Roctoberfest: Opening Weekend

Day 1: Margot and the Nuclear So and So's @ Black Cat

Roctober really started in earnest on October 1st with Margot & the Nuclear So and So's headlining at the Black Cat. They're openers included a side project by keyboardist, Cameron McGill (Cameron McGill & What Army) and The Lonely Forest.

I had the pleasure of being joined by two friends John and Gabby. John had just rediscovered his love for Margot & the Nuclear So and So's and had introduced them to his girlfriend who was the other friend in attendance. I had to say that I found Cameron McGill & What Army wanting. Even more to the point, all of us agreed that one of McGill's back up vocalists had a better voice. Gabby went over to the merch table after their set to express this to him. The fat bass-player merely blushed and shrugged and looked away from the pretty girl paying him a compliment and offered non-committal agreements. Easily one of the funnier things that happened that night. The Lonely Forest was far more catchy and entertaining to me. They have a good pop sensibility and good instincts about when to just plain old kick out the jams.

The last time I saw Margot was over a year ago, when they opened for Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Tonight was a bit of culture shock. I had only given the new album a cursory listening before being able to see them. From what I gathered they had gone for a heavier sound dropping aspects of the baroque pop they had adopted for their first album. What I saw was a band that had whittled itself down from the giant collective it had been from a year ago, to a band that was still relatively large but as I assumed, lacking the baroque pop pieces that they had used on their first tour.

I have to say that I was very pleased with the new sound. I felt that despite losing that softer sound, the band still sounds uniquely like Margot and the Nuclear So and So's. There were only a few songs that were played from the original album, which normally kinda torques me, but since the new material was so solid and accessible, I still had a great time. My friends' greatest complaint with the first album is that they never really rocked out at any point. This was not the case at this show or the second album for that matter. The show was fun, but I was shocked that the clear hits off the first album My Baby Shoots Her Mouth Off, German Motor Car, and As Tall as Cliffs, were missing from the show. I feel strongly that My Baby Shoots Her Mouth Off is a perfect closer for the group because it hits all the different volumes they go (especially with the way they were changing the songs from the first album to fit their new style); satisfies the crowd participation itch; and the haunting "ooohs" is a powerful way to end a concert. Again, still a good time, just not the concert I expected. I'm actually more likely to recommend people see them now. I believe the new sound is more accessible in a way that will appeal to a more mainstream market.

Day 2: LCD Soundsystem and Sleigh Bells @ Charlottesville Pavilion

This was a last minute decision for me. I was perusing the weekend picks on BYT's weekly e-mail and saw that LCD Soundsystem and Sleigh Bells were playing the Charlottesville Pavilion. Given my curtailed experience at Freefest, I was somewhat tempted to go, but by myself that trip sounded a little intimidating to me. I mentioned this to my friend, Val. She told me that I should go and bring her boyfriend, Eugene (she'd purchase the ticket as a gift). And that was all it took. I invited my friend Kyle who had to leave Freefest even earlier than Eugene or I did. He joined our little carpool to awesomeness and we were as good as on our way to C-ville.

I'd never been to the venue before (I've only been to two shows in C-ville before) so I didn't know what to expect. I was worried because the tickets were general admission; but was pleased to find that the only seats were folding chairs that were set farther back with a huge pit in front of the stage.

We arrived just in time for the lights to go down and Sleigh Bells to take the stage just as we slid into place just right of center 20 ft. or so back from the stage. Sleigh Bells performed with the same crazy energy I've seen them utilize in the last two shows. I don't know what it is about this group, but they have now consistently impressed me more in a large open venue than they have in a small venue like the Rock and Roll Hotel. They played exactly the same set list they have for the other two shows. I feel ambivalent about this. On one hand, how can you possibly have that much variety with just the one album to go off of. On the other hand, some variance would be good. I lean toward the former because despite the lack of variety in the set list, I rock out like a mofo every time I see them. Alexis Krauss' sugar pop voice delivering sweet bouncy rhymes and rhythmic uh's and ah's over the raucous guitars and beats of Derek Miller is a new kind of loud that anyone can appreciate.

I was super-excited for LCD Soundsystem because I was the most excited to see them because of how great the new album's been. My appetite was only whetted by the truncated set I was able to see at Freefest. Just as at Freefest, the light drum beats and pulsing keyboards signaled the slow build of the intro to Dance Yrself Clean. You could cut the tension in the pavilion with a knife as all those people palpably waited for the breakdown to hit. When it did, a flash of golden lights and a rain of glow sticks signaled the beginning of a nearly 2 hour dance party.

LCD ripped from Dance Yrself Clean into Drunk Girls and showed that they can rip fast paced post punk just as well as it does incredibly layered electronica. Other highlights in the game included Yr City's a Sucker providing maniacal ha ha ha's throughout the entire audience. The piano intro to All My Friends (the very first LCD song I've ever heard) is so much of a crowd pleaser I can't explain it adequately without repeating many of the sentiments I had for Dance Yrself Clean. Movement ended in what is one of the craziest ways I've seen a guitarist end a song. Guitarist, David Scott Stone, had removed the guitar strap from off his shoulder and was only holding onto the guitar by only its strings and shaking it violently to achieve ridiculous reverb. The encore finale of Home was fun and moving all at once, and reminded me why I was so eager to see them again after only one week.

Day 3: Foals @ Black Cat

I came across Foals around the same time I found LCD Soundsystem. At the time, I had only downloaded their first album, Antidotes which is an infectious avalanche of math rock. Songs like Cassius, Two Steps, Twice; and The French Open being good examples. This year's release, Total Life Forever was a big step away from Antidotes and to be honest I wasn't sure if I was going to buy into it at first. The band applied a very strong editing ear to the avalanche and have tamed it a great deal on some songs leading to a significantly different sound that yields something between Local Natives and Minus the Bear. I have strong feelings that by next year, they'll be where Local Natives are right now.

I have to admit, that due to the subdued sound of the new album I was afraid that the concert was going to have none of the energy of the first album. Full disclosure: I was running on something like 12 hours of sleep in the last 72, and spent the entire day at Buffalo Wing Factory in Fairfax for the football games. I've never been to a show by myself before, and this would be the first. I started going to shows with my first girlfriend, and so for the longest time, going to shows has been a shared experience. As time has past I've found that show going has become an increasingly singular experience starting last year. Physical exhaustion coupled with the idea of having to go it alone almost kept me from going, but I'm really glad I went.

The energy at a Foals show is incredible. Their following is inordinately loyal with people coming from other cities to see this show yelling lyrics for nearly every song. The show was a perfect balance of the two albums' styles and creates a sophisticated sound with incredible energy. Lead singer, Yannis Philippakis, had two bottles on stage. One was almost assuredly whiskey the other likely water. He drank from one more than the other, and as the show progressed, I expected it to get sloppier, but it only got harder. He only became more at ease with the crowd, coming out of his shell to interact with crowd members.

One of the many highlights of the show were the very strong drum duets played throughout the show. At one point Philippakis was whipping his water out into the audience and whipping them up into a frenzy. Later, he took his drumming on tour, climbing the speakers on the right side of the stage and playing off the pipes hanging from the ceiling while crouched between the top of the speakers and the ceiling itself. For the finale, an young audience member was pulled to perform half the drumming duties with drummer, Jack Bevan, when Yannis was nowhere to be found for almost half the song. It was only until someone pointed that I noticed that he was standing on the stage left bar shredding away.

That was another thing. I didn't expect them to be so loud. They were raucous and thrashing on certain solos whipping the floor into a giant pit of dancing bodies enraptured in musical catharsis. The concert left me spent and ready to come home and crash into a waiting bed.

Opening weekend of Roctober was hardcore and didn't let up. Roctober was only going to take its boot off my throat for one night before I headed to 9:30 for The xx.