Alice Cooper was an interesting choice. At least that is what I thought when I first saw the lineup. In fact, I selected him for hipster ironic reasons. I became more excited after I saw him on Dark Shadows. However, when the old man appeared with at least 40 guitarists and his riding crop; the audience rocked. His show really was impressive.
Bad Brains was another “Of course everyone knows them” moment for me. I was talking to the guy in the next tent over from me, Tyler, and he was talking about how excited he was to see them, at which point Scott talked about how good their old stuff was, but was wary of their Reggae. Pushing into their set one evening; they were rocking. Mixing the Punk and Reggae aspects of their catalog; their set was incredible.
Battles was placed between many of my comedy sets, but I was told that any available time I had I needed to spend there. The music and crowd rocked. The audience was electrified and though they were new to me, I am sold on them.
Now, if you look at this picture, you may think that man looks angry. Well, you would be right. I wandered over to his show after the explosion. However, the music was incredible and really thrashed.
Now the fact that I am reviewing Skrillex may be a surprising to some of you and the fact that I liked the show may be even stunning. However, it is the truth. The show was late, 1:30-3:30 AM, and was so loud that even with my ear plugs in, the music was deafening. I know that the Dudeletter has a dubstep reputation and well deserved at that. Korsgaard’s article caused a minor stir, but in general I agree with his article. The morning after the show, someone was playing the music in their tent and it did nothing for me, but with the animations on the screen, the giant rising platform/control tower, and the dancing crowd, the experience was indescribable. It also featured the appearance of Grandpa Dubstep, a majestic dancing septagenarian with an elbow length beard.
Enjoy,
Editor