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I had a great weekend. It was fun to hang out with some inforoo people and I was happy to finally get to briefly meet 3post1jack1 who is not as old as you would expect a massive Phish fan to be.
My favorite sets kinda in order: Aphex Twin - I wouldn't say I quite "got it" as much as some of the other people around here but it was pretty amazing to see an absolute god do whatever the fuck he wanted while seeming to control the weather. He played tons of different types of music and messed around with sounds and synths you really don't here too often. Arca - I expected this to be weird/noisy and more experimental, but it was actually incredibly fun. I was getting kinda tired before his set started, but he re-energized me and I ended up dancing my ass off. I agree that is was loud as fuck, didn't really realize at the time but my ears were still ringing the next morning. Squarepusher - This was also less weird than I expected it to be. It was fun and also amazing to see another legend doing what he does. Liars - Glad you guys turned me onto them before the fest, it was fun, dancey and weird. Unkown Mortal Orchestra - We checked out the second half of them after Squarepusher because my brother got pretty into them leading up to the fest and I had a really great time at their set, I'm pretty sure I've seen them before and didn't enjoy it nearly as much so that was a cool surprise.
Other stuff I had fun at - Welcome To Houston, the last song of Tycho, Uncle Acid, Lightning Bolt, Little Dragon, Anklepants
I thought the light/art installations were pretty dope. My group got a little trippy on Saturday and got a little lost in the upstairs light shows which is why we ended up missing most of Tycho.
I was not a fan of OPN. There were parts that were pretty, but it was so intense for the state of mind I was in, and the music made me feel like I was in a crack house.
We saw like 20 mins of UMO at Beach Goth, probably what you're thinking of.
I had a great weekend. It was fun to hang out with some inforoo people and I was happy to finally get to briefly meet 3post1jack1 who is not as old as you would expect a massive Phish fan to be.
My favorite sets kinda in order: Aphex Twin - I wouldn't say I quite "got it" as much as some of the other people around here but it was pretty amazing to see an absolute god do whatever the fuck he wanted while seeming to control the weather. He played tons of different types of music and messed around with sounds and synths you really don't here too often. Arca - I expected this to be weird/noisy and more experimental, but it was actually incredibly fun. I was getting kinda tired before his set started, but he re-energized me and I ended up dancing my ass off. I agree that is was loud as fuck, didn't really realize at the time but my ears were still ringing the next morning. Squarepusher - This was also less weird than I expected it to be. It was fun and also amazing to see another legend doing what he does. Liars - Glad you guys turned me onto them before the fest, it was fun, dancey and weird. Unkown Mortal Orchestra - We checked out the second half of them after Squarepusher because my brother got pretty into them leading up to the fest and I had a really great time at their set, I'm pretty sure I've seen them before and didn't enjoy it nearly as much so that was a cool surprise.
Other stuff I had fun at - Welcome To Houston, the last song of Tycho, Uncle Acid, Lightning Bolt, Little Dragon, Anklepants
I thought the light/art installations were pretty dope. My group got a little trippy on Saturday and got a little lost in the upstairs light shows which is why we ended up missing most of Tycho.
I was not a fan of OPN. There were parts that were pretty, but it was so intense for the state of mind I was in, and the music made me feel like I was in a crack house.
We saw like 20 mins of UMO at Beach Goth, probably what you're thinking of.
That was it - can't remember a single thing about that show though. Enjoyed this one a lot more.
I'm guessing that is from the Friday pre-party set. Here is a shot I caught from way in the back of what she was wearing for Sunday night's extravaganza:
We popped right inside after RZA's set to get a good spot. No surprise, it was already super packed at the Blue stage, everybody clamoring to get some sort of a taste from Bjork considering 90%+ of the attendees didn't have chance at her exhibit. Well, I would say the atmosphere was filled with disappointed by minute 10 of her DJ set. I was regretting the early camp out by every passing whale noise or bush rustling sound. I could have caught some Night Drive, whose sound I dug while doing research prior to the fest - or I could have scoped the V.R. exhibit line, because it dawned on me that I bet it would be way shorter now that Bjork herself is on stage, and everyone would come try to see her 'perform' live. So after wasting about 25 minutes there, we jetted backward, trying to navigate through the thick - and judging by their faces as we passed through them - frustrated crowd.
Well, I guessed right, the Bjork Digital line was the shortest I had ever seen it - right at the corner of the VIP area, facing the Shoplifter exhibit. But then I was left with tough decision of staying to see how far we could get and in effect, miss the Butthole Surfers; or go see the old weirdo punks and come back later when reservations were just about to end.
Couldn't pass up Gibby and the gang. But then a whole new disappointment feeling occurred when they were clearly having Techincal Difficulties with the equipment. 20 minutes worth. Gibby was getting visibly pissed about it, and at one point when the lights went out, I thought they just said 'fuck this' and bailed. Nah, their not the brash impulsive youngsters they used to be. They came out, and played. And looked like the dads that they are doing it. It started out kinda weak, honestly, and that probably had to do with the sound issues - the volume really sounded low. Meanwhile, the crowd begins to get movement, and new people keep trickling it - and they all look like they're still in high school. Travis Scott fans (presumably coming from after Squarepusher) started populating the crowd, and being the super ironic kids that they are, were screaming and cheering (followed by obnoxious laughter) the Surfers as if it was 1991. But this became enjoyable to me, because this tornado of older fans getting pushed through by young whippersnappers trying to get a good spot for Travis made for some serious shoving, and an oceanwave movement of bodies with a mini-mosh pit formed in the center of the crowd - just as when I felt the Butthole Surfers were starting to get heavier towards the end of their set.
Since they started late, they ended late - 11PM. We decided to go back to the Bjork Digital exhibit line. It was about as short as when we saw it during Bjork's DJ set - I guess everyone had just given up trying. Well, considering reservations end at 11:20PM, and they said they'd keep it open until 2AM, we went for it. We were so fuckin' worn out from running around all weekend anyway, we decided to just rest in line and gamble on ending the fest with a bang.
Two hours later. we reached the exhibit wall. Dealing with creepy drunk guy that stood behind us, kept leaving the line, then coming back more wasted and acting like he was with us; and several people trying to bunch up and cut ahead of us and others, and then a low-totem-pole security guard telling people at 1AM that they're shutting it down, just to get people to leave, which got everyone around us more restless. It wasn't looking good. A representative finally walked the line around 1:20AM telling everyone that the V.R.exhibit had been shut down for good, but if you want to stay in line, you can get into the video room. Nobody was sure what that was, and they wanted to get at least something out of it. Turned out, it was poorly transferred aspect ratio music videos projected on the wall. Ugh. We walked out, and went back up to the 2nd floor to walk the installs one last time. We were the very last ones in line for the U.V.A. exhibit - a really cool consolation prize to end the fest.
Since they started late, they ended late - 11PM. We decided to go back to the Bjork Digital exhibit line. It was about as short as when we saw it during Bjork's DJ set - I guess everyone had just given up trying. Well, considering reservations end at 11:20PM, and they said they'd keep it open until 2AM, we went for it. We were so fuckin' worn out from running around all weekend anyway, we decided to just rest in line and gamble on ending the fest with a bang.
Two hours later. we reached the exhibit wall. Dealing with creepy drunk guy that stood behind us, kept leaving the line, then coming back more wasted and acting like he was with us; and several people trying to bunch up and cut ahead of us and others, and then a low-totem-pole security guard telling people at 1AM that they're shutting it down, just to get people to leave, which got everyone around us more restless. It wasn't looking good. A representative finally walked the line around 1:20AM telling everyone that the V.R.exhibit had been shut down for good, but if you want to stay in line, you can get into the video room. Nobody was sure what that was, and they wanted to get at least something out of it. Turned out, it was poorly transferred aspect ratio music videos projected on the wall. Ugh. We walked out, and...
You had to have been pretty near us in line for Bjork VR after Surfers. Do you recall seeing a guy wearing a King Diamond jacket and another guy wearing a gremlins x-mas sweater and a santa clause hat with a huge beard? We got shut out 2 nights in a row. Tried the same thing after Aphex and failed. Also tried to get there really early sunday and failed because there were waaaay too many people standing in line before gates opened that hauled ass straight to the line.
This fest was truly incredible. Dancing to Aphex Twin in the pouring rain was a formative life experience, and well worth this horrible illness I now have.
Also, I just really loved it overall. The crowd, the staff, the security, all of it was really wonderful. I've been to very few festivals that rival Bonnaroo in terms of atmosphere and friendly crowds but I did not meet or see a single sour person here, and the number of rude people shoving their way through crowds or being belligerent was extremely low. Unfortunately, I probably won't be back soon. Houston is quite a trek for me and the only thing that made me make the trip this time was the fact that it was Aphex Twin's first US show in years and who the hell knows when I will get the chance to see him again. A shame, because it was really really fantastic.
I absolutely loved this weekend, helped end this shit hole of a year on a good note.
Aphex Twin was everything I imagined and more. Truly a once in a lifetime set for me. That night will be seared into my brain forever.
Easily the best show I saw this year. And that's in a year that includes pit LCD, Nicolas Jaar, and Radiohead for me.
Going to do a fairly lengthy review, so will break it into sections.
Music:
Saturday
Welcome to Houston was the perfect way to start out the weekend. I grew up in Houston, and listened heavily to Houston rap in the 2001-2004 era. Paul Wall, Slim Thug, Lil Flip, Lil Keke, love all of them. Caught Pall Wall back on his grind at the merch booth after the set. He's in the booth slinging his "Paul Wall Special, 2 new albums, $15!" with his classic grin. Love him.
The set was a perfect nostalgia set for me. Ran into 3post1jack1 during this set, was nice to finally put a face to a name. Bummed I didn't get to hang with you more during the weekend, kept thinking our paths would collide often. Oh well, easier to spot for next time!
Tobacco is someone I've seen twice before (once at Levitation, once at a club show in Austin) and always enjoyed him. This show was definitely the worst of the shows that I've seen from him. Part was due to sound, part due to the lack of his video presentation. Of the times I've seen him before, he played completely solo during the Austin club show, and at the Levitation set had a member of Black Moth Super Rainbow playing live drums while he manned the synths. This time though, Tobacco himself was the one playing drums, with the BMSR member controlling the synths. I'm assuming Tobacco had a microphone taped to mask a la Lightning Bolt for the vocals, but was never close enough to confirm. Possible they were all samples though.
Every other time I've seen Tobacco, he has extremely strange/semi-disturbing video clips looped behind him. Lots of crazy old VHS/Beta Max gold. It perfectly supplements the feeling of his set. Not sure why they didn't project his videos this time, but it definitely subtracted from the set for me. Like it just wasn't complete.
There were some definite sound issues during his set as well. Lots of popping going on. Is it possible that it was mainly emanating from one speaker stack? This, and Blood Orange were really the only sets that I had sound issues with. When I noticed it, I was close side stage on the right hand side (opposite the door to the Green stage). I bounced around the room during his set, but not sure if I remember hearing it at other locations. I was initially planning on doing all of Tobacco, but the lack of videos and the sound issues urged me outside for a little of Chelsea Wolfe.
Chelsea Wolfe is great, had the pleasure to catch her twice before (full club show in Austin, partial Levitation set). I absolutely love the tone they get from their guitars/bass. Just this perfect sludgy/distorted/decayed sound that fits her so well. I caught probably 4 or 5 songs from Chelsea as I bounced back and forth between her and Tobacco. The stages were right next to each other, literally a 1 minute walk.
After Chelsea Wolfe, headed over to catch some of Thundercat. Kinda bummed, we probably only saw 10 minutes of him since he ended nearly 15 minutes early. He was laying down the funk though. Would have liked to see more, but c'est la vie.
After Thundercat, had a dead hour+ in my schedule, so decided to go check out the upstairs art exhibits. Really enjoyed the exhibits and the warehouse vibe that was going on inside. More about that in a later section.
I met back up with Rummy 500 after Banks ended, then we headed in to experience the mind fuck that is Oneohtrix Point Never.
Oneohtrix Point Never...wow, not sure where to even start with this. I'm casually familiar with his older work, but have not listened to his newest, Garden of Delete prior to the set. Garden of Delete is the main source material for the current live show. Didn't know what to expect going in, just that it was going to be weird as fuck.
I was not properly prepared.
I have a new thresh hold for dark/twisted/weird/intensity in a show. All the vocals are demonically garbled and shrieked, with some black metal influence in there. It's an intense wall of sound that threatens to suffocate you. Even the strobes they're using are massively bright and disorienting. Your only choice was to succumb and let OPN take you on the journey.
One guy is on the side playing some mini headless electronic guitar, while OPN is doing the vocals and controlling his laptop/controllers. At points the massively aggressive tone gives way to some almost beautiful parts. But even the beauty is dripping in decay.
The videos for the set were pretty unsettling as well. Lots of couches and things melting into the floor. Definitely fit the feel.
I can completely understand this would be a divisive set, you're going to love it or hate it.
Definitely one of my top sets from the weekend. Like I mentioned before, extremely disturbing in the best way possible. If that sorta thing interests you, don't miss OPN if you get a chance. Like tЯist♡n said, it almost felt like what I'd imagine being in a crack or meth house would be like, but while on a heavy dose of acid.
It's also possible that OPN possessed Rummy's phone. It was after this set that her screen became a total shit show with almost demonic glitches. OPN is powerful stuff.
After the oppression that was OPN, we headed out to lighten things up with Blood Orange. It was an immediate change of energy. Blood Orange hadn't started yet, and it was fairly peaceful (especially after coming from OPN). I plopped myself down on the curb in front of the right screen and enjoyed the sounds of the city night. The orange glow from the screen was soothing.
Soon Blood Orange came out and blew me away. I've never listened to Blood Orange before, for some reason just never got around to it as R&B typically isn't my thing. But I'd heard enough praise of him that I knew I'd be foolish if I didn't at least check him out.
Blood Orange completely wowed me. He really did seem to be channeling Prince. You could hear the emotion in his voice, see it on his face. And can that man move! I'd kill to have his dance moves.
There seemed to be a few issues with his mic, but I still very much enjoyed the show.
I realize now that I screwed up at Bonnaroo this year. I should have skipped the same Tame Impala I've seen before and gotten down to the future funk sounds at Blood Orange. Lesson learned. We caught the first 30 minutes of Blood Orange before heading in to bathe in the beauty that is Tycho.
Tycho is just about to take the stage as we walk inside. A warm yellow/orange glow is the feel for the show, it almost warms the soul. Tycho are every bit as wonderful as I had hoped. Never had the pleasure of seeing them before, had to choose Slayer over Tycho at Bonnaroo at my last opportunity. Fantastic show, can't wait to see them again.
After Tycho, we make our way over to catch the end of Odesza and get some good spots for the man of the evening. I've never listened to Odesza before, but was expecting something fun to dance to, albeit slightly cheesy. And that's what it basically was. I enjoyed it and had a good time and would catch them again barring conflicts.
For Odesza, we were on the far edge of the Red Stage, up against the VIP rail. Turned out to be a great spot and we were able to move up fairly close once Odesza let out. If you saw the guy in the Richard D. James mask/hair and the white Aphex Twin umbrella up on the VIP rail (the one Phi got the video of), Rummy, Fuzzy, I were right next to him for the start.
It's time for Aphex Twin. Easily my number one most anticipated set of the weekend, my expectations were sky high.
Aphex Twin did not disappoint. This must have been one of the happiest crowds I've ever been a part of. During the set change, you could just feel the energy in the air. I'd look randomly around the crowd at people, and we'd just smile to each other. We both realized we were about to see Aphex Twin.
The set was a demanding onslaught of sound. The first 30ish minutes were a little more dark and almost industrial in a way. I believe there were 4 Jlin tracks played in that time frame to give a sense of reference.
Then the wind came.
The set really is divided into two sections, before and after the arctic blast blew through. For the entirety of the day, Houston had been the muggy swamp I remembered it to be. That all changed about 30 minutes into Aphex Twin's set. A strong wind blew through and the temperature dropped 20 degrees in a matter of minutes. The rain was just a few minutes behind the wind.
If you watch the full video of the set that Phi linked, the first little gust of wind hits just after 36:00, by 36:45-50 you can see the major gusts start. They quickly lower the video screens and thankfully the show continues without interruption.
The change in energy in the crowd and music was drastic. Aphex Twin, being the master he is, played to the weather. Once the rain started, the green lasers were unleashed. As they fanned above the crowd, the rain drops danced between the beams of light.
The BPM picks up, and we start to drift into more acid techno. The crowd is going absolutely nuts at this point. A few light weights bailed when the rain hit, but the majority stayed where we were located. Everyone was dancing in the rain, letting everything go. The smiles were everywhere you looked.
People knew we were experiencing something truly special. Richard had complete control of us now.
He continued to absolutely pummel us with driving beats, matching the weather's intensity. It was almost as if he was testing us. Seeing how much we could take. The crowd surged together in the rain, taking everything he could throw at us.
I remember when there was the brief break of silence about 30 minutes after the front blew through. That's when I looked at my phone and realized we were only halfway through the show. I looked at Rummy, showed her my phone so we could see the time, and we smiled realizing we still had another hour of this insanity.
Aphex Twin continued to bounce between genres and mixing an absolutely incredible set for us. I'm so glad there's good quality video/audio of this set. I know I'm going to be reliving this one for years to come.
He eventually gave us a little respite when the rain let up, with a few slower sections to let us re-energize. It wasn't long before he picked it back up. There was some jungle and more more hardcore to get us moving again.
The visual show for Aphex Twin was amazing as well. It wasn't over done, other artists have more lights/lasers/screens. But it was just something about the way it was all put together with the music that made it so powerful. The massively bright strobes, and just the intense pulsating rhythm of the lights to match the music put it all over the top.
Something about the way the a lot of the lights would rotate reminded me of some sort of alien ship probing its surroundings. It fit, I'm not entirely convinced Aphex Twin is completely human.
We kept moving up as space opened up. By the end of the show, we were one person from the rail. As the show ended, Richard came out for the first time behind his screen to face the crowd. He smiled, and gave us a long, extended double thumbs up. I know he says he hates performing, but it looked like he had a good time that night.
After acknowledging the crowd for 15 or so seconds, he retreated back and was gone. Then a clip of him in the Windowlicker limo plays with the window rolling up. I hope it's not true, but I know that will likely be the first and only time I see him.
There were quite a few people with Richard masks. In the front, near the rail, there was this short little Richard that absolutely was loving everything about the show. They were going mental throughout the show. When the show finally ended, they took the mask off to reveal this cute little woman with a smile plastered across her face.
Rummy, Fuzzy, and I befriend a random stranger during Tycho. Chauncey is a cool dude that flew in from London for the fest. After Tycho, he came with us for Odesza and to get a good spot for Aphex Twin. We lost Chauncey during the storm at Aphex. Kept a look out for him on Sunday, but never found him. We miss you Chauncey!
After the majesty that was Aphex Twin ended, the reality of our situation set in. Temps were in the 40's, we were wet, and there were 30 mph gusts of wind. Everyone quickly filed inside to the shelter of the building.
We checked out Soulection. I guess it's a record label from LA? Looked like they were just swapping out DJs every now and then. Seemed to be more hip hop based, but was still a fun time. I enjoyed the last DJ more than the 2nd to last.
It was ok, but nothing was going to compare with Aphex Twin at this point.
Here's a thread on Reddit that has the tracklisting broken down. Timing's a little off to the full video on Youtube (think the video is about 7.5 mins ahead of tracklisting at points.) popeonarope , be sure and check that out for track IDs.
That was way longer than I intended it to be, and I've only covered Saturday. Saturday was just so amazing. Will write some more about Sunday and the rest of the fest later.
tl;dr
Aphex Twin rocked my world. Oneohtrix Point Never is some dark and disturbing shit. Day for Night is awesome.
Considering you've found the need to respond to my threads as if you are threatened by me I offer you some peace my confused counterpart. May you find peace in your restless soul.
Awesome writeup on Saturday man. I actually want to be back and am suffering some post pardum over the lack of stimuli. Fortunately we had work Xmas lunch and drinking today so it wasn't all bad. But as for the Slayer/Tycho conflict, I'm 99% sure it didn't happen. I could be way off, but I remember running into someone at MMJ that swore Slayer had moved up for the second time. So I left MMJ about 10 til 10 just in case. But Slayer wasn't moved up again to 10, they were still at 11 (originally scheduled for midnight I think). So I stuck there on the left side facing This Tent istening to Childish from the Which stage waiting for Slayer. I watched Slayer's whole set. Then I moved to That Tent and saw almost all of Tycho before heading over for most of Bassnectar and then wandering between PL and D'Angelo. I think Mumford and Sons might have been the main conflict for Tycho that year.
Rothric Just, all the yes. Your review is so extensive and great <3 Going to attempt to put together thoughts in a similar fashion tomorrow, alongside writing my FestSnobs review. But everything you said in reflection of the Aphex show: I couldn't agree more. The energy around us for those 2 hours was something fucking special. Won't ever forget that set.
Considering you've found the need to respond to my threads as if you are threatened by me I offer you some peace my confused counterpart. May you find peace in your restless soul.
Awesome writeup on Saturday man. I actually want to be back and am suffering some post pardum over the lack of stimuli. Fortunately we had work Xmas lunch and drinking today so it wasn't all bad. But as for the Slayer/Tycho conflict, I'm 99% sure it didn't happen. I could be way off, but I remember running into someone at MMJ that swore Slayer had moved up for the second time. So I left MMJ about 10 til 10 just in case. But Slayer wasn't moved up again to 10, they were still at 11 (originally scheduled for midnight I think). So I stuck there on the left side facing This Tent istening to Childish from the Which stage waiting for Slayer. I watched Slayer's whole set. Then I moved to That Tent and saw almost all of Tycho before heading over for most of Bassnectar and then wandering between PL and D'Angelo. I think Mumford and Sons might have been the main conflict for Tycho that year.
Thanks.
You might be right, they might have moved All Them Witches back to conflict with Tycho at that point, but not with Slayer anymore. I know they kept tinkering with that schedule til the last minute.
Rothric Just, all the yes. Your review is so extensive and great <3 Going to attempt to put together thoughts in a similar fashion tomorrow, alongside writing my FestSnobs review. But everything you said in reflection of the Aphex show: I couldn't agree more. The energy around us for those 2 hours was something fucking special. Won't ever forget that set.
Appreciate it. Just wanted to get it all down while it's still fresh. Want to read it again in a few years and relive it. Will probably add things here and there as I remember.
And ya, I know there were several times we just looked at each other with wide eyes and just smiled.
Easily the best show I've seen all year, has to be in my top 3 if all time I think as well. Everything about it was so perfect.
I absolutely loved this weekend, helped end this shit hole of a year on a good note.
Aphex Twin was everything I imagined and more. Truly a once in a lifetime set for me. That night will be seared into my brain forever.
Easily the best show I saw this year. And that's in a year that includes pit LCD, Nicolas Jaar, and Radiohead for me.
Going to do a fairly lengthy review, so will break it into sections.
Music:
Saturday
Welcome to Houston was the perfect way to start out the weekend. I grew up in Houston, and listened heavily to Houston rap in the 2001-2004 era. Paul Wall, Slim Thug, Lil Flip, Lil Keke, love all of them. Caught Pall Wall back on his grind at the merch booth after the set. He's in the booth slinging his "Paul Wall Special, 2 new albums, $15!" with his classic grin. Love him.
The set was a perfect nostalgia set for me. Ran into 3post1jack1 during this set, was nice to finally put a face to a name. Bummed I didn't get to hang with you more during the weekend, kept thinking our paths would collide often. Oh well, easier to spot for next time!
Tobacco is someone I've seen twice before (once at Levitation, once at a club show in Austin) and always enjoyed him. This show was definitely the worst of the shows that I've seen from him. Part was due to sound, part due to the lack of his video presentation. Of the times I've seen him before, he played completely solo during the Austin club show, and at the Levitation set had a member of Black Moth Super Rainbow playing live drums while he manned the synths. This time though, Tobacco himself was the one playing drums, with the BMSR member controlling the synths. I'm assuming Tobacco had a microphone taped to mask a la Lightning Bolt for the vocals, but was never close enough to confirm. Possible they were all samples though.
Every other time I've seen Tobacco, he has extremely strange/semi-disturbing video clips looped behind him. Lots of crazy old VHS/Beta Max gold. It perfectly supplements the feeling of his set. Not sure why they didn't project his videos this time, but it definitely subtracted from the set for me. Like it just wasn't complete.
There were some definite sound issues during his set as well. Lots of popping going on. Is it possible that it was mainly emanating from one speaker stack? This, and Blood Orange were really the only sets that I had sound issues with. When I noticed it, I was close side stage on the right hand side (opposite the door to the Green stage). I bounced around the room during his set, but not sure if I remember hearing it at other locations. I was initially planning on doing all of Tobacco, but the lack of videos and the sound issues urged me outside for a little of Chelsea Wolfe.
Chelsea Wolfe is great, had the pleasure to catch her twice before (full club show in Austin, partial Levitation set). I absolutely love the tone they get from their guitars/bass. Just this perfect sludgy/distorted/decayed sound that fits her so well. I caught probably 4 or 5 songs from Chelsea as I bounced back and forth between her and Tobacco. The stages were right next to each other, literally a 1 minute walk.
After Chelsea Wolfe, headed over to catch some of Thundercat. Kinda bummed, we probably only saw 10 minutes of him since he ended nearly 15 minutes early. He was laying down the funk though. Would have liked to see more, but c'est la vie.
After Thundercat, had a dead hour+ in my schedule, so decided to go check out the upstairs art exhibits. Really enjoyed the exhibits and the warehouse vibe that was going on inside. More about that in a later section.
I met back up with Rummy 500 after Banks ended, then we headed in to experience the mind fuck that is Oneohtrix Point Never.
Oneohtrix Point Never...wow, not sure where to even start with this. I'm casually familiar with his older work, but have not listened to his newest, Garden of Delete prior to the set. Garden of Delete is the main source material for the current live show. Didn't know what to expect going in, just that it was going to be weird as fuck.
I was not properly prepared.
I have a new thresh hold for dark/twisted/weird/intensity in a show. All the vocals are demonically garbled and shrieked, with some black metal influence in there. It's an intense wall of sound that threatens to suffocate you. Even the strobes they're using are massively bright and disorienting. Your only choice was to succumb and let OPN take you on the journey.
One guy is on the side playing some mini headless electronic guitar, while OPN is doing the vocals and controlling his laptop/controllers. At points the massively aggressive tone gives way to some almost beautiful parts. But even the beauty is dripping in decay.
The videos for the set were pretty unsettling as well. Lots of couches and things melting into the floor. Definitely fit the feel.
I can completely understand this would be a divisive set, you're going to love it or hate it.
Definitely one of my top sets from the weekend. Like I mentioned before, extremely disturbing in the best way possible. If that sorta thing interests you, don't miss OPN if you get a chance. Like tЯist♡n said, it almost felt like what I'd imagine being in a crack or meth house would be like, but while on a heavy dose of acid.
It's also possible that OPN possessed Rummy's phone. It was after this set that her screen became a total shit show with almost demonic glitches. OPN is powerful stuff.
After the oppression that was OPN, we headed out to lighten things up with Blood Orange. It was an immediate change of energy. Blood Orange hadn't started yet, and it was fairly peaceful (especially after coming from OPN). I plopped myself down on the curb in front of the right screen and enjoyed the sounds of the city night. The orange glow from the screen was soothing.
Soon Blood Orange came out and blew me away. I've never listened to Blood Orange before, for some reason just never got around to it as R&B typically isn't my thing. But I'd heard enough praise of him that I knew I'd be foolish if I didn't at least check him out.
Blood Orange completely wowed me. He really did seem to be channeling Prince. You could hear the emotion in his voice, see it on his face. And can that man move! I'd kill to have his dance moves.
There seemed to be a few issues with his mic, but I still very much enjoyed the show.
I realize now that I screwed up at Bonnaroo this year. I should have skipped the same Tame Impala I've seen before and gotten down to the future funk sounds at Blood Orange. Lesson learned. We caught the first 30 minutes of Blood Orange before heading in to bathe in the beauty that is Tycho.
Tycho is just about to take the stage as we walk inside. A warm yellow/orange glow is the feel for the show, it almost warms the soul. Tycho are every bit as wonderful as I had hoped. Never had the pleasure of seeing them before, had to choose Slayer over Tycho at Bonnaroo at my last opportunity. Fantastic show, can't wait to see them again.
After Tycho, we make our way over to catch the end of Odesza and get some good spots for the man of the evening. I've never listened to Odesza before, but was expecting something fun to dance to, albeit slightly cheesy. And that's what it basically was. I enjoyed it and had a good time and would catch them again barring conflicts.
For Odesza, we were on the far edge of the Red Stage, up against the VIP rail. Turned out to be a great spot and we were able to move up fairly close once Odesza let out. If you saw the guy in the Richard D. James mask/hair and the white Aphex Twin umbrella up on the VIP rail (the one Phi got the video of), Rummy, Fuzzy, I were right next to him for the start.
It's time for Aphex Twin. Easily my number one most anticipated set of the weekend, my expectations were sky high.
Aphex Twin did not disappoint. This must have been one of the happiest crowds I've ever been a part of. During the set change, you could just feel the energy in the air. I'd look randomly around the crowd at people, and we'd just smile to each other. We both realized we were about to see Aphex Twin.
The set was a demanding onslaught of sound. The first 30ish minutes were a little more dark and almost industrial in a way. I believe there were 4 Jlin tracks played in that time frame to give a sense of reference.
Then the wind came.
The set really is divided into two sections, before and after the arctic blast blew through. For the entirety of the day, Houston had been the muggy swamp I remembered it to be. That all changed about 30 minutes into Aphex Twin's set. A strong wind blew through and the temperature dropped 20 degrees in a matter of minutes. The rain was just a few minutes behind the wind.
If you watch the full video of the set that Phi linked, the first little gust of wind hits just after 36:00, by 36:45-50 you can see the major gusts start. They quickly lower the video screens and thankfully the show continues without interruption.
The change in energy in the crowd and music was drastic. Aphex Twin, being the master he is, played to the weather. Once the rain started, the green lasers were unleashed. As they fanned above the crowd, the rain drops danced between the beams of light.
The BPM picks up, and we start to drift into more acid techno. The crowd is going absolutely nuts at this point. A few light weights bailed when the rain hit, but the majority stayed where we were located. Everyone was dancing in the rain, letting everything go. The smiles were everywhere you looked.
People knew we were experiencing something truly special. Richard had complete control of us now.
He continued to absolutely pummel us with driving beats, matching the weather's intensity. It was almost as if he was testing us. Seeing how much we could take. The crowd surged together in the rain, taking everything he could throw at us.
I remember when there was the brief break of silence about 30 minutes after the front blew through. That's when I looked at my phone and realized we were only halfway through the show. I looked at Rummy, showed her my phone so we could see the time, and we smiled realizing we still had another hour of this insanity.
Aphex Twin continued to bounce between genres and mixing an absolutely incredible set for us. I'm so glad there's good quality video/audio of this set. I know I'm going to be reliving this one for years to come.
He eventually gave us a little respite when the rain let up, with a few slower sections to let us re-energize. It wasn't long before he picked it back up. There was some jungle and more more hardcore to get us moving again.
The visual show for Aphex Twin was amazing as well. It wasn't over done, other artists have more lights/lasers/screens. But it was just something about the way it was all put together with the music that made it so powerful. The massively bright strobes, and just the intense pulsating rhythm of the lights to match the music put it all over the top.
Something about the way the a lot of the lights would rotate reminded me of some sort of alien ship probing its surroundings. It fit, I'm not entirely convinced Aphex Twin is completely human.
We kept moving up as space opened up. By the end of the show, we were one person from the rail. As the show ended, Richard came out for the first time behind his screen to face the crowd. He smiled, and gave us a long, extended double thumbs up. I know he says he hates performing, but it looked like he had a good time that night.
After acknowledging the crowd for 15 or so seconds, he retreated back and was gone. Then a clip of him in the Windowlicker limo plays with the window rolling up. I hope it's not true, but I know that will likely be the first and only time I see him.
There were quite a few people with Richard masks. In the front, near the rail, there was this short little Richard that absolutely was loving everything about the show. They were going mental throughout the show. When the show finally ended, they took the mask off to reveal this cute little woman with a smile plastered across her face.
Rummy, Fuzzy, and I befriend a random stranger during Tycho. Chauncey is a cool dude that flew in from London for the fest. After Tycho, he came with us for Odesza and to get a good spot for Aphex Twin. We lost Chauncey during the storm at Aphex. Kept a look out for him on Sunday, but never found him. We miss you Chauncey!
After the majesty that was Aphex Twin ended, the reality of our situation set in. Temps were in the 40's, we were wet, and there were 30 mph gusts of wind. Everyone quickly filed inside to the shelter of the building.
We checked out Soulection. I guess it's a record label from LA? Looked like they were just swapping out DJs every now and then. Seemed to be more hip hop based, but was still a fun time. I enjoyed the last DJ more than the 2nd to last.
It was ok, but nothing was going to compare with Aphex Twin at this point.
Here's a thread on Reddit that has the tracklisting broken down. Timing's a little off to the full video on Youtube (think the video is about 7.5 mins ahead of tracklisting at points.) popeonarope , be sure and check that out for track IDs.
That was way longer than I intended it to be, and I've only covered Saturday. Saturday was just so amazing. Will write some more about Sunday and the rest of the fest later.
tl;dr
Aphex Twin rocked my world. Oneohtrix Point Never is some dark and disturbing shit. Day for Night is awesome.
I ran into Katey Red just a minute ago at the Chick Filet at the mall and was telling her about Welcome to Houston. Haha. It's the week to run into rap stars I guess.
Yall done enough good reviews that I share most of the same sentiment.
Bjork's set Friday was awesome IMO. Not sure how Sunday turned out, but it blows my mind of anyone expected anything other than weird from her.
Also, best set goes to those dudes on the washing machine.
I'd like a review on ways to deal with post fest depression. I've been a mess at work. It's like I need 3 full days of sleep.
This one is a little worse than usual because it was only a 2 day festival and because it was full of sensory complete overstimulation. Looking at photos and slideshows from around the web (excluding Facebook whining) by Phi, magazines, newspapers and even the WSJ, you can get immediately drawn back to the experience. I need some more chaos in my life, but I guess the back to back Pretty Lights shows for New Years will help some. Feel free to jet on down if you aren't doing anything.
I'll be here for a show at Empire with some good locals. I might be moving temporarily to Denver for a few months the to work. Time to hit up Red Rocks.
Bjork's performs behind trees and some other weird shit and is ripped for not being in plain sight.
Aphex Twin performs behind his screen, and some laud it as amazing.
Both are not wrong. One is definitely the victim of a double standard.
Eh. I mean, I do see your point, but my primary issue with Bjork's DJ set is that it wasn't very interesting or inspiring. The same cannot be said about Aphex twin's, that's for fucking sure. Plus, his set had such fantastic graphics and visuals that I wasn't even thinking "oh, but I need to spot Richard! Come out come out wherever you are, Richie" - but during Bjork's, I kept trying to spot her like fucking Where's Waldo because there was basically nothing else visually interesting going on for her set.
Considering you've found the need to respond to my threads as if you are threatened by me I offer you some peace my confused counterpart. May you find peace in your restless soul.
If it sucked, it sucked. That's different. I don't know how Sundays set was, but I enjoyed Fridays and maybe had less of an expectation than the the average.
Lol. My knock was it was really muted down sound and light, and I think anyone would have had to be able to see the set up close to appreciate what it might have been. But I will say this. I think most of our grandkids will look at her as a 21st Century pioneer arist for technological integration. It's probably on the order of the Beatles. As she is one of the first to do it, and the best of the VR (stand up room films) was groundbreaking, it will count in the future. ------------------------- Here is a little bit of Welcome to Houston (Still Tippin) - Slim Thug and Michael Watts featuring Mike Jones and Paul Wall.
I can't speak for Bjork's opinion of her media criticism because 1. I'm not a woman so I won't pretend to understand what it's like to experience sexism and 2. I haven't actually read any of the reviews.
But I will say that I didn't enjoy the majority of her set (some songs were really good). I found the music to be mostly low energy and uninspiring. And when you have no active visual accompaniment to go with the low key sounds, it gets boring.
It's also unfair to compare her as a dj to male djs who are known for their ability to be a dj. People love her so much as a musician and singer that they want to hear her songs and her voice. I kept saying to my friends that if she would just sing one song that it would make my night.
So it was a combination of not having fluid visuals, not playing exciting music, and not performing in the manner in which I was really hoping to hear. If Aphex Twin came out and tried to do a show with a guitar and a band, I would be thinking "Man, I wish he was being a dj and playing my favorite songs."
So where do they go from here? I was told and I believe I read that they will move the fest every year. Anyone with enough knowledge of Houston have an idea for next year?
