MFNW 2012
This has been a pretty full week, I must say.
For the second year in a row I've bought a festival pass (access to almost every show) for Portland's MusicFest Northwest (MFNW) and, like last year, I took some days off work so that i could enjoy it to the fullest. I've been out every night since Wednesday taking in live music at multiple venues. I bought 2 passes this year. One for myself and one I could share between Bailey, Gavin, and Emily.
On Wednesday night (a school night!) I took Bailey to the Hawthorne Theater to see Against Me!, a fantastic punk-pop act that never seems to have gone to the "next level" but have a strong following just the same. They made news this year as lead singer Tom Grabel bravely announced he is in the process of becoming a woman and now will be performing under the name Laura Jane Grace.
Truth be told, in concert his/her change thus far was a black dress and face make-up that resembled something between 70's Bowie and 80's Poison. And I mean that as a compliment. It was so wonderful to see the look of happiness and gratitude on her face as the band roared through a high energy set list that had the crowd in a frenzy. It was the 2nd most intense crowd I saw all week.
Thursday night was Passion Pit at the Crystal Ballroom with Emily and that was truly amazing! What a fantastic set. One of the things that makes the Crystal unique is that it's floor has a slight "bounciness" to it and it's actually easier on the feet when standing for long periods. But, damn, when EVERY person in the crowd was jumping up and down to Passion Pit it had an almost trampoline-like effect. So amazing!
The shot doesn't even begin to capture it. It was easily the best set I saw all week. Just an insane energy from the Portland crowd.
On Friday night I spent part of the evening wandering solo from venue to venue in Portland's downtown area. I saw a very shoe gazing act that sucked at Berbati's Pan. I saw an interesting duo called Moon Duo who sounded somewhere between The White Stripes and Jesus & Mary Chain, a white-boy hip-hop act named Yelawolf that brought the house down at the Roseland Theater, and then finally some fantastic power-pop at Star Theater courtesy of Pains of Being Pure at Heart.
Emily joined me for that set and being the kick-ass girlfriend that she is she even encouraged me to go try and chat up this one solo female that (we thought) was giving me smiles, the eye, etc. But when I finally did approach her and say hi she said it was very nice to meet me but that, truly, her boyfriend was meeting her in about 10 minutes. Oh well. Yes, that is how cool my life is: I can get shot down by a pretty woman and then before I can even tuck my tail between my legs I remember that my beautiful girlfriend is still there with me and all is good in the world! :)
Last night -- even with Passion Pit being so crazy and my fave moment so far -- I had an equally awesome time for a whole different reason. I took Gavin to see The Hives and he absolutely LOVES that band. He has all their albums, knows every song, and was waiting in anticipation for this show since it was announced in June!
And it almost didn't happen.
MFNW has passes, single show tickets, and VIP passes. And a certain number of slots or head count is held for the latter two so even though the theater was 1/2 full for the opening act they wouldn't let anyone in until just before The Hives set on the off chance there was a last minute rush of VIP holders. So Gavin and I were outside in line for an hour or more and I was terrified that we wouldn't get in, even though we were only 15 people back in line. There would be no way to make this up to the kid. He'd be crushed. And even though it's a bit melodramatic... after the year we've put this kid through... yeah... I'd have slept with a bearded monster woman if it meant getting the kid in. Fortunately it never came to that and we got in no problem! :)
Gavin bought a shirt, sang every note, and we had a blast! I am not a huge Hives fan but I will say this: They put on a SHOW! They ham it up, the singer talks between every song, and they clearly know how to bring it. It made there short blasts of garage punk way more fun and the crowd was diggin' it. It was also nice to truly see KIDS at an all ages show on a Saturday night with Mom or Dad or both. It was so cool!
Gavin was drenched in sweat in his new Hives t-shirt he bought, out of voice, and dead tired as we left. I almost had to carry him to the car like I did when he was little coming out of a movie or his first rock show (Smash Mouth, age 4). He is growing so fast into young man and he rocked like one last night.
Today is the final show, an outdoor gig at Pioneer Square with Silversun Pickups headline and openers School of Seven Bells and Atlas Genius. Looking so forward to all 3 and doing so with Emily. She has had a stressful week and I know it infringed a bit on our otherwise awesome time out the two nights we've seen shows. I'm hoping today will be a nice wrap up.
Last year's MFNW was so different. I went to many shows solo. My marriage was in shambles and a month after the festival I would wake on an October morning and find out Kell had been having an affair. I loved the bands I saw last year - You Am I, Rhett Miller, The Kills, Band of Horses, and more - but it was such a rough time that I felt a bit numb through it all. This year felt more like a celebration. I bought two passes knowing I had the people in my life to fill it. If not Gavin or Bay or Emily I have many more people I could have called and said, "Hey, let's go check out so and so at..." It's an amazing feeling.
Needless to say, I can't wait for next year. :)
J
For the second year in a row I've bought a festival pass (access to almost every show) for Portland's MusicFest Northwest (MFNW) and, like last year, I took some days off work so that i could enjoy it to the fullest. I've been out every night since Wednesday taking in live music at multiple venues. I bought 2 passes this year. One for myself and one I could share between Bailey, Gavin, and Emily.
On Wednesday night (a school night!) I took Bailey to the Hawthorne Theater to see Against Me!, a fantastic punk-pop act that never seems to have gone to the "next level" but have a strong following just the same. They made news this year as lead singer Tom Grabel bravely announced he is in the process of becoming a woman and now will be performing under the name Laura Jane Grace.
Truth be told, in concert his/her change thus far was a black dress and face make-up that resembled something between 70's Bowie and 80's Poison. And I mean that as a compliment. It was so wonderful to see the look of happiness and gratitude on her face as the band roared through a high energy set list that had the crowd in a frenzy. It was the 2nd most intense crowd I saw all week.
Thursday night was Passion Pit at the Crystal Ballroom with Emily and that was truly amazing! What a fantastic set. One of the things that makes the Crystal unique is that it's floor has a slight "bounciness" to it and it's actually easier on the feet when standing for long periods. But, damn, when EVERY person in the crowd was jumping up and down to Passion Pit it had an almost trampoline-like effect. So amazing!
The shot doesn't even begin to capture it. It was easily the best set I saw all week. Just an insane energy from the Portland crowd.
On Friday night I spent part of the evening wandering solo from venue to venue in Portland's downtown area. I saw a very shoe gazing act that sucked at Berbati's Pan. I saw an interesting duo called Moon Duo who sounded somewhere between The White Stripes and Jesus & Mary Chain, a white-boy hip-hop act named Yelawolf that brought the house down at the Roseland Theater, and then finally some fantastic power-pop at Star Theater courtesy of Pains of Being Pure at Heart.
Emily joined me for that set and being the kick-ass girlfriend that she is she even encouraged me to go try and chat up this one solo female that (we thought) was giving me smiles, the eye, etc. But when I finally did approach her and say hi she said it was very nice to meet me but that, truly, her boyfriend was meeting her in about 10 minutes. Oh well. Yes, that is how cool my life is: I can get shot down by a pretty woman and then before I can even tuck my tail between my legs I remember that my beautiful girlfriend is still there with me and all is good in the world! :)
Last night -- even with Passion Pit being so crazy and my fave moment so far -- I had an equally awesome time for a whole different reason. I took Gavin to see The Hives and he absolutely LOVES that band. He has all their albums, knows every song, and was waiting in anticipation for this show since it was announced in June!
And it almost didn't happen.
MFNW has passes, single show tickets, and VIP passes. And a certain number of slots or head count is held for the latter two so even though the theater was 1/2 full for the opening act they wouldn't let anyone in until just before The Hives set on the off chance there was a last minute rush of VIP holders. So Gavin and I were outside in line for an hour or more and I was terrified that we wouldn't get in, even though we were only 15 people back in line. There would be no way to make this up to the kid. He'd be crushed. And even though it's a bit melodramatic... after the year we've put this kid through... yeah... I'd have slept with a bearded monster woman if it meant getting the kid in. Fortunately it never came to that and we got in no problem! :)
Gavin bought a shirt, sang every note, and we had a blast! I am not a huge Hives fan but I will say this: They put on a SHOW! They ham it up, the singer talks between every song, and they clearly know how to bring it. It made there short blasts of garage punk way more fun and the crowd was diggin' it. It was also nice to truly see KIDS at an all ages show on a Saturday night with Mom or Dad or both. It was so cool!
Gavin was drenched in sweat in his new Hives t-shirt he bought, out of voice, and dead tired as we left. I almost had to carry him to the car like I did when he was little coming out of a movie or his first rock show (Smash Mouth, age 4). He is growing so fast into young man and he rocked like one last night.
Today is the final show, an outdoor gig at Pioneer Square with Silversun Pickups headline and openers School of Seven Bells and Atlas Genius. Looking so forward to all 3 and doing so with Emily. She has had a stressful week and I know it infringed a bit on our otherwise awesome time out the two nights we've seen shows. I'm hoping today will be a nice wrap up.
Last year's MFNW was so different. I went to many shows solo. My marriage was in shambles and a month after the festival I would wake on an October morning and find out Kell had been having an affair. I loved the bands I saw last year - You Am I, Rhett Miller, The Kills, Band of Horses, and more - but it was such a rough time that I felt a bit numb through it all. This year felt more like a celebration. I bought two passes knowing I had the people in my life to fill it. If not Gavin or Bay or Emily I have many more people I could have called and said, "Hey, let's go check out so and so at..." It's an amazing feeling.
Needless to say, I can't wait for next year. :)
J