Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Forecastle Preview: What I'm Seeing

The major drawback of a multi-staged festival like Forecastle is inevitably there will be a couple acts you want to see who are unfortunately playing at the same time. Here's the decisions I've made for this weekend's Forecastle Festival at Waterfront Park. If you don't have your tickets yet, take this as my final shot at convincing you to be rocked for three days on the waterfront.

Friday
4:00-4:40 23 String Band
This old-timey bluegrass band bears a striking resemblance to the Old Crow Medicine Show which is anything but a bad thing. They'll be getting things started for us.

5:00-5:40 Maiden Radio
The first really bad schedule conflict, in my opinion. I'd love to check out Scott Miller & the Commonwealth but as detailed on this blog before, I can never pass up a chance to see Cheyenne Mize do her thing. I'm really liking this trio and we at 37Flood are anxiously awaiting their debut CD later this summer.

6:00-6:30 Yard Sale
Self-described as Louisville's second most rootin'-est and tootin'-est band, I'm going to at least catch a bit of their set as this will be one of the last chances to catch them. Their farewell concert is July 17th at Vernon Lanes.

6:30-7:00 Drive-By Truckers
These Southern boys seem to have a good-old time on stage and certainly have quite a following even outside of Muscle Shoals, so how could I pass them up?

7:00-7:40 Dangerbird
This Louisville band is made up of some of the ex-members from one of my favorite gone-but-not-forgotten Louisville bands, the Pine Club. I haven't gotten a chance to see them and unless I get totally sucked in by DBT I'll get my chance on Friday.

7:50-8:20 All the Day Holiday
The Cincinnati band reminds me a little of Cabin and a little of U2. Should be worth checking out for at least a minute especially with the lull in the schedule as they begin their set.

8:20-8:40 The Manchester Orchestra
I don't know much about these guys but they have an interesting sound and ought to be able to hold their own sandwiched between DBT and Widespread Panic on the main stage and going against Dead Confederate on the second stage.

8:40-9:20 Dead Confederate
I'm looking forward to seeing these Athens pychedelic folk-rockers. I don't know how they aren't on the main stage, but I know I'll be there.

9:20-9:45 Arnett Hollow
Again, another chance to see Cheyenne that I cannot completely pass up. I've seen these guys a lot and they never fail to entertain.

9:45- 10:30 Widespread Panic
I'm not a Panichead, but I'm willing to find out what all the hubbub is all about.

10:30-12:00 Lucero
Although I'm not super-familiar with this group I've heard a lot good things about these guys lately and am looking forward to checking them out Friday night.

Saturday
12:30-1:00 Lucky Pineapple
The mostly instrumental Louisville band always has the ability to take you to another place. I think they would be perfectly paired on a bill with the Flaming Lips. This should be a great way to kick off day two, a little morning maniac music.

1:00-1:20 Modern English
I really hope they play "I'll Melt with You" in the small time I have to catch them. I still love that song! However, this means I'll miss the whole set from Scott Mertz's The News Vehicle. I may change my mind at the last minute.

1:20-1:50 Black Diamond Heavies
I've heard great things about these guys and their live set. I've been wanting to pick up their album, hopefully this performance will finally convince me to pop on it.

1:50-2:10 The Giving Tree Band
These guys seem like a lot of fun. I'm not sure why they stuck them on the Sustaining Living Roadshow "stage". I hope to get a chance to check them out.

2:10-2:40 The Tillers
Covered here before, these high-energy Bluegrass boys from Cincinnati are a lot of fun live.

2:40-3:00 & 3:30-3:50 Umphrey's McGee
Jam bands are perfect for these kinds of festivals. I'll check as much of these guys as I can. Though their original work tends to be a little too derivative for me, I love some of their covers and imagine they are great live.

3:00-3:30 Mucca Pazza
You say 30 piece punk-rock marching band and I say, "Okay, I'm there". You gotta at least see what that sounds like, right?

3:50-4:15 Wax Fang
37Flood has been on these guys' bandwagon for a while now. I'll never turn down a chance to see these hometown boys done right!

4:15-5:15 Grace Potter & the Nocturnals
I hate to skip out on Louisville boys Broken Spurs, but I can't miss Mrs. Potter. I've had many friends see her live recently and all have come away from the experience having fallen deeply in love with Grace Potter. I think they liked the music, too. I'm ready to fall in love!

5:45-7:00 Cake
Cake is a fun band and I'm looking forward to a fun show. The horns will be kicking it and so will I.

7:30-8:45 DEVO
Though growing older by the day, DEVO is still pushing the envelope with a new album and new uniforms to boot! I look forward to the new songs as much as the old hits. Should be a great show.

8:30-9:00 Cloud Cult
I wasn't familiar with these guys before they signed with Forecastle, but I really like their sound. I think it'll be a powerful performance, definitely going to check them out.

9:00-9:30 Frontier(s)
This will be my first chance to check out this Louisville group, looking forward to it.

9:30-10:10 we were promised jetpacks
Definitely winners of best name for this year's festival, this band is coming all the way from Scotland to do there thing. This is a good alternative to the main stage's act at this time, Bassnectar, who just don't do it for me.

10:45-12:30 The Smashing Pumpkins
12 years ago I saw Smashing Pumpkins at HORDE Festival (along with Blues Traveler, mentioned in the previous post). Hopefully this show won't be like watching Tron 12 years later where you realize the thing you used to love is actually pretty crappy.

Sunday
2:10-2:40 Vandaveer
Although Sunday may be my favorite day I don't see any reason to show up until 2:00 that day, giving me plenty of time to recover from the first two nights. Vandaveer should be worth getting out of bed for though.

2:40-3:00 Dar Williams
I'm not a big fan...yet.

3:00-3:30 Iamis
I love this band! Unfortunately I'm going to have to skip out a little early to catch a portion of Sarah Watkins.

3:30-4:00 Sarah Watkins of Nickel Creek
Obviously very talented, I'm looking forward to hearing what she's doing minus the rest of Nickel Creek. I'm a sucker for a girl with a fiddle!

4:00-4:40 Whistle Peak
Always on the 37Flood radar, Whistle Peak continues the strong showing for Louisville bands on Sunday. Hopefully we'll get to hear a few tunes from their forthcoming album.

5:00-5:30 The Pass
This Louisville band is getting a lot of hype in hipster circles. Time to see what the talk's about.

5:30-6:00 Minus the Bear
This Seattle band has a great sound that should prove to be fun to see live.

6:00-6:40 The Fervor
One of my favorite Louisville bands, with melodies that rival the Beatles. They don't play out enough and I'm looking forward to seeing them again and also seeing what their current lineup looks like.

6:40-7:00 Jukebox the Ghost
The piano and melody driven Indie-pop band from the DC area should be worth checking out.

7:00-8:00 She & Him
Zooey Deschanel and M. Ward's band was a late addition to the lineup. Personally, as a huge M. fan, I'd rather seeing a M. Ward set. I don't see why we can't get both, but beggars can't be choosers and I'll take what I can get.

8:00-8:40 The Ravenna Colt
Former My Morning Jacket guitarist Johnny Quaid's new band will be rocking out the North Stage prompting me to leave before the end of She & Him.

8:45-10:00 Spoon
I'm looking forward to seeing these indie rockers from Austin. Having been together for a decade now, these guys have shown great lasting power, especially with their last couple albums.

10:00-10:30 Cirque Berzerk
The French circus of the absurd promises to be a great time. This was the only time I could find to fit it into the busy Forecastle schedule. I will have to skip out early to catch the beginning of the Lips.

10:30-12:00 The Flaming Lips
Forecastle saves the best for last, in my opinion. This is by far the show I'm looking forward to the most. I don't know how I haven't seen this band yet, but the drought ends Sunday!

That's 40 acts I'll be checking out! Okay, I'm officially pumped to get this show on the road! If someone wants to try to convince me that I need to see an act I didn't list, let me know with a comment. See you crazy kids out there!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

CAKE!

Anonymous said...

The Pass are electro pop truth.