Rain King

It’s telling how awesome this weekend is

that I got ejected from the backstage area and was entirely unfazed by that.

I’m done with outdoor music festivals forever. Don’t even talk to me unless you’re indoors and at a hotel for en entire weekend.

Notes:

• I’m normally a pick-and-choose type when it comes to festivals, but I have watched nearly everyone this weekend so far because that is the caliber of the lineup.
• The myriad reunions and old timers have all brought it. Superchunk slayed, Chavez blew me away (their drummer is obscenely good), and Sonic Youth still embarrass nearly everyone they share a bill with, even as they all enter their 50’s.
• Stage left is having all sorts of technical difficulties. From mildest to severest, the three most major setbacks: Jon Spencer’s mic shorting out (they fixed it), JR from Girls having a problem in either his bass or his rig (didn’t play on the last three songs), Spiral Stairs’ monitor and/or amp malfunctioning (stopped playing on some songs, left the stage at one point, speared his drink off the top of his amp with the head of his guitar, looked very, very pissed off).
• They’re projecting all sorts of Matador band music videos between sets. They’re pretty awesome because most of them are, at this point, vintage. Music videos tend to be so slick these days, I had forgotten how low budget and scuzzy and simple they used to be. Also, does anyone know what Matador band consisted of a dude on guitar, a dude on drums/vox, and a lady on keys/vox? I saw a video which simply featured them playing on a small, cheap stage, but the song ripped.
• Once it hits late night, it’s fairly amusing to see the intermingling of the Matador attendees with the more typical Vegas clubgoers. Plaid vs. Ed Hardy! Vintage dresses vs. slut slips! Tattoos everywhere!
• Chan Marshall can sing the hell out of anything. She gets really fidgety with her hands and every so often says “sorry” away from the mic (to us? to her band? to everyone?) and it’s really endearing. She is also so ridiculously beautiful in person. Like, somehow even better looking than in the many fancy photographs I’ve seen before.
• The skinny dude with long hair and a baseball cap (the Slayer/Megadeath show is next week, pal) who abruptly ended our time backstage for no decent reason is a gaping asshole. Jussayin’.