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| Street Fever |
I just can't wait until next year's edition. Oh wait, let's not get ahead of ourselves . . .
Favorite band:
DWNTWN. Okay, I'm a touch bias here as I've followed this band for a number of years. Their tunes are so catchy and their lyrics provide that lift through the emotional hard times that hit us all. One also has to love the sleeve shawl that Jamie (lead singer) used to full effect. She creating swirling motions as she twirled her left arm in motion with the music. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that many of the festival attendees were thrilled to see DWNTWN as the Cartel Outdoor Stage was packed for their set. "Let's get weird and dance," nicely summed things up.
Favorite discovered band:
Street Fever. The BROKE LA website says this, "Think dark wave disco meets cyber punk with a touch of seduction." I'm not going to disagree with that. Dark wave disco: the techno beats just kept pulsating along with the timed floor lights. Cyber punk: think The Borg. Touch of seduction: a young woman came on stage, seducing us with her performance dance and at times French vocals. At one point, the young woman came on stage and knocked over a floor light. She pointed to it and a guy immediately rushed on stage to adjust it. Then she picked up a conductor's baton and made sure the crowd followed her lead.
Sometimes you need to make tough choices:
String Theory and The Fontaines. My first major scheduling conflict happened early. Both String Theory (Cartel Indoor Stage) and The Fontaines (Cartel Outdoor Stage) were scheduled for 3:45 p.m. Doing my pre-festival research, String Theory fascinated me with first, their awesome photo on the BROKE LA website and; second, their Soundcloud music. As for The Fontaines, I caught them a couple times during their residency at Silverlake Lounge and I wanted to see how they'd progressed musically as they were a relatively new group at that time. I did a split decision. I caught the first half of String Theory and the second half of The Fontaines. String Theory used a string harp installation that went from the stage to rafters in the middle of the building. It reminded me of a similar installation I saw a few years back when hanging out at an artist/music loft in Marina Del Rey. Did I actually hear them sing, "statistical byway?" As for The Fontaines, I say that lead singer Charlotte has taken on a Gothic look that makes a fun play with her Judy Garland classic vocals.
Second Helpings:
Saturday was the second time I saw Valley Queen and Yassou. Interestingly enough, I saw both of them for the first time at the Bootleg Theater though not on the same night. Valley Queen goes with a Southern rock sound. Did I hear lyrics that went, "Like a super nova?" Lead singer Natalie proclaimed towards the end of their set, "I used pedals on that one. I just started using pedals . . that was so fuzzy." Always learning. Yassou hails from San Francisco. Lead singer Lillie leads a band that I argue can go from haunting vocals to Enya-like vocals backed by a rock band to chaotic sounds and motions. And then sometimes there is a sound of a mythological wisp.
I interviewed them:
During the BROKE LA media day, I got to interview Salt Petal. I also got to see their full set. This band fits the definition of multicultural. Their band is multicultural. And as lead singer Autumn stated before a couple songs, sometimes a song "requires some hip shaking" and sometimes a song demands that "we need to see you with your disco finger."
Quick hit thoughts:
I saw Alina Bea when she was in Body Parts during their Satellite residency. Her sound got my day going off on the right track. Dr. Doctor had a lyric line that went like, "Now I'm just listening. Just a memory now." The drummer had the most intense stare while the bassist was just calm, cool and collective. Jessica of Disco Shrine was extremely helpful during the BROKE LA media day. And on stage with Disco Shrine she was one high energy entertainer. Tennis System sped through their awesome set like the flashing of their light show. I definitely want to catch this band again. Vinyl Williams provided a sonic end of the night for the Cartel Outdoor Stage. Tolliver serenaded the Cartel Indoor Stage with the help of some guest performers. Did he ask me, "Did you just take a photo of my penis? I saw your camera shift down." Us photographers always seem to get in trouble when we are checking our camera settings (example, the photographer who was thought to be taking a photo of Priyanka Chopra's butt) or apparently just making sure we get a perfectly framed shot. Who wants to see a photo of a penis anyways? LOL. Brownies and Lemonade Stage was a fun way to end the night. I'm not even sure if that stage was following the schedule during the last 30 - 45 minutes. To me, it looked like a huge dance off party. The crowd was loving it. The DJs were loving it. I was loving it.
PS:
I ran into the former bass player of Missing Teen (was initially known as Future Ghost), Kim. I still remember when I first saw that band, an early time slot at Silver Lake Jubilee. After that set, I made sure I saw them again and again. The band stopped playing a few years back. This was the first time I'd seen her in years and she was as friendly as always. It was nice to know she also recognized me. (As I was writing up this blog post, I stopped by their Facebook page and played their music.)
I also ran into a friend who I hadn't seen in years. An awesome random encounter that was due to the BROKE LA Music and Art Festival.
Plug:
If you're interested in reading 3 interviews I did during the BROKE LA media day, feel free to click on the band names:
DWNTWN
Salt Petal
Annuals
And if you're interested in seeing additional photos, head on over to Intraffik.
Photo Gallery by QuickGallery.com
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