Fortunately, the second day of All Points West was bright and sunny, barely a cloud in the sky. The lingering muddy patches from Friday excepted, it was an ideal day for an outdoor music festival.
I caught the end of …And You Will Know Us By the Trail of Dead’s early afternoon set. I may not be a fan of their recent output, but I can’t deny that they know how to tear it up live. They ripped through “Will You Smile Again for Me?” and “Caterwaul,” the saving graces off their album Worlds Apart, before closing with Madonna burner “Totally Natural,” a pleasant surprise. Conrad Keely thrashed about like a petulant child, giving his all, every second of each song. None of their infamous instrument smashing, though.
St. Vincent later enchanted the crowd. Her shows are always a treat, and this one was no exception. The set was heavy on her excellent recent release, Actor, with tunes like “The Strangers,” “Actor Out of Work” and “Laughing With A Mouth of Blood.” Included were Marry Me essentials “Now Now” and an amped up, audience-flooring “Your Lips Are Red.” Mid-set, the band took five while Annie Clark commented on the day’s beauty, joking that she felt inspired to play “’Born in the USA,’ ‘America the Beautiful’ and the ‘Star-Spanlged Banner’ all mashed into one.” Instead, she shredded through a fantastic cover of the Beatles’s “Dig A Pony.”
My Bloody Valentine leveled the crowd over at the main stage. Their reputation for sheer volume preceding them (earplugs were handed out for free at the festival entrance), their set featured a mix of album and EP material. The strongest were moments provided by “Nothing Much to Lose” off Isn’t Anything, “To Here Knows When” off Loveless and the EP title track “You Made Me Realise.” The infamous “holocaust section” played at the end of “You Made Me realize” lived up to its reputation; even having seen it before, it’s still a singular concert experience. The bright white lights shining out upon the crowd combined with the ungodly volume produced an effect that can only be described as staring into nuclear annihilation, or possibly the mouth of hell. Even when I was hundreds of feet away, headed towards the tent stage, I could still hear the wall of noise, the bass literally shaking my chest. It was quite amusing to picture the Tool diehards that had been at the front of the stage for hours confronted with over 10 minutes of nihilistic pink noise played at earsplitting volume as a last hurdle before their anticipated reward.
Over at the tent, Crystal Castles overcame a late start and technical problems to provide an otherwise propulsive set. Alice Glass lived up to her reputation as an intense stage presence. Whether carrying around a strobe light to flash in the face of the crowd, climbing atop the drums or the speakers or otherwise twisting and thrashing to the music, she held attention from start to finish, while a hooded Ethan Kath did his thing behind a stack of synths. While “Courtship Dating” was unfortunately marred by the lack of vocals (Mic problem or mixing board problem…who knows?), “Crimewave” and “Alice Practice” floored everyone. The crowd, with raised arms and gyrating bodies, were completely enthralled by the dark-eyed Glass.
A perfect festival day, more or less; if only it could’ve carried over to Sunday…
more from this author
- The Happy Hollows, Pity Party, Traps PS @ Spaceland - December 2nd, 2009
- Yeasayer, Amazing Baby @ Pier 54 (Hudson RiverRocks '09) - August 13, 2009 - August 17th, 2009
- All Points West 2009, Day 1 - July 31, 2009 - August 4th, 2009
- Pitchfork Music Festival, Day 3 - July 19, 2009 - July 24th, 2009
- Pitchfork Music Festival, Day 2 - July 18, 2009 - July 23rd, 2009
