BFD 07 Live 105
Shoreline Amphitheatre, Mountain View CA, 06/09/2007

Yesterday I and a non-mogger friend Patrick enjoyed 11 hours of music at a relatively tolerable festival setting. We roll in a little after noon on a beautiful, sunny day with enough of a breeze in the air that I'm not feeling hot in my black Siouxsie & The Banshees T-shirt. The Matches are just finishing up their dime-a-dozen set on the stage that hosts the afternoon acts. They insist on calling it the "Bud Light festival stage" which is appropriate I guess, since many of the bands performing on it are equally shitty. Anyway, this is where we'll spend the next 5 hours, basking in the sun watching 20-30 minute sets from ten bands.

CSS are entertaining but not terribly tight. The vocals are mixed too low, so you can't hear their funny lyrics. I enjoy them more on record than in broad daylight, which really isn't a good setting for any electro-poppy band. The Lovemakers have an entertaining disco-rock schtick with a healthy dose of camp. Tiger Army offer a semi-enjoyable set of Social Distortion/Bad Religion type punk, except with a stand-up bass and without the melodies. Shiny Toy Guns do a dime-a-dozen disco-rock with no memorable songs. The woman who shares the vocal duties with the guitar-playing dude has too thin a voice for belting out the way she tries to do. She also sings off-key quite a bit. Back to rehearsal space. Sum 41 can't seem to play one song of their west-coast-punk-of-the-worst-kind without stopping for an audience sing-along or some shit like that. Be gone already! Cold War Kids are as gimmicky as usual, although the one new song they try out is pretty straightforward and pretty good. They're a refreshing variation in the afternoon line-up, which then continues with . . . another dime-a-dozen band, The Bravery, who sound pretty shitty due to some technical problems, or so the band says.

The best set of the festival stage comes from the Silversun Pickups, whose straightforward rock'n'roll fare with a bit of Gish-era Smashing Pumpkins thrown in gets me all roiled up for my first beer of the day. The deal was no beer before 5pm. That was a good call, since it's been a hot, dehydrating sort of afternoon. We leave The Faint to "do their typical shit" (as I overheard someone say) in search of Sam Adams Summer Ale.

We unfold our blanket on the lawn on top of the amphitheatre to chill out a bit and feed ourselves while we sip the beer (which is tasting very good by now) and catch the first band on the main stage below us. The less said of the band, Scissors For Lefty, the better. Then we find our seats in time for the Kaiser Chiefs set at about 7pm. Even apart from the fact that our seats are a bit crappy (section 201, for anyone in the know), I would much prefer an open area instead of seats. In other words, I'd prefer another type of venue. But, as they say on Sopranos a lot, whaddya gonna do? Kaiser Chiefs sound tight and confident, well-honed after a spring of touring, as they run through a predictable selection of the best songs from their two albums. Ricky Wilson runs in the audience a bit, smiles, and seems to be having an excellent time.

From here onwards, every remaining band is allocated 40 minutes to do its thing. Interpol begin their set as it's, unfortunately, only getting dusky and not dark yet. They open up with one of the new three songs they've been trying out on audiences lately. Gutsy choice for an opening song at a festival where not everyone is necessarily fan, since it's the mid-tempo number "Pioneer To The Falls". They sound extremely tight and good as they work through "Obstacle 1", "Narc", Slow Hands", the other two songs from the upcoming album, "Heinrich Maneuver" and "Mammoth", with "Leif Erikson" in between, and then close with "Evil" and "Not Even Jail". No banter apart from a couple of thank yous. It's a pleasant surprise that Banks sings off-key only on about half of the songs! Overall, one of the best two sets of the night.

Next the Queens Of The Stone Age blast off with a sound that's monster(and-then)some. It works well on the less subtle songs that thrive on their heaviosity. Unfortunately, the Spartan precision of "No One Knows" and the rolling forward rhythm of "Go With The Flow" get buried in the massive wall of sound, definitely detracting from the experience.

Social Distortion do their usual thing, playing what is basically more or less the same song many times over. But it's a pretty damn good song! Above all, it's good to see Mike Ness & Co. get the recognition of a late slot at an event like this.

I'm actually surprised that Bloc Party are scheduled to go on at last; I didn't think they were that big in comparison to the bands before them. In any case, it's a good choice. The band smile and exude energy, and sound really tight. Although (like Kaiser Chiefs) they have issues with consistency of song material, they have (again like Kaiser Chiefs) enough good songs for a pretty great 40-minute set. The other best set of the night.

We're out shortly before midnight and repair to an after-show drink at Fred's, a divey sports bar in Mountain View, where some younger kids recruit us to judge who drinks their pint fastest. Good times.