Music Snobbery

Man Man @ Download Festival

Final post on Download, phew.

Man Man got a raw deal. Along with Dr. Dog, they are the heart and soul of the Philly indie music scene. This is their breakout year thanks to their superb album, Rabbit Habits. They are gaining more fans outside of the city and able to headline venues themselves. On Saturday, they are relegated to playing an empty stadium. They deserve better than that.

During their line check, Ryan Kattner said into his microphone, "This one goes out to all the ladies." It prompted me to say, "All four of you." He responded, "Yes, all four of you out there." Love it.

What I like about the band is their free spirit, kitchen sink mentality to their albums and their live shows. They embrace all these fringe genres and make them fit together with their crazy, unpredictable live shows. If Spike Jones had a indie rock band today, it would look and sound like Man Man. It's never boring and you always find something new to relish. I tend think of them as a bunch of fun, musical pirates who go around making indie rock kids happy.

Ghostland Observatory @ Download Festival

Finishing up the Download Festival coverage, and just in time to gear up for All Points West. It never ends.

Ghostland Observatory is hit and miss with me. I like the idea behind the band because they have the machismo of Freddie Mercury, the high notes of The Bee Gees and the music style of dirty Detroit disco. The downside is that they seem stuck into that mindset and I feel that they are not going to move beyond that. Something like "Piano Man," which they started off their set with, is real body shaker with grating, intense beats with Aaron Behrens strutting around the stage like he's a fuck machine. It's a real crowd pleasurer, even if it's boarding on comical. Seeing people's reaction made me chuckle, some came from far and wide to see them, while the other people were like, "What the hell is this crap?"

I wish some of their other tracks equaled the quality of "Piano Man" but they tend to all sound the same. With in three songs, you get the idea.

Live, I like Behren's energy and stage presence, even though he was performing to about 200 people in a shed. He looks like a Native American disco john from the 70s.

You can't tell by the pictures but it's still afternoon when they went on, but it looks like it's late at night. Hey, nothing says a festival like a big background of nothing.

Sia @ Download Festival

I only caught a song and half from the popular singer, best known to me for her work with Zero 7. Her solo stuff is passable. I'm not much into jazz, so the albums leans towards those feelings. I will say that she's a real sweetheart. Heck, most Aussies are the nicest people you'll ever meet.

She started off with her hit, Buttons, from Some People Have Real Problems. The album didn't do much for me. She's much better live, especially with that song. Sia has this wonderful voice and that album's production didn't do it justice. The music was too passive while her voice is just all over the place. I know she wants to change it from those trip-hop vocals she does for Zero 7, but I'm itching for her to be a little more fun loving and quirky.

The Whigs @ Download Festival

The Whigs got a sweet spot in the lineup, as they went on during sundown. In the film business, it's called the magic hour -- when there's still light out, but no sun.

The one thing I haven't mentioned was that for the most part, the band's sets didn't overlap too much. So when one ended, the other began. When they did, the conflict wasn't too great. MuteMath was on at the same time as Duke Spirit. That was a no-brainer as who to see. During The Whigs set, I ran over to shoot Ghostland Observatory, and then ran back to catch the end of The Whigs set. Luckily, when I got back, they tore into "Right Hand On My Heart." The sky behind them was all orange and there was a smooth breeze coming from the Delaware River. That my friends, was probably the high point of the day for me. All of the elements aligned to make a perfect music moment.

Iggy & The Stooges @ Download Festival

It's not often where you are literally at the feet of a rock 'n' roll legend. What can be said about him that already hasn't been said before? He's Iggy Pop and you're not.

He gave the day at least some creditability. He openly mocked the idea of a corporate sponsored day of indie rock with a mainstream headliner. "I need more than commercial America. I need soul."

The man is a force of nature. He knows who he is and he knows how people respond to him. When he's not shaking his leathery body around stage, he's pointing out individuals in the crowd, even the ones standing in the seated section. Just by pointing to people and screaming "I wanna be your dog" probably made some fan's year.

As he usually does, he encourages everyone to rush the stage, which at this occasion was not too successful. He maybe got 15-20 people to jump over security. Fitting, isn't it? The females he got on stage looked like the pledges from the fat sorority that every campus has. I was looking on  and saw security freaking out because people were jumping over the railing into the General Admission area from the seated area. I didn't know whether to watch Iggy or watch a guy who makes $8 an hour tackle a 200 lb. dude.

Pop said something at the end that was so simple and so true, "Be yourself, because nobody gives a shit." That's brilliant advice.

As an amateur concert photographer, having Iggy Pop as a subject is wild. Although, he has very spare stage lighting and so 95% of my shots were crap due to lack of available light. Nuts.

The Enemy @ Download Festival

I kind of wish The Enemy didn't play the festival because I'd rather see them for the first time in a proper venue. The UK upstarts, who are billed as The Enemy UK, play a working-class brand of British Rock, similar to The Automatic and The Cribs. They look scruffy and unpolished, which adds gravity to their DIY indie rock. Wellllllll, not so indie. They got a big fat record deal in the U.S. with Warner Bros., so We'll Live and Die In These Towns will finally get a proper release this week.

Most people will take to their aggressive, in-your-face rock music, but I think lyrically they are strong. The title track is like Billy Bragg covering The Jam. I can see them becoming a U.K. stadium favorite, while still being grounded in lower-middle class ideals.

While I got to see them under less-than ideal conditions, I definitely want to watch them again when they have gained a larger fan base. It does look that they take a lot of pride in their music, no matter where they play.

Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves @ Download Festival

The one band that got the handful of people generally excited was Eli "Paperboy" Reed & The True Loves. Even the kids who stalked out a spot in the shed for The Killers came over to see what all the fussin' was about. I actually saw people having a good time -- all 20 of them! I think people who see him, get him and what he's doing. It's just great, party music on a pleasant day. He seems to be a one-of-a-kind act on the scene, and one of hardest traveling people I've seen. He's always on the move, opening up for various people. Nic Atkins even caught had them open up for her at the Stone Pony. Even Duffy is tapping him for a few dates.

Previously: Eli and the boys play Union Hall.

Alberta Cross @ Download Festival

I got to Download about an hour into the day, thus missing two acts Colour Revolt and William Fitzsimmons. The one I missed on purpose was MuteMath. Enough said.

Alberta Cross was the first band I caught. I saw them ever so briefly during CMJ last year. It's pretty obvious that they worship at the feet of Neil Young, with Petter Ericson Stakee's shaggy vocals and lazy organ melodies. They do a good job of capturing that troubadour, hirsute quality for the Neil Young era. They seem to fit comfortably rattling off high pitched guitar parts and mellow back beats. For me, I'm just a sucker for antique organs in music.

Louis XIV @ Download Festival

I had one question I wanted answered about Louis XIV -- do they have any other good songs besides "Finding Out True Love Is Blind"? Answer: no. Nothing like a one hit wonder in the iTunes age. I do wonder how that lead singer can wear a three-piece wool suit on a warm summer's day.

The Killers @ Download Festival

 
Photo Credit: Not Me. We weren't aloud to shoot The Killers. Oh darn.

Sometimes, you have to take one to the team. I'm not a fan of The Killers, but I don't hate them at all. The music just doesn't do much for me. I'm not their target audience. I think they make great hits, but they don't make great albums. If you want something that's easy-to-digest, has some artistic integrity, that's inoffensive and catchy to the masses, than The Killers is your band.

With that said, I had the option to stay, so I figure that I see the Las Vegas superstars at least once just to see how they are live. You know what gang, color me impressed. I may be a music snob, but I can appreciate a fantastic live rock show with fancy lighting and rock start theatrics.

Good news for all. Brandon Flowers got rid of the pornstache.

The setlist:

• For Reason's Unknown
• Somebody Told Me
• Shadowplay
• Sweet Talk
• Jenny Was a Friend of Mine
• *New Song* (Spaceman?)
• Tranquilize
• When We Were Young
• Tell Me Now
• Smile Like You Mean It
• Read My Mind
• Mr. Brightside
• Bones
• All the Things That I've Done

All I wanted to hear was All the Things That I've Done. After that, I left and didn't stay for the encore. That will probably be the best song they'll ever make. That is an amazing, amazing song.

While I wasn't screaming Brandon's name like a maniac or claping along to every song, just from a rock show stand point, it was intense to be a part of. People were going nuts and rightful so.

By the time they went on at 10pm, I was pretty beat. No jumping around for me. So I just watched them from my seat and was looking around to see the fan's reaction. Damn, these guys know what they are doing. If Brandon Flowers wasn't born to be a rock star, than nobody is. He knows how to hit all the right notes and do the right things to extract screams from his fans. He jumps around on the light boxes in front of him while crooning his hits. He's like the straight-Morrissey if he was born in Las Vegas and not the Northern U.K..

Flowers even does that cool rock star thing where he turns his stage banter into the next song. He said something, "Philadelphia, don't you want to see me. Don't you want to see my ... booooonnnneeeeesss." WHOOOO WHOOOOO. That's bad ass.

The whole stage had no backdrop for the whole day until Killers' crew put their forest Sawdust album as the background. Then to play up the fact that they are from Vegas, the whole stage is bathed in marque lighting. It's not often I get to see such an elaborate stage setup, so I was impressed. Preeeetttty lighting. It might have been the four super sweet lemonades I had that was talking.

Even though I don't listen to their music, I think the big stage setting suits their music perfectly. I know they get compared to Duran Duran because it's dancey, poppy and over-the-top glammy. Like I said, they have inoffensive hits on Hot Fuss, that you can't deny. With Sam's Town, I don't know what they heck they were doing there. They wanted to completely change their sound, which I'm all for, but that's something you do for a fourth or fifth album. I listen to it once and by the end, I complete forgot what I was listening to -- in one ear and out the other. Apparently, they'll have a new album out by the holidays and they played one new song, which sounded more Hot Fuss like.

Let's face it, it's The Killers of the world that keeps the mainstream music industry somewhat alive and makes millions of people happy. I can't player hate on a band just because I can't identify with the music and it's not "indie". Sure, they are easy targets for a music snob like me because it's Top 40 radio, but their live show gave me somewhat a better appreciation of what they do and how they make people feel.

Again, I didn't take these photos. This what was given to me to use. *sigh*

More coverage tomorrow, including IGGY IGGY IGGY.