Lilith Faire 2010
Just got back from Tycho’s first “festival” show - Lilith Faire at Shoreline. The crowd there was decent sized though not sold out and the music was pretty good. We heard a couple of new acts and some older ones as well. Here are some thoughts on the show, what worked and what didn’t.
Ann Atomic - an older songwriter turned singer. We only caught a few minutes of her in the ABC lounge after her main set. She was ok - nothing special. I thought her guitar player and band seemed to be putting on a good show of being in it, but the vibe wasn’t really happening for me. Clean sound, but no soul.
Kitten - flips side of Ann Atomic - she’s like 15 or something and jumps around on stage like she’s high on pop-rocks or something. Twice she stood on amps and had to be pulled down by roadies, and then while she was doing spinning jumps she fell and twisted her ankle, which I am sad to say, was a little funny. A few minutes later she was up again like nothing happened so maybe it was just a World Cup moment. All that crazy energy worked with the crowd and the band was pretty tight. She had a pretty good voice, and a sound that could be compared to Paramore. I’m sure all that energy and attitude will get her somewhere, but again, the soul seemed lacking.
Colbie - I was actually not looking forward to her set much, but was pleasantly surprised. She’s got a fair number of hits that I forgot about and her sound is so mellow and poppy it’s the perfect compliment to a sunny afternoon on the grass. Also, her voice and comments seemed to convey that she was totally into the gig and her and the band blended really well. Hats off. :)
The Bangles - their first number (one of their rockier songs which I dont remember) sounded great, but the set was uneven. When they were relying on their hit songs with nice vocal harmonies and support from keys things sounded good, but the stripped down punkier songs just sounded harsh. Part of that was that the kit sounded bad - a snare that was too bright and no warmth from the kick, toms or cymbals. They were in good form over all considering how long they’ve been around, and the vocals were solid all around. But again, for some of the songs, the soul was missing.
Heart - We only caught a few tunes, but I was impressed by the band and the girls can still sing just like 20 years ago. Wow.
All in all a great afternoon on the grass with mama Anne and baby Tycho. Happy days.