Virgin Music Fest 2007 (Day 1)
Posted on August 8, 2007 - Filed Under Reviews, Music, VA/DC/MD Happenings |
This past weekend I baked in the hot sun for a worthy cause, Virgin Festival 2007. This Baltimore music festival had such an awesome lineup this year that I just had to go, especially since Baltimore is only one and a half hours from my home in Northern Virginia.
My husband and I arrived on Day 1 just in time to listen to Amy Winehouse. I must admit I didn’t realize that this vocal powerhouse was so skinny. I thought she was going to fall over with that awesomely huge head of hair she has. Her voice was fabulous and this was the first time I have ever seen her live so it was well worth it. I did notice though that her enthusiasm to sing her “radio hits” was obviously annoying her as she lost some umph when singing “Rehab.”But her voice is so silky Blues that I could listen to her singing anything.
Next, after a few frozen SoCos, we headed over to the dance tent for Danny Tenaglia. The tent was a little behind schedule so we were able to catch some DJ work of Felix Da Housecat. I’m not big into House or Electronica but if you like to dance, this Chicago DJ can definitely work the crowd. Tenaglia finally came on and I must say that he was pretty worth the hype. This guy has an impressive music resume and I liked that he uses a lot of his own mixes when he spins.
Ben Harper and the Innocent Criminals were next on our stop. I must admit that I have never been a fan, not because I don’t like their music, but sometimes your music plate is too full for another radio jam band. And by radio jam band I mean that sound that every band had for a good three- to five-year period while everyone was trying to be another Dave Matthew’s Band. Ben Harper is responsible for introducing Jack Johnson to the “paid” music scene and oh, he’s also the guy that’s married to Laura Dern. Okay, okay, so all that aside, I really liked the performance. They had this great rock/reggae sound that is perfect for a music festival because everyone is generally there to party and I like a lot of their lyrics, sort of anti-establishment but with a hint of we still want our paycheck. However, when I want to listen to some rocking reggae in the car, I’ll still pick Damien Marley.
The Beastie Boys came on after Ben Harper and holy shit, they fucking rocked! They brought their older punk songs back to life and I thought it was the 90s all over again! I really dig that they still love their older songs and sing them like they haven’t been singing them for 20 years (hint hint to Amy Winehouse). During the BBoys performance I happened to look behind me at the scaffolding that usually houses some camera people and the few privileged that get the best seat in the house, and noticed that the Virgin Group’s leader, Sir Richard Branson, was hanging with his poshly dressed entourage while rocking out to the BBoys. I had to make that a mental note of things I’ve never seen at a rock show: bungy-jumping bajillionaires rocking out at a music festival that they own!
The night ended with a fabulous showing by Modest Mouse. This band totally changed my perception of how good new rock music could be. I guess this band is technically indie rock for those type-As out there, but they really turned me on to some great new music when I first heard them a few years ago. I haven’t listened to a regular radio station for a few years now because with XM radio and no commercials, who really needs the radio. Anyway, I first heard Modest Mouse on XM and wanted more! A few albums later they are probably my number one new rock band, and that’s saying something, not because I have such specialized tastes, but I hadn’t bought a CD from a new band for a long time because they all sucked. That includes you Wilco! So Modest Mouse really put on a good show. There seemed to be some problems with Isaac Brock’s mic because his voice was fading in and out and it wasn’t a vibrato. This was particularly annoying because there was a preshow mic check. You know, the kind where you hearing “testing 1, 2, 3″ for thirty minutes before the show. So back to the music…Modest Mouse rocked and you could definitely hear the contribution that Johhny Marr (The The, The Smiths) is making to the group; the full guitar sound this now rather large band has is intoxicating.
Day 2 to come…
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