"An Epic Experience"

So VirginFest (as they called the music festival thing yesterday) was a blast. We got there pretty damn early (about 9.30 am. They didn't even open the doors until around 10 or 10.30) and we stayed until the end (about 10 pm). The breakdown of the bands is as follows:

Drive-By Truckers: These guys were great. They do a country-rock sorta thing along the lines of Blue Mountain. They rocked hard and had a pedal steel guitar player. And three electric guitars. That's a hell of a guitar onslaught. Definitely need to check out some of their albums.

Wolfmother: I'd heard good things about these guys, but in concert they struck me as a third-rate ersatz Zeppelin. I mean, they were okay, but they seemed entirely too impressed with themselves by the fact that they could create distortion and feedback. And the guitarist guy was unnecessarily hard on his guitars not because it fit, but because he was trying to say, "look at me, I'm hardcore." So yeah, ot all that impressed, but they had a few decent songs and some solid guitar work.

The Raconteurs: These guys rocked hard. Excellent guitar work, great stage presence, everything was great. Cleansed the pallate after the disappointment of Wolfmother.

Gnarls Barkley: Again, I was not impressed by these guys. Their sound is supposed to be pretty unique, but they struck me as a funk/pop band. It's been done, and it's been done better. And their song, "Crazy," is pretty blah if you ask me.

The Killers: These guys are convinced it's still the 1980s, and that isn't a good thing. Lead singer wanted to be Bono in the worst way, but didn't have the range for it. Also wanted to do some Bruce Springsteen-style story songs about the plight of the working class, but dude just didn't have the ability. Another pass.

The Who: Guys kicked as much ass as I'd hoped. Totally worth it. Did a great medley from Tommy to end the show, which was surprising and cool. These guys may be old, and Roger Daltry may not have the vocal range he once did (let's not talk about Pete Townsend's vocal range, please), but they still know how to rock hard. Besides, they've got Zac Starkey (son of Ringo) playing drums for them, and that's always cool.

Scissor Sisters: Only caught the last about 15 minutes of their show. Pretty fun dance-pop, though I'm not too keen on disco-inflected pop. Their cover of "Comfortably Numb" still bugs me, though.

Flaming Lips: These guys alone made the whole day worth it. Easily one of my top five shows ever. Everyone (well, except for one of the girls who was with us who doesn't like the Flaming Lips for some reason) had a smile plastered across their face as we sang along at the top of our lungs. And Wayne Coyne likes his fog machine. And his giant balloons. And his confetti.

Overall, great experience. I'm sad Michelle didn't get to go, but it did give me the opportunity to see some damn good bands.

~chuck

Song of the Moment: The Flaming Lips, "Free Radicals (Live)"