Concert: Warped Tour 2009

The long awaited Warped Tour review commences now. Sorry for the wait. The times are quite busy during the changing of the months, my friends. Especially with the more exciting concert that occurred two weeks post-Warped, which is still fresh in my memory (that being All Points West). Nevertheless, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, relax, and enjoy this long review, you fucking scenester.

The 15th Annual Van's Warped Tour stopped in Oceanport, NJ, on July 19th. A beautiful day, to say the least. And just to throw it out there: I've been getting very lucky with nice weather when it comes to shows this summer: The Shins - nice, no humidity (though indoors); Warped Tour - hot, but breezy; All Points West - temperate, then slightly chilly at night. No complaints about the weather. And the trip down the Garden State Parkway was chock-full of old jokes, friendly annoyances, and predictions. With this being many of my friends' (who were with me) umpteenth Warped Tour, the day was worth looking forward to, mainly because ska music had returned in heavy force to the tour.

After pounding warm brewskies in the parking lot, the five of us (Sean, Camilo, Colin, and Guo; all the buddies from All Points West, minus Eric, but plus Colin) walked through the various lots and into the entrance, which was cluttered with young scenesters, desperate for individuality and attention, sporting ridiculous clothing and moving in awkward evasive maneuvers. My guess is they're parents couldn't wait to drop them off so they could go drink themselves into a shame-free-offspring bender.

Ads, ads, and more ads were grown onto the fences, road signs, and pavement sections like vines and weeds. They ranged from shitty cover bands to awful blogs (Who put this Never Mind the Mainstream sticker on this parking cone?) College drop-outs looking for drug money held up flyers like picket signs with the words: "(Blank band) plays at (blank time)", "Free Hugs!", "Will mosh for food!", and other exasperating passages that made me question why I'd be spending the next 7-8 hours with people like this. But in the back of my head, it continued to lightly dawn on me: "You'll be skanking with the dedicated few in just a few hours, so be patient."

Beer: 8 bucks. Okay, whatever. The one thing that Warped Tour beat All Points West on was the Beer Garden. Better beer, better quantity, and not so many people. A lot of chill folks, including Warped veterans (those who bragged about seeing Deftones, The Specials, Sublime and The Vandals) telling us the proper way to hunt for ladies at a show like this. Needless to say, we did not take the old men up on their generous advice. Once the beer was consumed, we took a dive to the outskirts of the venue, all the way at the end, near the main stage, to see the schedule. A lot of bands, I see. Interesting. We picked our desired acts and we were on our way.

Up first: Bayside on the Hurley stage. We were pretty far back for these guys. I have some high school buddies who were pretty into this group. I'm a fan of vocalist Anthony Raneri; he's got a solid set of pipes and a somber tenor. The rest of the band played well, and even for someone who is fair-weather fan, I was amused. Nice warm-up for the punk-heavy day, if we had even decided to spend most of our time going that route. Best tune: "The Walking Wounded" off the 2007 album that bares the same name.

It's important for me to describe the layout of the show itself. Many stages here, guys. A lot of them sponsored by MySpace or Skateboard companies, you know, kids stuff. That's to be expected. But food was everywhere, as were drinks, and of course, there were novelty tents, promising "Q&A's with the band!" or "Free Giveaways!" I was not there to spend a million bucks on T-shirts or stickers. Alcohol was my only expense. And the breeze felt so nice that you could barely feel your skin burning. That's what the shore area will do to you. But really, just a lovely day.

Next: Senses Fail. ... Let's move on, shall we?

Followed by: Streetlight Manifesto on the Hurley.com stage. Finally, some ska action. I knew this band would be the first dub, punk, reggae, ska, or two-tone act out on stage. They're still a small Jersey band out of East Brunswick (Rutgers University area), though their records have received critical acclaim and much praise from both punk and ska publications. Some local friends met up with us for this joyous occasion. Warped Tour is a great show for friends. Many of them were younger, but hey, we're immature, so we could relate. Streetlight exploded onto the stage after Senses Fail finally shut up. Lead singer Thomas Kalnocky received a large pop from the crowd. He came out in a sling. Turns out he had a little stumble not too long ago and fractured his wrist. Ouch. Still, the man sang and the band played as if their wounded leader was 100%.

Streetlight Manifesto, as band, has evolved over the years, and so have the fans. The Streetlight boys have moved on past the childish beef with former-ska alliance Catch 22 and have gained an enthusiastic audience of their own. Members have come and gone, but the core members remain a talented group of musicians who bring both exuberance and high-octane power to their live sets, along with raw and melancholy lyrics in their songs. Some of their tunes bring you up high, and then bring you down hard, crashing like a roller coaster off the tracks. People in the pit were so connected to the sound and dance that they barely noticed the half hour fly, which is a shame because for someone like me, I’m used to Streetlight headlining smaller gigs up north and playing for hours on end with multiple encores. Still, the sound was ferocious and newer tunes dominated the fast-paced set. Best tune(s): “Failing Flailing”, “Would You Be Impressed”, and “Somewhere In The Between”. Very pleased on how much energy they could put into a short set. Great group of guys and great music to match. Check them out. Moving on.

Streetlight Manifesto - "Here's To Life"

NEXT!: The always fanatical and spunky Less Than Jake came on the main stage. Nice, some Warped old hands. The were through doing their “Price Is Right” parody set from 2007, but still juvenile enough to come out to the Star Wars theme. That was indication enough that we were in for a fun set. Roger Manganelli and Co. came out loud and connected with the audience right away. No surprise there. However, they were victims to the short time slot on stage. But it didn’t stop them from completely ruling the concert grounds. The skanking was great; a good mix of oldies and newbies. Crowded, but you were able to move and strut your stuff. At a few points, I decided to do some crowd surfing. While I was in my “Cowabunga!” trance on the sea of arms, I lost my cell phone. Luckily, I was able to find it – on stage. Security gave it back after I yelled at them and they got off their high horses. What a lucky snag. Camilo’s picture made the Star Ledger which was fun. We also flung hats off kids’ heads (always a pleasurable game), and got drenched in our own sweat to one of the greatest bands of the day. Best tune(s): “The Science Of Selling Yourself Short”, “The Ghosts Of You And Me”, and “Look What Happened”. The band signed off and we all applauded graciously. A band well played, a crowd well skanked, and a job well done by everyone around. Killer.

Less Than Jake - "Plastic Cup Politics"

Hitting the Smartpunk.com stage next in a drunken stupor: NOFX. The guys spent most of their time telling extremely racist (but funny as hell) jokes to each other, before welcoming out one of the only Black guys on the tour, one of the various members of The Specials who plays the trombone (awful with names, my bad). NOFX impressed to an extent, but I’m still not a big listener. Maybe it would’ve changed if lead vocalist and bassist, Fat Mike, hadn’t stated “I’d rather be anywhere else but here”. I didn’t know how to take that one. Most people leaned to the side that it was a joke, but I thought to myself, “Meh, when’s Big D & The Kids table playing?”

At long last: My most anticipated act of the day and when of my favorite bands: Big D & The Kids Table came out to an overwhelmingly ecstatic crowd at the Hurley.com stage. The Doped Up Dollies came out to sing back-up, too. Here they are, pre-show, talking about the tour:

Big D, Short Chat

Okay, so let’s break it down. Despite being from Boston, these guys won the New York/New Jersey-highly-spirited crowd over. Playing mostly older tunes, the band (even with a small electrical error in the beginning of their opener, in which they made light of) reacquainted the fans with their standard hits. I was excited for new material, though, as their new release Fluent In Stroll dabbles into mostly stroll, dub and reggae, while all the songs are pretty much love songs (we can so tell Dave’s been maturing from a relationship). It already makes the list of my Top 10 favorite records of the year, even after being released in late June. A lot of people came in close for this one. The pits were a little slower, but that’s to be expected with the kind of music Big D plays. It’s not in your face, and for the most part, it’s just fun to sing and dance with your friends to. To our surprise, the definitive Big D song made its return after hiding from big, bad Pittsburgh. “LAX”, a rebellious number about snooty Los Angeles brood who have too much money and bad attitudes to compliment, caused the crowd to roar. Safe to say, the crowd knew it, loved it, felt it, and responded. Best tune(s): “Noise Complaint”, “I, I, I,”, “Steady Riot”, and “Little Bitch” (The Specials cover). I was hoping for “Wailing Paddle”, my group of friends and my own personal favorite, but all we got was bassist, bald and creepy-smile man, teasing us with the opening riff. Unfair, but we didn’t mind too much. The set was a ball. I look forward to a larger audience hopping on the Big D train and skanking to their new sound for years to come.

Big D & The Kids Table - "LAX"

Ska had retired for the day. And no one really wanted to stick around and inhale the reefer with Westbound Train. Bummer. But we were treated so well by all of it. Only one band worth our while remained: Bad Religion. Talk about veterans! These guys deserved the headline over “A Day To Remember” (in a few years, who’s really going to remember a band like that? A-Ha! That destroys everything they were wittingly hoping for). One more band and then the day would be done. Bring on the Bad Religion.

Now it’s time to note that at this point, my back was withering in pain. A bit of a personal note, my doctor had informed me of pretty extreme back spasms in my lower lumbar region. I thought I was just growing more! It’s about as fun as school in summertime (and believe me, I know what that’s like). So the dancing and moshing and what not definitely agitated my already sore back. Whatever. If it meant I had to stand back and actually watch a band, rather than bounce around and get wild, then so be it. Bad Religion was the band to watch. Much like Tool fans weeks later, T-shirt baring fans propelled themselves towards the stage, opening pits and clearing the area of the weak. Lead vocalist, Greg Graffin, ignited the crowd with his mighty tones that acted as a call to arms for massive 40-year-old ex-frat boys to start beating the shit out of little kids in the pits. How natural. Strong, compact, and well-played; they proved that the old guys can still rock and attract more of a mature and seriously music-inclined crowd at a "teen-rawk" concert. Best tune: “Fuck Armageddon, This Is Hell”. And was it “hell”? No, but anarchy? At times, if you believed in it hard enough: close.

Bad Religion - "No Control"

My first Warped Tour (at 21? I know!) had concluded. A long day was done, back pain was bothersome, and a lengthy road trip up north was still in store for us. Like after any good ska show, we stopped at the nearest White Castle, ate delicious rat burgers, reflected on the day’s events, and as usual, I got a severe leg cramp. Must’ve been the dehydration. No need to do anything after the show. The night would be reserved for showering and sleeping, with the fulfillment of knowing that we witnessed a great show on a legendary tour, with feel good band and friends that know how to have a great time. One more great summer show in the books…Great Job!

Skank on.

The Only VMA's Worth Caring About

This post comes hours after praising MTV's earlier days. The nominees for the 2009 Music Video Awards were announced earlier this week, and as predicted, it's mostly all a disgrace. I can name a handful of these artists that merely stole riffs and beats from classic songs and sprinkled their own unpoetical trash on top of it, with help from their millionaire producers, of course. What a joke. These are why are kids are failing out of schools; not because of poor family lives or video games, but because they are witnessing the world's worst music on mainstream MTV, sending the majority of society back thousands of years. Okay - enough.

We're not going to go into "Video Of The Year", "Best Hip-Hop Video", and that other shit. You'll just want to gouge your eyes out in shame. So here are the ones we actually care about:

"Best Rock Video"

Coldplay - "Viva La Vida"
Fall Out Boy - "I Don't Care"
Green Day - "21 Guns"
Kings Of Leon - "Use Somebody"
Paramore - "Decode"

Wouldn't it be sick to see Kings win this one? They won't. Not by a long shot. Other losers: Paramore was last year's flavor and they wrote this tune for a movie, so instant "No" for that video. Fall Out Boy didn't make enough of a splash this year. Coldplay received enough Grammy's to hold them over. Truth is, MTV loves Green Day too much. My guess is those whiny Anti-Americans steal this one and further push teenagers into cliche anarchy in the "punk rock" genre of the late 00's.

Kings Of Leon - "Use Somebody"

Kings Of Leon - New Music - More Music Videos

"Breakthrough Video"

Anjulie - "Boom"
Bat For Lashes - "Daniel"
Chairlift - "Evident Utensil"
Cold War Kids - "I've Seen Enough"
Death Cab For Cutie - "Grapevine Fires"
Gnarls Barkley - "Who's Gonna Save My Soul"
Major Lazer - "Hold The Line"
Mat And Kim - "Lessons Learned"
Passion Pit - "The Reeling"
Yeah Yeah Yeahs - "Heads Will Roll"

This is an exciting one .Okay, so the VMA's are all about "music videos" - correct? Okay, well in this case, I'm rooting for Bat For Lashes, Death Cab For Cutie, or Major Lazer. All really terrific videos, especially the animated ones. But then again, I wouldn't be sad if any of these groups walked away with the moonman. This is obviously what's become of the old "MTV2 Award" and it should go to an alternative act (who remembers the "Best Alternative Video" category in the early 90's?). If I have to choose one, my money's going on Gnarls Barkley.

Gnarls Barkley - "Who's Gonna Save My Soul"

Gnarls Barkley - New Music - More Music Videos

"Best Video (That Should Have Won A Moonman)"

Beastie Boys - "Sabotage"
Björk - "Human Behaviour"
David Lee Roth - "California Girls"
Dr. Dre - "Nuthin' But A 'G' Thang"
Foo Fighters - "Everlong"
George Michael - "Freedom"
OK Go - "Here It Goes Again"
Radiohead - "Karma Police"
Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - "Into The Great Wide Open"
U2 - "Where The Streets Have No Name"

I dig this category. Every year they come up with another absurd award and this year, it's this nostalgia-redemption one. My vote: Radiohead, Radiohead, Radiohead... or Beastie Boys. The video for "Karma Police" is masterful, but the video for "Sabotage" is such a classic. If neither can't have it, then I say give it to Foo Fighters, Tom Petty, or U2. All these videos are great, I just believe that some are better than others. Ultimately, Radiohead has a history of being robbed, so they deserve this. We'll see how it plays out.

Beastie Boys - "Sabotage"

Beastie Boys - New Music - More Music Videos

Get well soon, MCA. We missed you at All Points West.

What are your thoughts? For the complete list of nominees in each category, check out the VMA website here. And be sure to get ready to vomit when English prick Russel Brand hosts the 25th Annual MTV Video Music Awards, live from Radio City Music Hall in New York City, September 13th. I'll watching it with a bucket and a bottle of ipecac.

Happy (Belated) Birthday, MTV

Music Television was born on August 1, 1981 @ 12:01 AM. We're big critics of what MTV has become over the years here at NMTM. And why shouldn't we be? MTV as we loved it has died from a slow and painful death over time; a cancer of reality television and mind-numbing musical "talent". Sometimes it's hard to remember MTV's legacy, including it's prestigious past. For it was MTV that really did change the way people viewed music and television itself. All day, all night, all music video; seems like a dream to us now, right? Anyway, the 80's had the greatest music in my opinion and I will forever be envious of the great decade in music; and music television, of course. So Happy Birthday, MTV. You're 28. We wish you still had that childhood magic. Gone, but not forgotten.

"Ladies and gentlemen: Rock 'n' roll."
Oh, the glory days...
The Buggles - "Video Killed The Radio Star" (First video ever to be played on MTV)

Concert: All Points West Music & Arts Festival 2009 (Saturday)

With such a large festival to cover (though it was only one day of live action for myself), I feel the need to break this up into small, bite size pieces. The day was most certainly long and taxing none-the-less, but worth it? – Hell Yes. Not joking around here: this was the best outdoor show I’ve ever witnessed and quite possibly the greatest spectacle I’ve ever been apart of. Three days away from the festival and I’m still exhausted. Fair warning: this post will be absurdly long.

Now, with a concert of this caliber, you have to pick and choose which artists you want to see and work around the busy schedule. All Points West is no vacation – its work, if you really want to see the best that the festival offers. My whole mindset going into the day was “I’ve got some great buds with me who are willing to give anything a listen. And though most of them are here solely for Tool, maybe I can break them out of their shell and have them hear some really spectacular sounds." But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t there to hear some of my favorites bands myself.

The day began in a dark hotel room with dead bodies lying around. … That sentence is only half accurate. The truth is, I woke up with a nasty hangover in The Engleside Hotel, beach front property in Beach Haven, Long Beach Island, NJ. The dead bodies were actually the intoxicated carcasses of my brothers, who would later abandon my offer for an early ride home up north. After grabbing a quick shower and throwing all my clothes into one tiny sports bag, I left my two day L.B.I. vacation with my family behind for a Saturday in Jersey City. The road trip back was smooth sailing. I got through my entire Sonic Youth CD (The Eternal) and then switched over to some old mixes halfway up the Garden State Parkway. I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful the day was. Sunny, warm, and prime for sunburn and sweat; and great outdoor music, of course.

Once home, I did the most appropriate thing first: checked my Facebook (come on, two days away from Facebook is a long time for me). But to my dismay, no one had done anything uber exciting and no one had died in any interesting or abstract way. Soon after, the phone calls started coming in: “Hey, when we leaving,” “Are we getting food first.” “Wait – we’re taking trains,” “What are you wearing,” “Should I bring more money,” and “Are we going to die in Jersey City”.

Answers: 9 o’clock. Yes (Bagel Brunch). Yes trains. Light clothing. Yes, at least 80 bucks. And yes, we’ll die in one way or another on our way in/out of the city.

Just to make things a little more personally, I’ll give you the names of my party members: Sean (older brother of a friend who had to sell a ticket), Camilo (always up for new experiences), Eric (die-hard Tool fan) and Guo (Asian friend/only underage friend with us). They got the answers they asked for from me, but even with whatever I was telling them, the fact remained: I was just as unsure of what would happen as they were. At 9 o’clock, we got our food. Ate it quick, told the same jokes we did during Warped Tour a few weeks back, pissed off the locals, and talked about what our expectations were of the festival. Then it was off to the train station.

The transportation was quick, and after a few transfers and double-checking, we found ourselves stepping off the light rail (covered in A.P.W. and lawyer services advertisements, by the way) and onto Liberty State Park. We were there. In a few hours, we’d be bound to hipster co-concert-goers, eating over-priced food, drinking over-priced beer, and hearing some of the greatest bands to grace the tri-state’s largest festival. What we saw immediately: green pastors around the park. A clear, blue sky with limited clouds. The New York City skyline prominent in the distance, just across the Hudson River. We walked about a mile to the entrance, making enemies with our immaturity and silly antics. We weren’t there to make friends; we were there to have fun and be ourselves. I don’t believe we necessary fit the “indie rock” or “rock festival” persona's, but dammit, we knew good music and we knew how to have fun, even if little kids didn’t (SPOILER ALERT: Bratty teenage punks do not know how to have fun when watching Arctic Monkeys or Tokyo Police Club. But hey, if kids weren’t dancing to them on MTV Live, why should they dance at the festival? Bitches.) So here we were. After months of anticipation and 120 bucks dropped, we were ready; or as ready as we could ever be. Bring on the show.

Here’s a list of the schedule below:

So there are some solid acts here, right? The bad part: a lot of them run into each other or just merely play at the same time on different stages. Predictable; comes with the territory. Up first (besides a scoping out the park for “shorties”: Urban dictionary: shorty: “A term contrived by some asshole or group of assholes to mean a sexy or attractive female. A term I wouldn't ever use to describe a girlfriend, close female companion or a desirable female of whom I'd like to get better acquainted with.” And grabbing our first of seven allowed Bud Lights), we headed over to the Blue Comet (main stage) to hear up ‘n’ comers Cage The Elephant. After a breakthrough on New York City radio, I was anticipating how they’d play out early on the big stage in what I’m guessing would be there first major festival.

The result: Entertaining. The leader singer was enigmatic, and as for the rest of the Kentucky band, they were solid as well. We came in a little late on their set, but were pleased with what our ears were being acquainted with. In all honesty, I’m still not familiar with the band, only the intoxicating, Beck-esque, and heavy-acoustic tune “Ain’t No Rest For The Wicked”. Later in the set, the lead singer would move into the crowd, connect with those willing to meet him at his feet, sing with him into the microphone and enjoy the exposure. Nice touch, Cage. I will have to listen to your self-titled debut record a listen and see what else you have going for you. Readers: What are your thoughts on Cage The Elephant? Feel free to comment with your thoughts/opinions.

Next up: We had to pass on Cool Kids. And this may seem as a bit of a stab, but at a festival like this, hip-hop music really is the alternative. Not many people were there for them anyway and the crowds were not strong in numbers. And so our reason for passing up on their act was for Tim & Eric’s. Judah Friedlander, a.k.a. “World Champion”, opened up the crowd for Tim & Eric, basically doing his whole “I’m better than you routine” about how he’s great at sports and what not. I yelled out that I did track & field, the 1500m in particular, and he made fun of me because “I had to breathe through an inhaler before I could finish the 1600m”. Anyway, all of his jokes seemed to work off the audience so I give him props on the spur-of-the-moment comebacks. When he had said it all, he was done and someone else from “Best Week Ever” came out. He didn’t really tickle my funny bone. My mentality was simple: “Shut up. Just bring out Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim already (Spagett, specifically).”

DJ Douggpound graced the crowd with his appearance and spinning-of-mixes/jokes. Always a good laugh. Although his John Travolta-dead-son joke was a little too soon and too harsh. This was my second T&E experience, and I was hoping for the best, until I realized they wouldn’t be on for three hours like they were in Philadelphia. Bummer. But they did come out with new costumes during the opening “Diarrhea” sketch (still hilarious). They jumped into the crowd and we all pushed to the gate. Eric landed right on me. And these guys have so much girth these days that ten skinny indie kids could barely hold them up. Afterwards, they received their little awards, some more diarrhea-esque videos of the new season were previewed on the monitors, and then out came for the Kid’s Break rap-duo.Sean caught Eric’s workout towel, which by the end of the day was covered in mud and smelling like utter shit. The tunes sampled: “I Sit Down When I Pee”, “My Sister’s Cute”, “Wipe My Butt”, “Dirty Socks", and the latest hit single “Bloody Nips". Knock-out funny. Followed by more Douggpound, more video clips (new Brule’s Rules!), and then the Tim & Eric touch skit. Over aleady? Damn. And no Spagett, Beaver Boys, James Quall, Richard Dunn, or Sire. Understood though; they’ve got limited time on a small stage. The best part of my life soon followed and it’s all captured on this fan’s YouTube video:

Tim & Eric - "The Tim & Eric Touch"

Yes, I got touched! (I'm in the white shorts, flipping a shit). I will now succeed in both the business world and life itself. No other person has ever touched me better. I was thrilled. And just like that, the three bowed and we’re done for the day. Top performance of the day so far. I will never forget this.

Moving on: After being touched by Tim & Eric (and being informed about Hot Tub sales and losing my awesome plantain shades in the crowd), it was time to leave the comedy behind for the day. We trekked up the park to get a good spot for one of the most anticipated acts of the day: Sheffield, England’s own and Britain’s next big thing (possibly), Arctic Monkeys.

First complaint: Now I hate to start out with this, but the little kids (ages 12-18), just straight up do not know how to act at a show like this. And because the childhood obesity rate is at an all time high, I could barely push these giant glaciers around to get a better view and move to the music. Luckily, a British couple moved in next to me, and we small-talked Arctic Monkeys, old music (The Smiths, in particular), soccer (football), and what not during the song changes. The Monkeys themselves spoke little, which was a reoccurring theme with all bands of the day.The music spoke for them. And as I wrote before in a previous, the Monkeys are truly moving in a bold and new direction. Slower jams dominated most of the set, including some new tunes off the highly-anticipated third LP, Humbug. However, mid-set tunes such as “Brainstorm” and “Fluorescent Adolescent” turned the idle crowd into spontaneous dancers. A lot of movement aroused quick, and finally, the kids moved away from us before any fists were thrown and anyone was kicked out. The Monkeys, now long-haired and stocked in American Apparel clothing, proved their power in the late set, ending things with their latest “Crying Lightning”. All in all, I give the performance a B-. I was hoping for older tunes, especially “Mardy Bum”, but sadly, beggars cannot be choosers. Best song of the set was “I Bet You Look Good On The Dance Floor” or “If You Were There, Beware”. The young crowd ruined things and for a while, I was feeling a little glum. However, all my frets were soon to be put to ease: Gogol Bordello was ready to hit the stage in less than an hour.

Arctic Monkeys - "Fluorescent Adolescent"

Kool Keith (and Ice T?!?) were in-between acts, located at the Bullet stage. Like I said before, the hip-hop acts struggled. But I’m glad I got to see “Blue Flowers” live, one of the most popular Kool Keith tracks. And Ice T can still freestyle – glad to see Law & Order and other acting gigs did not totally destroy his music credibility. Though my friends did not enjoy the songstylings of the act, I was certainly up for the diversity, and Kool Keith gave me a much needed time to catch my breath.

Much to Jim’s dismay, I opted out of St. Vincent. Sorry, good chum. The festival for me had to be as upbeat as possible, and I knew I couldn’t go wrong with the gypsy punk, Gogol Bordello. Now I had heard many rumors of this wild Eastern European and multi-ethnic band’s on-stage presence: a mad, crazy dance party with cheerful dancers and rambunctious punk music from the festival’s most obscure group of performers.

Right off the bat, I’ll make this claim: Gogol Bordello was the most exciting set of the entire day. Hands down (in the mud). And why? For reasons previously stated: The gypsy punk rock, the mud pit, the dancing, the fans, and the atmosphere - it was the perfect formula for a killer show. The crowd really connected with Gogol and for an entire hour, we all felt apart of a Woodstock revival. Most fun act of the entire festival. From the shit-storm of rain the day before and the constant pounding of shoes on the field surface, mud and filth were as much apart of the show as the music. “Start Wearing Purple” and “Wanderlust King” were calls to legs as the mud bath ensued. Huge globs of mud soared through the air and onto people’s faces, backs, and legs. It was everywhere. There was no point in trying to stay dry from the mud; you were going to be covered if you wanted to have a great time, so you might as well just have accepted it from the start. Camilo, not familiar with Gogol previously, found himself laced in the arms of gypsy punk fans, kicking mud and smiling ear-to-ear from the sounds of Gogol. Absurd band members, including scantily clad percussionists, a Willie Nelson of fiddle players, and a luchador vocalist, as well as Gogol, the madman himself, stole the whole damn show.After a while in the mud, I had to just stand back for awhile and embrace the music. This is why I did not have a lot of footage of the performance: most of time was spent trying to stay balanced in the mud, while dancing and laughing with random strangers that I’ll never seen again. Grade: A. Words won’t describe this any longer, but maybe a video will. Enjoy.

Gogol Bordello - "Wanderlust King"

What a great show already. This alone would’ve been a great show already. An odd pairing, but I wouldn’t complain. Now it was time to get my money’s worth. Bring on the headliners.

Again, we had to back out of one of my most anticipated acts: the ever-lovely Neko Case. Off the heels of her new record Middle Cyclone, I was readily eager to hear album favorites, “This Tornado Loves You” and “People Got A Lotta Nerve”. But then again, you have to pick and choose. And after our umpteenth visit to the beer garden (by the way, flirting with the beer girls got us to keep some of our beer tabs, so we rounded the night off with about 9 or 10 beers each), we took a journey through the mud fields and past the city of tents to the Queen Of The Valley stage to witness, for a third time in my life, Ontario, Canada’s Tokyo Police Club.

Clear, cut, precise: This on-the-ball, young, talented, and energetic indie synth rock group graced the tiny stage with lights, flash and authority. The quartet took a while to get to the stage and once again, little kids formed a wall difficult to maneuver by. Nothing new here, guys. Only one or two newbie tunes. Not much can be said other than, “What a nice reminder that these kids haven’t lost their way yet”. Here’s a great tidbit: they’re working on a new record in New York City. I expect great things (especially now that they’ve moved to the better country in North America). Best tune(s): “Nursery Academy”, “Juno”, “Citizens Of Tomorrow” or “Cheer It On!”. It’s tough to pick a favorite when each and every song flowed so well with no error. For such a young group, I am always impressed by their live performance. They’re humble and serious about their music, but fun-loving and respectful. A trait similar to Bloc Party, a band that I’ve seen equal amount of times. Grade: B.

Tokyo Police Club - "Juno"

Other misses would have to come next: Crystal Castles and My Bloody Valentine. I didn’t even hear CC, but My Bloody Valentine’s music blared loud from the main stage to the food court, where we all spent close to a million dollars each on up to two slices of pizza. Soon enough, the gang split, while Sean and I grabbed our final beers and finally met people who found us funny, while the others muscled their way up to the final band of the night and the mighty headlining legends: Tool. (Fuck the Ting Tings; Katie White may be hot as all hell, but all my respect denigrated with “That’s Not My Name”).

Tool. Wow. Tool, ladies and gentlemen. Firstly, so many Tool T-shirts, like a parade, simply barraged the main stage as early as 8:45 to get a great view of this most poignant alternative-metal band. After finishing our last beers and taking pictures for older couples, we made our way to the crowd, which appeared to be a half mile long. Lodged in mud and under the dark, Jersey City night sky, the fans awaited Tool. And after light tests and sound checks, the band emerged. The headliners had arrived. Now I’m not the biggest Tool fan in the world, but you couldn’t help but to be compelled by their sound and drawn by their prowess. Merely ten songs were played, but they lasted two hours on stage. Graphic animations of digital beings swimming in fire, giving birth to other beings, and encountering strange animals while plummeting through oceans and alternative realms, and being destroyed plagued the dual monitors to the left and right of the stage. The lead singer, Maynard James Keenan, stuck to the back near the drummer, Danny Carey, while guitarist and bassist, Adam Jones and Justin Chancellor, hung to the edge of the platform. After their set, Keenan emerged in his boxer briefs to relinquish a powerful encore. When all was said and done, the fans were not baffled by what they had seen, but astonished and brought to a whole ‘nother level of consciousness of music and sound and life and experience. Eric likes to say a lot about Tool, mostly about how amazing they are when you see them and hear them so close. And I agree. The music: you absorb it, feel it, and feel apart of what is most definitely a religious experience.

The greatest tune of the night came from Tool. “Schism". Off 2001's Lateralus album, it just may be the definitive Tool song and certainly one of the most popular. This tune flat out mesmerizes and amazes you. One of the greatest songs I've ever heard live. Simply unforgettable. And just like that, it was time to go.

Tool - "Schism"

The rest of the night became about survival: not literally, but staying awake to be able to make it to your train stop. Coated in mud, exhausted, sweat-drenched and still able to be somehow be annoying to others, we boarded our train and made it through our transfers. We met some strange folks who looked at us weird, because of the mud and the filth on our bodies. We also met up with lady friends who had similar questions (though they were highly intoxicated from a night in the city and could barely formulate a proper sentence). Needless to say, we had the most interesting day out of anyone taking public transportation.

Around 3 AM, we finally reached our car parked at the train station in Morristown, NJ. I dropped my buddies off and though we could barely stay awake, the silence came with an unspoken vibe of satisfaction. The day was not just satisfying, but perhaps, life-changing, in the sense of spectacle and sound. It was exactly what we could have wanted in our first ever music and arts festival. The day was done. And the stories thereafter, to this very moment, would be boosted to epic status and to sensationalist proportions to those who missed our or asked about the day.

It was fucking amazing. An A+ day. So the only question that remains for me is: When do tickets go on sale of All Points West 2010?

*All Pictures, except All Points West logo & the Engleside Hotel photo were taken by me. The rest came from google.
**Videos came from YouTube, as they almost always do.

For more All Points West reviews, set lists, pictures, videos, and discussion, be sure to check out the links below:

All Points West Website
NJ.com (The Star Ledger)
Phantasy Tour
Rolling Stone
Stereogum

P.S. A post on Friday & Sunday will follow shortly. Also, my personal pictures and videos will be up soon, too. Keep it here!

Fest Chat: All Points West '09

Pardon my French, but holy shit. ... APW Saturday: What a show. Now there's so much to talk about, as well as so many pictures, videos, comments and more, but you'll have to be patient. I've gotten little sleep since the end of Tool's blockbuster performance last night, and I really should try to gather my thoughts and re-create brain cells somehow, because my mind has been blown ever since. I'll be updating shortly with the full Saturday re-cap (as well as Friday's & Sunday's reviews; but fair warning: they'll be biased because I did not attend those days, and I'm pretty sure the entire park was flooded anyway.) Oh man, so many great tales of interest. Stay tuned!

*P.S. Warped Tour...I'll get to that review soon, too. Good thing my summer classes are over, because now I'm on to some heavy blog posting...in English.

A taste of what you can expect in the upcoming post:

(Just pretend you don't see The Ting Tings playing later than Tool on the schedule...)

Weezer - The 8-Bit Album

Hey, remember when Weezer was good? Yeah, that was a long time ago, all the way back in 1997. But do you remember when Weezer was even listenable? That'll only take you back a few years. But in all seriousness here, Weezer constantly gives me pains and sadness. Many of you may not know how it feels to have your #2 favorite album of all time be put out by a band who is now writing songs called "The Girl Got Hot" and "I'm Your Daddy". Ouch. But either way, Pinkerton was a stone cold classic and a better 30-minute album you will not be able to find.

However, this is not a Pinkerton post, this is about something pretty damn cool. Do you remember when you first heard Weezer and thought, "Hmm, I bet this would sound pretty cool as video game music." No? Well luckily someone else thought that for you and they came up with this. The 8-Bit Album brings together up and coming 8-Bit artists who used their talents to cover Weezer songs. The whole catalog is touched upon too, from the glory days of The Blue Album and Pinkerton, to everything after, and even a good amount of B-Sides from in between. And what's the best part? It's free.

Pterodactyl Squad has put the album up on their website for free download to anyone who wants it, and believe me, you will not regret downloading this. The whole album is a blast, but especially "El Scorcho", "Buddy Holly", and "You Gave Your Love To Me Softly". This may sound crazy, but this is starting to creep up on Dark Was The Night for the year's best compilation so far. Don't miss out. Download it here.

The Thermals - "Basket Case" (Live From Pitchfork Fest '09)

As said before, Pitchfork has been slowly adding a bunch of videos from the 2009 version of their festival in Chicago. This video is just further proof of why The Thermals are one of the most fun bands around right now. After 4 fantastic albums, they have plenty of songs to draw upon, but they still decide to throw some surprises. Their Pitchfork set turned into a bit of a 90's cover session, covering Nirvana, Sonic Youth, and as the video shows, Green Day.

The Thermals - "Basket Case"

The National - "Mr. November" (Live From Pitchfork Fest '09)

Say what you will about Pitchfork, (and I do...often) but they know how to put on a great festival. They are just now beginning to upload the videos from 2009's edition and this video of one of the best songs of the last ten years is a particular standout. Enjoy, and keep an eye on singer Matt Berninger, it's like playing Where's Waldo.