News items first – Passion Pit canceled their set today due to illness, so go see Guided By Voices instead. Also, make sure you stop by the Dojo Gelato tent and grab some goodness from TLH’s Jared Bowers.
Holy whoa I saw a lot of bands yesterday. And a lot of people. I’m 97.5% sure I’ve never seen that many people all in one place in Ohio before, so good job Cincinnati.
My day started off with Alberta Cross – who, though their name might suggest it, are not from Alberta. They’re from New York, but their frontman sounds English, which is fine by me. He’s reminiscent of a British Kurt Cobain, in my opinion. And his band rocks, but not in the way Nirvana did. Alberta Cross is much more anthemic and melodic. I’m seriously looking forward to their album coming out on Tuesday.
Salina Underground’s Jon Goolsby and I also got to interview Imagine Dragons, who were on my must-see list. Gotta say, they’re super-nice guys and they put on an awesome live set. Hilarious banter – frontman Dan Reynolds told the crowd it was their tour manager’s birthday, but reneged after the “Happy Birthday” was sung, claiming it was actually his own birthday. And since Cincinnati is full of the awesome people it is, the crowd sang him “Happy Birthday” too.
Every single member of Imagine Dragons actually sings, loudly, and they have a killer use of percussion on “Radioactive”. Calling it now – they’re going to blow up about like Foster the People did last year. Keep an eye out for the interview early next week.
Favorite local act on Saturday was The Sundresses, who killed it to a crowd full of dancing people at the AliveOne stage. If you’re into Jack White’s Third Man label, you need to check out The Sundresses. ASAP. You can actually hear the smoke and whiskey in the rumbling bass and beats.
For my last set of the day, I decided to see The Gaslight Anthem – the Springsteen and the E Street Band of the Millenial Generation. I’m really glad I did. I saw a rainbow over the river, grown punk men belting out every word at each other, and tons of smiling from Gaslight’s frontman Brian Fallon due to the crowd’s extreme levels of participation. Actually, he wasn’t the first frontman I caught with a grin on his face – A Silent Film, Alberta Cross, Imagine Dragons, and Manchester Orchestra all seemed the same level of pleased. It made me proud of Cincinnati music fans. Hopefully it all bodes well for Bunbury 2013.
Handing out gold stars for the day to:
- Drunk Music Reviews – this twosome from Each Note Secure gets drunk and reviews the bands in an inebriated state, which makes for tons of snark and hilarity.
- The chick doing the can-can at one of the beer tents who kicked me in the shoulder as I passed by.
- The greek food truck next to the AliveOne stage. That was a really freakin’ good chicken gyro.
Here’s what I’ve got on tap for Sunday:
- 1:30-2:15 — Belle Histoire (Bud Light Stage)
- 2:15-3:00 — Maps & Atlases (Globili Stage)
- 3:00-3:45 — Now, Now (Bud Light Stage)
- 3:45-4:30 — Lights (Globili Stage)
- 4:30-5:15 — The Seedy Seeds (Bud Light Stage)
- 5:15-6:00 — City and Colour (Globili Stage)
- 6:00-6:45 — Margot & The Nuclear So And So’s (Bud Light Stage)
- 7:30-8:30 — Guided By Voices (Landor Stage – for now)
- 8:30-10:00 — Death Cab For Cutie (Globili Stage)
