tonyballinger.com

Let me begin by saying that the Ashland green line stop looks like a lodge – full of rich, wood paneling. Compared to other el stops, the Ashland stop is the lap of luxury. But the plush comforts end there – there wasn’t even a Starbucks to be found on the way to the Festival. It’s hell to have become accustomed to suburban trappings.

No matter how many all-day, outdoor festivals you go to, you can never really be fully emotionally prepared for one. Any festival of this kind is really a test of your fiber as a human being. Weaker animals fade quickly in the searing heat of an all-day festival. I went to Intonation with G., and I feared it may be more than she could handle. But she met the challenges of the day head-on, and overcame adversity ini order to rock.

If you can keep your cool (both mentaily and physically) these festivals are great. Today was a solid lineup featuring acts like A.C. Newman, The M’s, Magnolia Electric Company, Four Tet, The Go Team, Tortoise and a few others.

The Go Team put on an incredibly enegetic performance despite the heat. The lead singer came across like a drill team captain on speed – coordinating the crowd with aerobics, cheers, and lots of dancing. For their big finish, they brought up a bunch of kids from the neighborhood to dance on stage, and they danced their hearts out.

It was great to see A.C. Newman, since his solo album was one of my favorite releases of last year. He put on a good performance, although he started his set by playing "On The Table" twice in a row. Perhaps the first was a sound check – but as good of a song as it is, I didn’t need to hear it back to back.

By seeing Four Tet, I was able to right a few previous wrongs. Once I went to see him at Empty Bottle, but couldn’t get in because my license had expired. Which is totally ridiculous if you’ve seen me. There is no argument that I am well past 21. This year at Coachella, I was screwed by Four Tet a second time. I don’t know who was in the DJ tent during his time slot, but I know this: it wasn’t Four Tet. Which was a real shame because then I had to go watch The Secret Machines (who I don’t like).

Tortoise finished out day one, and they were great as always. And yet, a little Tortoise goes a long way when you’ve been in the sun since 1pm. So we cut out a song or two early and beat the mad rush to the green line.

This entry was posted on Friday, July 15th, 2005 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Concerts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.