Seattle Subsonic

CHBP: Odds & Ends

August 2nd, 2010

Ok, ONE more Block Party post and then I’ll knock it off. I just wanted to collect some closing thoughts on the potpourri I had rolling around in my head. Nothing to heady (heh), just some leftover observations I wanted to get onto paper AND INTO YOUR BRAIN.

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Holy Fuck: I’ll get to the Main Stage in a moment, but despite the hard-hitting thump of these Canucks (couldn’t quite rhyme it with Fuck; sorry), their sonic impact was unfortunately diminished once you were a block away from the stage. Sure they sounded like all hell broke loose—in a very tight, controlled way—and their instrumental funk bombast was successful in summoning hips, arms and other extremities rapidly to and fro, but when the volume isn’t there, then neither is the impact. I also don’t think their new one, Latin, is quite as good as their debut.

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Beach Fossils: Catchy, driving and pleasurable. But also way too Joy Division-y. I recognized at least one riff cribbed from Unknown Pleasures, and my trusty CHBP companion said the same for Power, Corruption & Lies. Good for a lark, but I probably won’t be investigating further.

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Mad Rad: Probably one of the more anticipated afternoon sets of the weekend, the crowd was a healthy one out to see just what new shenanigans P Smoov, Buffalo Madonna, and Radjaw had up their sleeves. Turns out it was Prep School off-kilter crooning. The trio + Darwin played up their white boy image with dapper duds in various shades of pastel (yellow, pink, red, white, etc.), and seemed to take their new songs in a different direction from White Gold, which is to say…there was more singing than expected, especially from B. Madonna. But there were also new tunes that felt like the old Mad Rad, with Smoov’s Espresso beats seemingly taking charge of much of their new tricks. “Caveman” had a bit too much aggro, natch (“Fuck you / that’s how we do ’round here”), and “Blood” was a nice tribute to Oregon and its beautiful coast. Favorites like “Crack the Blunt”, “My Product” and “Superdope!” still roused the crowd more than any other tunes. The dudes were super spastic and über limbo, per usual, and even had a cello player on stage for a little while. In fact, the whole set felt very “collabo” (apparently the new lingo for “collaboration”—not sure why it had to be shortened), as Trent Moorman (Head Like A Kite) emphatically pummeled a drum kit, Mt. St. Helen’s Vietnam-ers Jared Price and Ben Verdoes pristinely picked their strings on a few new songs, and their set ended with a very “I Love My Friends” onstage dance party with several homies and local hip hoppers. If 2009 was the year they made enemies, then 2010 is undoubtedly the year they’re trying the opposite.

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Dead Weather: I think I like the idea of this band more than their actual music. I’m a big fan of its musicians, and even their sunless vamp-rock aesthetic doesn’t really chap my bleach-white hide. Of course, like pretty much all main stage acts during the CHBP, I couldn’t see much on stage (this had to have been one of the most well attended sets of the weekend). In fact, we ended up going to the Shell Station on the corner of Broadway and Pike to get a better view and sound. It was a slight improvement. Their music snarls and snakes and pounds and pushes, but I’m not sure it’s all that revelatory. Maybe it needn’t be. Or maybe I need to actually listen to the records. Or maybe I just need to listen to the Kills and the White Stripes and the Raconteurs and keep it at that.

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Main Stage sound: Royally sucked. Get better at this next year, Block Party.

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Crowd/space: To be clear, it never felt too crowded unless you were at the Main Stage. You could walk freely up and down the corridor, lines at the beer garden and Honeybuckets were minimal outside of a few peak times, and the general suffocation factor was surprisingly low. But the Main Stage at night was a complete clusterfuck, and combined with the low volume of the speakers, it made for a rather unsatisfactory experience. I’ve been a pretty unabashed supporter/attendee of this festival for many years, but I’m not ignorant or blind. I think if the Block Party continues to grow like it has the past few years, then I don’t see how it can’t relocate in order to make it worth the time and money.

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Also, here’s a handy synopsis of all my WONDERFUL Block Party coverage. Don’t you dare say I don’t love you.

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CHBP Friday: U.S.F.
CHBP Friday: Shabazz Palaces
CHBP Friday: Champagne Champagne
CHBP Friday: Mahjongg
CHBP Saturday: Obits
CHBP Saturday: Blood Red Dancers
CHBP Saturday: Happy Birthday
CHBP Saturday: !!!
CHBP Sunday: Real Estate
CHBP Sunday: THEESatisfaction