Shaky Knees, Day One

Okay, first things first, yes, it did rain, quite hard for a while, but only between about 5:30 and 7:30.  I had my raincoat with me and fared fine through the precip, although some others were soaking wet the rest of the night.

I'm off to Day Two and will post a complete picture set and recap of the festival later, but here are some pics of the bands that I caught at Day One.  Meanwhile, you can always check out my Flickr page if you want to see the complete shots. 

MUTUAL BENEFIT

The day - and the festival - started with Mutual Benefit, one of the bands that I most wanted to see.  They played a lovely but quiet set, and ended far too soon - the shortest set of the day.  

SLEEPER AGENT

I hadn't heard of them, but they played a high-energy set of r&b-influenced rock, fronted by a powerhouse vocalist.

WILD BELLE





Interesting set of indie folk rock with world, afro-pop and reggae touches. 

WHITE DENIM

I couldn't get anywhere even close to the stage for White Denim, but enjoyed their set of psych rock jams from afar, and was even able to hear them while I wandered off to get a bite to eat.

CHARLES BRADLEY



Old-school, James Brown-style r&b from "The Screaming Eagle of Soul."

MAN MAN

When you're in Man Man, everyday is Halloween.  Odd, interesting electro-pop from an odd, interesting band.  The rain began during their set, and I had to leave to go back to my car and get my raincoat.

FOALS

The rain continued throughout the excellent set of reverb-drenched psychedelic instrumentals and songs by Britain's Foals, but their music was so good, one hardy cared.  "This is what every day's like in England," their frontman said about the weather.

SPOON

Even the rain had to stop to listen to Spoon.  I hadn't seen them perform since 2010, and they played a terrific set list of songs from throughout their career.  I kept thinking, "Oh, this is my favorite Spoon song," until they played the next, and I'd think, "No, this is my favorite," and so on throughout their entire set.  Bonus points:  I somehow got the rail for their set.

THE NATIONAL

After Spoon, there  was no way I would get even close to The Nationals' stage for their set, but oddly, as it turned out, the front of Spoon's stage was not really a bad vantage point to see The National at the adjacent stage.  I even got to slap Matt Berninger's hand when he came down into the audience and wandered over to the edge of the other stage.  My first time seeing The National, and they played a triumphant set.

The festival promoters posted this recap video to their Facebook page: