ALL POINTS WEST: Lindsay's Review Day Three

Posted 5 months ago

Artist:
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The Black Keys

Lindsay's last day at All Points West....

If anyone listened to the 24-hr thunderstorm forecast the last day of All Points West could have been an epic fail, but New Yorkers/ New Jersians tend to be stubborn. A little rain, a little mud isn’t keeping them away from the music. Due to the morning storm and already saturated grounds, Liberty State Swamp (errr, I mean Park) opened four hours late and many of the opening bands did not get a chance to perform. I can only imagine the disappointment these bands must have felt and the scene backstage. My heart goes out to the dejected musicians.

However when the clouds broke, the crowd gathered. I arrived at 6 pm, with everyone else in the tri-state area. It didn’t take long for the audiences around the 3 stages to multiply. At the Queen of the Valley Tent, where most of the dance/electro acts performed, I saw LA ROUX. I recently just starting diving into this electronic-pop dance sound. The lead singer has a great voice and the backing band had a slightly coy and contained giddiness to their performance. The audience ate it up and when the front-women asked graciously “It’s been a long day for all of us and you, but if it’s not to much to ask, can you a rave a bit for this one?” Rave they did. I particularly like their song “Quicksand” which sounds like “When Doves Cry” by Prince. If you ever have a Euro-themed dance party – put La Roux on your playlist.

Armed with combat boots this go-around, I b-lined right through the mud and puddles confidently to stake my claim for the BLACK KEYS set at the Bullet Stage as Mogwai finished up. I’ll be honest, I don’t get Mogwai, it seemed like a lot of distorted droning guitar strums and drums, but I won’t knock the mass of fans they drew.

The Black Keys landed a great set time in between sets of Echo and the Bunnymen and Coldplay who were on the Blue Comet Stage. This guitar - drummer duo had a solid majority of the APW attendees’ attention. It was great to see a solid Blues Rock band hold its own among the Indies. They played a balance of new and old material that kept me grooving throughout. Unfortunately, the Bullet Stage encountered some technical difficulties and the mic cut out during the second verse of their big hit “10 AM Automatic.” It didn’t seem to matter since the crowd had the lyrics anyway… That’s rock n’ roll.

After The Black Keys there were a handful of people who opted to move on to see Coldplay headline, but the fans with the glow sticks and face-paint remained for The Management a.k.a. MGMT. I saw them at Bonnaroo (well from my spot I couldn’t actually see, but I definitely heard and danced!) I was a bit disappointed in their sound at Roo but the energy of the crowd made the performance enjoyable. At APW, It was the same. MGMT’s stage presence is a flat-line compared the pulse of the audience. Regardless, they at least played their songs with accuracy, unlike the Arctic Monkeys (sorry, I’m still frustrated by them). They teased the crowd by leaving out “Kids” until the encore, as if the “one more song” chant convinced them. Strangely, the duo sang “Kids” in a Karaoke style. They grabbed the mics, moved a bit on stage and sang the song to a track. Again, the technical difficulties returned when the guitar player came out for his solo, but his guitar was amplified through the speakers as he tuned up. (WOOOPS!) MGMT just laughed it off and took to the edge of the stage to soak up the love from the fans.