For the past few years I have seen cool lineup after cool lineup on Omaha's MAHA music festival, and every year I didn't end up going. This year when they announced The Thermals, Matt and Kim, Bob Mould, and The Flaming Lips I knew I had to go. So this week I will be reviewing MAHA music festival.
I didn't end of deciding to go to this until very last minute, so we didn't end up getting there till 5 pm. That ended up being OK because the first band that I wanted to see that day started right at five.
The Thermals 5:00
The Thermals are an American indie band from Portland. They are known for lo-fi sounds as well as highly political and anti religious lyrics. They really got noticed from their landmark album The Body, the blood, the machine. The show was pretty simple, but loud in your face rock. They thrive off of a punk rock style of playing. The trio hammered out songs from all of their albums, but the best songs were still off of The body, the blood, the machine. They're best songs were, "Here's Your Future", "A Pillar of Salt", and "Test Pattern".
Bob Mould 6:45
You don't get much more legendary than Bob freaking Mould. He has played in some of the most famous bands of all time. Starting with Husker Du the hardcore punk band, then moving to Sugar alternative rock trio. All before starting his legendary solo career. When Dave Grohl calls someone his idol you pay attention. His live shows see him drawing from his entire career, which is a ton to draw from, and he does it well. He knows his fans, so he picks the best songs to play including songs off of last years amazing Silver Age. If you ever wanted to see a pure balls to the wall rock and roll show, this is the guy to see. His new rock trio are absolute experts, they rock out with the best of them. Bob Mould hasn't lost a step, he still fires off guitar solos left and right, jumps up and down, and even did a power slide once. This band is the real deal they are a hardworking, American rock band.
Matt and Kim 8:50
Matt and Kim are an American indie pop duo. I am a fan of Matt and Kim on CD, but Ive never seen them live before, and let me tell you as a guy who has seen a ton live shows, they were amazing. They are some of the most energetic performers I have ever seen. They're catch phrase of, "lets get weird" really works for their shows. They mix in modern day hip hop songs with their own songs and a huge hour long rave began. The crowd was locked on the stage for the entire show. Through out the show Matt and Kim jumped up and down, crowd surfed, and threw balloons into the crowd. Another thing that is amazing about a Matt and Kim show is their banter, as a married couple they understand each other very well and they use that energy to make up some of the funniest stage banter. You just have to witness this band live at least once. It's one of those things you have to see to believe.
The Flaming Lips 10:15
I saw The Flaming Lips on their current tour back in April. That show was the first time I had seen The Flaming Lips. I wanted to see them again because their show was amazing, but also because they were opening for The Black Keys. I thought if they didn't have an opening spot they would get to use all of their fun toys like the man in bubble, or lazer hands, or even confetti cannons. Also it would be nice to see them with two full hours to perform. They have a whole new stage set up and little did I know but this new set up does not include the fun toys or many of the old hits. This is a new era for The Flaming Lips the era of the terror tour.
The Terror Live- The Flaming Lips
The Flaming Lips took the stage at exactly 10:15 on the dot, not about
to waste any of their precious time. The Stage resembled a
strange podium attached to a bunch of toilet paper ropes with a giant
led screen behind it. The new stage was quite impressive especially when
the opener "Look...The Sun Is Rising" came on. The screen lights up and
vibrates the floor, the toilet paper looking cords began flashing
brightly. The second song "The Terror" will probably become a live
staple of this tour having been preformed on a lot of late night shows.
During the song, Wayne Conye brings out a baby doll that he used as a
prop during parts of the show. Just as the video screens played dark
terrifying subliminal messaging type scenes behind the band during the
show. The third song was past lips favorite "The Wand". One of two songs
that The Flaming Lips used to show their old happy live selves, bathing
the audience in bright colors and flashing strobe lights. Following
that they played "Virgo Self-Esteem Broadcast"and "Silver Trembling
Hands" before jumping back into another new song, "Try To Explain". "One
More Robot", "Sympathy 3000-21", and a David Bowie cover of "Heroes"
were next. The Last two songs were the highlight of the entire night.
First the New song "Always There, In Our Hearts" was the most intense
loud grinding rockish moment of the night. Blasting instruments over the
flashing LED's and intense terrifying images being played in the
background. The last song was the obvious closer "Do You Realize?" was a
very happy end to a dark intense show. They blasted happy images on the
screen and bathed the audience in bright light as the whole crowd sang
along. After that song, as quickly as they had came on they were gone.
Like living in a dream and suddenly waking up.
Do You Realize Live- The Flaming Lips
I have never been MAHA music fest before, but after this year I will probably be back. The festival is only 45 dollars to see a whole day of music. A one day pass at Lollapalooza will cost you 100 dollars and that's if they don't sell out in minutes. With a line up like this every year I will certainly add this to my summer concert list.
I have been excited to do this blog for a long time. I have been a longtime attendee of the Lollapalooza festival for a full six years now. So I would like to think that I am a now enough of an expert to write a well thought out review of Lollapalooza. So this week I will be reviewing the things I personally saw at this years Lollapalooza. For the sake of continuity all of the pictures used it this blog were taken by yours truly.
Thursday August 1st
This whole event wasn't described very well. What I thought this event was, as well as a ton of other people was a free screening of The World's End with bands, Dj's, and the cast of the film. That is not what it actually was. The screening of the film was an actual event where the cast showed up to do a question and answer session after the showing. I wanted to meet the cast because I am a die hard fan so I brought along my copy of Shawn of the Dead for them to sign. There was no screening at the after party, the cast was supposed to show up and do a DJ set but their screening ran long and they missed the after party. That made me a very sad nerd.
MNDR
Coming out dressed in a giant over sized white t-shirt and little else should have been my first clue that she was a Lady Gaga clone, but their were more in case you weren't sure. All she is, is the newest pop princess. She has an OK voice and she can sure belt it out, but a lot of the time she stood behind a DJ stand and pushed buttons to put out pre-recorded sounds and vocals. I can't stand that kind of music, I am just not a fan of EDM. If you are fine but I just can't dig it I really didn't like her.
Smith Westerns
After a long delay, some random Dj's, and a lot of tension from an audience beginning to realize that there is no movie screening or autograph signing, Smith Westerns took the stage around 11:30. Maybe it was just the disappointment of not getting to meet Simon Pegg or maybe it was the pure fact that I was exhausted by this point, but their set of mostly new songs didn't really do much for me. I wasn't a huge fan of their newest album The Soft Will so it shouldn't surprise that I didn't like the live versions much. The last songs were the older hits from the previous albums they played worked much better live. After this I went home slightly let down but ready to get back up and go for the start of my favorite weekend of the year.
Friday August 2nd
Deap Valley 1:30
The start of Friday immediately divided the park into three sections. On the north side of the park you will find the rockers with the bud-light stage, the south side or the red bull stage held all of the hipsters and casual fans, and anyone wanting to jut party, dance, and do drugs headed to Perry's stage. I headed to the north side to rock out, where I would be spending most of the day. Here we find Deap Valley sort of a female Black Keys, they are a two piece blues rock band, made up of two sisters. They hammered out a very lively set, but made the unfortunate decision to comment on a giant inflatable Stanly Cup and call it a football trophy. They were showered in boo's, chicogians sure love their Black Hawks. They are a good band destined for a better time slot next time, but writing a few hits couldn't help. Also there was photo bomb guy, he ruined the first five photos of the day, so here is my tribute to him.
Ghost B.C. 2:15
Right at 2:15 on the nose, a fog machine starting as Gregorian chanting played too the audience, and out came the the band all dressed in their back ward priest outfits. The band write music that is very satanic, so it isn't surprising to see the fans all put on the act of being satanic for one hour. The clouds that had been threatening rain all day suddenly vanished as if pulled straight down by Satan himself so that the people of Lollapallooza could witness his minions in action. After a minute or two of the band playing, lead singer Papa Emeritius II emerged in his pope of the underworld outfit to lead the crowd in an hour of metal. They played tracks off both of their albums and had everyone in the audience rocking out or watching just to see what they would do next. They sure play a great show for metal heads, but for most it was worth it enough to say you saw the pope of the underworld earlier.
Father John Misty 3:15
After making our way across the park following Ghost B.C. we arrived at Father John Misty. He started out with Fleet Foxes as their drummer and stayed with them until after the Helplessness Blues tour. Already two great folk albums down he went solo and fired out the much more raunchy but equally awesome Fear Fun. I was expecting a calm afternoon set, which I did get but also a lot more. If it weren't for Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails and Papa Emeritus II, he would have been the best front man of the day. As the set started the charisma came in for a close up and he preceded to flip it the bird. His charisma was palpable and he danced around the stage while singing, by dancing seductively and humping the audience. He had the banter of a stand up comedian and the voice of a folk star, the audience ate it up. During the second half of the show he found a unicorn in the audience and preceded to serenade it, but my favorite part of the show was when he told the audience, "this is the part of the show where I don't care whether you like that I am doing or not."
Imagine Dragons 5:15
If your wondering why there isn't a picture of the band for this page let me explain. This is a classic case of bad planning on lolla's part. Imagine Dragons are probably the second most popular band of the entire festival next to Mumford and Sons, thanks to those two unbelievably popular songs or theirs, "It's Time", and "Radioactive". Everyone and their grandma knows these songs and apparently like me wanted to see them live. This band was booked on the tiny small Lake Shore side stage. First problem; they were not booked against anything equally popular band, so that everyone was trying to get to Imagine Dragons and nothing else. Second problem; the Lake Shore stage is the worst stage ever for sound volume, and when you cram 100,000 drunk and annoyed people into a tiny side stage area and not a huge main stage area. Third problem: When their are so many loud drunks and crappy enough sound, you can't hear the band over the idiots, not to mention be so crammed in like sardines that you can't move, they festival pulls the plug ten minutes in to correct this problem. After they pulled the plug we bailed to go sit in the grass and chill after this travesty. Eventually the band came back on and we sat and listened to them from the grass before making our way to see a much better band.
Queens of the Stone Age 6:15
After only one rock band had performed so far I was excited to get another huge dose of good old fashioned rock and roll. Especially considering how awesome Queens of the Stone Age's newest album was, go buy Like Clockwork now. I was so excited at the back to back rock storm of Queens in to Nine Inch Nails that was to come, but also the possibilities this back to back set gave. I thought it was possible for a guest appearance from Trent Reznor on, "Kalopsia", or gasp even Trent Reznor and Dave Grohl for "Mantra". Sadly none of this happened but it didn't matter in the end, queens music spoke for themselves, and their live show needed no more aid.
Queens opened their set with "Millionaire" and it was an explosion of rock energy in the crowd. It was an epic opener, but I have to admit I do miss the vocals from Nick Oliveri. I was awesome all the same. The next few tracks were some amazing new tracks off of Like Clockwork, including my two favorites, "If I Had a Tail", and "Smooth Sailing". Along with hits from Era Vulgaris, Rated R, Songs For the Dead, Lullabies to Paralyze, and Queens of the Stone Age, even the pickiest fan would have been happy. Queens of the Stone Age have their own feel to rock, they add the sexy back into rock and roll. The new album shows it off especially. Finally Queens unleashed their true potential for the last song "Song for the Dean", the cracked it up a notch and jammed it out for at least ten minutes. The song ended at least three times before finally coming to an end.
Nine Inch Nails 8: 15
The Crowd separated following Queens show for people trying to go to The Killers or to get a better spot for Nine Inch Nails. The last time I saw Nine Inch Nails was on their farewell tour and they were opening for Janes Addition. I was really excited to see what their headlining show would be like, oh and the light show, the fabulous light show. Every tour Nine Inch Nails put together a new light show, and tonight show was no exception. After waiting for forty five minutes moving in closer and closer the show finally started.
At first all you could see was a giant white wall and a key board center stage, and then all of a sudden Trent was there singing and playing by himself. One by one band member appeared on stage with electronic instruments and all white backdrop of moveable white video screens, that doubled as awesome lights. The first three songs used electronic instruments; "Copy of A", "Sanctified", and "Came Back Haunted". Until the screens broke apart for, "1,000,000" and a live drum kit emerged and all shit broke loose. All the energy that had been stored through the first three songs came blasting out in one of the best mosh pits I ever been a part of. One of the best moments of the entire weekend happened when a man in a wheel chair charged the mosh pit. Everyone got out of his way and it was one glorious moment where he was king of a lolla and my hero.
Trent Rezor really understands his audience, and that helps him to craft what might have been the perfect Nine Inch Nails set list. He gives some heavy song for the kids to throw down to, and then slows it back down for the weaker kids to catch their breath. This was hands down the best show of the weekend and one of the best shows I have ever seen. That moment where, "The Hand That Feeds", is quickly followed by "Head Like a Hole" is truly a glorious moment. Also the moment where girls walk into an empty hole right before a heavy song just to scream as the pit starts and guys charge in all directions and they freak out flailing their limbs in all directions. Then there was another moment that made me want to cheat on the previous moment with this new moment. When the girl form the mosh pits comes back screaming out how she had just been run over by a wheel chair. That was the best moment of the night. Here is the super epic show if you are interested, and let me clarify. If you are not interested you should be.
Saturday August 3rd
Planet Hemp 1:00
First thing of the day on Saturday was Planet Hemp a Brazilian rap rock group from the early 90's. Unbeknownst to 99% of the crowd including myself, Planet Hemp was actually on a reunion tour. It may have been early in the day but that didn't stop the die hard fans from lighting up proudly in the small but mighty crowd. They were exactly what the crowd needed to knock the hangover out of even the worst case fans.
Reignwolf 2:00
I would like to think that Reignwolf got the Jimmy Hendrix time slot. When Hendrix played Woodstock he came on early woke people up with his legendary guitar playing. I'm not saying that Reignwolf is as talented as Jimmy Hendrix, but he definitely had got some serious skills. He came out and asked the crowd if they were ready, they replied but I doubt had any idea what they were getting themselves in for. When he started in with the first song, "Electric Love" he was singing into the mic with one hand while flailing on the other guitar with the other hand. All While playing the drums with this feet. After a while he brought out his brother and a friend to play bass and drums with him. Still the best parts of the show was when the blues guitarist was slaying it solo. He played a killer version of Fleetwood Mac's "The Chain" that would make Lyndsay Buckingham smile. This was one of the best performances of the day.
Charles Bradley 2:45
Right at 2:45 all we had to do is turn our heads to the sound of horns bellowing over the horizon. The band played a few songs before making a grand introduction for the one and only Charles Bradley. Charles Bradley is a famous soul singer and a great James Brown impersonator. He proceeded to lead all of lolla in sermon of soul church. He played hit after hit and even at the age of 65 he displayed some of the best dance moves I have ever seen in my life, seriously!
Local Natives 4:00
Local Natives may have served as the perfect mid afternoon set to be the true warm up for the headliners yet to come. They played the main stage like a tried and true festival band in it's prime. They played songs off of Gorilla Manor and this years Hummingbird. The happier songs of off Gorilla Manor gave a more sunny disposition, while the darker songs from Hummingbird dug deeper. They amped up the quieter songs to flow better in a live setting and made the heavier songs explode out into the audience so that during "Sun Hand" it had turned into a full dance party. Almost everyone in the audience was really into it except my friend Nick. He is more of a metal head, he wanted me to show what he was doing during Local Natives, here lies Bud Light Lime may it rest in pieces.
The National 6:00
The National may not have been headlining Saturday night but they probably should have been. In their one hour and fifteen minute set they were able to play an impressive 17 songs. The true showman of the day was Matt Berninger the singer of The National. On CD they may be calm and relaxing with Matt's signature baritone voice, but live they make you want to get on your feet and dance. The National put on one hell of a performance with Matt being such a showman, that he fell to his knees and screamed out the lyrics on a couple of the songs. I still say that the one two punch of "Mr. November" into "Terrible Love" was the best part of the whole day.
The Lumineers 7:15
The Lumineers otherwise known as that band that made the song "Ho Hey" or the band that came before Muford and Sons. All of which is a real shame because I really like The Lumineers and wanted to hear more that just "Ho Hey", but they were plagued by a bunch of things. They were assigned the terrible Lake Shore stage, so that they couldn't be heard over the drones and drones of casual Mumford and Sons fans getting a spot. I got up close to get a photo and stayed to sing along to "Ho Hey", but after that the crowd got so loud that their was no point so I went back to the hill to listen and wait till Mumford.
Mumford and Sons 8:15
Mumford and Sons are currently one of the biggest bands on the entire planet, you can deny it or try to argue with it all you want but the fact prove it. They sell out shows and sell more albums then almost anyone on the planet. Everyone on earth has heard at least a few songs by them, and everyone and their grandma came out to see them as you can tell by the new segment I'm starting called people of Mumford and Sons. See the picture bellow. They had one of the best debut folk albums of all time no one can argue that fact and they used the success of that album to cash in and phone in a lesser second album. I like to use the hangover comparison. We all saw the first hangover and we all loved it, but the second hangover was the exact same thing except worse. Don't get me wrong I was very excited to hear material off of the first album, but their popularity wold serve a problem.
By the time Mumford and sons finally took the stage their was close to 200,000 people in attendance in front of the stage. The problem being that Mumford and Sons are a quieter band and most of the people were casual fans only here to see three or four songs. You didn't expect all of these drunk casual fans to sit and wait around quietly did you? They definitely didn't do that. The sad truth of the matter is that Mumford and Sons actually put on a very good show from what I could see and hear. They were just drowned out over the loud chorus of drunk people being drunk people. They are amazingly talented musicians, switching instruments multiple times proving each one of them can play anything at any time. It wasn't all bad they had some great moments. Their live version of "Dust Bowl Dance" sent shivers down my spine, and the sing a longs during "The Cave", "Little Lion Man", and "I Will Wait" was tons of fun. Although if your going to see Mumford and Sons I would recommend doing it in an arena, concert hall, or be willing to get really close, so you can hear them over the idiots.
Sunday August 4th
Palma Violets 1:00
By the time Sunday came around most of the three day park attendees were pretty much walking hungover zombies with one more day of partying ahead of them. So The Palma Violets early afternoon punk rock couldn't have come at a better time. They were loud, filled with angst, and not messing around. During the bands 45 minute set they fired out songs with enough energy to suck the hangover out of you or make you pass out trying to. During the end of the set the lead singer jumped into the pit and crowd surfed for an entire song. This is a band that has a ton of potential.
Jake Bugg 1:45
This was another case where all you had to do was turn your head and listen. After a nice act to get up and move around to, I have to admit it was nice to have a band to sit back and listen to. As I sat back an listened I realized that I really liked Jake Bugg. His music was very diverse, and he really is a very talented musician. I now own his debut album. I am curious to see where he goes from here.
Alex Clare 2:30
If you had told me previous to this year's lolla that I would end up putting Alex Clare on my top ten list I would have thought you were crazy, but this "Too Close" hit maker really delivered. The benefit he had is that he knew that most people only knew his one song and he used that to his advantage. He started and hour long dace party, where no ones eyes left him until his time was over. He had energy, he had style, and he puts on one hell of a performance. After he let everyone jam out to his album, he reminded them why they were here in the first place by blasting out "Too Close" to a huge crowd of brand new fans.
Baroness 3:30
When you set out to go to a festival, a lot of people make a list of the most important bands to see at that festival. This band was defensively at the top of my list. In fact I was happy to even be hearing from them again, after that horrific tour bus accident, but they brought it and then some. This was the most metal performance of the entire weekend by far. The crowd was small by mighty and loving every second of this show. The band made a point to say how happy they were to be here after witnessing the very first lolla, and they meant it. They had some of the most energy of any thing the entire weekend and were probably the best act of the day. Although The Cure would come first. Also the guitarist is hilarious, he looked like a mix of Dave Mustaine from Megadeth and Dramatic Chipmunk.
Alt-J 5:00
After being on the north side for the entire first half of the day we made our way too the south side. Alt-J were playing on the infamous Lake Shore stage so I was sure we would end up being able to hear them. We went back to the hill and took sat down, but sure enough I could hear them just fine, and they sounded good. They had found a way to overcome the Lake Shore stage so mad props to them for that. After being entirely OK with sitting down for their set, I couldn't help but get up and dance when they played "Breezeblocks".
Grizzly Bear 6:00
Grizzly bear are like the weirder cousins of Radiohead. I was very excited to see them live, we moved up as close as possible. The crowd may have been made up of almost entirely stoned hipsters, but that didn't stop me from loving their show. Their songs really explode in a live setting, and they played material from all of their albums. They are such good musicians its incredible, they all play like four different instruments, and most all of them sing. An hour isn't enough time for a band like this, everyone was digging it and no one wanted them to leave. When they said don't worry Beach House will give you another good show, I knew he was lying so we moved in for The Cure.
The Cure 8:00
The Cure have become somewhat of a legend in the live show area. They have been playing music since the the late 70's and haven't lost their knack for it. The great thing about a Cure show aside from Robert Smith's awesomeness is their discography. The band has spanned more than three decades and their music has changed a ton over the that time. In the 80's they were a pop band putting hit after hit through he decade. In the 90's they were huge on the forefront of the goth era. The songs got darker, the rock got harder, and the crowd changed. In the 2000's they cemented themselves as a legacy band that wasn't going anywhere.
The band has changed over the years, but the long standing front man Robert Smith has held them together as driving force in this band. He is a true showman in the world of rock and roll and his look is undeniably individual. I mean look at that hair, have you ever anyone with hair like that. I thought it was interesting how the front rows for a Cure show looked, it was completely mixed aged, with people from every walk of like. During the show it dawned on me how cool that was, that this band and it's music has come brought together all these people from every walk of life. The show it self was very simple minimal lighting, no props, simple video screens. Just the band and it's music, and for two straight hours and 27 songs they played. They used every second of their set time, being used to playing three and a half hour shows. They even seemed upset that they had to leave earlier than they wanted too. They took the whole audience on a journey through musical history, pop hits from the 80's, goth songs from the 90's, and everything in between. If you ever get a chance to see the cure live do it!
