So That's What All The Fuss Is About

Rock the Garden
(Rain and Shine at the Walker)
June 18, 2011

Got to the show a little late; we could hear tapes n tapes rocking out whilst we were going through security. And the effing pat down Nazis insisted on confiscating the twizzlers (bastards!) but hello! My first Rock the Garden!!! (thanks shawn for picking up the tix—way to go with the MPR membership) Sloggy fun. Raining and dreary (and humid as heck) for the start but be damned if I’m going to wear a rain slicker.

Tapes n Tapes:
what I heard was great and I really liked the outside songs. Guess i should have been checking these guys out live earlier. Sure hope they don’t give up.

Booker T:
Only sorta listened because we went to grab a bite to eat. Not really my thing, but the crowd loved them little green onions. I preferred sweet onions. That Vincent burger was soooooo good. And the eye candy was fantastic.

Neko:
oh man. this was a huge disappointment. I loved her (and praised her to the skies) at the state show. at RTG though….her song selection left much to be desired, her heart didn’t really seem in it, and the between song patter (way too much and I actually had a hard time hearing it and understanding it) was severely disjointed (or maybe just overly jointed) show never really had any momentum and it sure seemed to go on forever. But it did look like neko was enjoying herself.

And with that, we promptly retired to the top of the hill for the headliner (and as the sun went down, the sky cleared up and we were treated to a glorious evening.

My Morning Jacket:
Ah, so this is what a spectacle rock show is all about. I stand corrected. And can I just say that (even in abbreviated festival form-and gotta shut down by 10) MMJ is incredible! I am of the opinion that Circuital and Evil Urges were disappointments (not that i didn't mind them experimenting with their sound, Z is my second fav MMJ. But whatever, cos everything sounded fantastic live. They started out with the one two punch from Circuital, "Victory Dance" and "Circuital" and they didn't let up, running through tons of the new disc (and a lot of Z, with just a little bit else thrown in, sorry on that lack of Evil Urges dude). Thought it was interesting that in addition to the album/show opening pairing, they also played "Wonderful" and "Outta My System" back to back.
And the playing? Wow. They really are a festival band. we were up on the hill and i felt like they were playing right in front of me (I can't imagine being right in front). Intense, Epic, Jammy (but the solos felt just right and never had me looking at my watch), Yim was awesomely in good voice, and just weirdly affected enough to be wildly entertaining.
Highlights for me: of course, "Golden" and the show closer "One Big Holiday", "Gideon" and "I'm Amazed" both gave me goosebumps and (SHOCK!) i even dug "Touch Me" (first time probably for that song...and it was totally the live treatment on top of an excellent show, i'm sure) Little quibble that i would have loved to hear "The Bear" but whatevs. Definitely gonna have to see these guys again. And i might have to rock the garden again.