Well I unfortunately gotta keep this one short and sweet.
A little backstory on this concert. It was the 30th anniversary of Subpop. Subpop is of course the famous record label that gave bands like Nirvana and Soundgarden their start. After 30 years, and many ups and downs, they’re still at it. Some bands on their label are currently some of my favorites, so I was really looking forward to this concert.
Unfortunately my favorite signee of theirs, Afghan Whigs, played the night before. I was at the Pearl Jam concert so I can’t complain too much. Even though they wouldn’t be at the festival I was still really looking forward to catching Bully, Metz, Hot Snakes, and Father John Misty.
After Pearl Jam I ubered back to my place and went to bed as soon as I could in preparation for this free outdoor concert. Me and my roommate woke up like giddy school kids, ran up to the gas station to buy some booze, and came back down to get the party started at 10am. Our friend Saman showed up and we threw many, many drinks back waiting for the music to start. Around noon we headed to the beach which is only a block away.
During what I’ll call chapter one I was able to catch Bully, Kyle Craft, and Metz. I wasn’t expecting much out of Kyle Craft but was very pleasantly surprised. He sounded great! I unfortunately didn’t know any of the songs but next time he’s in town I’m definitely going to check him out.
Bully was of course amazing. The lead singer apparently learned how to record from Steve Albini who did Nirvana’s second album “In Utero”. I could definitely pick up on some albini-ness in her recordings and I was glad to hear the same during the live show. She put on a great show, the band definitely revolves around her. The other musicians are great, they just don’t seem to get into it as much as she does. Maybe they’re musicians for hire? I dunno.
I then got to see the last 2 songs from Metz. I’ll be honest I wasn’t too into it. The energy was definitely super high which I loved, but the sound almost seemed jumbled. Very abrasive and noisy. I can see myself getting into it in the right mood, but wasn’t really for me. I don’t see it as a daily listen or a favorite of mine is why I’m getting at.
After Metz I went back to my house to re-charge and fell asleep. I woke up and was super bummed I missed hot snakes. Anyways, I made my way back out to the beach and got to hear beach house. That is some relaxing stuff. I don’t smoke weed anymore but I imagine if I did I would listen to this. The atmosphere was pretty cool during this show. The sun was setting so it was perfect for the music. Again though..their stuff is not for me. This time instead of noisy and abrasive its just too reverb-y and dreamy. I didn’t hate it, but lets just say I was easily distracted from the performance.
Lastly after this my friends left me by myself. I didn’t want to leave because I wanted to check out Father John Misty and see what the fuss was about. I dislike crowds and let me just say I was JAMPACKED in there. I was definitely out of my comfort zone but wasn’t too far from the stage.
I stuck around for about 6 songs and like Kyle Craft I was pleasantly surprised. I had always thought of FJM as full of himself, conceited, and a total douchebag…which I guess to be honest he kind of is. But as far as music is concerned he’s great, and I genuinely enjoyed every song I heard. Since then I’ve been jamming Real Love Baby a lot. I’m glad I stuck around because it’s opened a new realm of music I want to check out.
The crowd got to me eventually and I ended up leaving. Overall a great day full of music, but I’m disappointed I drank too much towards the beginning causing me to go to sleep around 4. Oh well! Live and you learn. I at least now have some new artists to check out and other ones I know I’m not into.