Continued from Day 1
The first band we watched on the second day of the festival was VOXTROT, who played on the Connector Stage. Although I’d just seen them a month earlier here in Philadelphia, I was looking forward to seeing them in a completely different environment (read: not a cheesy dance club), preferably one with considerably better sound as well. Though the entire festival was plagued by sound problems (more on that later) on the other two stages, I’m happy to report that every band I saw on the Connector stage sounded fine and Voxtrot were no exception. I’ve seen them four times now and I’ve yet to figure out why they don’t have a better live reputation. They delivered another short, yet stirring, set combining the terrific (and quite underrated) songs from their full-length such as “Kid Gloves” with older material such as “Mothers, Daughters, Sisters, Wives” and of course the proverbial crowd pleaser “The Start of Something”. I think they’ll be forced to play the latter song during every show they do throughout their entire existence, but hey it’s a great one and there are worse fates.
After a prolonged break spent eating lunch and looking at records and CDs at the WLUW record fair, we reconvened at the Balance Stage to watch FUJIYA AND MIYAGI’s set. I’m sure by now most of you have heard the buzz about this Bristol, UK based trio, so I’ll spare you all, at least for the most part. Yes what you’ve heard is true. They effortlessly combine Krautrock with early ‘80s electro. This is a very good thing. They played reasonably well, too, but the problem was that the sound was so poor on the Balance stage that it really wasn’t worth watching for more than a few songs before we left in frustration. I think they just needed a bigger PA, but on the other hand, the Aluminum stage was close by and occasionally music could be heard from both stages, so they didn’t want to interfere with the performances on the other stage. Nevertheless, it should be noted that none of this was the band’s fault. I look forward to seeing them again in a more intimate venue.
Fortunately, IRON AND WINE had already started their set on the Aluminum stage by the time we made our way over there. Having never seen them live before and being only somewhat familiar with them, I had no idea what to expect from SAM BEAM and company. I wasn’t sure whether it would be Beam solo with an acoustic guitar or a full-band show. Luckily, it was the latter as I don’t think the former would be all that well-suited to a festival environment. Regardless, when I was watching them, I had the realization that Iron and Wine are just a classic-rock band in indie drag. Not that this is a bad thing, mind you. It’s just that I hear more of THE BAND, CSNY and even THE GRATEFUL DEAD and THE EAGLES in their sound than any band that could be described as “indie”. As a fan of late ‘60s and early ‘70s classic rock, though, I don’t mind this. In fact it was quite appropriate for the festival setting, perhaps even cementing a link between the birth of the rock festival at Monterrey and this modern-day incarnation.
After another break for basketball and dinner, we watched CAT POWER AND DIRTY DELTA BLUES on the main Connector stage. The last (and only) time I’d seen Cat Power was back in 1996, when she opened for GUV’NER at my college. She was painfully shy to the point where one could barely hear her and it was clear that she was physically uncomfortable on stage. Granted, it wasn’t a meltdown like many stories I’d heard in subsequent years, but seeing her up close back then made those stories that much more believable. What a difference 11 years makes! Not only was she up there working it, playing with band that includes RON WOOD look-a-like (and ex-DELTA 72 and JUNCTION member) GREGG FOREMAN, but she actually made a convincing case for herself as a blue-eyed soul singer to rival AMY WINEHOUSE, JOSS STONE or any similar belter who’s come down the pike in recent years. A significant part of her set drew upon material from The Greatest, her most recent album, which was recorded with Memphis session musicians and is heavily influenced by the sound of Stax and Hi Records. In addition, we got a cover of “Satisfaction”, which was considerably different from the hushed version she recorded for The Covers Record (perhaps she’d been listening to OTIS REDDING’s stunning version), and the Memphis soul classic “Dark End of the Street” (recorded by many, most famously by JAMES CARR). At times her focus on quiet material wore a bit thin, but overall I was quite satisfied with her performance.
After Cat Power came YOKO ONO, in a rare performance, on the Aluminum stage. Upon entry, we all received miniature flashlights which we were told would be part of her performance. Now came the time to find out why. The first fifteen minutes of her set consisted of a video montage that showed Yoko pleading for love and compassion in the guise of a performance art piece. Never one to shy away from politics, she compared the current environment to the one that existed in Germany as the Nazis first took power, saying she now understood why intellectuals during that time could do little to combat the rise of hate and intolerance that existed then and that still permeates today. After this video montage, she came out and played an hour-length set that spanned some of her best ‘70s material (most notably “Don’t Worry Kyoko”) as well as “Walking On Thin Ice”, perhaps her most well-known song. Towards the end of her set, THURSTON MOORE came out and played guitar with her, thus paying tribute to an underrated and massively influential artist.
As such, it was disheartening to hear people at an indie-rock festival booing and making fun of Yoko. Yes she’s been a punchline for almost four decades now, but one would hope that more enlightened fans could see past that “she broke up the Beatles” hogwash and past her unfair characterization as a tuneless screamer. The fact is that Yoko influenced entire genres of music (including no wave) by making music primarily through the eyes of a visual and performance artist as opposed to that of a musician, something which many of the No Wave bands would take as their mantra. Thurston Moore, who along with his bandmate LEE RANALDO, played with No Wave icon GLENN BRANCA before forming Sonic Youth, obviously understands this, so it’s a shame that many in the audience didn’t. Furthermore, I find it ironic that many members of the same audience who made fun of her would be willing to embrace bands such as MELT BANANA, DEERHOOF or BLONDE REDHEAD (all of whom feature screaming women of Japanese origin), all of whom owe a debt to Yoko as well. As far as I’m concerned, if she hadn’t married JOHN LENNON, perhaps her reputation as an artist would be greater than it is and less infused with baggage. More fittingly, she would be a cult icon along the lines of her fellow Sarah Lawrence College alumnus MEREDITH MONK and she would garner more respect.
