Merriweather Post Pavilion is an amazing venue. I know there are people out there who will complain about its sometimes shoddy acoustics, or how the lawn seats can be hit or miss at best. While these points might be legitimate, they are still mostly minor problems. One thing I can agree with is how ridiculous prices for alcohol can be, but that is technically true for any high level venue. If you want to pay $3-4 dollars for a beer, go to Johnny Brenda's. What makes Merriweather and other venues of its ilk such as the Festival Pier in Philly so great is their ability to bring the festival experience to any random weekend of the year. One such festival is the Virgin Mobile Free Festival.
Virgin Free Fest has the distinct privilege of being free for the masses. Although some people used this as an opportunity to sell their FREE tickets on re-sell sites like Ebay, for the most part it is a great chance to enjoy a festival for free. As long as you don't mind paying $8 for a hamburger and $9 for a beer. This years lineup was pretty interesting. Headlined figuratively by the reunited Pavement, it also brought big time acts such as Jimmy Eat World and Joan Jett together with critical darlings such as Sleigh Bells, LCD Soundsystem, and M.I.A. Sadly, the schedule was tightly packed, making it hard to see most of these acts, but who I did see ended up being pretty enjoyable.
So without further ado, let's review this thing.
Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros
I have to admit that I really didn't know much about this band past the point that they are played frequently on Titus Andronicus' Pandora playlist. I had heard that they are enjoyable live from word of mouth at this years Bonnaroo as well. Keeping this in mind, there really isn't much I can say about this band. Their show was very enjoyable and the crowd certainly seemed into them. I would certainly recommend seeing them live if you get the chance.
For what it's worth, I was a kid in the middle. And I was sitting down.
Yeasayer
Yeasayer played on the outside stage. It was a very hot day in Columbia, MD, so it was sometimes uncomfortable just standing around. They managed to make it worthwhile though. They played a varied set, but the majority of their songs came from their latest album Odd Blood. My favorite moment from their set hands down was when they played their song from the Dark Was The Night compilation, "Tightrope". It might not have been the best song they played (that honor probably goes to 2081 or Madder Red), but I was a little surprised to hear "Tightrope", which made it stand out. It was a fun show, very breezy and laid back.
sorry, not many good videos of this show out there
Thievery Corporation
Again, another band I don't know all that much about. But hey, it was this or Matt & Kim. They certainly brought a bunch of different styles together. They were backed mostly by a couple of rappers and occasionally a female singer. From what I've read the actual members of Thievery Corporation were barely visible for most of their set. Of course I wouldn't have known either way. For not really knowing anything about this band, I'd have to see they were pretty interesting live. They have a very worldly sound, and manage to mash a bunch of different music styles into some kind of enjoyable gestalt.
Another one that was hard to find videos of
MOTHERFUCKING PAVEMENT OMMGGG!!!11
Ok, first off I should admit I'm not the biggest Pavement fan, but I've certainly heard Slanted and Enchanted, Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain, and Brighten the Corners enough to know why people consider them so influential and important. As a relatively young person who would have never got a chance to see them live when they were originally together, the importance of seeing them was not lost on me. It kind of hurt that I was watching them on the side of the main stage while waiting in line to get into the pit area for LCD Soundsystem, but we were right next to the big screen and had a relatively good view of the stage, so all was not lost. Stepehen Malkmous looks like he hasn't aged at all in the last 15 years. He certainly acted like he hadn't. Jumping around the stage, balancing his guitar on his hand, and generally acting crazy. It was nice to see them look like they were having as much fun as the crowd was, and weren't phoning it in like so many other reunion acts (I'm looking in your direction The Police). It was pretty cool to hear my favorite songs by them played live, specifically Summer Babe, Stereo, Cut Your Hair, and Stop Breathin'. If they never play another tour again, I'll be glad that I got this chance to see them.
NO BIG HAIR
..and the coup de grace:
LCD Soundsystem
This was the only show we were in the pit area for. Needles to say it was a mess down there. Everyone was ready to explode, and when the first chord from "Dance Yrself Clean" hit and James Murphy took the stage, I knew we were in for a wild night. The crowd was like a shaken up bottle, just waiting for its chance to explode. When Dance Yrself finally hits that expansion point, the whole crowd jumped up at the same time and went completely crazy. At least that is how it felt. From that point on everyone was dancing and jumping around and having a great time. The set list that they played was interesting to say the least. We got staples such as "All My Friends" and "Daft Punk is Playing at My House", but the rest of the set seemed to consist mostly of tracks from This Is Happening. I like that album, but of his three it is probably the least suitable for live interpretation. It was also pretty cool to hear "Losing My Edge", my favorite non-album LCD song and one of my favorite songs of theirs overall. Even with those complaints, LCD Soundsystem was amazing as always, and they were a beautiful end to a great festival.
-not the best video, but explains the situation pretty well. The fireworks happened in between Pavement and LCD.
"All My Friends" is pretty much the theme song to our generation. Argue against it, I dare you.
I WAS THERE!!!
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