Review of San Diego Street Scene
June Caldwell
August 12, 2006
SAN DIEGO STREET SCENE
Aug 4 – 5, 2006
Reviewed by June Caldwell
Here we are again, has it been a year already?... racing to San Diego for the Street Scene. I call it ‘lopsided scene’ this year. Day one a whirlwind of accelerating band after band overlapping on 4 stages causing an insane dash to catch them all. Then Day Two, a more predictable line up of all the usual bands schlepping across the country to festival after festival. With the possible exception of The Futureheads on Day Two that were a fresh choice. Many of the bands from Day One were headed to Lollapalooza the next day, which I’m sure had a lot to do with it…But I digress…
Backing up to day one, The Shys hit it off on the big stage. Not shy enough, in my estimation, an overhyped Warner Bros boy band trying to be the US version of The Subways. They even looked like they knew they weren’t up to the task of being there, which was their only saving grace.
Then over to one of the side stages, The Captain Morgan Stage (subtly named after a rum brand) for a glittering, blazing set by Nine Black Alps. As when I saw them at Coachella, the sound system was grossly oversized for the area so their sound was distorted and deafening. Unfortunate because I heard for the first time the range and depth of their sound, and noted to self to pick up am album straight away or see them live next time they play in a theatre or club. The darting from stage to stage for overlapping bands had begun as we headed on over for…
She Wants Revenge finally got theirs. The most overhyped derivative band from LA, like a thin façade of an Interpol knock off. But live their sound was clean and strong, and I found myself running over to hear them in spite of it all. The lead singer was pretty fun and I was saying they really aren’t all bad, until…
Then was THE band! The one band, the one stage, the one moment in every festival that we hope for, that defines why we go through this bizarre ritual at festival after festival, year after year! Scrunched onto the tiny Dante’s Inferno Stage was Particle. A handful of listeners were there and the dancing began. Guitar, keyboards, drums, bass, well, nothing unusual there... but weaving waves of ecstatic sophisticated yet playful layers of sound, magic inciting frenzied dancing, everybody looking at each other with that dopey smile like we are here at this moment in this zone and we know nobody else will ever understand or believe it. The band members were grinning and shaking their heads too, as if they knew this set was hitting it just right as they played their hearts out for the small crowd gathering around the stage. As Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips said in my New Years interview, the set at a festival in the late afternoon right when the sun starts to set has this special magic, and this was it. A breeze began and we forgot trying to be reporters, checking our schedules and just danced like maniacs, until…
I glanced at my watch and like an ice cold splash in the face, noticed it was time to bound across the fields to Yellowcard’s set. The last time we saw Yellowcard was at Warped Tour a couple years ago and we got into a hair pulling all out wrestling match over one of their drumsticks which included two other concert-goers and three security guards…presently displayed proudly atop our kitchen cabinet! Yes, we won when my husband resolutely refused to let go and the police said, ‘OK then, take it and run or they’re gonna come after you!’. Like we’re afraid of two teenage girls coming after us? Anyway their set this time was blistering and although they were purported to have a new sound and new direction, they were a semi-local fave who got the most cheers for their old stuff. After 15 minutes of the Yellowcard yellow brick road we were yanked across the length 3 football fields just in time to catch the beginning of…
Well, we couldn’t exactly miss Wolfmother! Yes, hyped more than any band from Oz since Inxys, but they got the superstar thang onstage that we couldn’t resist. The excitement level was by far highest so far, as they forge their new-old heavy metal sound. Of course by this time due to hideous planning, all the best bands were piling up at the same time so we heard most of their set as we were dashing off back to the exact opposite end of the stadium. Fortunately the sound was loud enough we could hear Wolfmother transcending their usual hit machine material and cut loose in some fresh improvising (or maybe just something not usually heard) and they earned all their accolades…as the sound got dimmer with us galloping back to the Captain Morgan Stage for…
Bad Religion! From our home town, the South bay boys who created punk rock in the eighties, also formed their own record label, Epitaph that became the largest and most influential independent label on the face of the Earth. A couple generations of fans screaming, singing along and surfing onto the stage. Some good healthy blood was drawn during a respectable mosh pit, and due to website saturation about the hip-hop kings Wu-Tang Clan we yanked ourselves out of the party, again galloping across fields to hear….
Deafening noise that must have been Wu-Tan Clan. Excitement, energy and sound so loud my eardrums exploded and I ran like the famous ‘The Scream’ painting by Edvard Munch. Ah, that’s better, from several feet away I started to get into the groove, but of course it was time to run back to (you guessed it) the stage on the opposite end of the stadium. Let me make this clear, Qualcomm Stadium parking lot, where the festival was held is 24 square acres. And all the serious bands were overlapping AT ONE EXTREME END AND THE OPPOSITE EXTREME END with nothing of worth in between. Anyway off we went to hear….
AFI, the alt mosh highlight of the show. For sheer star power, the crowd seething with excitement for them to alight on stage. We all came for one thing. To see someone get hurt of course! The last time they played San Diego Street Scene, the crowd knocked down the rail and 6 people had to be hospitalized in the stampede. We all yelled and raised our fists in the air in the sheer gory glory of it all, that is, for about 15 minutes, when it was time to run all the way to the other end for…
Kanye West. After being so massively blown away by his set at Coachella Festival, and now 75% deaf from the other sets, it was great excitement, but I was ready to crawl to the car to undergo massive regenerative systems (known only in California) to survive the next day.
The Futureheads were the first band of interest the next day. They gave a lively set, with the crowd basically not familiar with them. For those first time listeners their sound was not as groundbreaking as it might have been since so many bands now sound like them, and they got some dancing going. My ears at that point were so raw that a door slamming set me gritting my teeth so after their set we headed for the car to beat the traffic of that days’ victims who were just piling in.
Aug 4 – 5, 2006
Reviewed by June Caldwell
Here we are again, has it been a year already?... racing to San Diego for the Street Scene. I call it ‘lopsided scene’ this year. Day one a whirlwind of accelerating band after band overlapping on 4 stages causing an insane dash to catch them all. Then Day Two, a more predictable line up of all the usual bands schlepping across the country to festival after festival. With the possible exception of The Futureheads on Day Two that were a fresh choice. Many of the bands from Day One were headed to Lollapalooza the next day, which I’m sure had a lot to do with it…But I digress…
Backing up to day one, The Shys hit it off on the big stage. Not shy enough, in my estimation, an overhyped Warner Bros boy band trying to be the US version of The Subways. They even looked like they knew they weren’t up to the task of being there, which was their only saving grace.
Then over to one of the side stages, The Captain Morgan Stage (subtly named after a rum brand) for a glittering, blazing set by Nine Black Alps. As when I saw them at Coachella, the sound system was grossly oversized for the area so their sound was distorted and deafening. Unfortunate because I heard for the first time the range and depth of their sound, and noted to self to pick up am album straight away or see them live next time they play in a theatre or club. The darting from stage to stage for overlapping bands had begun as we headed on over for…
She Wants Revenge finally got theirs. The most overhyped derivative band from LA, like a thin façade of an Interpol knock off. But live their sound was clean and strong, and I found myself running over to hear them in spite of it all. The lead singer was pretty fun and I was saying they really aren’t all bad, until…
Then was THE band! The one band, the one stage, the one moment in every festival that we hope for, that defines why we go through this bizarre ritual at festival after festival, year after year! Scrunched onto the tiny Dante’s Inferno Stage was Particle. A handful of listeners were there and the dancing began. Guitar, keyboards, drums, bass, well, nothing unusual there... but weaving waves of ecstatic sophisticated yet playful layers of sound, magic inciting frenzied dancing, everybody looking at each other with that dopey smile like we are here at this moment in this zone and we know nobody else will ever understand or believe it. The band members were grinning and shaking their heads too, as if they knew this set was hitting it just right as they played their hearts out for the small crowd gathering around the stage. As Wayne Coyne of The Flaming Lips said in my New Years interview, the set at a festival in the late afternoon right when the sun starts to set has this special magic, and this was it. A breeze began and we forgot trying to be reporters, checking our schedules and just danced like maniacs, until…
I glanced at my watch and like an ice cold splash in the face, noticed it was time to bound across the fields to Yellowcard’s set. The last time we saw Yellowcard was at Warped Tour a couple years ago and we got into a hair pulling all out wrestling match over one of their drumsticks which included two other concert-goers and three security guards…presently displayed proudly atop our kitchen cabinet! Yes, we won when my husband resolutely refused to let go and the police said, ‘OK then, take it and run or they’re gonna come after you!’. Like we’re afraid of two teenage girls coming after us? Anyway their set this time was blistering and although they were purported to have a new sound and new direction, they were a semi-local fave who got the most cheers for their old stuff. After 15 minutes of the Yellowcard yellow brick road we were yanked across the length 3 football fields just in time to catch the beginning of…
Well, we couldn’t exactly miss Wolfmother! Yes, hyped more than any band from Oz since Inxys, but they got the superstar thang onstage that we couldn’t resist. The excitement level was by far highest so far, as they forge their new-old heavy metal sound. Of course by this time due to hideous planning, all the best bands were piling up at the same time so we heard most of their set as we were dashing off back to the exact opposite end of the stadium. Fortunately the sound was loud enough we could hear Wolfmother transcending their usual hit machine material and cut loose in some fresh improvising (or maybe just something not usually heard) and they earned all their accolades…as the sound got dimmer with us galloping back to the Captain Morgan Stage for…
Bad Religion! From our home town, the South bay boys who created punk rock in the eighties, also formed their own record label, Epitaph that became the largest and most influential independent label on the face of the Earth. A couple generations of fans screaming, singing along and surfing onto the stage. Some good healthy blood was drawn during a respectable mosh pit, and due to website saturation about the hip-hop kings Wu-Tang Clan we yanked ourselves out of the party, again galloping across fields to hear….
Deafening noise that must have been Wu-Tan Clan. Excitement, energy and sound so loud my eardrums exploded and I ran like the famous ‘The Scream’ painting by Edvard Munch. Ah, that’s better, from several feet away I started to get into the groove, but of course it was time to run back to (you guessed it) the stage on the opposite end of the stadium. Let me make this clear, Qualcomm Stadium parking lot, where the festival was held is 24 square acres. And all the serious bands were overlapping AT ONE EXTREME END AND THE OPPOSITE EXTREME END with nothing of worth in between. Anyway off we went to hear….
AFI, the alt mosh highlight of the show. For sheer star power, the crowd seething with excitement for them to alight on stage. We all came for one thing. To see someone get hurt of course! The last time they played San Diego Street Scene, the crowd knocked down the rail and 6 people had to be hospitalized in the stampede. We all yelled and raised our fists in the air in the sheer gory glory of it all, that is, for about 15 minutes, when it was time to run all the way to the other end for…
Kanye West. After being so massively blown away by his set at Coachella Festival, and now 75% deaf from the other sets, it was great excitement, but I was ready to crawl to the car to undergo massive regenerative systems (known only in California) to survive the next day.
The Futureheads were the first band of interest the next day. They gave a lively set, with the crowd basically not familiar with them. For those first time listeners their sound was not as groundbreaking as it might have been since so many bands now sound like them, and they got some dancing going. My ears at that point were so raw that a door slamming set me gritting my teeth so after their set we headed for the car to beat the traffic of that days’ victims who were just piling in.