Virgin Mobile Festival 2008, Day 1

This year marked the 2nd Annual Virgin Mobile Festival, and while I wasn’t at the first, I think it’s pretty safe to say that this year’s topped last year’s. V-Fest 2008 was expanded to two full days with over 40 bands and DJs performing in 2 different locations. Hot indie acts, superstars and living legends all played the 2-day festival held at Baltimore’s Pimlico Race Course.

PopWreckoning photog Ajay Malghan attended last year and accompanied me this time around. Saturday morning proved to be very directionally challenged, so we didn’t show up at Pimlico Race Course until halfway through the Swell Season’s set, but check out what the day had in store:

Cat Power - 12:00 -12:50 // North Stage

Cat Power

KT Tunstall – 12:15-1:00 // South Stage

KT Tunstall

Duffy - 1:00-1:55 // North Stage

Duffy

Gogol Bordello – 1:20-2:10 // South Stage
Due to some bad directions from a gas station attendant who clearly hated her job, Ajay and I missed

Gogol Bordello

The Swell Season – 2:15-3:05 // North Stage
No pictures are available of The Swell Season’s set, but they played beautifully to an eager crowd.

Lupe Fiasco – 2:30-3:25 // South Stage
One of the main reasons I headed down to Virgin Mobile Festival was to see Lupe Fiasco and it was not short of absolutely worth my time and effort. He opened up his set with the energtic “Kick/Push” and played other favorites off last year’s The Cool including “Hip Hop Saved My Life” and the super infectious “Go Go Gadget Flow.” On the latter, Fiasco’s guitarist played with his teeth, which was quite impressive.

Halfway through the set, Fiasco experienced problems with the monitors, but hardly let the issue affect his hyper energy and resumed the set with hit single “Super Star” once the matter was resolved. Lupe got the crowd riled asking, “Can I get an ‘Amen!’ Can I get a ‘Shalom!’” before performing tracks from his debut Food & Liquor, most notably the drawn out “Daydream.” Definitely a must see.

Lupe Fiasco

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings – 3:25-4:15 // North Stage
I’d seen Ms. Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings at The Roots Picnic in June and there was no way I was missing their set at VFest. Jones was her sassy self, shakin’ it on stage and constantly telling the Dap Kings to kick it up. At one point, she brought a young man on stage and sauntered up to him telling him that she was going to teach him how to love his girlfriend “slow and easy.” In addition to her cheeky demeanor, Jones can sing! Don’t miss out on seeing Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings.

Sharon Jones

Sharon Jones & the Dap Kings

Bloc Party - 3:45-4:35 // South Stage
No pictures are available for Bloc Party’s set, but rest assured that their set was both crazy and fantastic.

Rodrigo Y Gabriela – 4:35-5:25 // North Stage
This duo played a beautiful acoustic set with a welcomed exotic tinge.

Rodrigo

y gabriela

Wilco - 7:00-8:15 // North Stage
Wilco is just amazing and not much else needs to be said on how wonderful their set was.

Wilco

The Silver Beats / Chuck Berry – 6:30-7:30 // South Stage
From the way the line-up was arranged, it was assumed that Chuck Berry’s backing band would be the Silver Beats, a Japanese Beatles‘ cover band. This, however, was not the case. The Silver Beats played a half hour set of meticulously well-played Beatles songs including “Daytripper” and “Hey Jude” which, though unexpected was rather enjoyable, before legend Chuck Berry hit the stage in a red sequined shirt, bolero and sailor hat.

The Silver Beats

Despite fashion choices I would neither make for myself nor suggest to others, the 82 year old Berry totally owned the stage and showed every other guitarist at the festival just how the guitar should be played. It was nothing short of an honor to be able to watch Chuck Berry perform, even for just a half hour.

Chuck Berry

Foo Fighters – 8:15-10:00 // South Stage
Pictures for the Foo Fighters are unavailable, but they were hands down the most impressive act of the night. They owned the festival as the crowed rocked hard and cheered along as Dave Grohl, Taylor Hawkins, Nate Mendel, Chris Shiflett and a handful of tour performers powered through their hits [think of a Foo song on the radio, yeah they played it] and some randos. Grohl is hilarious on stage and his banter/mocking is reason enough to attend the Foo concert nearest you.

An overzealous fan threw his car keys on stage during a particularly rowdy song and Grohl picked them up saying, “Who’s the jackass who threw his keys on stage?” He then went into how the keys and car (an assumed Toyota Celica) were Grohl’s 2008 bonus. He also informed the crowd that drummer Taylor Hawkins’ real first name is Oliver and proceeded to call him ‘Oliver’ and ‘Ollie’ for the remainder of the night.

Having never seen the Foo Fighters before, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect, but I can now honestly say that it’s got to be one of the best shows I’ve ever seen.

Jack Johnson – 8:45-10:00 // North Stage
I wasn’t missing a second of Foo Fighters, especially as Ajay and I worked our way as close to the front as possible, so I missed this set. The thing about Jack Johnson, though, is if you’ve heard one song, you’ve really heard them all. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but I’m just sayin’.

Jack Johnson

Photos: all photos provided by Virgin Mobile USA Media

Lollapalooza @ Grant Park, Chicago

Despite some rain late Thursday night, the weather in Chicago’s Grant Park was perfect for this year’s 2008 Lollapalooza festival. A nice breeze off the lake made this the perfect weekend to host the excellent and diverse lineup of music. The park was kept in pristine conditions as crews constantly walked around encouraging recycling and a cleaner environment. This festival knows what it’s doing and is one of the best organized and most considerate (they even had lots vegetarian options at the food booths!) shows in the business.

Lollapalooza by Jeff Gentner

The whole weekend was sold out for the first time in the history of the festival. Friday had a record-breaking turnout as headliners Radiohead drew a sold out crowd of 75,000. Although, the earlier portion of the day wasn’t quite as packed, a solid crowd showed up to see the fine bands performing at the different stages leading up to Radiohead.

Starting off my day was Butch Walker on the PlayStation 3 Stage. Walker started his set solo with some fun loops on two new songs off his highly anticipated new album Sycamore Meadows before his band joined him on “State Line.” Walker performed a solid set showing that he is just as good an artist as he is a producer. If the new songs from his set are any indication of his new album, it is going to be phenomenal.

Butch Walker by Adam Bielawski

Any act following up the strong set by Walker would have a hard time not falling a little flat. Sure enough, the next act on the Bud Light Stage The Go! Team did just that. Maybe it is all that jumping around, but just because you want to be energetic in your presence doesn’t mean you should let the vocals suffer. Instrumental tracks like “Junior Kickstart” were just fine, but anytime Ninja would open her mouth I kind of wanted to go ninja and karate chop her throat.

Ninja of the Go! Team by Alberto Trevino

After the poor pitches of the Go! Team, Welsh singer Duffy‘s soulful vocals were a welcome refreshment at the PlayStation 3 Stage. The young singer definitely has some pipes, but her stage presence could use a little work. Her hand motions quickly got repetitive, but maybe with a little experience, her set will get a little fresher.

Following Duffy, I caught a few songs by rockers Louis XIV over on the Citi Stage. Despite a few technical difficulties, the crowd went wild over radio single “Finding Out True Love Is Blind.” I didn’t stick around too long for Louis XIV because I didn’t want to miss a second of gypsy punk group Gogol Bordello over on the AT&T Stage and this was definitely not the set to miss. This raucous set was exactly what the crowd needed as an energy boost to get through the rest of the day. After walking around all morning in the sun, Gogol Bordello brought the crowd back to their feet for a big dance party as the band played through their accordion rock set.

Gogol Bordello by Chase Agnello-Dean

Next up was Lawrence, Kansas indie rockers Mates of State. Their gentler set on the MySpace Stage was beautiful and it was a nice touch when the couple was joined by some strings. The crowd loved them, but it was hard to settle into their set after jumping around with Gogol Bordello.

Playing at the same time as Mates of State across the venue at the PlayStation 3 Stage was songstress Cat Power. Cat’s voice was just as great live as it is recorded. It is a shame that her set had to be the same time as Mates of State because they attract the same crowd.

Cat Power by Alberto Trevino

Toward the end of Cat Power, the crowd quickly scrambled for a place to see The Raconteurs perform on the Bud Light Stage. Jack White and crew sounded great, but there was something a little off about their set. It could have been that they weren’t in their usual uniform, but street clothes or it could have been the technical difficulties causing Brendan Benson to drop out during the vocals of “Level,” but it just wasn’t as tight as their club performances.

Jack White of the Raconteurs by Stephanie Janisch

I stopped at the Citi Stage for a few songs from Brazilian electro group CSS. Lovefoxxx must be tired of looking sexy because she sported a bright red spandex outfit with ruffles wrapping around it. CSS sounded a lot better live than their recording, surprisingly, and the crowd loved dancing around to their beats.

CSS by Abbey Braden

Radiohead closed out Friday on the AT&T stage. Thom Yorke and the rest of the guys thrilled the crowd by combining their tight instrumental skills with an amazing light show and fireworks as they performed songs like “Airbag,” “Fake Plastic Trees” and “There, There.” Friday’s crowd went home pleased after Radiohead’s double encore.

The crowd during Radiohead by Alberto Trevino

Radiohead by Alberto Trevino

Radiohead wasn’t the only reason to attend this festival and Saturday looked just as packed. British group The Ting Tings was the perfect start to the day. Katie White (Interview at Diesel U Music Lounge at the Hard Rock Hotel) easily draws the eyes of the crowd as she energetically moves around singing their hits, but Jules de Martino should not be overlooked as he plays and sings with precision.

The Ting Tings by Alberto Trevino

There was a little lag after the Ting Tings. Dr. Dog took to the MySpace stage, but was unmemorable. Foals played some fun dance songs over at the Citi Stage, but didn’t stand up to the high standard for other electro dance groups set by the Ting Tings. MGMT sounded phenomenal live, but their disinterest in a majority of their own set detracted from the performance. They finally loosened up and started bantering by the end of their set.

MGMT by Abbey Braden

Brand New was the band to beat for best performance of the day, although Jesse Lacey‘s attitude may have detracted from the musical experience causing many to quickly forget just how good this performance was in actuality. Joined by Kevin Devine for their first song, they took to the AT&T Stage and put on the most powerful performance of the day. Jesse Lacey’s performance is better than ever, but he appears just as moody.
He seemed to be in a good mood at first as he seemingly jokingly told the crowd, “You should all be at Explosions in the Sky. You’re all fools.” But as the set progressed through “Sowing Season,” “Sic Transit Gloria,” “Jesus Christ” and a new song (tentatively called “Bride”), Lacey grew more and more frustrated with a pocket of disinterested crowd members before finally climaxing and throwing his guitar into the drum set and leaving the stage a full fifteen minutes before the set was meant to end. Despite this mishap, this was still one of the best performances of the day and the part of the crowd that was interested was left confused and chanting for an encore.

After Brand New, I caught some of Okkervil River‘s set across the venue at the PlayStation 3 Stage and their sweet indie rock was a nice respite. They were followed by Broken Social Scene over on the Bud Light Stage, but BSS is more suited for a smaller setting where their fun instrumentations can completely engulf the listener. As great as Okkervil and Broken were, they just couldn’t match the amphitheatric power of Brand New’s set.

Okkervil River by Amrit Singh

To be quite honest, the crowd gathering for Saturday’s headliners Rage Against the Machine didn’t really appeal to us and we headed out early to get a head start home, which is lucky we did because the Chicago Transit system got backed up by three hours from the large crowd leaving Lollapalooza.

Lollapalooza continued on to Sunday and featured the usual buzz acts like Black Kids, but the real buzz swarming the venue all weekend was the suspected appearance of democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Unfortunately, Obama didn’t put in an appearance, but there were still plenty of special guests present at the festival. While Stars member Amy Millan joined the boys in Broken Social Scene on the Bud Light Stage, guitarist Slash joined festival co-founder Perry Farrell for a few songs. Plus, there were plenty of celebrities to spot like Lindsay Lohan and the Wentzes if you just kept your eyes open. This festival was filled with fun surprises and definitely not a weekend to miss.

Lollapalooza: website | schedule | setlists

Written by: Bethany

Spin releases their Top 25 Live Bands Now:

According to SPIN Magazine, the top 25 live acts in current music are as follows:

01. U2
02. The Stooges
03. Arcade Fire
04. Red Hot Chili Peppers
05. Radiohead
06. White Stripes
07. Green Day
08. The Hives
09. Prince
10. The Dirtbombs
11. Queens Of The Stone Age
12. Turbonegro
13. My Chemical Romance
14. Yeah Yeah Yeahs
15. Riverboat Gamblers
16. The Flaming Lips
17. The Roots
18. My Morning Jacket
19. Art Brut
20. Gogol Bordello
21. Against Me!
22. LCD Soundsystem
23. AFI
24. The Mars Volta
25. Comets On Fire

I would love to hear our readers thoughts on this list, as I personally disagree with several selections. I was shocked to not find Sigur Ros and their amazing live show on this list. Also, where is Wilco, Explosions in the Sky and Broken Social Scene?

Furthermore, I completely disagree with placing Red Hot Chili Peppers above Radiohead AND White Stripes. But, above all, I think what floored me the most about this list was their placing The Flaming Lips 16th, under bands like The Hives, Yeah Yeah Yeahs and My Chemical Romance. To me that’s just unthinkable. In my opinion, The Lips are a top five live show, hands down.

Readers, what do you think? What would your list look like? I’m curious.

- Joshua Neal

Popped! Music Festival – Philadelphia, PA – Photos

Hoots & Hellmouth

Dan Deacon:

Gogol Bordello:

Crystal Castles:

Mates of State:

Vampire Weekend:

words to follow.