In my last post I briefly mentioned how fun it was to watch people dancing at Harvest of Hope. I'd like to elaborate on that a little more.
First off we have purple headband girl. I fortunately snagged some pictures of her during Diplo's set, in her glorious coral body suit. The dude in the blue tank is Travis, from BLORR. I'm not sure if he was hollerin', but I wouldn't doubt it - she was a fox. Thank God for camera phones, otherwise I'd have no way to prove that this majestic creature exists.
There were tons of other insane dancers, but unfortunately I have no photos. But here are some descriptions, in the various styles of "Craigslist".
gray & teal striped shirt guy during Diplo - w4m: u were dancing with a group of friends and i think u were on xtacy or something. idk, u were sweating a lot and kept moving like u were pushing a lawn mower or grocery cart. i tried to do it but couldnt cuz i felt like i was starting a chainsaw or something. would luv 2 have u teach me how to "mow the lawn".
blues brother looking guy in white polo and bucket hat- w4m: i think u were watching the national. i think i was watching yr butt. i know that for a fact actually. it was hypnotizing. your butt, not the national. somehow when u danced u made just yr butt move.... but nothing else. u r like 6'5" and had a lumpy belly and a friend that looked like a more straight version of u. u r an enigma to me. neway, the point of this is to ask u how u get just yr butt to move?
This one doesn't have to do with dancing, but whatev.com:
ginger girl that puked on my foot during against me! - w4w: you were walking through the crowd right by me when you abruptly stopped, threw up directly onto the ground and my foot for about three seconds, and kept walking. i cursed you, recovered, then wiped my tainted foot on my jeans. that exchange of stomach acid and rumrunner will never be forgotten. i saw you after their set by the fence, still retching. hope you made it to your tent/trailer/grassy knoll safely.
Honestly, it makes me mad I did not get video of bucket hat guys butt. It took serious talent, and now the memory of it is taunting (and haunting) me.
One word sums up that weekend: EPIC. My friend Sandra and I got there around 5 on Saturday, so we missed quite a few sets, but that's okay. Why is that okay, you ask? Well let me tell you, friend. I saw Bad Brains. BAD BRAINS. It was like a religious experience seeing them, no joke. In case you aren't too familiar with them, here is a little video about them that I found on their site:
They played Stage 1 on Saturday along with Strike Anywhere, The Bouncing Souls, Propagandhi, and Against Me! I unfortunately missed all of those except Against Me!, though they were amazing enough to make up for the rest. There are few bands that I love as much as I love them, have seen as many times, own as many records from, and have loved as long. That whole sentence is weirdly constructed but basically what I'm trying to say is that Against Me! is one of the best bands ever. They just never disappoint. Here is a video from AM!'s set at HoH.
It cuts off at the end just a little, but this song is one of my favorites so I chose it anyway.
Now for the "thumbs down" reviews of the weekend. The two main bands I have a bone to pick are with The Gaslight Anthem and The National.
I thought I liked The Gaslight Anthem. They're cute, have an Against Me! vibe (liberal usage of 'whoa-oh-oh' and the like), kind of gritty with a smidge of blue collar charm, and have some pretty decent songs. But now that I've seen them, I don't know where they stand in my book. I found that while watching them live if you closed your eyes and just listened, you'd think they were some dime-a-dozen buttrock band. I thought the beer might have been affecting my judgement, but Sandra mentioned later that they sucked and "sounded like Nickelback". Oof. Looks like the beer just honed in on their crappiness.
And as for you, The National... I never fell head over heels over "Boxer," though I tried to. It's a decent album, but always felt like some sort of slurred Interpol knock-off. Sorry, guys. Regardless, they are talented and have gotten tons of attention recently so I had high hopes for their performance. After all, they were headlining Stage 1 on Sunday. Well, after getting off the ferris wheel we strolled over and were immediately disappointed. Isn't that terrible? Within seconds I was over it. But we stuck around because watching people dance was pretty entertaining, and I had to kill time somehow before This Bike is a Pipe Bomb played. Maybe they need to pick up a wicked coke habit to kick things up a notch (kidding!), or at least have a damn Redbull or something. Yaaaawn.
Now here are the winners of the weekend (aside from BB and AM!): Ra Ra Riot, Holy Fuck, Tigercity, and Monotonix. Oh golly. They all played in a row Sunday afternoon and it was worth the sunburn, let me tell you. Here are some main points:
-Monotonix: Singer reminded me of a more tan, less tame version of the System of a Down singer. That could be bad, but in this instance it is awesome, and he is hilariously grotesque. He balanced on the barrier rail near the stage, pulled his shorts down, shoved the microphone downtown and then sang with it just seconds later. He also was held up by the crowd for the majority of the set, as was a drumset so he was just "floating" on top of the crowd, banging around, singing (I use that word loosely) in what I presume is Hebrew (they're from Tel Aviv). I ran into the singer later near a food tent in the band area and was astonished by how hairy he is up close.
Yeah... have a taste of that.
-Tigercity: Had no idea who these guys were, but they instantly won me over. Perhaps it was the singer saying that he was turning into a raisin, or their ridiculously cute bassist? Those things in addition to their refreshing sound is what really bowled me over. I'm not really sure how to explain their sound, so you go figure it out!
-Holy Fuck: I have heard this name all over the place, and not in the expletive sense, but had no idea what they sounded like or anything about them. But once they started playing, it was ON! I was an automatic fan from the get-go. They reminded me of Battles somewhat, which is a great thing. They were super tight and focused, but unfortunately their recordings don't even touch their live performance. Hopefully they'll throw some better recorded songs up soon.
-Ra Ra Riot: They rule, basically. It looks like they are having a ton of fun on stage, and they're really tight, musically. I used to have more written here, but it was a bit contrived so I'll just post a video of theirs instead.
Overall, the weekend spent at Harvest of Hope was one of the best of my life. It was exhausting - constantly walking or standing, swampy port-a-potties, heat, booze, no real bed - but all so incredibly worth it.
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