Though the rapper’s triumphant hit parade overjoyed
the tens of thousands of fans crowning the first night of their
three-day odyssey of music, art and
There he was, shaking hands with
electro-pop exotica act Yeasayer (or, as Jay shouted them out on the
Main Stage, “the Yeasayers”). Perched up front and displayed on the
video screens overhead, he nodded along with the spare and romantic
beats of
Something about the weekend compelled Jay, who could have been golfing in
But then, he earned his weekend pass. Onstage, Jay ran through many of his most beloved hits — “Big Pimpin’,” “
As well, Jay reprised his cover of
How times have changed, a reality punctuated in the
closing moments of his set with a blaze of pyrotechnics illuminating
the sky over
For weeks leading up to the festival, fans griped on
Facebook over ticketing changes that eliminated single-day passes.
Unlike in previous years, there was no dipping in for one favorite band
on Saturday and then back home to a pool party, unless your nearly
Despite the griping, this was
first weekend-long sellout, and at an estimated 75,000 fans per day,
its biggest and most successful turn yet. And a bevy of new features,
including the late-night DJ series in the campgrounds, the
remote-controlled sharks trawling the grounds and an A-list of L.A.
food trucks, appeared to make a certain promise to fans: If you
followed
down its new three-day rabbit hole, you’ll come out the other end
thrilled in ways you wouldn’t get in small doses: Everything from the
art to the music to the unlikely friendships that grow over a whole
weekend together.
newbie, wouldn’t have considered anything less than the whole bill. “If
you’re going to do it, do it all,” he said, while taking in a Saturday
afternoon at one of the
Though Helzer expressed enthusiasm for Hot Chip’s
soulful and precise electropop, he said it was the “great variety of
acts and talent” that appealed to him.
Most of all, Helzer echoed the confidence that many
Not everything worked out to plan. Early festival
gossip buzzed from a flurry of cancellations, including Delphic,
Frightened Rabbit and Bad Lieutenant, due to the ash released from an
The festival also always yields some fizzles. Wale
missed most of his set, and Fever Ray’s theatrical goth didn’t benefit
from its
It’s a cultural crash course, designed to enlighten,
but always with optimal freedom to ditch out for the beer garden or the
DoLaB, the festival’s euphoric dance and performance art locus with
fire dancing and aerial acrobats.
This year’s lazy Susan approach to fans’ schedules meant that mid-level bands could catch a fire and fill a tent with passersby.
Already high off their buzzed-about appearance at this year’s South by Southwest in
the xx outdrew the Main Stage with its unlikely but exquisitely moving
blend of R&B vocal duets, dubstep-inspired drum loops and ethereal
guitars that recalled the best of New Order and the Cure. Yeasayer’s
arabesque melodies and euphoric tribal techno cemented it as one of the
most capable passport-pop bands today.
The
duo Sleigh Bells, despite scant recorded output, pushed a lunchtime
crowd into near delirium with its metal-inflected party pop, and Die
Antwoord, the deliciously trashy South African hip-hop duo who lit up
the Internet as a suspected novelty act, proved they had an
overwhelming magnetism and a ferocious, deadly serious lyrical flow.
The true left-field acts were the cachet elder
bands, namely the reunited ’90s indie heroes Pavement and the snarling
post-punk pioneers
class in the volatile blend of disco, dub and the avant-garde that
informed LCD Soundsystem’s rapturous punk-funk (especially in an
explosive take of its single “Yeah”) and many of
The
appearance can also be the ultimate validation for a fan devoted to one
artist. Arty electropop cutie La Roux drew a crowd of fanatics for her
Gobi tent appearance. The bombastic soundscape pop of Muse had
fist-pumping shirtless men spread all over the polo field.
The three-day ticket rule, along with the ins-and-outs rule, helped foster community, the kind that
The ubiquity of
iPhone apps made it ever easier for friends to stick together and
spread the word about great new finds. And unexpectedly cool weather —
topping out in the low 90s — kept spirits high and dehydration low.
always been a destination point for new music fans, but in past years
it’s worked more as a facilitator of particular acts, or as a casual
weekend out for Angelenos. For better or worse,
In return,
organizers had to believe in its audience, that festival-goers could be
challenged and tested and relied upon to show up and take advantage of
everything on offer. All signs suggested that the experiment worked,
and that it will alter the fest in deep and permanent ways in the
future, changing the type of person who attends and the motivations
that fans arrive with.
Less important now, perhaps, are the
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(c) 2010, Los Angeles Times.
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