All Points West – Day 3…

on sunday i happened into a free ticket to the all points west music festival. jill had tickets to all three days thanks to her billboard connections, and because the weather was so shitty on friday, the festival organizers allowed people with friday tickets to come one other day, so i used her friday ticket.  in the entertainment industry, it’s not who you know, it’s who who you know knows. (think about that for a second and it’ll make sense).

the festival is in liberty state park, a great location for a festival, but it’s a bit small as they only have room for three stages.  there’s a great view of the city and the statue of liberty.  you actually have to take a ferry to get there from manhattan, (which wasn’t free. 20 bucks, in fact, for a round trip). between sets i wandered the muddy festival grounds (it had rained all day friday).  there were some pretty cool art exhibitions and of course, you can never go wrong with fair food.

Lady Liberty got back...

i got to see four bands: akron/family, mogwai, the black keys, and coldplay.  i had never seen the first two but they definitely rocked.  akron/family just looks like they have a lot of fun on the stage, and mogwai did a great job setting the mood with their ambient noise rock.

Akron/Family's wind section rocking out...

the black keys were the third band i caught.  i saw them with andy last year at lollapalooza and we agreed then that they were definitely a highlight of the weekend.  in the one year since that performance, they have grown even more in popularity and drew a larger, more energetic crowd.  it’s amazing that they can get all that sound out of only one guitarist and a drummer.  i debated leaving their set early to get over to coldplay, but they were just too good.

Akron, Ohio's finest...

immediately after the final chords of the keys’ closing song “i got mine,” i hurriedly waded through a quarter-mile of ankle-deep mud as “life in technicolor” softly rose over the hills from the south end of the field.  i situated myself by the time chris martin was singing through the first verse of “violet hill.”  coldplay has always been one of those bands that i’ve been intrigued to see live, but would never justify spending money to see.  that’s why this situation was perfect – i could enjoy their set without lamenting over the $50+ it would have taken to see them under normal circumstances.

after that night, i am absolutely sold on coldplay as a live band.  as a band some might describe as critic-proof, (meaning that they could release garbage and people would still buy it, [see nickleback]), they could probably get away with phoning in live performances, but they didn’t.  i got the sense that the band truly believes in the quality and power of his band’s music.  not once was i bored or did i think, “okay, when are they getting to the next song.”  as much as i love live music, i feel this way sometimes at concerts, (i think everyone does).  the crowd was really into it as well.  martin instructed the crowd that it was “cool to sing along, even you got dragged here by your girlfriend”…

the setting also helped to enhance the experience.  behind me was a gorgeous view of the manhattan skyline at night, to my left was the statue of liberty, and in front of me was the not-surprisingly intricate stageshow.  it even made me forget, (for a time), that i was standing in a pool of mud.  chris martin noted aloud that it was the “smelliest concert we’ve ever played.”

a few songs into their set, martin walked to the side of the stage to a different piano than the one he had been using and said, “this song is for absent friends.”  he then broke out into a solo piano rendition of the beastie boys classic “(you gotta) fight for your right (to party!)”  a pretty classy move, i thought, to honor the group that couldn’t be there. i debated getting a video of it,  but i reasoned that someone else in the crowd would get a better one and post it to youtube. i was right. you can watch it here.

later during the show, the band disappeared from the stage, only to reappear on an annex stage maybe 60 yards from the stage.  this was much closer to where i was standing so i got a better view.  there they played three unplugged (okay, not really, but acoustic is more like it) songs including a cover of “billie jean.”  other highlights of the set included “yellow,” (i never really liked this song before), “fix you,” and “lovers in japan.”  all in all, a great show, and i wouldn’t be surprised if i end up seeing them again as a result.

all points west was fun, but with only three stages, it’s hard to get that many bands in.  in total, 57 artists played (actually less because they opened doors late on sunday because of the weather and had to cancel some sets). lollapalooza, by comparison has eight stages and 143 artists (according to a quick count i did on their website).  apw is also more expensive, a three-day pass will run you $239 vs. $205 for lollapalooza (assuming you waited to the last minute in each instance).  but i suppose everything’s more expensive in new york, so why should music festivals be any different?  this is only apw’s second incarnation, and they show signs of being a strong festival for years to come, but they have a lot of work to do if they want to be in the major leagues with lollapalooza, bonnaroo and coachella…

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final thoughts:

remember my laundry fiasco that i wrote about last week? well i finally got to do it today. it took me five loads. i wish i were joking.

you can find good $5 lunches in nyc. you just have to look.

i won $2 on a “loose change” scratch off lottery ticket yesterday.

i’m done. live like a champion today…