Every year in the early fall (which is still summer time for all intents and purposes in warm and sunny Austin, Texas) between 60 and 100,000 people descend upon the “Live Music Capital of the World” for three days of peace and music. While it’s not billed like Woodstock’s famous subtitle, it is a well-run event that shows tons of people getting along and staying orderly. A couple years ago I remember hearing in the press conference that someone’s wallet was found with $300 in it and it was all returned unharmed to the owner the next day. How cool is that?
While one of the stages is always prescribed with a heavy dose of authentic Gospel music, this year’s lineup had a few less bands that get regularly covered in the pages of HM Magazine. But there was a few that really stood out this year:
Damien Horde
This guy was commissioned to write a song for the Atlantic Coast Conference women’s basketball league — “She Can Play.” He shared his stage with a percussionist that sat atop a big old acoustic box and another guitarist (Danny Salazar) that offered lead breaks, rhythm guitar, shakers and background vocals. Damien has a smooth, soulful voice that fits really well with a swingin’ reggae-influenced and light-groovin’ rock. He’s quite the entertainer, too. When called upon, he can cut the rug like a Latin female dancer. During some tuning downtime he did the bow-legged butterfly dance move, which he explained always scored points and opened doors when something extra was needed. Mat Kearney would be proud of Horde’s hip-hop delivery. He sang a song about “This monkey on my back … won’t cut me any slack…”
As the weekend’s weather pattern began to sprinkle rain he introduced the first song he wrote on the guitar — a perfectly title tune called “Rain.” Salazar played a nice solo on this song, while Horde took on additional percussion duties with the shaker and rattle. He sang about “Peace, love and joy in my soul” as he danced like it was nobody’s business. He switched gears and played a slow, dreamy ballad about needing “novacaine to numb the pain.” Much of his lyrics are slice-of-life narratives that relate to the average listener, like the pursuit of love: “…saw you from across the room…”
He explained his teaming up with Salazar: “Me and Danny joined up and have been playing to change the world for good.” He reiterated that purpose later in the set: “We’re about hope and making this world a better place, spreading love and joy and all the guys up here share that vision.” They played a faster-paced tune that Horde described as “Leggae” (mixing Latin and reggae). Then he dedicated a song: “This goes out to my beautiful, lovely ex-girlfriend,” which he pointed out later in the song, “Life is so much better without you.”
He described a missions trip to Sudan that opened up his eyes to a world where, “they don’t know much about cars and radio, but they have love, peace … hope, joy.” The song is called “Heart of Africe,” and it beautifully makes the simple point about how those in extreme poverty have access to real and eternal joy. Without being preachy he makes a good and powerful impression.
MUTEMATH
It’s always fun to see how the 8-stage layout of this festival will still find fans of a certain band forsaking a performance at one of the other 6 stages on the festival grounds to stake out a close spot in front of the stage where the band they really want to see will be playing. And so a band like MUTEMATH sets up their stage and does line checks with many fans watching and waiting. When the band came on with little fanfare at 2 p.m. it was kind of anti-climactic, because you’d already been staring at the guys poking at their instruments for while. It wasn’t exactly boring, of course, because drummer Darren King wrapped his big, cupped headphones around his head with duct tape over and around his chin and head like a Little Rascals toothache remedy.
The band launched into the pulsating opening track from Armistice, “The Nerve,” and the gig was on. People in raincoats, panchos, and a lightly-wet clothes were all bouncing to the beat. They transitioned right into the next track on the album, “Backfire,” which was extra cool live with its sparse countering and odd guitar sounds. The energetic and tight band then played an older song, “Chaos” and they were already clicking as a unit. The giant video screens on either side of the stage and the multiple cameras shooting the band — including one mounted on a giant crane that provided wide and sweeping shots really added to the MUTEMATH mystique. The background camera by the drumkit during the title track to Armistice was exceptionally cool, showing the crowd over the drummer’s swinging shoulders.
“Noticed” kept the energy flowing, which was swinging between all the instruments (bass, drums, samples, piano, keys and guitar) and Paul Meany’s melodic vocals. They launched into “Typical,” which again leaned heavily on Meany’s great vocals. The audience gave them some good feedback after this song was over. The band caught their breath and then tore into the trippy last song on the new album (“Burden”), which sounded really heavy live with almost an INXS dance groove and urgent vocal delivery. The guitarist played a xylaphone and Meany was tweaking sounds from effects units while seated on his piano bench and singing and then extending into a good jam, which stretches the song out nice and long.
The opening notes of “Spotlight” got a crowd reaction, but it wasn’t the kind of screaming young female screaming variety that you might expect from a popular single from the Twilight soundtrack. The band then announced its last song as “Reset” and they then turned the avant-garde style all the way up to 10. “Reset” gave way to “Break The Same,” which includes the de-construction of the song, along with the swapping of instruments, Meany’s portable theramin and King striking one drumstick on top and one below his ride cymbal for some frantic drumming. It was funny to see Meany lay his feedbacking theramin at the front of stage center as he started to transition into his somersaults over his piano — only to see an over-zealous roadie come out and retrieve it. He was quickly corrected and the muted instrument was turned back up to wail away in Hendrixian agony. I wish I could’ve been backstage to give that guy some grief for his bonehead move.
While it wasn’t exactly the same as a headlining show for MUTEMATH, they did give their all for one full hour and it was extremely satisfying. It also felt like the band had added another notch to its belt. Perhaps the wider music world would appreciate what a gem they’ve got in this band.
Ben Harper
This guy is on a lot of people’s favorite list, with his easy-going music and attention to groove. He spent lots of time jammin’ on the lap pedal steel
Pearl Jam
I hung out with heavy metal legend Michael Bloodgood for Pearl Jam’s festival-closing set on the third day. It was fun to see him finally get to see his fellow Seattle residents play a show after all these years. It was also amazing to hear all these thousands of people singing along to Pearl Jam songs. At one point Eddie Vedder proclaimed to the crowd that: “Each and every one of you is incredibly valuable and special.” He acknowledged the soldiers in the audience and thanked them for their service. Vedder also joked about how he stayed up until 8:30 in the morning with Ben Harper the previous night. “Can you tell?” he asked. He then explained that he and Ben figured it all out. “We figured it out, and couldn’t wait to get up here and tell you about it. It involved you and it’s great. We wrote it down, but it’s illegible.” So much for solving the world’s problems! Ben Harper joined the band onstage for a song, which was a wild, string-bending jam. The band then played a powerful version of the Who classic, “The Real Me,” which was followed by “Alive.” Like many a Pearl Jam show, they played a myriad of songs, but did not include the triumvirate of “Evenflow,” “Alive” and “Jeremy.” The last of which was missing. They did end their set with Perry Farrell from Jane’s Addiction coming out and helping them through “Mountain Song,” followed by a cover of Neil Young’s “Rockin’ In The Free World.”
While the rain cramped the style of everyone involved at the festival, it definitely didn’t dampen the spirits of those attending. It was quite impressive, actually, to see people embrace the bad weather and have fun despite the plethora of mud and water.
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