Northside Festival 2009 - Day 2

via Auditory Threshold

Day 2 of the Northside Festival started off with Sunset Rubdown, one of the festival's headlining acts. Sunset Rubdown began as a solo project of Wolf Parade's Spencer Krug, but it eventually grew into a full band. Sunset Rubdown has been touring North America in support of their latest album, Dragonslayer, and they made a stop at Studio B. Unfortunately, their set was plagued with many technical difficulties. Spencer faced the challenge of malfunctioning mics the entire night. Each time his mic was swapped out, the new one would inevitably cut out a little. I guess Studio B's equipment just couldn't handle Krug's powerful voice. Despite Krug's entertaining Canadianisms, the crowd was audibly distracted as the band pioneered through.

Idiot Heart - Sunset Rubdown




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We wanted to drop by Real Estate's set at Death By Audio, but we were running too late to make the trip worth it. Instead, we headed over to Music Hall of Williamsburg to catch Kristian Matsson aka The Tallest Man on Earth. We last saw Kristian when he opened for Bon Iver. Since then, his Dylan-esque melodies and vocals have won over quite a crowd in New York, and it was obvious by the audience in attendance. Kristian was completely channeling a rockabilly style with his clothes and hair, and it always surprises me that he is indeed Swedish. No cover of Nico's "These Days" on this night, although someone did shout out a request, but you can enjoy a video of a past performance here.


via Auditory Threshold

I'm pretty unfamiliar with John Vanderslice and his music, but I decided to check him out based on some recommendations. There's something about him that reminds me of some of the music that I listened to during the 90's, including Better Than Ezra. Extremely accessible musicians like Vanderslice are pleasant to listen to, but they don't leave much of an impression on me. Out of his set, the song that I musically enjoyed the most was "Tablespoon of Codeine." Aside from the politically driven lyrics, the track has simple, yet haunting melody lines that have a way of embedding themselves into your memory. John Vanderslice is currently touring North America with The Tallest Man on Earth.

Tablespoon of Codeine - John Vanderslice

Coverage from Day 1 here.

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