Davy Jones, frontman of the 60s pop group The Monkees, died today in a hospital in Florida. TMZ broke the news this morning, stating that Jones died after suffering a heart attack. However, an official cause of death has yet to be announced.
The Who: Secret Sisters at the Bigfoot Stage ( Saturday at 1pm)
What you should know: Secret Sisters are really just that, sisters that people don’t expect to be sisters.
What you may have missed: The Alabama based duo of Lydia and Laura Rogers brought a little country twang to the Pacific Northwest. While most fans were still waking up from a night of hard rocking these two started a little early and played a set littered with covers and original material. Patsy Cline would have blushed.
What your friends will be talking about: Their cover of Hank William’s “Your Cheating Heart”. There aren’t many that don’t know the song but there was something special going on this morning. Maybe it was the blue skies, the crisp vocals that just resonated through the Gorge and a smattering of hand claps with from the crowd to drop the back beat (as the girls were lacking a drummer). Whether they were lying in the grass or hanging out right at the rail, the majestic way to starting Saturday was with Secret Sisters.
Overheard in the crowd: In between songs the sisters were bantering about heartbreak and loss when someone from the crowd yelled out, “What’s your type?”
Laura’s respones, “I think ‘A’ positive”.
The Sasquatch Festival is already upon us and Beatcrave is here in Washington celebrating the 10th year birthday of our favorite hairy creature. The party is so big they had to add an extra half day to get the party started a little early. While the day might have been light on the acts, it was not light on the rock. Sure with Bob Mold and Death From Above 1979 you already have some pretty heavy hitters, but none hit harder than Friday night’s closers The Foo Fighters.
Sometimes the music (and weather) gods decide to align for one night to make a show extraordinary. On a gray and drizzly night in Hollywood everything lined up for Belle and Sebastian’s show at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Raincoats and scarves adorned many fans who braved the light rain for the showing of the film, Trainspotting, on the side of the mausoleum before the set.
Those that had already taken their eyes from the flick and to the stage had already seen this themed night accelerate into the next gear. I mean, a movie about Scottish heroin addicts obviously equals Scottish band. A Tombstone on stage equals the graveyard backdrop.. and if all that doesn’t equate for you, they opened the set with “Suki in the Graveyard”.
With much buzz floating around the internet after two surprise appearances with The Felice Brothers, there was no way we were going to miss out on the chance of seeing Nebraska’s very own Conor Oberst play a set with an amazing set of musicians as a backing band. The suspense in the Echo built up as fast as the tiny venue filled with fans. What set of songs would he be playing? Would it be a set of new songs or the Bright Eyes classics that haven’t been played in so long? After coming on stage with an 11-song setlist, we were about to find out.
Nada Surf, a band two years shy of being together for two decades, ended the night on the Big Foot stage just as Vampire Weekend was wrapping up their set at the main stage. We could have been at the main stage with a bunch of people there for the hype but we figured why not support the bands who won’t get as much coverage? That’s what the indie music scene is all about, after all. So we stayed rooted at this stage after The Hold Steady to see Nada Surf, a band who still sounds as great as they did in the 90s.
To fill our need for some indie folk music, Family of the Year was there on Sunday to fill our audio cravings Silver Lake Jubilee. Although the band only has six members, it still seemed like there were a lot more bodies contributing to the musical goodness that is Family of the Year. Perhaps it’s just their soft harmonies, comforting guitar chords and melodies that just pull us into their world that make us think that. Whatever it is, we just know we’re fans.
Downtown/Union is also one of the many classic LA indie rock bands we love to see out and about. Their performance at Sunday’s Silver Lake Jubilee was a rare treat for us since it’s been a while since we’ve be able to catch a set of theirs. In perfect time to promote an album they’re currently working on, Downtown/Union (named after a bus station and its route) started our relaxing Sunday off quite nicely.
Tis the season for awesome reunions, fa-ra-la-la-la, la-la-la-la… If Sunny Day Real Estate or Pavement weren’t enough to make you scream and shout, maybe a new album by the legendary Sacramento Alt-Rock band Far will. With well over a decade of silence, Jonah, Shaun, John and Chris finally decided to plug in all their gear and began making music again as a band, and the result is their new album At Night We Live, in stores now via Ferret Records.
