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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.
Yup!! I remember thinking how sweet that Gremlins sweater was. We were about ten people behind. We tried to get there early Sunday too, and saw that the line was growing literally all the way to the other side of the building, reaching the Blue stage. seriously!? Cannot imagine all those people thinking they had a chance. When we saw that, we just walked over to the V.T. PRO spotlight show, and caught this guy in..action. Inaction.
We decided to see who was opening the Blue Stage - Mary Lattimer & Jeff Zeigler, ambient harp/electronic combo!
Went around the installs some more, found Mr. Red Riding Hood at Shoplifter this time. Curious to see what his video compilation looks like!
Came back to Blue for all of S U R V I V E 's set. Not a very lively bunch of boys, but I dig their sound. Also saw Spit Mask over side stage enjoying the show.
Right after, we walked out the side doors to see the last half of Ariel Pink's final song. Then we across town to discover Uncle Acid's last half of their final song. Everybody ending like 5-10 minutes early! I guess if the stage crews are continually having audio issues, they are needing more time to figure things out, right?
Grabbed some gyros (food truck lines were much shorter during non-rush hour times, go figure). Also saw Chelsea Wolfe incognito, big sunglasses, scarf (she's tall; talking to some other people who spotted her). She's one of the people! We then walked back to Green Stage to see Lightning Bolt shock some chaos into the crowd, getting them lively.
Left after finishing food to walk by the exact opposite in style and substance - the Khalife family, who were making amazing music with perfect harmonization.
But we had to leave the respectable Lebanese artists to see some truly repugnant junk - pun intended - lurking in the distant, dank back alley way, which is such a friggin' fitting location for this next act - Anklepants.
After he was a late add to the lineup, my girlfriend and I youtube'd him and gawked at the circus that was his Boiler Room set. We knew we had to catch that live. Yes, we are weird. We snaked our way to the front, catching rail about halfway through the set (these puns are getting out of hand now). Even though this guy is mostly an in-your-face circus clown act, my girlfriend actually thinks his music is decent/catchy - one might say infectious. His 'lollipop' could be a top 40 hit... if the world went Mad Max on us. She was clicking away her camera, because he's visually a goldmine for photography, and she captured some of his aforementioned... spray?
No surprise he gets dehydrated.
After that onslaught of cockpop, we trekked back to the Red Stage, ready to catch some jazz with Kamasi. Unfortunately, we waited, and waited, and 20 minutes rolled by with nothing but some of the band members hanging out and cutting up on stage, including Thundercat with a cute bear beanie.
Another disappointment for the day. After wasting time for Kamasi, we went upstairs to catch the live performance set up by the NONOTAK crew. A lady and a lad on the dials, amongst a cool white lightshow set. My girlfriend took the guy's side, I went for the girl's. This was a rad set, very different from their industrial warehouse scaffold light show from 2015.
Back downstairs to catch the last half of the RZA. He was really into it, which was fun to see. Then, as esteban said, he started with that "which side is loudest" amateur hour stuff, which bummed me out. Is it to 'hype' up a crowd, or just to kill time? Either way, I have lost count of how many times I have seen that over the years, and I wish I never did again.
Then the Bjork bummer-sandwich with Butthole Surfers in between.
I would have to agree with most of you all who said Sunday had a real lacking feel to it, especially in comparison with Saturday. Some things were just off, just didn't go well, or go at all. I was proud to say that for the 2015 fest - while we missed out on some cool shows or installs - I wouldn't have done anything differently/have no regrets about what we did actually do. I cannot say the same about Day for Night 2016. There are a handful of things I wished we had done differently. Despite that though? 2016 was still a superior experience overall than 2015. I liked the studios venue from '15, but I love love loved the the set-up of this old post office. It bottlenecked in places, which could have easily been remedied by moving the Shoplifter install fence over 10 feet and creating a few more entry accesses besides the front and side doors. But that second floor was so perfect, dark, foggy and mysterious. As cmack said, it felt like a level of hell. I read somewhere that the organizers were interested in making each year a unique experience, insinuating that they may switch to yet another new venue. If they find one even better, I am all for it, but it will be tough to top. Open that third floor up with more acts and installs! See you all there next year, wherever it is!
Last Edit: Dec 22, 2016 18:03:48 GMT -5 by llz - Back to Top
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?
Ya, I'm 95% sure it won't be at the same location again. They made mention in the FAQ some where that they wanted to explore a new space every year so things never becomes stale.
Now whether that means they possibly go back to the Silver Light Studios (1st year location, think that's the name) eventually, I don't know.
But there's zero chance the post office is still sitting there empty at this point next year.
That land is massively valuable. I believe I read it was 16 acres, and the largest contiguous section of land in downtown.
As far as future locations, I really don't know and very curious to see what they have up their sleeves.
I really liked the warehouse vibe of the post office, and wouldn't mind if they somehow got a block of warehouses or something similar.
I saw an instagram comment suggesting "Astrodome with Kraftwerk and Knife Party!!1". Not sure I agree with the musical choices, but the Astrodome seems like right up their alley - in a decade. After they've built up the brand and attendees, I wouldn't be shocked if the Astrodome was in their "where do we see ourselves in 10 years" plan, maybe even less.
You can't download directly through SoundCloud, but look in the description and there is a download link.
Also, there are a few songs in the audio that he had to cut out from the video to get past Youtube filters. That explains why I thought for sure the video was 9.5 minutes head of the tracklisting, then 7.5 minutes later, and then finally 5.
If anyone comes across a direct download of the uncompressed video, please be sure and post it.
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.
Mostly just me being effusive about Aphex Twin and bitching about the confusing hallways. If you want the "TL; DR."
I was digging through YouTube to see what's up there so far. I ran across a Fat Tony at Whataburger at 2 am busting up and rapping in the parking lot. Win Butler was there. Haha. I left the show at Yellow Stage after about 3 songs because he was just doing chill shit at that point.
As I slowly wake from my slumber, memories of last night begin to flit through my mind. I didn't just have the most amazing dream ever, I actually lived it. We slowly begin to roam about the hotel room, trying to find the motivation to make it to brunch. All we can manage to do is watch videos of Aphex's set last night, goosebumps in tow.
How do you top such a monumental Aphex Twin set?
You don't. You simply let it wash over you, and prepare for the rest of the festival.
My initial plan for the day was to split SURVIVE and Uncle Acid. However, brunch never happened. Thankfully, there are zero lines at the food trucks, so I make my selection quick. Uncle Acid has taken the stage early, and their metal tinged psych is calling me. The crowd for Uncle Acid is a relatively small one, as expected. The cold is keeping the fair weather fans bundled warmly in their hotel rooms. The crowd is fairly enthusiastic for a set this early and with the wind this biting. They wrap up their set with a spirited version of Melody Lane.
We head inside to check out Matmos. I've heard they're some experimental music that actually play a washing machine. They take their time getting set up, as they have to actually fill the washing machine with water before the set starts. Normally I'm into all sorts of weird like this, but it just doesn't have the energy that my body is craving right now. And I know that 100' to my left, Lightning Bolt are about to unleash their brand of sonic mayhem. I can't wait any longer. I signal to the group that I'm heading outside, I'll catch up with them later.
Lightning Bolt, they're always ready to help the audience rip shit up. They didn't disappoint. A raucous pit opened up with the first notes, and continued to roil throughout the set. I think my favorite part of the set was seeing some one hop into the cardboard trash can, and proceed to crowd surf in it:
Img courtesy of Festival Snobs
We begin to meander our way to the Yellow Stage, but are caught by the hypnotic sounds of Marcel, Rami, and Bachar Khalife. The Lebanese group made music that was simultaneously exotic yet familiar. After dancing to their percussive rhythm for a bit, we continue our trek to the Yellow Stage to witness Anklepants.
Anklepants fully embraces his side show mystique, wearing a jester's outfit while he gallivants around the stage. He definitely feeds off shock value, but the beats he'd create while up there weren't half bad. I wouldn't pick him in a conflict with just about anything, but he certainly was...unique. After having our curiosity satiated, we move on from Anklepants.
Our intent was to see a bit of Blonde Redhead, but are greeted with a message that they had to cancel due to flights as we arrive. Instead we saunter inside to see what Mykki Blanco is up to. Prior to the fest, I read Mykki's bio, and didn't really excite me much. I completely misjudged, this show looked to be a punk fueled party. We caught the last song and a half before they eventually cut power to the stage. Will definitely catch them again given the chance.
We stayed at the Blue Stage and pushed up during the set change. Liars was up next, and one of my top 5 most anticipated sets of the weekend. I pulled a rookie move, and slept through them the last time I had the chance to see them (Levitation 2014). I had been looking for a redemption set for the past 2.5 years. Liars more than delivered.
Liars are a strange band to try and describe to others. I had been talking them up to Rummy and Tristan the whole weekend, but struggled for the proper way to describe them. I think they exist in some area between the electro-dance-punk of LCD Soundsystem, the noise/aggressiveness of Health, and the swagger/humor of !!!'s front man.
I loved watching the facial expressions of Liar's lead singer, he really did remind me of !!!'s Nic Offer, who is himself an American Treasure.
After Liars, we trucked it over to catch the last half of Squarepusher's set. You have to love a lineup that has both Aphex and Squarepusher. Squarepusher was great, but even he knew he wasn't going to compete with what Aphex unleashed upon us last night. My first time seeing Squarepusher, and hopefully not the last. His set was more danceable/groove than I had first anticipated.
Once Squarepusher was over, we decided to brave the crowds and see what Bjork's DJ set was up to. It definitely left something to be desired. No visuals, dark stage, and Bjork was surrounded by plants so she was visible to just a sliver of the audience. Couple that with an average DJ set and you have something that we should have skipped entirely. Perhaps the music picked up after the first 30 minutes, but we didn't stick around to find out. I knew Little Dragon was grooving outside and they were calling my name.
As we walk up to Little Dragon, we can hear the lead singer's soft croons laid on top of some funky instrumentals. I instantly know we made the right decision. From what I gathered, it appears all of Little Dragon's gear got left in London. Thankfully the DfN crew was able to get them something to play on. Only thing missing was the trademark tambourine in Yukimi Nagano's hand. She even made mention during the set, "It feels like I have a ghost in my hand. Haven't played without my tambourine in more than 10 years!"
Butthole Surfers are a band that I should love on paper. But I just never really got into them. I know the single that everyone knows, and that's about it. But since they're psych/freak legends from Texas, I feel obligated to check them out a little bit. As we get to the Green Stage, we're greeted by silence, they're late. Fantastic, I left Little Dragon for silence They eventually take the stage and get going. I know others have complained about sound issues from their set, but I didn't notice anything from where we were in the back. But keep in mind I'm not familiar with them. They sounded ok, not as chaotic as I was anticipating. Not doing a whole lot for me.
After a song or two, we head inside to check out Sophie. Really dug Sophie, dark with almost an industrial feel. Unfortunately, he came on late as well, so didn't stay for more than 15 minutes. Would be a fun set, myself and the rest of the group have different plans to end the night. We have our dancing shoes on, we plan on ending the fest in a feel good dance party.
With that in mind, we head over to Kaskade. Kaskade is another popular EDM artist whom I have had no exposure to. I just know it will be a fun cheese/pop/EDM set. And that's exactly what it is. Nothing out of this world or makes you think. Just some good melodic poppy EDM. Not my go to normally, but in tonight's state of mind, exactly what I needed. After an overabundance of confetti/streamer canons, the last show on the Red Stage finally closes. Not yet ready to let our feet rest, we head inside to the last remaining bastion of music.
As we enter Arca, it's obvious he's been throwing down a late night dance party to remember. It's what I imagine an all night rager somewhere in Latin America would feel like. He bounces between genres, the only thread connecting all the songs is their ability to get the whole dance floor moving. The crowd is having a great time, it's the perfect way to close out such an amazing festival.
Art Installations:
The art installations are what truly set Day for Night apart from the other festivals in the ever competing market space. Their musical lineup demonstrated an adeptness to book a truly unusual and imaginative festival, but they didn't stop there. The integration of art into DfN is a joy to behold. With over 2 dozen site specific art installations, there was plenty of eye candy for attendees.
The glaring issue however, was Bjork's VR installation. As many are aware, that whole situation was a complete clusterfuck. In the end, I estimate they got ~1800 people through the exhibit (25 slots per time, 12 hours per day, 3 groups per hour, 2 days total). I'm not sure what the total attendance of DfN was, but I think an estimate in the 20k range is a safe bet. On the low side of 20k, they moved only 9% of attendees through the exhibit. This was a major draw for many, myself included. I kept hoping to find a line that was not absurd, but that never occurred. Many spent 6+ hours in line only to be turned away.
I understand that there will always be limited capacity for something of this nature. However, this was far too limited. They easily needed double the amount of VR headsets in order to make this even somewhat reasonable.
Whatever, not going to let it ruin my weekend.
I think my favorite installation might have been Tundra's laser array. Something about watching it sweep back and forth down the corridor was mesmerizing.
Other festivals pretend they're an "arts" festival as well, DfN is the real deal.
Logistical Issues
The biggest problem was the lack of bathrooms and water. If you were at the Red Stage, the port-o-potties were never bad. They were my go to if I had the chance. However, inside, was a different story. Bathrooms were not clearly marked, and there were some plumbing issues that left an unpleasant odor at times. Water was also limited to random water fountains strung along the perimeter wall. It was almost a scavenger hunt to find them initially. Bathrooms and water seem to be issues nearly every fest has, so no surprise they did as well at a first time location.
My other complaint is the all encompassing darkness in areas inside. There were times I couldn't see in front of me, and had to hope I wasn't going to collide with someone. This could have been easily alleviated with some subdued color changing LEDs or something similar.
There was one major bottleneck, near the fluffy synthetic clouds on the first floor. It got to be that I'd just go outside to avoid it. Could have been easily avoided if they just moved the one exhibit back 10'.
Beer
What the fuck was up with the beer selection? $8 for a Heineken? The "Craft Beer" truck at the food trucks had Heineken, Shiner, and something else that was most definitely not craft. With St. Arnolds and Karbach in Houston, it's inexcusable not to partner with a local brewery.
Hotel
Club Quarters was fantastic. Without a doubt I'd recommend it for people looking for a place downtown. It was walking distance, and a fairly nice hotel. Also helped that we received a free room upgrade!
VIP Issues
There are plenty of people complaining on social media, but I think the only ones that have legitimate qualms are those who purchased VIP tickets. The Red Stage had typical VIP area side stage, but the Blue and Yellow lacked anything for VIP. Green had a small VIP area, but was towards the sound board and didn't offer any advantage over the GA spots that were typically available.
The meet and greets that were promised Friday dried up, as did the VIP swag bag (now it will be mailed to ticket holders). The $700 VIP ticket ended up being good for side stage viewing at the Red, and standing in line for free drinks. I'd be upset if I had VIP tickets.
Also, if your sole reason for coming to Day for Night was Bjork, I could see being let down as well. But let's get real, if you came all the way here for Bjork, and didn't let yourself explore once you got here, that's on you.
Future Thoughts
I'm very curious to see where DfN ends up next year. I already bought my blind 2017 presale pass. After seeing the lineup for the past two years, it's hard to imagine they're going to put out a lineup that will disappoint. I'm not exactly sure how you follow up Aphex Twin, but I still have no idea how they convinced the master to come to Houston in the first place. So who knows, they can work some magic!
My initial thoughts for headliners next year drift towards Massive Attack and/or Portishead.
I'm nearly certain that the location won't be the same next year as well. I really loved the warehouse vibe of the old post office, and wouldn't be opposed to a block of warehouses next year.
Top Sets of 2016
APHEX TWIN
(massive drop)
Liars Oneohtrix Point Never Tycho Blood Orange Arca Squarepusher Little Dragon Welcome to Houston Uncle Acid
I had an amazing time at Day for Night, one of my favorite festival experiences to date. Hanging with so many Inforoo friends took what would be a great weekend into legend status. Meeting Postjack was something that was long overdue. Even got to meet and hang with @jonesjupiter. Nice guy, but got a little weird when he kept asking me if my pipes needed to be cleaned.
I'm sure it's on other threads somewhere, but since we were probably the most recent to have them, Run the Jewels released 3 last night. This is the first song. They have the whole album on their YouTube page, Pitchfork, Apple, Stereogum etc. .
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.
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.
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.
I've had to handle a patient who was up to .600. I don't know....Maybe the lab fucked up because I don't know he was alive....let alone coherently combative.
Haha. I have been drinking nonstop and only blew that 0.104. My brother in law hit that 0.318. Lmmfao
What the actual fuck? Blowing 0.318 isn't something to laugh about... That's serious potential coma/death level.
He was coherent. He drinks too much and had been going nonstop since mimosas for breakfast. But he's super skinny and ways (lmao weighs) about 120. So high tolerance and low body mass meant he was triple my content. It was funny to me because I was drunk, just apparently not nearly as drunk as I thought I was.
I was about 40 seconds into watching the video when my computer FROZE and started repeating the same one-note sound over and over again...Day For Night perpetually fucks with my technology (for anyone who was with me during the festival, they know what my phone was doing). Fucking demonic possessions....
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.
I was about 40 seconds into watching the video when my computer FROZE and started repeating the same one-note sound over and over again...Day For Night perpetually fucks with my technology (for anyone who was with me during the festival, they know what my phone was doing). Fucking demonic possessions....
Your phone would have seriously freaked me out had I been in a different state of mind!
That video was awesome. If anyone watches that and doesn't feel the urge to go...I'm not sure I want to know you!
They eventually take the stage and get going. I know others have complained about sound issues from their set, but I didn't notice anything from where we were in the back. But keep in mind I'm not familiar with them. They sounded ok, not as chaotic as I was anticipating. Not doing a whole lot for me.
