All Points West @ Liberty State Park: Day One, Friday

Duffy might be the best looking person I've ever seen in person ... and I met Halle Berry once. I just have to get that out in the open.

If I can sum-up the first day of the 1st All Points West, I'll remember years from now for how fantastic the weather was. It drizzled for about 20 minutes, but that cooled everything down. That made such the different in terms on the comfort level. Then, for me, it took me 35 minutes to get there and 25 minutes back. Finally, me living in Jersey pays off.

Everything was perfectly normally. The whole festival is scaled down, more humble version of those bohemuth mini-cities created by the other big festivals here and abroad. It's really by necessity since there's no camping. More importantly, this area has been desperate for a multi-day rock festival. The Field Day Fest of 2003 is best known for it's failure. Then Vineland Arts Festivals outside of Philadelphia couldn't compete with this or V-Fest in Baltimore. So now gang, we got the goods.

I don't have any major complaints. Although if you shelled out $60 extra for VIP tickets, you got had. Their seats was a good 300 yards away from the stage. Talk about suckage for you guys.

Looks like everybody had a great time and had room to relax and chill. That was important for me. You can get far away so you can lay down and get some sun. The food offerings were normal, and not too pricey. I went to the ice tea booth 3 times .... yummy stuff. Bathrooms were surprising clean. I avoided the beer line because it was 100 people deep. The concert goers were a good mix of personalities. The extra stuff on the grounds were no big deal. There's too much good music around to waste time playing Playstation in a building on a 78 degree day.

I have mostly praise for the day's musical offerings. The line-up, at least for the first two days, had a perfect mix of genres. You really can't have one of these things without either Radiohead or Pearl Jam. It has to be noted that Radiohead has played more in Jersey this decade then in New York. Like some of you, one of my favorite concerts of all-time is their August 2001 show at Liberty State Park. It was their show when they became who they are now, the best band in music. Of course, three weeks later Sept. 11 changed out world. There's symbolize within that I guess.

• 15 Step 
• There There 
• Morning Bell 
• All I Need 
• Lucky 
• Nude 
• Weird Fishes/Arpeggi 
• The Gloaming 
• Optimistic 
• Videotape 
• Reckoner 
• Jigsaw Falling Into Place 
• You And Whose Army? 
• Idioteque 
• Climbing Up The Walls 
• Bodysnatchers 
• How To Disappear Completely 
• ENCORE: House of Cards 
• Pyramid Song 
• Paranoid Android 
• Dollars & Cents 
• Street Spirit (Fade Out) 
• 2nd ENCORE: Cymbal Rush 
• Just 
• Everything In Its Right Place 

What a marathon performance. Well over their allotted 90 minutes. Probably 2 hours, 20 minutes.

This is my sixth time (forth time in Jerz) seeing these guys, going back to when they played Rutgers my freshman year. Beat that, kids. So nothing really surprises me how they are a class upon their own. hands now, no argument ... best band of the decade.

During their set, I was looking for a hint of levity from Thom Yorke. It came in the form of him doing an Jersey accent. "Thank you, New Joizey" Great, even Thom Yorke knows the jokes. Thanks.

No Radiohead pictures from me, maybe tomorrow.

Some Advice

• Bring a jacket, long sleeve shirt or sweater. It got cold at night
• Forget about drinking alcohol. Just skip it for once. Save the money
• Don't bother with the ferry. Take the PATH to Hoboken, then take the Light Rail. It will cost you maybe $7 total. Driving? Go to the West side Avenue Station. $2 parking, 3 stops and you're at the park

I do have plenty of good stuff from the other acts. So that I can rest, I'll just post a few snaps and quick thoughts. Then next week, I'll go into detail.

Duffy: Started 30 minutes late. Fantastic debut album, great new talent, great sound, needs to work on the live show -- I was hoping for something more dynamic and involving

Girl Talk: I must admit, I was impressed. Fuck me up and call me Dorothy, but the crowd on stage was pretty funny to watch. I still don't get him though. He plays two songs at the same time, I can do that. The major thing to note: this was suppose to be a green festival and he wasted about 50 rolls of toilet paper. Somewhere, Jack Johnson is pissed off.

 

New Pornographers: They played ELO's "Don't Bring Me Down". It was odd seeing them on stage with a huge projection of themselves in the background.

The Go! Team: The first band I caught. The perfect kickoff for the main stage.

The Duke Spirit: Goodness all around. I'm happy that they got a great turnout.

Andrew Bird: had to play opposite Underworld and Girl Talk

Underworld: I'll take them over Girl Talk. They played with Radiohead at Giants Stadium as well with that Failed Day Fest.

CSS: Crazy fun

Michael Franti: You can't have one of these festival without some sort of raggae element.

Mates of State: Hardest working mon and dad indie poppers of the moment.

Grizzly Bear: I'm reserving my thoughts until later.

See you folks later on today.

Comments

[bajeezus]

girl talk, grizzly bear and radiohead ruled day 1 IMO

3 stellar fun sets all for different reasons

NP were a bummer

once you've seen CSS once you've seen it every time

[brian]

saw you there during Underworld!

[West Side Ave]

Thanks for the excellent parking tip.

[Tito]

RH were allotted two hours, but still played longer which is always delightful.