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Type M |
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... for music |
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Vol.2 No. 3 April/May 2008 |
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Edited by Sheldon Robertson |
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Sheldon's Sunfest Diary 2008 |
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Thurs. May 1st New Music Night
This night, billed as "15 bands for $15", utilized 2 of the 3 main Sunfest stages, i.e. the WaMu and AT&T Real Yellow Pages (aka the Meyer Ampitheater) stages, and 2 smaller stages, North Barge Stage and South Barge Stage, which were just fancy names for "corners of the Captain Morgan Floating Barges where the bands set up". It was at the North Barge Stage that my night began, watching young local ska/alt-rock band Cerveza. This energetic Boynton Beach outfit (complete with horn section, naturally) and their enthusiastic fans seemed intent on stomping their way through the timbers of the recently-assembled rum barge, but since no one ended up in the Intracoasta, it was all good. After playing a number of great ska tunes, Cerzeva ended their set with a well-received cover of "Killing in the Name Of".
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The next band I saw was Miami MySpace sensations The Postmarks, who play a dreamy brand of contemplative rock wedded to European-influenced keyboards. The band, recently signed to Unfiltered Records, is fronted by Tim Yehezkely, a young female vocalist from Boynton Beach whose low-key delivery is reminiscent of British artists such as Dido and the Sundays. The Postmarks played on the WaMu stage to a small but appreciative early-evening audience.
After thatt, my crew and I went over to the Real Yellow Pages stage to see Scary Kids Scaring Kids followed by Finger Eleven. The former band was a Phoenix alt-rock sextext named for a Cap'n'Jazz song, as opposed to Marilyn Manson's former group. Their set was raucous but not particular memorable.
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Finger Eleven, of course, has had some radio success, but managed to a good portion of their audience due to some poor set management. They played their biggest hit, the acoustic ballad "One Thing" midway through their set, which was right about the time that Good Charlotte started playing at the Wamu stage, so they lost about half of their audience after that. The rest of the crowd grew tired of listening to a sequence of lesser-known songs, particularly when the group ended their set without playing their current single. So by time the group returned for the encore and finally performed "Paralyze", the crowd had dwindled down to about 1/3 of the size. The shame of it was that the group had merged their danceable hit with a medley of high-energy covers of groups such as Franz Ferdinand and Led Zeppelin, so it was a pity they didn't play it when more people weren't around to hear it.
Good Charlotte drew the biggest crowd of the night, but it felt as if the lead singer kept killing the buzz with rambling patter between songs. But at least this group was smart enough to save their biggest hit, the current single "I Don't Wanna Be In Love (Dance Floor Anthem)", for the end of their set.
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Fri. May 2nd Hilary McRae, Steel Pulse, Fergie
Enjoyed the jazzy\r&b sounds of keyboardist\singer Hilary McRae as she performed on the Wamu stage at 7:45 p.m. McRae is a Boca native recently signed to Starbuck's record label Hear Music; her set consisted mostly of selections from her debut album Through These Walls . McRae's music has a strong Steely Dan influence, so her inclusion in Sunfest seemed like a welcome throwback to the days when Sunfest was primarily a jazz and blues festival. Highlights of her set included her single "Consider Me Gone" (promoted by Starbucks as a free iTunes download); played near the end of her set, she led the crowd in a call-and-response vocal during its performance. McRae also performed a jazzy version of Gnarls Barkley's ubiquitous hit "Crazy", which removed the obnoxiousness of the original recording to reveal the underlying appeal of the song |
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Veteran British reggae band Steel Pulse played at Tire Kingdom stage, the smallest of Sunfest's three main concert venues, but the crowd they drew was substantial and ready to dance. The rastas from Birmingham did not disappoint, kicking off their set with the popular hit "Worth His Weight In Gold (Rally Round)", following up with other staples such as "Chant a Psalm", "Roller Skates" and "Bodyguard".
Wandered past the Real Yellow Pages stage as Southern-rock outfit Little Feat was midway through its set. From what little I heard, it sounded like these veteran performers were putting out their usual engaging blend of New Orleans funk coupled with California rock.
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Arrived at the Wamu stage in the middle of the headlining set by pop sensation Fergie. Apparently this was the wrong time to start listening to this performer as well known for her prominently-profiled abs as for her sultry vocals. My friend and I caught the tail-end of a montage of hits from her home group The Black Eyed Peas rendered ineffective by the low level of her vocals in the mix. This was followed by a lengthy unfocused dance interlude to cover a costume-change, after which Fergie, now clad in black leather, proceeded to do a medley of rock covers of artists such as The Rolling Stones and Led Zeppelin. While these covers probably stretched her more than her own material, none of her versions are liable to make anyone forget the originals, so other than killing time the exercise seemed pointless. My friend and I decided to leave before the end of her set, so we were not present when she switched back to bigger hits such as "Big Girls Don't Cry". |
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Sat. May 3rd Little River Band, Classic Albums Live, The Guns, Natasha Bedingfield, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, The Black Crowes
Caught the encore portion of the Little River Band performance at the Wamu stage, consisting of two songs. The first was a cover of Dobie Gray's "Drift Away" done LRB style. This meant transforming the contemplative ballad into a uptempo rocker, complete with the Australian soft-rockers' distinctive harmonies. Before finishing the encore with their ballad hit "Lady", frontman Glenn Shorrock took the time to acknowledge the debt the group owed to Florida, the site of their initial American success.
Over on the Real Yellow Pages stage, the Classic Albums Live band was finishing up their stage reproduction of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Caught another encore, a single song this time, but an excellent choice: the relentless "Run Like Hell", from Pink Floyd's other classic album The Wall.
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Late that afternoon, West Palm band The Guns took to the Wamu stage. This power trio (who changed their name post-Sunfest to Fire Zuave) includes alumni from veteran local bands Black River Circus and Doorway 27; their sound is muscular yet melodic. But after getting its set off to a great start, the band had to break while the Kentucky Derby was shown live on the big screen, and this killed some of the momentum of the performance. Hopefully, any future Sunfest performances by this group will be free from such interruptions.. |
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To say that British singer Natasha Bedingfield likes West Palm Beach is an understatement. In addition to playing a special Clematis By Night engagement two years ago, the dimunitive performer also saw fit to go the extra mile for her tour sponsor Verizon by appearing at its Sunfest booth a few hours before her set to sign autographs for an appreciative crowd of fans. Apparently meeting her fans had an energizing effect on her set that evening, as the spunky English/New-Zealander never wavered from the moment she hit the stage. Directly engaging her audience throughout her performance, Bedingfield led the receptive audience through material from her first two American albums, including "These Words (I Love You)", "Single" and "Unwritten" from her debut album and "Pocketful of Sunshine", her current single and title track of her latest release.
Left the Bedingfield show in time to catch the end of the set by The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. This Bostonian ska band put in a high-energy performance, and my timing was perfect for catching their big hit "The Impression That I Get." |
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My friend and I made our way up to the Wamu stage to catch the latter part of the headlining performance by The Black Crowes. Unsurprisingly, this band with the throwback sound turned out a bluesy set, but what did catch me off guard was how mellow the performance was. Apparently, this is how the band prefers to sound these days, so apart from a blistering harmonica solo by frontman Chris Robinson and the set closer "Remedy", the rest of the show iwas very low-key. Biggest surprise of all was that the band did not include their biggest hit, the cover of "Hard To Handle" that first propelled them on to rock radio. |
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Sun. May 4th Stephen Marley
This year's Reggae Grammy winner played an early afternoon set on the Wamu stage, featuring songs from his album Mind Control such as "Chase Dem" and "Lonely Avenue" (a cover of a Ray Charles tune) and classics from legendary father Bob Marley such as the ballad "No Woman Nuh Cry" and the chirpy "Three Little Birds". As is the case for a number of Stephen's Florida performances, guest appearances abounded. Rapper Illestr8 came out for the song "Let Her Dance", and for the posthumous Bob Marley hit "Buffalo Soldier", Stephen was joined by half-brother Julian Marley, who was recently the headliner for the Lake Worth Reggae Festival. But the crowd of college kids and Jamaicans saved its biggest roar of approval for the appearance of Damian "Junior Gong" Marley, who not only toasted for Stephen's track "Traffic Jam", but also performed his hit "Welcome To Jamrock." All three Marley siblings closed the well-received set with a version of their father's song "Could You Be Loved".
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Return to Type M Main Page |
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Send feedback to: [email protected] |
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Copyright (c) 2008 Sheldon Robertson |
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