XPoNential Festival day 2: Good Old War, The Avett Brothers, Wilco and more

Day two was the first of two long days at the Camden Waterfront. We arrived at Wiggins park around noon and, after making our way through the entrance and bag check and getting our wrist bands for the day, found a nice spot on the lawn in front of the River Stage to set our blanket and hang out for the day. There was so much to do, though, that we didn't actually spend much time at the blanket at all.

First up was Good Old War. I avoided listening to this band at first because I don't like being told what to do, but finally, after sooo many tweets about them from the artists I like and admire, I figured I would give them a chance, and I am glad that I did. I really like this band a lot, and I feel like you are doing yourself a grave disservice if you are not giving them a chance. Their set was too short, as is generally the case when one is watching a band that she adores, but the good news is that they are playing Philly again next month. They are a Philly-based band, so I suspect I should be able to see them again.

Immediately after their set, we rushed over to the "members only" tent to A)get refreshing beverages, and B)so that I could stand in line awkwardly and get a chance to meet the guys in the band. Meet and Greets are generally the most awkward things in the universe, and I know that I feel this way, yet every time the opportunity arises I find myself taking it. I was able to buy "Come Back As Rain" on vinyl while waiting in line so I got my record signed, which made me happy. (On a side note, when I came home last night I tried to put my record in the crate, and it wouldn't fit. Looks like its time for a third.)

After this I met back up with Mandy and we wandered around a little bit to see what kind of stuff there was in the tents that were all over the grounds, and while we were doing this, we were listening to Mike Doughty of Soul Coughing. I liked his set enough, but every song kind of sounded the same to me, and all of them sounded like "circles" which is the only Soul Coughing song I know. Even still, it wasn't a bad show.

We had a lot of time to kill between Mike Doughty and the next act that we had any interest in seeing, which wasn't until the Susquehanna Bank Center opened up and the main event for the night got underway, so we spent more time wandering around. We used this opportunity to go drop off some of our recently-acquired crap at the car (Thank God for re-entry!) and we also decided to take full advantage of what our wrist-bands granted us access, and spent some time in the Camden Children's Garden. There wasn't a ton of stuff to look at in there, but it was nice to get out of the sun and away from the crowds for a bit. Also, the lure of a toilet that flushed and running water was enough to make me want to check it out.

After this, we decided to hit up the food vendors (yay crab cakes!) and then head back inside the show. We walked around a bit more, and ended up sitting in the "members only" area again, taking full advantage of both the shade and the free drinks. We also spent some time parusing the craft vendors. I really wanted a Henna tattoo but she wanted 20 dollars for it and I didn't have that much cash left. I am considering getting it today. We will see. I figure it will be good practice for the tattoo I really want.

Eventually it was time to go gather our things and wait in line to get into the Susquehanna Bank Center so that we could see Dr. Dog, The Avett Brothers and Wilco. This was new this year, the incorporation of SBC, but it was an experiment gone so right, if my judgement means anything. We lined up by the Marina Stage, got to enter through the back gates, and when we got into the arena (before the regular ticket holders) there was an entire section, front and center, of the lawn sectioned off just for XPN members.

Dr. Dog came on first. I wasn't impressed. I thought I would like them more considering how much love everyone gives them, but really they just weren't my thing. I may have actually fallen asleep.

The Avetts took the stage after that and I was basically as excited as a kid on Christmas morning. Their set was perfect. They sounded perfect. Even from the lawn they looked perfect. It was a good day. I was up dancing for a while, but by the time they got to January Wedding I just couldn't handle the standing anymore, so I laid down on the blanket and danced. I was up and down from that point on, but that was fine. Toward the end of the set, I leaned in to tell Mandy that I was going to be very disappointed if they didn't play Kick Drum Heart, because I really love that song. (Its my ringtone.) It was getting late and they were playing I And Love And You and introducing the band, and thanking everyone for coming to see them, and I could feel the disappointment creeping in. That song is their big one, and they were thanking everyone, I thought for sure that I wasn't going to hear my song...and then the drum beat changed.

I don't think I have ever gotten up off the ground so quickly in my life! I danced around and screamed along to Kick Drum Heart and was happier at that point than a pig in poop.

Dave Hause (from The Loved Ones) was playing on the side stage, so we ran over to check him out. I wouldn't have gone except that I knew that Brian Fallon from The Gaslight Anthem (if you have been reading at all lately you know who they are) was playing guitar for him, and I wanted to see him if nothing else. I was thoroughly impressed. I find that a lot of times when attending something like this, you find your new favorite band, or at least your new "it" band. I figured Dawes was going to be my discovery of the weekend, but that's not the case, as I really liked the energy and sound of Hause's set. I will definitely be giving this guy some more attention.

Finally, we went back to the blanket on the grass to listen to Wilco. I had my ideas about what this band was going to sound like, but that wasn't what i heard at all. The first two songs were very Jack White-y in both sound and composure. I even remarked that the lead singer had a very Jack White look about him. I guess I can't fault the guy or the band-Jack White is pretty much a musical genius, so why wouldn't they want to be him? It just wasn't what I thought I knew about Wilco. The third song was a lot slower and a lot less experimental, which made it a lot more like what I was expecting from the band.

We only stayed for about five songs because by that point we were starving, tired, and ready to go. I didn't hate Wilco, though, and will probably listen to them a bit now, just to see if there is a groove I can get into.

After a shower and some rest, I am heading back over for day 3, the final day. I am so excited to see Counting Crows tonight, and I am definitely interested to see what else I discover this weekend.

Just some thoughts

Generally, I *try* to be a happy person, but more often than not, I am frustrated or upset by something that I probably shouldn't be, and end up pretty miserable because of stuff that is usually out of my control or that doesn't really matter much anyway, in the long run.

Friends let me down. Boys are pretty much non-existent in my life. I work all of the time yet somehow NEVER have any cash. I am generally unsatisfied with the way my life is currently progressing.

But then there is music.

Yesterday alone, I found out something that was already widely speculated, but one of the bands that I adored in college, The Starting Line, is heading out on a 10 year anniversary tour in support of their debut album Say It Like You Mean It. This show, for me, is happening on December 30 and I have already made plans to attend. I wont have work, so its a done deal for me.

Also, The Gaslight Anthem has a new album hitting the stores next Tuesday, and NPR started streaming it yesterday. I already wrote about this in more detail yesterday so I wont go there again.

Then there is the fact that sometimes I do "grown-up" things, like supporting a listener-supported radio station. And sometimes, when someone does something like this, they are rewarded. My reward just happened to be a pair of passes to the XPonential Festival  this coming weekend. I am going to have the opportunity to see some bands that I love, including Counting Crows, The Hold Steady, The Avett Brothers, Good Old War, and a new favorite Dawes. I have been listening to a playlist of all of those bands, plus some others from the festival, for a few days now, in between spins of Handwritten, and I am getting pretty excited.

Music is the thing that drives me. The bands that I love are my passion. When I am fruitless in my search to find a friend to spend some time with me, I know that my record collection will not let me down. Long rides with a good disk and the windows down are where dreams are born and nurtured. You know that cliche'd deserted island question? my answer is always my music collection and the ability to listen to it.

Today after work, when the car started, "Einstein on the Beach" by the Counting Crows was on the radio. I know I had a big cheesy grin on my face, because that song just does that to me, so when I drove passed the Medical Intern also walking to his car, he looked at me kind of funny and smiled back. He must have thought I was smiling at him, but really, I was just happy about the Eggman. That's all, dude. Just smiling about some silly song that the artist never wanted anyone to hear, but that I adore, and that makes me happier than any person ever could.

When I meet the man that can put that same shit-eating grin on my face, he had better be prepared to put a ring on my finger immediately.

365 project "from town to town and state to state there's people everywhere that try to capture us"

157.


Artist: the Avett Brothers
Album: Emotionalism


It took me a really long time to like this band. I am stubborn, so that has a lot to do with it. Also, I just wasn’t in the right mindset to really get them. I don’t know if that makes sense to you, or if you think I am weird for saying that, but it’s the truth. If I am going through a happy period of my life I don’t find myself really wanting to pay much attention to a sad, mellow band, and conversely, if I am miserable, I have no desire to listen to the newest pop-punk outfit to hit the scene.

That is not to say that I ignored this band completely. That is not the case at all. Id give them my attention when they would pop up while listening to my itunes on shuffle, and a few of their songs stuck out enough that I would find them frequenting my mixes, the ballad of love and hate being a regular for a while. But I just couldn’t sit down and listen to the entire album straight through. It didn’t help the situation that the song that I knew from this band wasn’t on this album, because that gave me even less of a reason to listen.
I am a lot less happy than I was for the last ten months. Having no job and being perpetually single will do a lot of damage to ones level of happiness. If I were a video game character, id be closer to losing a life than I would to defeating the enemy at this stage in the game. But, if I were a video game character, I would be freaking awesome and probably garner some attention from someone other than my parents, and in that, I would probably be happier. Weird how that works, I guess.

Anyway, all this being less happy business lent my ears towards more mellow, sad stuff, and gave the Avetts the chance that they so rightfully deserved. It is probably unfair to categorize the Avetts into the “I’m sad and lonely” group, because they really don’t fit that bill, it just took me some time to realize that.

As im sitting here listening to this album again, I just paid attention to the lyrics of the song the weight of lies. if you don’t know this song, I suggest taking a minute and checking it out. This is one of those times where a song finds me exactly when I need for it to. You cannot run from who you are or the actions you have taken, because all of that will catch up to you. Running from your mistakes will just make things worse for you in the end, just face them and get through it. I think that might be something I need to hear more than anything right now. Not that I see my plans as running away from mistakes, but getting out of here means getting out of the corner I’ve painted myself into, and maybe that’s something I need to work out without skipping town.

What I really want to write about is the stuff that is going on in my brain. I’d like to get it out, on “paper” and see if someone else can make sense of it, because I feel like I am losing what little sense I had left. If you stick around and continue to read this blog, provided I continue to keep writing, you may very well witness my complete destruction into a ball of waste. Stay tuned!
　

365 project "we're holding hands in the rain/s-saying words like 'i love you'/d-d-do ya love me?/Yeah!"

155.


Artist: The Avett Brothers
Album: I and love and you


At one point back in the fall of 2009, there was a stretch of face book status updates that all said the same thing, and it was something that I hadn’t quite yet figured out. All of my hipster friends were posting “Brooklyn, Brooklyn, take me in.” I understood why one of them would, as he lived in Brooklyn at the time, but I was having a hard time understanding why people on the west coast were posting this as well. I figured it had to do with music that I just hadn’t heard yet.


I was right. Not too long after, someone posted the video for the song I and love and you and I finally understood what was going on. There was a new band in town.


The thing about the Avett brothers is, though, that while I should have been drooling over this band this entire time, I really only started paying attention to them very, very recently. More recently than even id like to admit. I mean, they have had a home in my itunes for a good while now, probably a year or so, but I never actively sat down and listened. It just wasn’t really my thing. I don’t know what the hell was my thing over this past year, but it wasn’t the Avett brothers.


And then I heard kick drum heart and was kicking myself for not paying attention sooner, as this is quite possibly one of my most favorite songs ever. Its so happy and perky and upbeat and sweet, and I am left wondering why it wasn’t part of my life sooner. This is the kind of song that makes me want to be in love, not the comfortable sweats love, but the kind of love when everything is still fresh and new and exciting and every minute you get to spend with your significant other is magical.

My latest Avett brothers obsession is January wedding, which also finds its home on this album. Its another song that just makes me want to be in love. Even though the song has a tinge of sadness running through it, its still that pure, true, happy love that is what I long for and what I fear ill never find.

I don’t listen to the radio. I find most of what comes over the airwaves to be trite and merely a caricature of what music should be. Once in a while, though, there will be a gem like the Avett brothers that someone with some sense decides to add to the rotation, and it restores my faith in man, and in good music.