Jess and I went to the 80/35 music festival over the weekend. It was good! So good it nearly made me forget that I got no vacation day/extra pay for 4th of July. Sucks to have fallen on a Sunday! Better luck next year! Its just BUSINESS! ANYTHING to make an EXTRA BUCK at ANY COST, whether you RIP PEOPLE OFF or treat your employees like GARBAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I did work today, July 5th and I bet we made AT LEAST ten bucks for our owners in Indiana. It was WORTH IT. Six holidays a year can be TOO MANY HOLIDAYS. Especially when we can be WORKING. At least I get AMAZING BENEFITS and lots of TIME OFF. Before we get started with the music fest recap, here are a couple of songs dedicated to my bosses (not my on site boss, who is a fair and decent person) and their love of PROFIT! You have to pay for JET FUEL somehow, right guys?
One more time!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pigs_(Three_Different_Ones)
Okay! Jess and I got to downtown Des Moines on Saturday approximately 1:45 just in time to catch up with our friends and catch the last song or two of Omega Dog. They seemed okay. Wasn’t really paying attention because we were talking to our friends. Sorry Omega Dog, maybe next year. After that we wandered over to the second stage to see a guy/band called Cashes Rivers. I think most people liked them (I know at least one person in our group didn’t, but Jessie and I thought they were good). Jessie thought they sounded like Bright Eyes, while I thought it was a mix of The Decemberists/Roman Candle/Vampire Weekend. We ran into the lead singer a few other times at the festival. He was friendly. Here is a pic. (Side note: I took at least one pic of every band we saw. Some turned out better than others. )
On the left is Tracy and in the black is my cousin Missy. On stage the bang is warming up/tuning?
Emily ,Travis, The back of Jessie’s head, a guy who possibly owns Raygun T-shirts.
After that, we waited at the second stage to see Solid Gold. I think Travis was most excited to see this band. They were really, really good. I liked them better live than on CD, although the album has grown on me since we saw them.
Here is a sweaty Travis dancing with (on) Chet Boom. Travis loved singing along with the “It’s not your fault” part of one of the songs.
Jessie, Nikki, Angela.
Chet, Ben, BP, Grant all still getting down to Solid Gold
Missy, Travis, BP
Marc, Chet
Travis
Brown wavy hair
We left Solid Gold early (which was a bummer because they were so good) to go back to the main stage for Yo La Tengo. I have never had a chance to really get into them but I really wanted to see them since they are legendary to indie rock. It was great, and made me want to see them again sometime.
Yo La Tengo. (The guitar player can really shred!)
Me. I had a handlebar moustache on Saturday.
Then we went to see William Elliott Whitmore. I didn’t hear a lot of it, but everyone there LOVED it. I probably need to check him out more. Just a dude with an acoustic guitar.
Dude. Acoustic guitar.
After that we went to get a spot for Spoon. SPOON!
Missy and Angela.
Marc and Ben.
Aaron, Amy and Travis (still sweaty). It was hot on Saturday!
My wife.
Spoon was the best. So ON. Plus, they opened with my favorite Spoon song, “The Beast and Dragon, Adored”. I know you can tell by the pictures how great it was. The Spoons!
When the show was over, Jess and I ran into some friends of mine from high school, then we walked to The Vaudeville Mews with my cousin and his wife Amy to see Poison Control Center. It didn’t work out so we went home.
Sunday we got back downtown around 2:15. We went to the main stage to see Avi Buffalo. I wish we would have gotten there earlier to see the whole show.
Avi Buffalo. You can see people wearing ponchos, as it was starting to rain.
Christopher the Conquered. (Not pictured) I really want to see him/them again. The guy had a great sense of humor and was genuinely talented. Going to have to see again as soon as I get a chance.
Next was another band I have wanted an excuse to get into, The Walkmen.
Foreground: Umbrella, Too much red hair. Background: The Walkmen. Jessie had the BIGGEST crush on the lead singer.
I don’t remember the screen looking like that when I took the picture.
It POURED during The Walkmen. We were SOAKED.
We toughed it out to see Evangelicals, It was not my favorite, but everyone else seemed to like it.
Wet Marc (in blue) and Wet Travis (gray pants) enjoying Evangelicals.
Jessie and I were still very wet so we decided to go home and change. Then back to DM for MODEST MOUSE.
I don’t know if it was because MM’s music is a little more “rambunctious” than the other bands that played, or if it was that Sunday night was a culmination of two days of drinking and dancing and general tomfoolery or what, but people were being STUPID A**HOLES. Everyone was polite and respectful of others the whole time until about 8:30 on Sunday night. It was pretty disappointing. People were just shoving their way through to get closer to the stage, event though we were packd like sardines in a crushd tin box already. Every ten seconds someone would just barrel their way through either side of me. Irritating! We made it about half an hour before we decided to move further back to see if it was any better. It was… a little.
You can’t really see, but there is a group of damn, dirty hippies mosh pitting and slam/dirty dancing behind the white tent… which is the ONE PLACE WHERE THE STAGE IS OBSTRUCTED 100%. Makes sense. Jess made me leave before the encore. For the record, I DID think the music was good. The environment left something to be desired. Overall, the festival was a very positive and fun experience. I will definitely be in attendance next year, regardless who they get to headline.
Anybody else go? Thoughts/opinions?
