VFest: Clubhouse Stage

Drive-By Truckers [12:10 - 1:10]
MP3: Drive-By Truckers - "Never Gonna Change"
[Official Site | MySpace]
"Drive-By Truckers is a rock/alt-country/cowpunk (their website actually calls them a psychobilly band), band based in Athens, Georgia, though four out of five members originally hail from The Shoals region of Northern Alabama. Their music is characteristically unique due to its 'three axe attack,' or three guitars as well as bass and drums. Their lyrics often revolve around drifters and criminals trying to survive in economically-depressed small towns. They currently record for New West Records." [Wikipedia]
The words "three axe attack" stir my blood. I am definitely going to catch part of this, and it generally depends on how good Kasabian is. I have seen Kasabian once, so I am leaning towards catching them first (for maybe 5 cuts), and then as soon as they start playing the new stuff, I will make my way to the Clubhouse.

New Pornographers [1:35 - 2:35]
MP3: New Pornographers - "Mass Romantic"
[Official Site | MySpace]
"The New Pornographers are a Vancouver group made up of A.C. Newman and a group of ridiculously talented people he feels are uniquely equipped to realize his musical ambitions. They formed in 1997, almost immediately recorded the classic 'Letter From An Occupant,' and it was on. Their 2000 debut Mass Romantic and 2003's Electric Version (as well as Newman's 2004 solo debut The Slow Wonder) enjoyed wild critical and public acclaim, and brought a lot of joy to the world...Twin Cinema is doubly impressive, offering both baby-blanket familiarity and jarring growth. Here they're not automatically going for the steamroller singalong or (to quote New Pornographers buff Rob Halford) 'all guns blazing,' but pushing themselves further." [Matador Records]
My introduction to this Canadian crew came via TWIN CINEMA. It is a great album, but the live opportunity has never really presented itself. Battling with Wolfmother and The Raconteurs hurts their chances this Saturday. If they have a shot, it is between 2:00 and 2:15. We shall see.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah [3:05 - 4:05]
MP3: CYHSY - "Upon This Tidal Wave Of Young Blood" (Live)
[Official Site | MySpace]
"Clap Your Hands are a five-piece from Brooklyn who're known to break out both harp and harmonica. They've recently been garnering rave press in their home city, and, over just the past two weeks, burning up the internet like a vintage Lohan nipslip. The pundits are saying Wilco (not hearing it), Talking Heads (okay), and Neutral Milk Hotel (getting warmer), but if it checks in with a number of modern and classic new wave referents, the music sings for itself: Clap Your Hands traffics in melodic, exuberant indie rock that pairs the shimmering, wafting feel of Yo La Tengo with a singular vocal presence that sounds like Paul Banks attempting to yodel through Jeff Mangum's throat. Or imagine the Arcade Fire if their music were more fun-loving and less grave." [Pitchfork's 9.0]
I really think I am the only person to hear this album that doesn't dig it. I have streamed this thing several times, but just never really got caught up in it. They are talented, don't get me wrong, and I respect the album, but, truth be told I am a bigger fan of the band that opened their tour last year: The National. That said, I am giving these guys a shot. I am not completely "Crazy" about catching every minutes of Sir Gnarls, so I will probably squeeze in the last 30 minutes of the CYHSY set. I hope they change my mind.

Brazilian Girls [4:35 - 5:35]
MP3: Brazilian Girls - "All About Us"
[Official Site | MySpace]
"Their music incorporates bits of reggae, electronica, jazz, bossa nova, and you name it, and despite their name, no one in the band is Brazilian. The sexy/quirky/mysterious Brazilian Girls are three men -- Didi Gutman on keyboards and computers, Jesse Murphy on bass, and Aaron Johnston on drums -- and one woman, Sabina Sciubba, the vocalist who often enjoys wearing lacy eye masks on-stage and sings in no less than five different languages. Sciubba was born in Rome but grew up in Nice and Munich before settling in Brooklyn, NY. She first came to record buyers' attention when she recorded two jazz albums -- You Don't Know What Love Is with pianist Chris Anderson and Meet Me in London with guitarist Antonio Forcione -- for the English audiophile label Naim. She described her meeting with the men of Brazilian Girls as 'love at first sight and it moved as fast as the Autobahn.'" [AOL Music]
Saturday will definitely depend on the crowd. If it is easy to make your way back and forth between the Clubhouse Stage and the Grandstand Stage then I will be pulling maneuvers like this: Gnarls Barkley to Brazilian Girls to The Killers. I am not educated on Brazilian Girls, but I am intrigued and this has proven valuable in festival's past: see Sigur Ros and Metric at Coachella '06. I am expecting some crazy shades on Sabina, and, hopefully, some thick layers of sound.

Thievery Corporation [6:05 - 7:05]
MP3: The Doors - "Strange Days" (Thievery Corporation Remix)
[Official Site | MySpace]
"Thievery Corporation is a Washington DC–based production and DJ duo consisting of Rob Garza and Eric Hilton and their supporting artists. Their music can be characterized as downtempo electronica with influences of dub, acid jazz, Indian classical and Brazilian styles (such as bossa nova) fused together with a lounge aesthetic. Thievery Corporation is on the Eighteenth Street Lounge record label named after the swank DC lounge formerly owned by Eric Hilton, but several of their singles and EPs appear on the 4AD and !K7 labels...[Their] lyrics are highly influenced by current political events. Tracks such as 'Amerimaka' and 'Revolution Solution' from their latest album The Cosmic Game and The Richest Man in Babylon from the album of that name reveal the group's opposition to current political events and most notably initiatives taken by the current Bush administration." [Wikipedia]
If The Killers blow, then I will be able to catch some of Thievery Corporation. Otherwise, I am setting up shop and preparing for guitar greats at the Grandstand: Pete Townshend (The Who) and John Frusciante (Red Hot Chili Peppers). It doesn't get much better than that. I feel bad because they are local guys, but I am sure I can catch 'em another time.

Scissor Sisters [7:35 - 8:35]
MP3: Scissor Sisters - "Filthy/Gorgeous"
[Official Site | MySpace]
"Last night, I officially became a gay man for three hours. I lusted over Jake Shears' body, I wanted to be Ana Matronic, and I lost my shit more than any queen there when I saw Cher. That's right, motherfucking Cher was in the house. CHER. After I saw her, my excitement level jumped and honey, I was dancing only for you. Holy shit, I've never needed a shower so badly after a show like I did after last night's. All we needed were a few whistles and glow sticks and that place was a gay club. It was fantastic. I swear I must have lost five pounds dancing with more gay boys then I have in a very long while...I was surprised at how glam rock the guys were. I felt like I was in the film Velvet Goldmine and Jake (real name Jason oddly enough) was Brian Slade. Ana Matronic was in a fab seventies style halter, Jake was in a glittery two piece ('Take off the shirt!' some girl screamed to my left in the middle of the show. 'It's coming!' said Jake and pointed out his trainer in the balcony thanking him for his banging bod.) and there were not one, but four disco balls hovering over the stage. The band [is] just wrapping a new album and thus performed a mix of old and new songs. The stand out new track is without a doubt, 'I Don't Feel Like Dancing'...It gave everyone a second wind after a couple of slower songs and really got the crowd excited for the encore, 'Filthy/Gorgeous.'" [The Music Slut]
I keep getting fucked when it comes to this band. At Coachella they played opposite fucking Tool and now they are opposite The Who and Red Hot Chili Peppers. What's the deal with pitting this band against the giants? I guess they assume that people who dig Scissor Sisters, don't dig Tool, RHCP and The Who, and in that regard they are probably making a safe bet. But, I am dying to see these guys. Dying. Next time.

The Flaming Lips [9:00 - 10:00]
MP3: The Flaming Lips - "Yeah Yeah Yeah Song"
[Official Site | MySpace]
"Rock has produced few stranger or more daring bands in the last 20 years than Oklahoma City's Flaming Lips, who embrace everything from merry prankster psychedelia to orchestral pop. At the outset, the Lips tried to bridge the seemingly insurmountable gap between Butthole Surfers-style dementia and bubblegum pop, with mixed results. Their early albums are jumbles of ideas, the weirdness genuine, the songs expansive and sometimes giddily incoherent. They're as much a response to hardcore punk's inflexible pithiness as to mainstream rock's polish." [Rolling Stone]
Q MAGAZINE once pegged this band as one of the Top Fifty Bands To See Before You Die. Well, I don't plan on going anytime soon, and if you're opposite Red Hot Chili Peppers, or more importantly, opposite John Frusciante, I got nothing for ya. I do have a couple of guesses for how the show will go: bigtime singalong, Wayne Coyne in a bubble, people in costumes, and blood. Sorry Wayne, I will burst your bubble with my flask on other fields, on another day.

Previously:
VFest: Grandstand Stage
VFest: Schedule