Spent the afternoon and evening by the main stage – Day 2 of the Capitol Hill Block Party. This time I was prepared and brought earplugs. Prime spot near the speakers. I mainly came to see Mirah and Aesop Rock, but discovered another great band: The Cribs. Very rock n roll; Brits, love ‘em.
I probably would have passed on Mirah without Anita’s encouragement; and I’m glad I went. She is a beautiful person with a beautiful voice. Seems she lost a lot of weight – she looks nothing like her PR photos. I’m currently obsessed trying to find her song “Don’t” off a 2003 compilation album “Ragazza Pop” Can’t find anywhere to purchase this album – I’ve resorted to contacting an ebay seller and an ebay winner of the album to beg for a copy of it. I have some footage of the song thankfully:
I also have another Mirah video on my youtube.
The Cribs were great; lots of energy and catchiness.
John Vanderslice – Not to my liking, and not just because his songs didn’t seem to have choruses.
I was awoken by Aesop Rock. Awesome performance – great beats and intelligible lyrics; most live hip-hop acts are so musically muddled that it’s hard to hear what they say. Not so with Aesop. His labelmate Rob Sonic performed alongside – another great lyricist. Aesop did a few old cuts and some new songs, Rob did a couple songs, and the DJ did some turntablism. Look for Aesop’s new album “None Shall Pass” coming out next month. Rob Sonic will have a new album as well – I heard some of his music on his myspace – good stuff.
I left after Against Me! – Spoon was next and I was pretty worn out from being on my feet for 6 hours. Against Me! really got the crowd moving/moshing – I felt the music uninspiring – I love the punk genre, but something about them just screams ‘bland’ to me. I was surprised there was a mother and her two young children there at the very front, no ear protection, and one looking like a prisoner. When the crowd almost pushed the fence down they were quickly ushered away by security.
As always, lots more pictures on my flickr.
