles For The Win! Another great new find.
I wasn't sure how they were going to have two stages going in the Majestic Theater, but I never expected that they would completely bypass the main-stage. They had one set-up on ground level where the merchandise table usually is...
...and they had another in front of the auxiliary bar...
...and the main-stage became a mini-merch convention. A crowd of about 150 people went back forth to across the room to see alternating bands that fall into different parts of the punk rock spectrum (not too much cookie-monster vocals that night). Once in a while a few people tried to mosh with each other, but with all that empty room the energy would always dissipate quickly. One thing that the 2500 Club taught me is that even when punk music is mediocre, if it has high energy, and there's not too much extra space, it'll still be a damn good time. That tightly bottled energy will reverberate and multiply, and you'd have fun regardless of what you thought of the band's recordings.
Headed back over to the Garden Bowl lobby hoping to find Mexican Knives, and instead found Hans Corridor, a 3-piece band shredding out hard rock without barely taking a breath. This was a great example of a performance where the high energy being contained in a small face amplifies the effect. Another band for the "new find" column.
This schedule reshuffling was part of a pattern that went on all night. The Ettes were supposed to go on at 10:45, and I still don't know who that rockabilly band was that went on in their original time slot. Shabazz Palaces weren't there at all, and I guess someone decided that one simple time slot substitution just wouldn't do.
The Ettes would eventually go on at the Magic Stick's mainstage a bit after midnight. An awesome 3-piece band doing garage rock. They're able to blend in slightly kittenish sounding vocals without verging into the pop lane. Another great new find.
Heavy Cream, Han Condor, and The Ettes are all bands based out of Nashville, and are out on tour together. It's nice to see something come out of Nashville that isn't young country.
At 1 AM, Mexican Knives finally started setting up at the Garden Bowl lobby (I'm sure due to no fault of their own). Unfortunately I didn't stick around to see them, because I'm curious as to what it sounds like when one of the Lucas sisters gets together with one of the Lee Marvin Computer Arm guys and two other people.
In conclusion, this was a far better night than the previous one. I ended adding Pewter Club, Pink Lightning, Heavy Cream, Hans Condor, and The Ettes to my own "bands to see" list.
Now as for Friday night:
I'm going to try to sample Amy Gore & Her Valentines, Melvin Davis, So So Glos, and Ty Seagall.
More mixtapes:
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I'm a dork, I live in the Detroit area, and sometimes I take blurry photos on an outdated camera
