Friday the 13th (cont)

..We arrived at the covered stage for Minus the Bear, the shade felt pretty terrific after being under direct sunlight during Jose's set. During this time period we were missing bands left and right. Adele, Tegan & Sara and Umphrey's McGee were all going on at the same time. But the extra time allowed us to get right up close for:

Minus The Bear! I just wish I had brought a real camera with zoom, so you could actually see the band in the photo. It's hard to see anything, but we were pretty close to the front.

The crowd went absolutely NUTS when they came out on stage - this had to have been one of the largest crowds they've played for - and the band seemed almost taken aback by the sheer volume of bodies stretched out in front of them.

I don't remember their setlist exactly, but they played a lot of songs off their latest record, Planet of Ice (buy).

The newer songs sounded great live, better than they do on record. But my heart still remains with their older material, and they absolutely nailed those. Classics staples "The Fix" and "Pachuca Sunrise" were my favorite songs of the set.

Standing to watch bands is tiring, I have no clue how people make it the whole day, much less 4 straight days of standing and rocking out. I was pretty wiped out after watching Minus the Bear, so I decided to go to the autograph tent and get one of their records signed.

We had to wait in line for what seemed like forever (a flustered staff member said that the band was 'missing'!) But they eventually found their way to the autograph tent. I bought the re-issue of their 2004 Ep, They Make Beer Commericals Like This (buy).

The guys looked genuinely happy to be there and didn't seem to mind that people were snapping pictures of them every two seconds. Music helps define our identities and it's always amazing to meet of the artists behind it.

Missed out on The Raconteurs to get the autograph, but I think it was worth it. Especially because Steel Train was going on literally right next door to the autograph tent!

Steel Train is going to be absolutely huge someday. Their songwriting just gets better and better, right up to their latest release, Trampoline. (listen to them here). As you can see from the picture there was a good amount of people at the stage to catch their second set of the day. Personally I think EVERY band should play two sets so that people don't have to make hard choices about skipping bands.

From there we caught a few songs by State Radio. They sounded great live, I'll definitely check them out if they ever blow through town. Unfortunately I had to split next door to see Rilo Kiley!

Too bad this image is so small. We were on the rail up front, but unfortunately waay off to the side. In fact directly to our right were a set of speakers blasting a steady stream of bass into our skulls. To the right of the curtain you had an unobstructed view of the drummers, the kit was on an elevated platform.

I'm not embarrased to admit that I frequently listen to Rilo Kiley. I am more or less in love with Jenny Lewis, and having her standing some 50 feet away was unreal! She does a fantastic job making sure evey member of the audience feels loved, going out of her way to sing from all corners of the stage.

I was not a real fan of their newest album, Under the Black Light (buy), but the songs sounded pretty good and I might have to re-check it out. Suprising amount of dudes in the audience singing along; not just to the new stuff but also old songs like "It's a Hit", "Spectacular Views" and of course "Portions for Foxes".

So everything so far that day had been awesome. Unfortunately a little Friday the 13th karma kicked in with a heavy rainstorm. I was totally planning on catching My Morning Jacket's set rain or shine, but it was coming down so hard I just couldn't justify it. Even worse, our tent sprung a leak and its contents got drenched!

I slept in the car.