WAVED OUT: Concert Review and Photos

Aquarium Drunkard‘s annual WAVED OUT event returned to The Echo and The Echoplex this past weekend and with a killer lineup, BeatCrave made sure to get over there and soak in all the musical talent both stages would be overflowing with. Of course, we weren’t the only ones there; both venues continued to pack in more music fiends like us late into the night. For a measly $12, concert goers were pampered with free ice cream, food trucks, free t-shirts, bingo, and sixteen bands! If you missed out, no worries! We have a re-cap and a TON of photos to share with you after the jump!

For the first part of the day, the venue was a bit empty as expected. Although the event started 3 pm on a Saturday, it was a weekend day and we can assume most people who came late were resting up for all of the shows they were about to see. While Giant Cloud started downstairs at The Echoplex, we checked out Apes of Wrath upstairs for a bit and ending up staying for most of their set. As a three-piece hailing from San Diego, these guys only amplified our beliefs in the fact that the city only two hours away from Los Angeles is still churning out some great, organic bands. That’s one of the great things about bands from the SoCal area. We may not have as many instruments or band members on stage, but the members that do go up on stage perform the hell out of a set and sound much bigger than they look.

Apes of Wrath were then only to be followed by fellow San Diegan band, Tape Deck Mountain who also proved they could do the same with their haunting textures of psychedelia. However, it was Superhumanoids who got the first dance party of the day at The Echo. With their dance pop rock on top of addicting samples, the boy-girl melodies offered massaging tones yet provided something to be able to move to whether you wanted to or not.

The first band to play with only two members at The Echo that day was Mad Decent artists, Po Po. Using only a guitar and a couple of snare drums, the stage looked awkwardly empty but the sound was loud enough for smokers outside on the patio to clearly hear. Their sound is heavy, distorted, and soaring vocals Po Po was a pleasant surprise to walk in on. Gamble House and Dirt Dress then took it down a notch and offered relief to our ears with their soothing acoustic and blues melodies.

Downstairs the Family Portrait, Active Child, Moon Duo, and The Coathangers pulled in massive crowds with genres ranging from psychobilly, new wave, trance, to Riot grrrl goodness. However, it clearly began to get even more crowded as the bigger acts were about to all go on stage at The Echoplex. The food trucks had arrived, everyone suddenly waited in long lines to get a custom made WAVED OUT t-shirt, and there were crowds even behind the soundboard (where LA Record’s Chris Ziegler was doing an excellent job DJing in between sets).

Los Angeles darlings, Best Coast, turned on their charm once again with their power chords, honest lyrics, and lo-fi surf pop. Turbo Fruits took control of the stage with their jungle-infused surf rock and poured beer into each other’s mouths. The baby faced-boys of Surfer Blood pulled in the largest crowd yet with their surf-pop bro-like anthems.

Finally the night closed out with the very talented ladies of The Sandwitches and the rambunctious energy of Pizza! Pizza! was indeed the last act, but this didn’t stop the lead vocalist showing us his Alec Ounsworth-like dancing.

Although a long day, there was no doubt that WAVED OUT Fest is a great way to spend a Saturday. There’s a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction with seeing that many great bands in one day, but the food and the booze might have something to do with that, too.

Check our photos out from WAVED OUT below. We’ve got a lot!

Photography by Carl Pocket