Gossip ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons
As I evaluated the day ahead of us, a hot day with the possibility of thunderstorms, the schedule had a nice mix of old and new favorites, as well as a few bands that we’ve never had the pleasure of seeing live. On that last count, the end of the evening was where the weight was centered, while the beginning of the day was an opportunity to catch up with most of our favorite local bands of the moment.
Wild Orchid Children kicked off our day a little after 2pm on the Vera Stage. Now complete with a barrier, the stage and speaker stacks seemed safer than before from the likes the previous evening’s rowdy teenage horde. The band was still operating under the shadow of the recent death of audio engineer, mentor, and beloved friend of the band Tom Pfaeffle. After a 15 minute long hard hitting, psychedelic instrumental jam, lead singer Kirk Huffman came in with a pained primal howl. “I know this is a stage and not a soap box, but someone who sleeps with 2 glocks under his pillow at night, something just isn’t right.” This angry heartfelt declaration in honor of their fallen friend found me welling up with tears. The rest of the set found the band exploring deeply psychedelic territory, with the hard and heavy rifts and relentless percussion that first turned us on to Wild Orchid Children.
We jetted off to the mainstage and Hey Marseilles, where we were told something special would be happening at around 2:28 and that it would involve a Seattle all-star drum corps. The change to a light hearted mood was welcome; it’s just hard not to smile when it’s plain that everyone in front of you is having a good time. Indeed for the final two song’s of their set they enlisted the help of some fellow Seattle musicians to provide extra percussion, among them Thomas and Pearl from Champagne Champagne and Kyle Bradford (sans ghost).
The Moondoggies were up next on the mainstage and despite lead singer Kevin being a bit sick, the set was worthy of the mainstage, drawing a healthy crowd to sing-along for “Changin’.” For keys player Caleb, it was his sixth anniversary with his wife, and after giving her a shout out, the band played a (Townes?) cover they’d just started working on the night before. Could there be a better band drink a tallboy to on a hot afternoon in the sun? We think no.
Ready for a break from the sun, we went on our way through the beer garden to the Caffe Vita Bean Room where KEXP was once again putting on live sessions in conjunction with Matson on Music. The Maldives were to be our target session, and whadoyaknow, the whole band was in on this session and we happened upon the room just as they were getting ready to go. To a packed room they played cuts from their new record, as well as a new song that doesn’t appear on the record that we hadn’t heard at all before called “Sally Mae.” When considering the lines out each door at Neumos during their official set time, we were more than glad to have had a chance to catch the Bean Room session. Realizing Moondoggies front man Kevin would be playing a short acoustic session next, we hung around. While his band is notable for their ripping anthems, when Kevin decides to role solo, a whole ‘nother side of folk finger-picking and gentle singing is revealed.
The Thermals were our can’t miss Portland act of the day. In the many times we’ve seen them, this trio has never disappointed, and their recent penchant for covering popular 90’s songs gave us something new to look forward to. Now touring on a new album with a new drummer, they don’t seem to have lost any of their previous momentum or palpable sense of fun.
A hot dog break as the Thermals were winding down finds us at the dunk tank. For a mere $5 you could get three chances at dunking various music scene celebrities from around town to support the all-ages venue and oh so much more, the Vera Project. We randomly catch Murder City Devil’s front man Spencer Moody sheepishly spending a half-hour in the unsteady chair. He taunted, smiled and somehow resisted being dunked by force of will despite multiple strong hits to the target. For those hits, manual intervention to finish the job was acceptable and encouraged. His wife even got in on the action.
Starting off our night of band’s we’ve never witnessed were Beth Ditto and her band Gossip at the mainstage, playing their first set in the U.S. in some time [ed. note: 2007 with Modest Mouse I believe]. Beth Ditto sure can talk and this day she talked about how really wants to meet Sonic Youth. In fact they agreed to play this show just so they could see Sonic Youth for free. I’m glad they did because seeing really is believing when it comes to the Gossip: these guys have some major dance jams and Beth Ditto is an incomparable personality and voice. Never have we seen so many young eager female crowd surfers. No stranger to major covers, Ditto shined on Aaliyah’s “Are You That Somebody” while reinterpreting the Talking Head’s “Psycho Killer” with an equal amount of off-kilter gusto as the original. After wrapping up with their latest single “Holy Cross,” the crowd chanted for more. Saying she wanted to “reclaim this song” (ostensibly for the gays) she placated them by leading a round of Queen’s “We Are the Champions.”
The appearance of headliners Sonic Youth in support of their new album The Eternal was on everyone’s lips, and for the event the main stage audience was without question at it’s most crowded all the weekend. This also happened to be Thurston Moore’s birthday, so after a encountering some guitar issues after the first song that required a moment to change things, Kim Gordon led the crowd in a rousing “Happy Birthday.” They played largely new songs, and still demonstrated what all the hoopla surrounding them is about. Even if they weren’t backed by the trappings of a headlining stage show, they’ve got charisma, and a natural rock and roll swagger. Not to mention Thurston Moore is an impressive axe-slinger. One can only hope they exude that ‘cool’ when they reach 50.
Stepping away from Sonic Youth, one of us finally got a chance to see at least a little bit of Fatal Lucciano and the Sport’n Life Crew for their set at Neumos. We’ve been getting hints, but seeing him with our own eyes cemented that the buzz we’d heard as truth. He had an incredible delivery, an intense, charismatic presence, and he worked the stage like a pro. Fatal is a larger than life presence, despite his small stature.
Only a modest crowd appeared for Japandroids’ last set of the fest. Considering they went are on a half hour late and were scheduled in the middle of the Sonic Youth set, they still happily remarked, “this is our 3rd time to Seattle. But our first time with people.” After powering through three songs they hit curfew and say they’re gonna play until the plug get’s pulled. They manage to make it for another half an hour finishing with a long jam after their hit “Young Hearts Spark Fire.” If all the kids didn’t have a curfew or weren’t over at Sonic Youth, I’m thinking this set would have been just as wild and fun as Starfucker’s set.
Finally with our feet begging for mercy we headed home and thanked the rain gods for delivering only a few raindrops. Strangely the decisions to step away from the mainstage led to many of the highlights of Josh’s week, Japandroids and Starfucker’s chaotic dance party both at the Vera Stage during big headliners, and stumbling upon Spencer Moody in the Vera Project dunk tank, being the moments at the top of his list. And after a weekend of Hey Marseilles performances, Abbey is now obsessed all over again. Looking back, it’s hard to say we could have wanted more in a line-up from our hometown block party.
Wild Orchid Children ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons
Wild Orchid Children ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons
Hey Marseilles and Friends ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons
Hey Marseilles and Friends ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons
Hey Marseilles ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons
Above It All ::: Photo by Abbey Simmons
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