Leftover Salmon At The Rialto Theatre, Tucson, Arizona

Leftover Salmon At The Rialto Theatre, Tucson, Arizona, February 24, 2013. Photo by Joshua P. Fowler.

One wouldn’t know that Southern Arizona has a thriving jam community from the number of bands that play shows in Tucson, so when bands like Jam Grass mainstays Leftover Salmon come to town it isn’t just a concert but a family reunion of sorts.  The whole family was at the Rialto Theatre on a beautiful spring night in Tucson, for a show that was as drunkenly loose and much more fun than most reunions.

The band shifted between the open jams and tighter songs throughout the night, but the crowd responded best to the extended jams and impressive solos.  Drew Emmit on Mandolin and Jason Carter on fiddle were the stars of the instrumentals showing off their licks the night.  The show started on a slower note with bluesy number “Lonesome Road” but quickly picked up with Vince Herman taking the vocals on “Boo Boo” which had a clear reggae inspiration.  Perhaps the greatest reaction came when Emmit too switched to fiddle and together they played an impressive back and forth instrumental of the fiddle national anthem, Ervin T. Rouse’s “Orange Blossom Special”.  They started with the familiar train blues and dissolved in to a long and impressive show off of fiddle skills.

Throughout the night the band was having fun and joking in between songs to themselves and to the crowd.  At one point they played what they called “every song ever played combined with digital compression”followed with a short ditty about an amputated ear on the floor.  Herman took the crowd request for his second consecutive Tucson show for his song “Fuzzy Little Hippie Girl”, which is exactly about what the title implies.  At other points the crowd wasn’t in on the joke but the band seemed to be having fun none the less, cracking jokes to each other during and in between songs.

The show ended on a somewhat awkward note with a cover of The Eagles “Take it Easy”.  About half the crowd were enthusiastic about singing along on the chorus, the other half was unsure whether to participate likely with Big Lebowski quotes running through their heads.  Despite the early end time for the show due to the lack of an opener everyone left well entertained and satisfied and already scouring the calendar for the next family reunion.

Sigur Rós At The Fox Theatre, Detroit, Michigan

Sigur Rós At The Fox Theatre, Detroit, Michigan, April 1, 2013. Photo by Matt Nedwicki.

Sigur Rós announced the upcoming release of their newest album, Kveikur, two weeks ago, as the band was poised to start the North American leg of their tour. The announcement was accompanied with the revelation that the sound would be “more aggressive” than usual. While I didn’t know exactly what to make of a “more aggressive” sounding Sigur Rós, who are known for characteristic droning build-ups to expansive, cathartic releases, it did not dampen my eagerness to experience their world-renowned live show when they came to Detroit on April 1^st. Like all the Icelandic emotional tour-de-force does, it promised to be spine-tinglingly impactful.

The opener for the night, ambient producer Daniel Lopatin’s project Oneohtrix Point Never, played a tranquil set that placated anyone who had taken their seats—leading to a calm anticipation around the theatre upon completion. Any action that wasn’t silent or deliberate suddenly seemed grossly inappropriate. When Sigur Rós eventually took the stage, the musicians were separated from the audience by a stage encompassing, semi-transparent screen. This served as a medium for the projections used throughout the first two songs. The opener, entitled “Yfirborð”, further extended the tense serenity gently asserted on the audience by Daniel Lopatin. The Icelandic ensemble wordlessly took the stage, and introduced themselves to the audience by playing melodic, gentle drones as images of spore-like projections spread out across the screen, which by now seemed more of a biological membrane than human construct.

As the second song, “Ny Batteri” began, shimmering bright images were intermittently displayed on the barrier as the frontman, known simply as Jonsi, took center stage with his electric guitar and a cello bow. Spotlights were projected at an oblique angle from Jonsi’s rear, causing his projection to appear huge on the translucent screen. The projection was less man than it was giant, insectoid silhouette, passionately impaling its instrument with a shadowy sword. When the song built to a crescendo and more members (with their respective shadows) were incorporated, the screen that had seemed so organic earlier was now the audience’s only guardian from the group. Just as the wall of sound reached a point of blissfully unbearable tension, there was a subtle change in key, and the screen suddenly fell to the stage—revealing the band, now surprisingly human-appearing, and a barrage of lighting and effects. There were eleven members in total: Jonsi on lead vocals and guitar, a bassist, and a drummer – the three at the very core of Sigur Rós – accompanied by a keyboardist, a multi-instrumentalist, a female violin trio and a three person horn section.

When that partition dropped, the tension that had been building so steadily was abruptly relieved. There was a sudden emotional openness to the audience now, a willingness to be captivated by anything that Jonsi and his troop thrust upon us. The experience the rest of the way wouldn’t be solely musical though. A stage-width display behind the performers was also revealed at the climax of “Ny Batteri”. Short, abstract films that coincided perfectly with the music were projected for the remainder of the concert. Each film was unique and each left indelible impressions on the song that it accompanied. Images ranged from mysterious- shadowy travelers on distant mountains signaling to each other using lanterns – to morose – gas-mask clad antagonists perpetuating totalitarian acts of violence upon faceless victims. Audience members were faced with a choice at the beginning of each song: let yourself become captivated exclusively by the music as you watched the members of Sigur Rós passionately slave over their respective instruments, or become engrossed in the screen’s overriding narratives as the musicians provided a perfect, post-apocalyptic accompaniment.

The most memorable of these film adjuncts escorted “E-bow”, off of the band’s ( ) album. The song, actually named after the electronic tool utilized by bassist Georg Hólm to create a signature atmospheric bass sound, is more so characterized by the slow, driving drum beat throughout. It is in time with this drum beat that the film and lighting effects were coincided. What appeared to be a close-up image of jet-black, rocky soil was projected on the screen, which had been lowered to stage level. As the song began, the projection began descending, giving the stage the disconcerting appearance of steadily climbing out of a never-ending rocky pit. The beat and the climb remained at a uniform speed while the other instrumentation swelled. Right as the song reached its climax, the pit startlingly opened up to the surface of a deserted, dystopian environment. The entire upward journey had been for nothing, the hope for ascension to bring paradise or bliss was shattered.  While that was about as haunting and gloomy as the show ever became, none of the other film complements were exactly uplifting: most themes bordered on unsettling, often with apocalyptic undertones.

The whole experience was engrossing, overpowering and disturbing all at once. Crashing climaxes and musical brilliance were the status quo for the night. However, while there were moments of undeniable beauty in the music performed, there was definitely a forceful creepiness to the performance, often due exclusively to the visual effects. If their new album is supposed to take a “more aggressive” direction, it has seemingly oozed into their live performance as well. Sickly images unseated the normally uplifting feelings I associated with the group. The only way to avoid the dark themes was to close your eyes for the entirety of the show and listen only to the music, shamelessly ignoring the complete message of the artists. However, maybe that’s what Jonsi and Co. want us to realize. There are terrible things happening whether we decide to accept that or not. Things that are not inspiring or uplifting. Closing our eyes to atrocities does not make our world a more beautiful place. It just makes us bystanders.
But yeah, great show.

Unknown Mortal Orchestra at the Hotel Congress, Tucson, Arizona

Unknown Mortal Orchestra at the Hotel Congress, Tucson, Arizona, February 17, 2013. Photo by Joshua P. Fowler.

The billing of Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Foxygen, and Wampire made perfect sense not only because they are labelmates under indie label Jagjaguwar, but because they all have distinctive takes on a similar psychedelic sound. The irony of what was billed as the official after party to The xx concert that took place in the Rialto Theater was that the party started and mostly ended before The xx crowd had made its way over to Hotel Congress.

Wampire started the show strong, warming the few early comers. Their songs were synth and bass-laden without losing the guitar driven rock feel. The music fit well with the bands that followed and it is no surprise that their upcoming album Curiosity (to be released in May) was produced by Unknown Mortal Orchestra bassist Jacob Portrait. By the end of their set, the crowd had left their seats along the bar and were dancing and enjoying the show from the floor.

The real party started when Foxygen took the stage. The set started with instrumental “Bowling Trophies” and it was quickly apparent that vocalist Sam France was the emotional leader and conductor of the band. He would prance, run and jump around the stage sometimes yelling and sometimes whispering the lyrics. There was a manic aspect of his performance between strength and fragility, sometimes in the same song or even same lyric. The audience later learned the fragility may have been aided by the stomach flu that France said he was suffering from later in the show. Foxygen pleased the crowd by playing seven of the nine tracks of their fantastic new album We Are the 21st Century Ambassadors Of Peace & Magic. They faithfully recreated the songs to the degree that would please the crowd while remaining loose and exciting throughout the show. The set closed with album closer “Oh No” which was extended into a spacey jam session. Just after Foxygen left the stage, the crowd from The xx concert started trickling in–but much of the crowd at Hotel Congress started leaving.

As Unknown Mortal Orchestra took the stage the room was about half full and seemed more in the mood for a chill-out show than a party. Fortunately Unknown Mortal Orchestra was of the same mind and was happy to play their brand of spaced out psychedelia. The rhythm section of Jake Portrait on bass and Riley Geare on drums were the driving force of the show by complimenting singer/guitarist Ruban Nielson with rhythms that often dripped with Mo-town Soul. The lyrics and guitar playing were more indicative of Syd Barrett-era Pink Floyd. Unknown Mortal Orchestra switched between playing songs off their two albums playing about seven off each and the crowd seemed to be more familiar with those off the self-titled release from 2011. That said, many of the highlights came from the recent release II, including album and show opener “From the Sun” and one of the few true rockers of the set, “No Need for A Leader”.

Altogether this show was a perfect billing for a Sunday night concert. Wampire woke up the crowd, Foxygen brought the party, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra gave a relaxing space out show that one could enjoy but still make it to work on Monday morning.

Moogfest 2012 – Saturday

Pre-Party | Friday | Saturday

Four Tet performing on Saturday of Moogfest 2012. Photo by Jeff Pearson.

There is something about the mid-festival stupor—a combination of confusion, glowing glee, and straight up exhaustion—that feels oddly comforting. That stupor combined with the comatose state brought on by a giant breakfast at Mayfel’s to form the perfect storm of laziness on Saturday. Mentally drained by Squarepusher’s erudite sonic and visual assault, emotionally drained by Explosions In The Sky’s uplifting glacial rock, and physically drained by Richie Hawtin’s techno juggernaut of a set, we were left in a heap in our hotel room to watch a Halloweentown marathon all day while waiting for the music to start that night. No complaints. The Cromwell family really had the magic touch—get it?—at curing that stupor and getting us in the Halloween spirit for our last night at Moogfest for the year. We stumbled out of our room to a suddenly—to us—chilly evening without ever knowing how Marnie fared at Witch University, but that’s for another day.

First up was Divine Fits, the supergroup project of Spoon’s Britt Daniel, Wolf Parade and Handsome Furs’ Dan Boeckner, and New Bomb Turks’ Sam Brown. It was a refreshing way to start the evening; in the midst of an electronic-tinged festival, Divine Fits put on a flat-out rock and roll show, dazzling the crowd without theatrics, simply playing their instruments at a high level and with infectious energy. The band worked their way through a fun set of songs from their debut record, entitled A Thing Called Divine Fits, Daniel taking the bass duties while Boeckner wielded his guitar with a swagger only really ever seen in the greats of the instrument. The two traded off vocals from song to song, sounding like a group who has been playing together for years instead of the relatively short lifespan they actually possess together. Songs like “My Love Is Real” and “Would That Not Be Nice,” though not dance songs at heart, had the crowd really moving, already coming out of their shells at the beginning of a long night of music. As if they hadn’t already won over the U.S. Cellular Center’s approval, Divine Fits busted into a high-energy cover of Frank Ocean’s “Lost,” taking the R&B funk of the original and coloring it with their particular brand of indie rock. It was a great twist in their set and yet another example of the diversity that continues to permeate through the Asheville air during Moogfest.

Divine Fits by Jeff Pearson.

We wandered back out into the night—rapidly cooling off, feeling more like the previous installments of Moogfest second-by-second—heading for the Diana Wortham Theatre for the first time during the weekend. Andy Stott was set to play and we displayed will-power unlike any other by ignoring the Marble Slab Creamery in the entrance—we had music to hear, after all. There was a brimming energy within the theatre as Stott took the stage; everyone was on the edge of their seats ready to let the British producer take them on a journey. Stott made the Diana Wortham Theatre feel like a cave, where disembodied voices were bouncing off the walls around us and deep bass throbs emanated from some far away passages—an unattainable rave whose pulse we were ever-searching. His set was cerebral and intense, somewhat creepy and pretty much the perfect display of ambient techno’s capabilities. Stott seemed to be in tune with something that the audience was only made aware of minutes later, a sound in his head that came to life in full force, affecting the mix and turning it in a completely different direction. His sparse visual accompaniment—just a man going to work on his equipment, dimly-lit and without frills, put the focus solely on his music. Stott haunted the theatre in true Halloween fashion, but something about the expertise with which he pulls sounds from a deep well into the mix tells me that he haunts theatres year-round.

Andy Stott by Jeff Pearson.

Back at the U.S. Cellular Center, the mood was decidedly different than the ethereal atmosphere Stott had cultivated at the Diana Wortham Theatre. It couldn’t have felt farther from what we just experienced as we walked into a packed arena, going completely nuts to Santigold performing “The Keepers” from her latest album, Master Of My Make-Believe. Santigold commanded possibly the largest, most energetic crowd of the entire festival, strutting around the stage and dancing in unison with her incredible pair of dancers. Santigold performs with an unbridled enthusiasm that is impossible to not get wrapped up in; there was never a moment on Saturday when she didn’t have a smile on her face, taking in the massive crowd seemingly in awe of the turnout for her performance. The entire performance was high-energy and relentless, and that energy reached a peak when Santigold brought out costumed members of the crowd to join her onstage for a celebratory version of “Creator.” In seemingly a whirlwind of costume changes and synchronized dancing, Santigold’s set was over in a flash as she performed her homage to her hometown of Brooklyn with “Shove It.” Though she admittedly doubted that there were probably few Brooklynites in attendance, the packed U.S. Cellular Center was all from Brooklyn if only for that song, a collective party in Santigold’s honor.

Santigold by Jeff Pearson.

That party atmosphere in the U.S. Cellular Center only escalated even further as British electronic legends Orbital took the stage. The duo came out in pitch darkness to their “Time Becomes” intro, the swollen crowd already erupting before Orbital had even dropped their first intense break or mammoth bass. Heavily reliant on material from Wonky, their latest behemoth in dance music, Orbital performed a nonstop set of incredible music, showing why they are considered to be among the all-time greats in the genre. Only Orbital, for example, can take eighties pop like Belinda Carlisle’s “Heaven Is A Place On Earth” and turn it into a completely combustible piece of techno capable of having such a vast venue filled with people completely in hysterics. Hysterics was pretty much how the crowd stayed for the entire duration of Orbital’s set. It was as if Phil and Paul Hartnoll were putting on a clinic for all the young acts on the bill at Moogfest of how to work a crowd and put on a true spectacle in electronic music. Unlike a lot of producers, Orbital relied solely on the sounds they make to work the crowd into a frenzy, not buoyed by a large-scale visual production. From the start to the very last note of the Dr. Who-infused version of their break-out song, “Chime,” Orbital had every single person in the U.S. Cellular Center dancing with complete abandon, unable to even really fight off inhibition.

Orbital by Jeff Pearson.

Though Orbital have been doing what they do for over two decades, there are many acts on the bill who can command a crowd simply by producing awe-inspiring sounds onstage, and Four Tet carried that torch for Orbital in the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. Kieran Hebden may not have the years under his belt that the Hartnolls have, but he is developing into a legend of electronic music in his own right, and his set on Saturday night proved just that. He was at Moogfest in its inaugural year, and packed out the Orange Peel so much that a venue upgrade was necessary to accommodate for his growing popularity. Without ever uttering a word, Four Tet curated a non-stop dance party in the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, constantly teetering on the edge of dancefloor-ready forward motion and intricate texturing and layers. It speaks to the level with which Four Tet produces and performs his music that the depth and intrigue within his music all but matches its danceability. As he launched into the hit from There Is Love In You, “Love Cry,” the lights flashed on a giant disco ball above, spraying light all over the packed auditorium and sending the crowd into delirium. Minutes after Hebden exited the stage, simply with a giant smile and wave, members of the audience lingered in shock at what they had just witnessed. Moogfest is the perfect festival for an artist like Four Tet, where attendees are willing to give back everything they can to the artist on stage in total appreciation.

Four Tet by Jeff Pearson.

Back in the U.S. Cellular Center, the crowd was showing U.K. psytrance producer Shpongle their appreciation by filling the arena with flowing glow lights and outstretched arms reaching for the sky and the massive stage set called the Masquerade. In the back of the venue, a projector displayed swirling psychedelic visuals as Simon Posford navigated the pulsing Eastern rhythms of “Divine Moments Of Truth,” the stand-out track from his debut album Are You Shpongled? Though the hour was getting late, the energy level seemed to constantly increase until the apex of Shpongle’s set. It was obvious that everyone in attendance was feeling just like I was: tired, but unwilling to concede that the weekend was actually coming to a close. There’s always that healthy balance at the end of a festival like Moogfest of fond memories and dread blending in the most bittersweet of feelings. As we wandered back out onto Haywood Street for the final time of the weekend, there was one phrase overheard nearly everywhere we turned: “I can’t wait for next year.”

Shpongle by Jeff Pearson.

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JUSTICE AT THE U.S. CELLULAR CENTER, ASHEVILLE, NC

MOOGFEST 2012 – FRIDAY

MOOGFEST 2011 – SUNDAY

Moogfest 2012 – Friday

Pre-Party | Friday | Saturday

Nas performing on Friday of Moogfest 2012. Photo by Jeff Pearson.

With Moogfest officially underway on Friday morning, the festival atmosphere was in full swing as Jenna and I wandered out of our hotel room with bleary eyes and ringing ears from Justice’s sensory overload of a set the night before. Compared with year’s past, we could hardly believe that this was the same weekend as before; the weather was in the comfortable seventies with a lovely breeze blowing and jackets, formerly a life preserver and complete necessity, were now optional. We had been talking about getting croissant sandwiches from Over Easy Café for basically three-hundred and sixty-four days, so there was no question about where to eat breakfast on our first morning back in Asheville. It was everything we remembered, somehow living up and perhaps even surpassing the lore we had built up about the delicious fresh-squeezed apple juice and sandwich in our heads, and there was no question of splitting a second, different entrée; we were both having that heavenly croissant sandwich and there was no changing that. One of the great things about Moogfest is the wide array of restaurants at the attendees’ disposal, and despite the fact that there are hundreds of amazing places to eat in just the downtown area alone, we seriously contemplated just eating Over Easy three days in a row. Festivals are all about choice, after all.

Luckily, Moogfest is a festival that rewards you with every choice you make. No matter which way you go choosing an act to see, it’s probably the right choice. The first choice of our weekend was to see Pantha Du Prince, the minimal techno producer coming all the way from Germany to pour his mammoth bass into every pore of the U.S. Cellular Center. Shrouded by a black hood and dark, pulsing lighting, Pantha Du Prince delivered and incredible performance filled with rich melodic texture and chest-cavity shaking bass that would really appease either the typical headphone listener or the dance enthusiast. There was really no wrong way to enjoy his set; standing in awe was just as completely acceptable as putting on a glow poi show in the crowd, becoming a digital brushstroke amongst the sea of people flocking into the arena. Pantha Du Prince played a seamless hour of music, covering his three-album career with most of the material coming from This Bliss and Black Noise. Using ambient interludes and subtle changes, the entire set felt like one cohesive piece of music. The way that Hendrick Weber slowly built sounds atop one another showed his uncanny precision and control over his music; songs seemingly changed before the crowd’s eyes as he delicately moved the mix forward. In that regard, the set felt like it was over before it even really got started, though Pantha Du Prince completely unearthed every grain of soil in his world of minimal techno, giving the crowd everything he could possibly give to start the weekend off right.

Pantha Du Prince by Jeff Pearson.

We rushed upstairs to the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium to catch the end of Bear In Heaven’s set, greeted by the sea of familiar plush red seats that, for whatever reason, I associate with the true Moogfest feeling. It could be because two years ago when I first experienced the festival it was from the comfort of one of those seats, but they feel like home to me. When we got there, Bear In Heaven was methodically working through the lovely “Space Remains” from their latest record, I Love You, It’s Cool. The Brooklyn-based band has a unique blend of bubbling electronics and droning krautrock sensibilities, which really shimmers in the beautiful Thomas Wolfe Auditorium. We only caught the tail-end of the trio’s set, but they had a good-sized crowd completely enthralled with material from both of their records. Their fascinating take on indie rock, sandwiched in between Pantha Du Prince’s chirping techno and the diverse acts soon to follow show exactly what Moogfest is all about: diversity.

As if to highlight that very diversity, next up was New York hip-hop legend, Nas. We headed back to a completely packed U.S. Cellular Center—a feat in and of itself—to a practically tangible party atmosphere as the participants eagerly awaited Nas’s arrival. The house lights dimmed to an explosive reaction from the crowd, and it was immediately evident that the energy was going to be through the roof for his set. Accompanied by a full band, Nas came out looking like a wide-eyed, fresh-faced student of the game, still amazed with the support that he has for his music. The appreciative reaction that Nas showed for Moogfest was completely endearing, and only served to wrap the crowd up even more in his set. He and his band tightly worked their way through cuts from all across the span of his catalog, from Illmatic all the way up to Life Is Good, his record serving as a sort of return to form for the legendary emcee. The fact that tracks like “The Don” and “Daughters” from his latest record garnered just as big of an audience reaction as classics like “NY State Of Mind” and “The World Is Yours” speaks to the level with which Nas is still writing and performing, nearly twenty years into his illustrious career. The U.S. Cellular Center was wrapped up in the energy of the music from start to finish, as Nas finally treated the crowd to perhaps his biggest hit to date, “One Mic.” The live band has seemingly reinvigorated Nas; the dusty vinyl crackle of his nineties material was amplified by thick bass and explosive drumming. It was obvious that Nas took his Moogfest headlining slot seriously, and wanted to show the world that he is fully back on top of the hip-hop game.

Nas by Jeff Pearson.

The plan was to book it back over to the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium to catch the end of Miike Snow, but we—or I, rather—seemed to underestimate the group’s popularity. When we got close, we hit a wall of people waiting to get in to the at-capacity theatre. Once we finally got in and to some seats, the Swedish trio was finishing off the ridiculously energetic “Animal,” the crowd completely in a frenzy. Though we only saw about a minute of their set, it was pretty obvious that we would be making an effort to see them in the near future.

There was a mass exodus and refilling process in which we worked our way to the front for the English electronic legend, Squarepusher. Tom Jenkinson came out to one of the most energetic and excitable crowds of the evening, a packed theatre of devoted electronic enthusiasts. Placed in the middle of an LED sea, equipped with a matching LED helmet to boot, Squarepusher performed one of the most intriguing and intensely structured sets I’ve ever seen. Mostly focusing on material from Ufabulum, his latest record in his prolific career, Squarepusher delivered an assault on all senses; blinding visuals surrounded him as his digital sonic assault filled the auditorium. The set held the most “Oh my God” moments, where I hardly knew what was happening, but loved every second of it. Looking around, I saw bodies gyrate in the most alien-like fashion perhaps in my entire life, reacting to Squarepusher’s incredibly forceful music as if his fingers were connected not to his equipment in front of him, but to puppet strings with the audience on the other end. He ripped through “4001,” the dense opener from his latest record, Ufabulum, lighting up the entire venue with dazzling texture and and motion. His set was literally draining, in the best possible way. Just when it seemed the energy level couldn’t get any higher in the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium, and as if to prove that Jenkinson is a human being and not connected digitally to the music he creates, he showed his amazing bass skills, wrapping a highly affected bassline around his dark production. As he wrapped up his set, I heard the most apt crowd responses of the entire night, as a sailor hat-clad gentleman with a keytar over his shoulder started a “Push my square!” chant before turning to his friend and saying, “Oh, he pushed it.”

Squarepusher by Jeff Pearson.

Up next, in almost a necessary change of pace, was Explosions In The Sky, the Austin, Texas post-rock instrumentalists. They graciously introduced themselves in their soft-spoken manner, and immediately showed that the way they make their noise is with their music. Their set was emotionally stirring and completely enchanting from start to finish; Explosions In The Sky worked the crowd with soft interludes and—I’ll say it—explosive theatrics. As they worked through gorgeously intense versions of classic songs from their repertoire like “First Breath After A Coma” and “The Birth And Death of The Day,” guitarists Munaf Rayani, Mark Smith and Michael James crouched on their knees to manipulate their effects and pull incredible emotion out of their instruments. The lights on the floor projected their shadows onto the wall of the Thomas Wolfe Auditorium like arch-backed giants, worshipping the sounds they were creating from their knees. The way that each soft moment was completely rewarded with epic walls of sound made each note one heard from the edge of our seats. By the time Explosions In The Sky worked their way into “Let Me Back In,” the indelible stand-out from their last full-length LP, Take Care, Take Care, Take Care, those in attendance were absolutely amazed by the group’s guitar dramatics. Their set was the perfect culmination of emotions, allowing the audience to feel the immensity of the world we’re in and simultaneously forget all about it, focusing solely on the music emanating from the stage.

Explosions In The Sky by Jeff Pearson.

The way that Explosions In The Sky highlighted the human ability to let our problems wash away, if only for a minute, through the power of music is completely indicative of what Moogfest is all about. The festival is about coming together to celebrate music, forget about what’s waiting for us back home for a little while, and just have a good time. As we wandered back to the U.S. Cellular Center, that concept was made ever the more prevalent by the sea of people completely losing their minds to Richie Hawtin’s set of meticulously structured techno music. This was a group of people with not much more on their minds besides one thing: dancing. Everyone was letting the music wash through their bodies and the techno legend do all the thinking for them. Hawtin, hailing from England and a true visionary among the Detroit techno scene, showed the true power of dance music. To me, coming together and becoming one with each other through the vehicle of music is one of the most powerful forces in the universe, and Moogfest has continued to show that.

Richie Hawtin by Jeff Pearson.

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JUSTICE AT THE U.S. CELLULAR CENTER, ASHEVILLE, NC

MOOGFEST 2012 – SATURDAY

MOOGFEST 2011 – SUNDAY

Justice at the U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville, NC

Pre-Party | Friday | Saturday

Justice at the U.S. Cellular Center, Asheville, NC, October 25, 2012. Photo by Jeff Pearson.

Though the calendar has naturally shifted Moogfest away from Halloween, which it happily fell on in its inaugural year in Asheville, North Carolina, it became immediately apparent that the festive spirit is alive and well in the third offering. Seemingly hundreds of pandas—or humans clad in panda wear, if you want to get technical—descended upon the U.S. Cellular Center on Thursday for the unofficial pre-party with Justice. The festival has been scaled back to two days, but in allowing Justice to throw a party for the attendees, the insatiable need for live music that most of the music devotees has been filled. There was a palpable energy in the arena before the show; everywhere you turned there were old friends reuniting, perhaps for the first time since last Moogfest, and the entire event felt more like a homecoming than a warmup. I am sure the French duo of electronic mad scientists felt right at home in the rolling Asheville hills on Thursday.

To start the night off, however, was something a bit more local than the Parisian sounds of Justice. Hailing from only a few hours away in Atlanta, Distal opened the crowd up to many of the styles that will be prevalent throughout the festival, immediately introducing himself and telling them what they were about to hear. Ranging from acid techno to hardcore, Distal pounded through hypnotic rhythms at an intense clip that had those in attendance happy they arrived early enough to see him perform. With a festival like Moogfest, it is all about exploration and opening yourself up to new sounds or musical avenues, and Distal’s constantly shifting set—like a revolving door of his deepest influences—highlighted the basic human need for discovering new things. It seemed that everywhere Distal turned, it was a new and exciting look at electronic music’s deepest roots, and the intensity with which he performed those styles seemed to paint them in an entirely new light. Though perhaps largely unfamiliar with Distal’s work, the Moogfest crowd was incredibly receptive to his sound, and by the end of his set, the swelling crowd was completely on board, dancing like it was the last set of the weekend instead of the first. It’s been said that there is hardly a more appreciative and knowledgeable fanbase than that of Moogfest’s; music lovers from all over the country gathered on Thursday to celebrate the beautiful weekend ahead of them in Asheville, and Distal provided the perfect soundtrack.

Aside from providing the crowd with a spectacular array of dance music, Distal also served to build the crowd’s energy up for Justice, though as soon as the black sheet dropped to reveal a giant LED cross, surrounded by twinkling lights and Marshall amplifier cabinets, the constantly filling U.S. Cellular Center worked itself into a frenzy all on its own. Justice is known for their spectacle of a live show, and from the very first note of the “Star Spangled Banner” intro and flash of light, they had the cavernous venue completely enthralled. The duo, made up of Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay, immediately launched into their sonic assault of the crowd, providing a massive version of “Genesis,” the opening track from their debut record, †. The energy never dissipated the entire night; Justice seamlessly weaved in and out of their tracks, combining elements of hard rock and stadium-filling bombast with their gritty electronics. The more straight-forward electronic tracks from † sat perfectly alongside the more rock-oriented Audio, Video, Disco to form a cohesive and wholly intense experience. Anytime the bright wall of lights behind them lit up, a sea of flailing arms was exposed, showing just how enraptured the crowd was with Justice’s music.

One of the most impressive things about their set was how they incorporated various remixes into their live production. On the stand-out cut from †, “D.A.N.C.E.,” they ran the gamut of intricacies, thrilling the crowd with everything from Jay-Z remixes to live synthesizers, all buoy with their ridiculously massive bass and propulsive energy. If there was a still body in the building, it was still no more from that point on. It was nearly impossible not to get completely caught up in the energy that not only the band was putting out for the crowd, but the energy that the crowd was giving back to Justice. Like a steamroller they plowed through “New Lands” and “Stress,” two of their most frenetic tracks to date, before closing the main set up with “We Are Your Friends” interpolations in both the grimy “Waters Of Nazareth” and all-out rock anthem of “Audio, Video, Disco.” The bulbs behind them were sporadically lit, giving the illusion of a starry night over the beautiful mountains painted in Asheville’s landscape.

The crowd was practically begging for more as the explosive single from Audio, Video, Disco, “On’n’On,” poured out of the massive sound system. It felt like everyone—Augé and de Rosnay included—could go all night if allowed, but unfortunately the festivities had to end. Luckily for those in attendance, this incredible party that Justice had just thrown was really just the beginning of a weekend filled with incredibly parties. As the French duo went into the final number of the evening, the dark throb of “Phantom, Part 2,” it felt more like the beginning of something than the end. Justice’s insane set on Thursday was the perfect precursor to the weekend ahead, showing that there are no stylistic limits to today’s music listener and Moogfest is the perfect place to find something for everyone.

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MOOGFEST 2012 – FRIDAY

MOOGFEST 2012 – SATURDAY

MOOGFEST 2011 – SUNDAY

A3C Hip-Hop Festival 2012 – Saturday

Thursday | Friday | Saturday

Clear Soul Forces performing on Saturday of A3C Hip-Hop Festival 2012. Photo by Jeff Pearson.

That bittersweet feeling of the festival coming to an end that I felt on Friday night was nothing compared to Saturday morning. I woke up with a mixture of happiness and appreciation for the entire experience, but sad that it was to be the last day. It had already been an enlightening and inspiring, not to mention fun weekend full of hip-hop music, and Saturday was set to be one of the best days of all. Jenna and I made our way to Little Five Points a little early to take in some shopping at the ever-cool thrift store Rag-O-Rama and to peruse the dollar record bins at Criminal Records before the music was set to start. We allowed ourselves to grow hungry enough to make the stir-fry buffet Chow Baby worth the wait. Chow Baby is some of the best eating in town; you prepare your noodles or rice with whatever vegetables you’d like, and pile a bunch of meat into a bowl and wait for them to cook it. On our second bowl each, we were both filled with deep regret—the type of regret that only eating way too much food can bring. However, we’re committed, and we showed that commitment in going to get a dessert that we had already decided upon before settling into Chow Baby—we got a couple of delicious chocolate sea salt popsicles from the Atlanta staple King Of Pops, a decision that no one will ever regret. We made our way to the Masquerade for our last night of music, perhaps slightly more sluggishly than we would have hoped, but just as excited, nonetheless.

We made it just in time to see Boldy James as part of the Detroit showcase going on that evening in Purgatory of the Masquerade. James worked his way through a set of syrupy bangers as he assured the crowd that he made true gangster music and didn’t “fuck with that candy coated pop shit.” As he confidently maneuvered around his bass-heavy tracks like “I Sold Dope All My Life,” he proved just that. There was something menacing about his streetwise flow and demeanor as he commanded the small stage; there is little doubt that the stories he tells in his music are probably true. He had the entire room shaking with huge bass and perhaps those within it with fear.

Boldy James by Jeff Pearson.

Up next, for the second time during the weekend, was Clear Soul Forces. In their short set on Thursday at the Highland Ballroom, they worked hard through technical difficulties and wowed the crowd with only one working microphone between the four of them, and they definitely took advantage of the improved situation that the Masquerade provided on Saturday. They wasted no time plowing through “Keep It Movin’,” the signature track from this year’s Detroit Revolution(s), bouncing around the stage and ripping through their verses with absolute ferocity. In a chance encounter later that evening at the Italian ice stand with E-Fav and Ilajide, after telling them how infectious their nonstop energy is onstage, E-Fav told me, “We just do the things that people are only thinking in their heads, thinking, ‘come on, mother fucker, just keep it moving!’” They do just that onstage; the quartet of emcees are a blur of energy, passing back and forth a microphone so whoever has the lead verse at the time has two mics to amplify their voice over the electric music. Perhaps one of the best indicators of what Clear Soul Forces is all about was in “Get No Better” as Noveliss said, “In the park shooting jumpers while others was flipping yay.” They are such an enchanting and refreshing group, bringing soulful and old-school vibes in their music and mixing that with an amazingly raw energy and thought-provoking lyrics. All of these factors—you can just see their love and passion for what they do with every beat, every word—are what make Clear Soul Forces such a standout act at A3C. They have headliner potential, and the drive they show on Saturday during their all-too-brief set shows that they will do anything to realize it.

Clear Soul Forces by Jeff Pearson.

The uplifting music of Clear Soul Forces was exactly what A3C’s Detroit showcase was all about, and the next performer, Jon Connor, also embodied the positive message that hip-hop has the ability to bring to crowds. Connor has an interesting blend of deep and reflective lyrics over giant, chest-cavity shaking beats, which he would often drop to deliver soul-searing a capellas to the crowd. The timeslot that Connor was given, in between the electric Clear Soul Forces and living legends Slum Village was a tough one for the Flint, Michigan emcee, but he made the most of the spot before the eager crowd. He won over a lot of people with his dynamic flows, transitioning from the rapid-fire to the slow and languid, always intriguing and thoughtful.

Jon Connor by Jeff Pearson.

The way that the up-and-comers set the stage for Slum Village was a beautiful thing, amping the crowd up and representing Michigan to the fullest. It felt less like Detroit coming to represent in Atlanta and more like we were all taken there, the artists taking everyone on a tour through their neighborhoods and letting us into their lives and city. The homecoming party culminated in the Detroit legends Slum Village, emcees T3 and Illa J once again bringing high energy, soulful hip-hop to the Masquerade. Illa J was wearing a shirt that read “Yancey Boys,” a tribute to his fallen brother J Dilla, and once again, as I assume each beat and rhyme that Illa J creates, the set felt like a tribute to the loss that left such a huge hole in not only his life, but in music in general. Slum Village utilized their slightly longer set time on Saturday to include more tracks to balance their high-energy attack with low-key melodic numbers such as the hits “Selfish” and “Fall In Love.” The tracks showcased the balance between Illa J’s soulful singing and T3’s rhyme skills balanced atop Jay Dee beats. There was just something special about seeing Slum Village at A3C, all of the history of Detroit’s music held within their subtle bars, all of the highs and lows perfectly represented.

Slum Village by Jeff Pearson.

We went outside to enjoy some fresh air—the festival couldn’t have fallen on a better weekend, weather-wise. Astonishingly, as is nature, though we thought we might never be hungry again after our big lunch, we knew this might have been our last opportunity to get a minute to eat, so we got a Huey-style hot dog (the Fritos on the chili dog now replaced with Cheetos) and fries from the Fry Guy food truck. After enjoying our dinner and taking in all of the beautiful October night that we had time for, we headed back to Purgatory to check the Mello Music Group showcase to be headlined by Oddisee. Unfortunately, Oddisee was stuck in travel trying his hardest to get there, and he and his group Diamond District weren’t able to perform. The showcase wasn’t a total bust, however; in fact, it was quite the opposite. Producer Apollo Brown treated the crowd to a wonderful set of beats that literally made the fillings in my teeth hurt because they were so bassy and massive. He played a lot of cuts from his and Guilty Simpson’s upcoming record Dice Game which really sold me on the record that’s due out in November, based on Brown’s production alone. Next was The Black Opera, a pretty surreal experience. The duo combined live instrumentation and a myriad of wardrobe changes to show a more fun-loving, though dark, side of hip-hop, and yU & Slimkat followed, bringing poetic clarity and a live band to the event. It was unfortunate that Oddisee couldn’t perform, but the rest of the Mello Music Group provided a fun atmosphere for those in attendance.

Back outside in the Music Park, the Kansas City, Missouri veteran Tech N9ne was rocking an energetic crowd. The atmosphere out in the field was an absolute party as Tech N9ne worked through hits from across the span of his nearly fifteen-year recording career. The face-painted emcee played the hit from his latest record, E.B.A.H., along with older hits, using his fast-paced lyrical flow to energize the crowd even further. He seemed genuinely floored at the crowd response, telling them after playing “Caribou Lou” that his fans are the best in the world, making that track a gold record without any radio play whatsoever. In that regard, Tech N9ne is a true underground marvel, gaining large success while remaining mostly underground. His set felt like a celebration of that success, the entire crowd rocking with every song.

Tech N9ne by Jeff Pearson.

The atmosphere was a party just about everywhere we went on Saturday night. Back inside the Masquerade, Chicago-based machine-gun lyricist Twista was getting the crowd live in the upstairs venue, Heaven. Twista brought all of his Chicago friends with him, and just like Slum Village had felt like a city-wide celebration for Detroit, so too did Twista’s set feel that way for Chicago. He proved that he is not just a fast spitter, but that he has been a veritable hit machine throughout his tenure in the hip-hop world. He got the crowd going immediately with his and Kanye West’s “Slow Jamz,” lifted by a huge Jamie Foxx hook; the crowd sung along to every word to Kanye’s verse and Foxx’s chorus, with only the diehards able to keep up with Twista. The party was over in a flash, Twista working through songs like “Celebrity Overnight” and “Girl Tonite.” The depth of his catalog was on display all throughout his set, not resting simply on his skills to wow the crowd but delivering a fluid and fun set.

Twista by Jeff Pearson.

The plan was to book it over to Little Five Points to see Smoke DZA and Ab-Soul close out the weekend for us, but as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry. When such big stars are set to play a small venue like the Star Bar, plans of showing up right at showtime were destined to go awry from the start. The venue was absolutely packed, with a line out the door, so we decided to head back to the Masquerade to finish our night off there. Going on at the Jakprints stage in Purgatory was a 9^th Wonder-curated showcase where the Raleigh DJ, of Little Brother fame, was spinning to an energetic crowd and cycle of emcees. The entire event was fluid and high-energy; each set blended perfectly into the next, from 21-year old Chuuwee all the way to the up-and-coming superstar in the making Rapsody. It was really representative of what the event was all about—9^th Wonder had cultivated a very familial and intimate atmosphere by having all of the brightest stars from his Jamla label showcase their talents while he showcased his. The inclusive nature of the whole event was on display in this showcase, and, to me, showed that true power of hip-hop that I’ve been pondering all weekend while at A3C. When it comes down to it, egos are just not important in the grand scheme of what hip-hop is all about, what the genre means to the world. It’s just about the music and being together. It’s about unity and being one. White, black, rich or poor, we were all under the same roofs this weekend celebrating the same thing, and there’s not much more powerful than that.

9th Wonder by Jeff Pearson.

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A3C HIP-HOP FESTIVAL 2012 – FRIDAY

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JOEY BADA$$ – 1999

A3C Hip-Hop Festival 2012 – Friday

Thursday | Friday | Saturday

Raekwon performing on Friday of A3C Hip-Hop Festival 2012. Photo by Jeff Pearson.

I woke up sluggishly on Friday morning with Oh No’s blend of bassy Bollywood bombastic beats still swirling around my head amid the usual fog of confusion that comes with having to wake up just way too early. That confusion soundtracked by a fractured sample of J Dilla matched with Turkish Qanun twinkling around the outskirts of the mix actually made for quite the experience. After being at A3C for a day, I already felt more connected to hip-hop than I ever had. The inclusive and familial atmosphere that was going on down in Atlanta, everyone joining together under the name of hip-hop, was really powerful and calling to me all day as I plugged along at my nine to five. Throughout the day I got my second, third and fourth winds, and by the time Jenna and I got to the Masquerade—if I had to guess—I was on perhaps my seventh. Once we got there, however, breathing in the beautiful October evening and the hip-hop culture surrounding the event, all the drag of the work day faded away. Every corner of the Masquerade was occupied by hip-hop music, whether it was the DJs spinning in the cool autumn air at the entrance, or the audio equipment set up inside for attendees to learn the craft of beat making. It was incredible to just walk around and take it all in, experiencing all the nuances laid out by the festival, and with every step I felt more connected to hip-hop itself.

We headed behind the Masquerade to the Music Park, grabbed a spot on the grass, and enjoyed a cheesesteak from one of the various food trucks in the back of the field as Fred The Godson took the stage. Out of the Bronx, New York, Fred The Godson was the first of many acts on Friday to represent the East Coast, but there was once again worldwide representation at A3C throughout the night. He commanded the outdoor stage with his classic sound and almost immediately distinguishable voice. His hit “Too Fat” worked the crowd up with its old-school take on new hip-hop sounds. It was a great way to ease us back into the music, combining sounds of the greats that came before him but putting his own spin on things.

Speaking of the greats that came before him, that seemed to be the name of the game on Friday. Prodigy of Mobb Deep was up next, performing to an energized and eager crowd. The way that A3C has legends sitting up against the new faces of hip-hop is something special; it once again shows the unified nature of the event, with the old and the new sharing the same stage and rocking the same crowds. Prodigy’s set itself represented that notion—he mixed Mobb Deep classics with his newer solo material to perfect cohesion. The crowd in the Masquerade Music Park was reciting all the words right along with him on songs like standouts from the classic record, The Infamous, “Shook Ones, Pt. II” and “Survival Of The Fittest.” With the depth of Mobb Deep’s catalog, Prodigy could have rifled through the hits all night, but his set was over in a flash, leaving his songs to echo in our heads throughout the duration of the beautiful night.

Prodigy by Jeff Pearson.

After some proper East coast representation, the iHipHop Distribution Stage in the Music Park needed some left coast sounds to balance things out. It is All 3 Coasts festival, after all. The next performer, with roots in both Atlanta and Los Angeles, had two of those coasts covered, and represented the diversity of hip-hop in his style. J-Lie, of both South Korean and South African ancestry, not only represents both of his cities in his unique sound, but he also has a bit of his cultural heritage emanating from his music. He took the stage sitting on a chair, performing a subdued, yet somehow explosive verse before bursting up from his seat and delivering a fiery set. He tackled issues of his race and showed that though J-Lie is different from your typical emcee, he is to be taken seriously. With the skills on display on the stage that night, he wouldn’t even have to literally command the crowd’s respect to earn it.

J-Lie’s stifling southern swing on hazy West coast production was the perfect segue to the classic California sound of Nipsey Hussle. The young man working simply off the back of some renowned mixtapes—his album is set to come out next year—showed why he is one of the biggest and brightest stars on the rise in hip-hop today. Nipsey Hussle performed mostly cuts from his last two mixtapes, The Marathon and The Marathon Continues, as the crowd bounced in unison under the blackening sky. He showed exactly why he was put in such a high profile spot, commanding the crowd with his blend of street-wise lyrics and ferocious delivery. He brought out Torae, who was set to perform himself later on in the evening, and the two exchanged verses, showing the diversity of each of the emcee’s styles and how well it blends together in a live setting. Nipsey Hussle ended his set in a fit of energy, with the entire crowd completely swept up in his amplified set.

Nipsey Hussle by Jeff Pearson.

We made our way into the heart of Little Five Points after Nipsey Hussle to catch Atlanta underground legend Witchdoctor as part of the Dungeon Family showcase at the Star Bar. When we entered the small, packed club, Rico Wade of Organized Noize was introducing Witchdoctor and describing how nice it was to have A3C take over Little Five Points. Wade was inspiring, saying that the way that individualism is embraced in Little Five is special, and he encouraged the crowd to always be themselves, and to never give in to being like someone else. It just struck a chord hearing him say that, because being an individual is so important, especially in the context of A3C, and that when you find other individuals who are like-minded yet also completely real, a special bond is formed that isn’t based on pretenses or anything other than just who people are at their core. Coming into the Star Bar, I don’t think Jenna or I was expecting to be so inspired by the host, but it was one of the most poignant moments of the day, and one that will always stick with me. Tying in the Dungeon Family theme, Wade said that “Nothing is cooler than being an outcast,” which is not only true but empowering to those who struggle.

We were so wrapped up in what Wade was saying that we almost forgot there was hip-hop to be heard. Witchdoctor came out and performed a rapid-fire set of tracks from his classic debut record, A S.W.A.T. Healin’ Ritual along with a couple of new tracks. The energy in the Star Bar was at a high for the festival thus far; everyone in the venue was giving back Witchdoctor tons of respect and participation for his welcome back to Atlanta. Seeing him perform his classic dirty south sound in Little Five Points, where diversity is celebrated and encouraged, was really special and the atmosphere in the Star Bar was set accordingly. Witchdoctor was one of the first credible emcees to come out of the south, and the knowledgeable and respective A3C crowd treated him with a warm Atlanta welcome.

We arrived back at the Masquerade, discussing how meaningful it was to hear and experience individualism being celebrated at the festival, to a buzz about a surprise set from one of the most individual and talented producers in the game today, Just Blaze. Not many had caught wind of the set yet, because the room was only slightly crowded, giving his DJ set an intimate atmosphere. He made his way through his classic productions, working the small crowd into a fit of glee. It was a perfectly-crafted set of songs that show the incredible depth and accessibility of his productions. Just Blaze is one of the best in the game, and hearing him spin his tracks along with hip-hop classics was a real treat.

Just Blaze by Jeff Pearson.

Back outside in the Masquerade Music Park, Philadelphia legend Freeway was pounding the crowd with his lyrical gunplay. The atmosphere during Freeway was an all-out party, a family reunion onstage as everyone in the park was bouncing with complete abandon. Freeway’s set was short but sweet, practically over before it even started, but constantly enthralling. I don’t think anyone was ready to see him go, but with the talent still to come, it was just something that had to be done. He treated the crowd to “Jungle,” the rowdy single from his upcoming record, Diamond In The Rough, and left the crowd wanting more. Already throughout the night on Friday, we had seen representation from all over the country; from coast to coast emcees were representing their unique styles but showing the like-minded balance within the world of hip-hop. Freeway’s Philadelphia bounce may be quite different from Witchdoctor’s visceral Deep South throb, but at the heart of their music is the message of empowering the hip-hop community.

Freeway by Jeff Pearson.

Up next was someone who has done his share of empowering and glorifying the message of hip-hop, perhaps more than anyone else on the bill. Raekwon, the raspy-voiced Chef of the prolific Wu-Tang Clan was due to perform in the perfect October night. The anxious crowd was chanting “Wu! Tang! Wu! Tang!” and throwing up their W’s, willing Raekwon to drop his gifts on the already frenzied music park. There was a practically tangible buzz all day, and it all came to fruition as Raekwon took the stage. The set was a celebration not only of hip-hop, but of Wu-Tang Clan, the most electric and innovative hip-hop group of all-time. Raekwon worked his way through an indelible set of classics from not only Wu-Tang’s career, such as “C.R.E.A.M.” and “Protect Ya Neck,” but also classics from his solo career like “Ice Cream” and “Criminology.” Basically, “classic” is all you could say about Raekwon’s set. With each song he proved that everything the Chef touches is classic. Just when things seemed to not be able to get any better, fellow Wu-Tang Clan member GZA came out, and they did. GZA was set to play his legendary Liquid Swords record later that evening at Terminal West, and used the open time before his set to help out Raekwon and make the performance all the more special. The two ripped through “Guillotine (Swordz),” a standout cut from Raekwon’s Only Built 4 Cuban Linx, to a sea of cell phones, iPads, even a laptop, recording every moment. The entire set felt like a pure celebration of what Raekwon and Wu-Tang Clan have done for the hip-hope world. Simply put, without their contributions to hip-hop, the genre wouldn’t have progressed so rapidly and a festival like A3C might never have been in existence.

Raekwon with GZA by Jeff Pearson.

To continue with the celebratory vibe cultivated by Raekwon, Detroit’s Slum Village showed the power of hip-hop in the face of not only adversity, but heartbreak and anguish. Slum Village’s original producer J Dilla, brother of one of the group’s emcees, Illa J, passed away in 2006, leaving a huge hole in the hearts of hip-hop fans. The group were innovators, bringing wizardry in not only production but in lyrical content for years. Having them at A3C is a huge deal for the hip-hop community, and hearing Illa J and T3 exchange verses over the group’s timeless sound was a special moment for everyone involved. The set was focused primarily on older material, providing a live, high-energy approach to the soulful productions of songs like “The Look Of Love.” As Slum Village was finishing their set, fellow Detroit emcees Clear Soul Forces joined them onstage for an explosive version of “Raise It Up.” Seeing the camaraderie within the musicians of the city of Detroit was special, and the joy that was palpable onstage was completely infectious. Not only was the moment important to me because of the general fun-loving vibe that was being cultivated, but the support that was being shown to Slum Village felt like a tribute to their fallen brother in addition to the city they call home. If there was ever a moment on Friday where the power of music to bring people together, through hard times as well as good ones, the closing to Slum Village’s set was it.

Slum Village by Jeff Pearson.

The special thing about a festival like A3C is that, though the message of hip-hop is unified and powerful in its singular nature, the way that the different artists choose to deliver it is often incredibly varied. The next act, Chancellor Warhol, showed just that notion with their blend of live instrumentation and explosive energy. Warhol ran around the stage like a madman, delivering fierce verses over incredibly propulsive instrumentation. Singer Boss of Nova joined the band onstage to sing smooth and fluid hooks to songs like “Games,” giving the completely vehement sound a melodic and beautiful tinge. Chancellor Warhol were perhaps the surprise of the evening, an act I was completely unfamiliar with but completely blown away by at the end of their set. Hip-hop purists might not have been ready for their blown-up rock sound, but to me, the group stood out as being completely unique and original.

Chancellor Warhol by Jeff Pearson.

The last act of the night to play was the four-headed monster known as The Liknuts, a group comprised of the New York-based Beatnuts and Alkaholiks out of Los Angeles, was a coast-to-coast party, celebrating hip-hop and being alive. The group traded off songs, either performing as a full group or performing cuts from their respective outfits, but the atmosphere in Heaven at the Masquerade never wavered: absolute party. It was a great way to end a night that really had every aspect a festival should: from the thought-provoking and inspiring to the fun-loving and carefree. There is always that bittersweet moment during a festival when you just reflect on how much fun you’ve been having, but realize that, “Wow, this is going to end soon,” and my moment came during The Liknuts entertaining set. Looking around, seeing everyone lost in the music in their own way, brought a smile to my face, and thankful that I could be a part of this tremendous event, but also sort of sad in a way that soon we would all be going our separate ways, back to our normal lives. Nothing will change the fact that we lived in the moment together, however, and enjoyed our lives and celebrated music well into the night on Friday.

The Liknuts by Jeff Pearson.

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ODDISEE – PEOPLE HEAR WHAT THEY SEE

A3C Hip-Hop Festival 2012 – Thursday

Thursday | Friday | Saturday

Oh No performing on Thursday of A3C Hip-Hop Festival 2012. Photo by Jeff Pearson.

It is often said that hip-hop is one of the most powerful forces on the planet. Whether that is true or not remains to be seen, but the All 3 Coasts Hip-Hop Festival seems bound and determined to prove it with its eighth annual edition. Held in Atlanta, one of the world’s biggest and best hubs for hip-hop music, A3C started as a small showcase for up and coming talent and has slowly grown into the monster that we see in the 2012 edition. This is the first year that A3C has ventured out of the Masquerade; while still making use of the club’s four music venues, the festival has expanded to other clubs orbiting the area in East Atlanta. Hip-hop is making its broadest grasp at the city of Atlanta, the sprawl of the festival somewhat representing that universality and power to move people to unite. A3C has launched a full-scale attack on the city, bringing in not just the best and the brightest stars in hip-hop to showcase their talents, but from all over the globe. If ever there was a time when hip-hop felt truly universal, this is it.

To start off the night for my girlfriend Jenna and me was CunninLynguists, the Atlanta/Kentucky hip-hop group made up of Kno, Deacon The Villain, and Natti, one of the most intriguing and innovative sounds coming out of the south today. Unfortunately, Natti was unable to get to the show due to a family emergency, but Kno and Deacon gave the crowd an off-the-cuff performance that felt very loose and free-flowing. It was a strong signifier of what was to come when producer/emcee Kno ripped up the setlist before they ever played a song. The group handled the setback like the professionals that they are, ripping through a rapid-fire set of their biggest hits, with Kno handling Natti’s verses. The set was full of the best cuts from across their career, focusing mainly on 2006’s dynamic A Piece Of Strange, a record in which Kno mostly stayed in the producer’s role. It was interesting to hear Kno and Deacon rattling off verses on those songs; their lyrical interplay was what propelled them to the heights they are today, and though Kno doesn’t take the mic quite as much as he used to, he proved it’s merely out of preference rather than lack of skill. As CunninLynguists ended their set with “Lynguistics,” the first song they put out as a group, it seemed to put their career into perspective, showing how far they’ve come from the more straight-forward approach to the otherworldly style they possess today.

CunninLynguists by Jeff Pearson.

We high-tailed it over to Terminal West after CunninLynguists’ set was done, hoping to make it in time to see the Atlanta legend Big Boi perform. By the time we got there, however, the line was out the door and there didn’t look to be any hope of making it into the converted arts center, so we developed a new plan of attack. The new break in our schedule allowed us to head back into Little Five Points at a leisurely pace, breathing easy for the first time that night. We made our way to the Highland Ballroom, a quaint venue underneath the legendary Highland Inn. As we descended the stairs going into the Ballroom, beats pumping out of the small room grew louder and more impactful. We walked in just as the up-and-coming Detroit group Clear Soul Forces was working through technical difficulties and kicking off their underground hit “Keep It Movin’” Emcees Noveliss, E-Fav, and L.A.Z. were trading off ferocious verses, all bouncing around the tiny stage trying to get the intimate crowd hyped. One of the most impressive pieces of Clear Soul Forces is producer/emcee Ilajide, who one minute was pounding out some old-school beats on his MPC, and the next was setting fire to the Highland Ballroom with lyrical napalm. The set was over in a flash, but the group proved in their short time allotted that they truly are a force to be reckoned with in hip-hop.

Clear Soul Forces by Jeff Pearson.

Part of what makes a festival like A3C so special is the aspect of giving young artists like Clear Soul Forces a showcase for fans of the genre that may not be familiar with their music. Over at the Five Spot, in the heart of Little Five Points on Euclid Avenue, just that sort of showcase was happening. As we wandered in from the rapidly chilling night, OCD: Moosh & Twist were delivering an impassioned performance for the packed room. Still in their teens, the Philadelphia duo bring a youthful flavor and fun-loving atmosphere to hip-hop, something that is refreshing in a constantly morally challenged genre of music. It’s refreshing, in fact, to see people so young and full of promise using their talents to convey positive attitudes and messages using their position. Not to mention, of course, that they kept it live for the A3C crowd, bouncing around the stage, sharing verses with smiles on their faces. Seemingly like most of the great shows I’ve seen, this one was over too soon.

OCD: Moosh & Twist by Jeff Pearson.

By the time OCD: Moosh & Twist were done with their performance, there was a palpable buzz in the small club. GOOD Music rookie, Stone Mountain native, veritable walking hype machine CyHi The Prynce was set to come out next. To the thunderous bass drops of “Mercy” and then “Clique,” two stand-out tracks from GOOD Music’s Cruel Summer compilation, CyHi took the stage before the eager crowd. He immediately rolled through some of his best GOOD Music collaborations, from the sinister “Sin City” to his breakout verse on Kanye West’s “So Appalled” from My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. CyHi was obviously intent on showing the hometown crowd that he has done a lot for himself in his career, giving the nearly capacity crowd at the Five Spot a sampling of some of his biggest tracks across his four mixtapes, and even giving them a taste of what’s to come on his debut record. Overall, CyHi actually felt like a surprise headliner of the evening, his hometown buzz and infectious personality cultivating a party atmosphere in East Atlanta.

CyHi The Prynce by Jeff Pearson.

As we wandered into the Drunken Unicorn, where we were to close our night, it was obviously—and immediately—apparent that the atmosphere was completely different from the one we had just left. There was a smoky haze hanging in the air, many attendees drinking red wine and letting Floyd The Locsmif’s experimental beats wash over them. Another Atlanta native, Floyd The Locsmif has a sound that is immediately sweeping, compelling the crowd to dance, red wine swilling in their glasses. The change in atmosphere was incredibly welcome, the beats doing all the talking and providing a great wind-down process. Floyd The Locsmif showed where hip-hop came from, a couple of turntables and a will to dance.

The blunted beats of Floyd The Locsmif segued perfectly into the even more blunted beats of Oh No, taking the Drunken Unicorn out into the atmosphere with transcendental instrumental hip-hop. Oh No has hip-hop running through his blood, brother of Madlib and son of funk troubadour Otis Jackson, the sounds emanating from his fingertips are like the breath in his lungs. Each time he puts a needle into a new groove of a record, it’s perfectly placed and with purpose. Oh No has a gift of displaying that global power of hip-hop that seems to be A3C’s main goal; at any given moment on Thursday night he was ready to throw a hazy sitar line over a thunderous hip-hop beat, bringing the bass to the opium den—or perhaps vice versa. The tired crowd actually showed more life than any of the evening so far; it was obvious that everyone there was really appreciative of just the opportunity to see Oh No work, let alone to dance the night away to his incredible handiwork. As he sent the crowd back out into the night to grab either another glass of wine or those much-needed few hours of sleep before doing it all again, it felt impossible to argue with the power of hip-hop.

Oh No by Jeff Pearson.

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Leftover Salmon at the Georgia Theatre, Athens, GA

Leftover Salmon at the Georgia Theatre, Athens, GA, October 9, 2012. Photo by Jeff Pearson.

“We’ve been wondering for a long time what this theatre was going to look like when it was rebuilt,” singer/guitarist Vince Herman of Leftover Salmon told the eager crowd, still filing into the Georgia Theatre, on Tuesday. It was something a lot of us wondered, afraid that some of the spirits of those roaring crowds that made the Theatre so special for so long had left their place at Lumpkin and Clayton Streets in downtown Athens, perhaps finding a new haunt when there were no longer walls to reverberate through. It’s true that there was a lot of doubt mixed in with the anticipation of having the venue back after its tragically destructive fire in 2009; it was hard to believe they could—if they were even going to try to—ever recapture that magic that lived there. The last time Leftover Salmon visited the Georgia Theatre was over ten years ago, after practically yearly visits throughout the mid-to-late nineties as a blossoming group newly pushing the limits of bluegrass music. Now, twenty-two years into their career as a band, Leftover Salmon is back at the Georgia Theatre to prove that those spirits haven’t gone anywhere.

The Boulder, Colorado group came out firing, immediately showing that ability to push bluegrass’ limits with “Zombie Jamboree,” a calypso classic made popular by Harry Belafonte, made explosive by Leftover Salmon. The crowd’s faces immediately stretched into a collective smile as the band, bolstered by the Del McCoury Band’s Jason Carter on fiddle, ripped through their bluegrass-infused version. By opening the show with “Zombie Jamboree,” Leftover Salmon immediately displayed their versatility to the crowd; over the course of their twenty-two year career they have picked up various styles and interpolated them into their ever-growing sound. From their humble “slamgrass” beginnings to the dynamic live band they are still after all these years, all the heartbreaks and joys in between, Leftover Salmon is a stronger band than ever in 2012. On Tuesday night, the band would constantly prove this, bouncing in and out of bluegrass to everything from funk and rock to jazz and calypso. The seamless and effortless nature that Leftover Salmon can weave different modes into their sound is what makes them so impressive.

The first set mostly revolved around their latest record, Aquatic Hitchhiker, Leftover Salmon’s first record in seven years and one of their most cohesive to date. The band swung through the low-country stomp of “Gulf Of Mexico” and “Keep Drivin’,” multi-instrumentalist Drew Emmitt making use a glass slide and distortion pedal to will his mandolin to wail to the heavens. Emmitt and Herman traded off song after song throughout the first set, mixing Herman’s back porch vocal style with Emmitt’s more refined voice.  Though Emmitt may have a smoother vocal delivery, the musical tone of the evening was a consistently raucous party. Set closer “Euphoria” was probably the most aptly placed track for the occasion; by the time the band finished trading off extended solos on the song from the 1997 record of the same name, euphoric would be the perfect word to describe the mood in the Georgia Theatre.

As opposed to dampening that euphoria, the setbreak only served to build upon the momentum Leftover Salmon created with the electric first set. They picked up right where they left off with the Aquatic Hitchhiker stand-out “Liza.” The fast-paced bluegrass of “Liza” gave way to a spacy “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” segue into the always explosive “Doin’ My Time.” The band plowed through nearly fifteen minutes of nonstop jamming as each member displayed their incredible instrumental prowess. Drummer Greg Garrison and bassist Jose Martinez kept the propulsive train on the tracks as Emmitt, Carter and banjo player Andy Thorn traded solos; with each tradeoff the crowd seemed to grow more rowdy, the band rolling the entire venue up into a ball of energy and allowing it to burst in a bright flash during the track’s climax. It was moments like this that made the night so special; a mood like the one Leftover Salmon cultivated onstage Tuesday is completely infectious. Even those sitting in the balcony were lost in their own particular seat-dance—not a booty was left unshaking, even those planted in seats.

Right when it seemed the night wasn’t going to get any better, David Lowery of Cracker and Camper Van Beethoven—a long-time friend and collaborator of the band—joined Leftover Salmon on stage to play guitar and elevate the show to even greater heights. The now septet worked their way through Leftover classics “Get Off This” and “Low,” then finally treating the appreciative crowd to Cracker’s “Teen Angst.” By this point, I believe the band could do no wrong, driving the energy up with each song. They worked their way through classic cuts, “Highway Song” and “Jokester,” interweaving them with new songs “Walkin’ Shoes” and set closer “Here Comes The Night,” blurring the line between what is considered “classic” within their catalog. The new material shone just as bright as songs that have bounced off the walls of the Georgia Theatre time and time again.

Tuesday was the first time since the Georgia Theatre has been rebuilt that it truly felt like the Georgia Theatre to me. I was among those who thought that perhaps the magic couldn’t be brought back. Leftover Salmon came to Athens to revive those spirits that we thought were lost years ago in that tragic fire, but they did much more than that. They showed that there is always going to be a place for a bluegrass band of miscreants in the world of music. After twenty-two plus years of touring, the joy they bring to their music is just as palpable as the days when they were finding their footing in small clubs. As they closed the night off with “Up On The Hill Where They Do The Boogie,” staple in the bluegrass community for so many years, they shared that joy to the fullest with the crowd, and saw it returned in full by the bodies dancing in reckless abandon—and reckless union.

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