Street Scene 07: Day Two
My long awaited Street Scene Recap from Day 2:
1.00-1.45: Arrived and went straight for the Magic Fry booth for fish and chips. Yum-o. Then hit the Capt. Morgan tent for a $9 cocktail and to eat. Spoke to a bunch of people in the tent and they were first timers and were there to see T.I. Interesting.
1.45-2.15: Biffy Clyro on the Capt. Morgan stage.
Ran into Tim Pyles and hung with him for their set. Was curious about them as they have been picked up on some alt rock stations. They were better than I thought they would be.
2.35-3.05: Voxtrot on the Capt. Morgan stage.
Ah, love me some indie rock from Austin TX. They started off with one of my faves from them – “Kid Gloves”, which has some really cool lyrics… Cheer me up, Cheer me up, I’m a miserable f***...I can’t decipher all of my notes, but they also played “My Biggest Fan” “Raised by Wolves” and “Firecracker”. A good showing from them.
3:10-3.25: Mute Math on the Wrigley stage.
They took forever to set up and I was super impatient because I wanted to see Sondre Lerche. But I gave them the benefit of the doubt because they are from NOLA. Once they got started, they were fine. “Typical” sounded great and I wish I could have stayed but Sondre Lerche was calling. (I found out later that Mute Math were playing on Album Leaf’s equipment as theirs was lost. That made me feel that all was forgiven.)
3.25-4.10: Sondre Lerche on the Coronado stage.
It was just Sondre on stage, no band. And that was awesome. He was super charming and talkative and really seemed like he was enjoying himself. He introduced a bunch of songs, which was good for the obsessive set list person in me. He also played a new song called “My Hands Are Shaking” which was done for a soundtrack for the new Steve Carrell/Juliette Binoche movie “Dan in Real Life” . I also loved that he did a Scritti Politti cover – “The Word Girl” is a great song.
4.15-4.40: Editors on the Pacific stage.
I don’t dislike this band, and they are great live, but they don’t really stand out for me.
5.05-5.15: Paolo Nutini on the Pacific stage.
I lasted two songs. Not my speed.
5.15-5.30: Beeline for the food tents. I was all over the Philly Cheesesteak.
5.30-6.00: Clap Your Hands Say Yeah on the Wrigley stage. (Nice pants, Alec.)
While we were near the stage, I figured I’d check them out. I wasn’t too excited about their last album and was figuring it would be a snoozefest. Pretty much. I mean, I liked their first album but the second one did nothing for me. The first signs of life in the crowd were when they played “Satan Said Dance”. (I dutifully did the “Said Dance” part though I think I scared the shit out of everyone around me when I did it the first time.) But after “The Skin of My Country Yellow Teeth”, it was time to bid adieu.
6.00-6.20: Spoon on the Pacific stage.
I didn’t stay that long, but I did get some “I Turn My Camera On” love.
6.20-6.40: Back to Wrigley stage – caught a bit of Spoon’s set from the big screen. They sounded fine from far away but I’ve seen them so many times I didn’t feel like I was missing out.
6.40-7.40: Brand New on the Wrigley stage.
I so love me some Brand New. Jesse and the boys did not disappoint (not like I expected anything else.) Starting off with “Sowing Season” was a good choice because it’s such a strong song. But who I am I kidding? Their whole set was awesome. I think it was just a really good smattering of the best of their live set. I loved the back to back of “Tommy Gun” and “Sic Transit Gloria”. And we all screamed along with Jesse during “Degausser”….
Take me, take me back to your bed
I love you so much that it hurts my head
Say I don’t mind you under my skin
I’ll let the bad parts in, the bad parts in
They ended their set with “You Won’t Know” and I booked it to the sound booth to see if I could get the set list. Score…handwritten on the back of their info for the tour (it had their hotel info and the info about their flight to Hawaii the next day. Too bad I was in the other terminal or I would have had Jesse sign it.)
I was done after Brand New, so off I went to get my shit together to leave. But before we put this post to rest, I have some commentary on the whole thing. There is no doubt that this was not a great year for Street Scene. And it leaves all sorts of questions about what is going to happen next year. I’ll tell you one thing though - if San Diego wants to ever be known as anything but that town south of L.A. in the national music scene, then some sort of festival has to happen every year. We all know Street Scene’s glory days are far behind. In the long run, it doesn’t really matter if Live Nation or some other promoter that ends up putting a new festival together. It just needs to happen.
P.S. Full Sondre Lerche and Brand New Set lists if you rawk on.
