And we’re back for the second half of our review of the first day of Travelers’ Rest Festival, brought to us by the good folks at Knitting Factory Entertainment and our friends at Big Sky Brewing Company.
The third band to grace the Main Stage was the Tune-Yards, an electronic dance/trance band that mixes their unusual electronica with incredible lyrics over pervasive drums and a riveting bass track. Based in Oakland, California, the band is composed of Merrill Garbus and Nate Brenner and signed by 4AD Records. Although not my favorite kind of music, their electrifying performance stirred up the crowd and had most of them dancing around. They have been touring in support of their latest album, I Can Feel You Creep Into my Private Life, which we suggest you check out on Spotify.
The Ponderosa Stage’s final performance for the day came from the undeniably gifted solo artist known as Waxahatchee. Her real name is Katie Crutchfield, and she is signed to Merge Records, which will be releasing her new EP on September 7. Her voice is like manna from heaven, and her simple accompaniment makes her songs seem like heirlooms passed down from generation to generation, as special the 100th time as the first. She treated the crowd to a rousing solo set of new and old songs, and despite being a solo artist performing after a band, she held her own and gave the packed structure all it could handle. As the final performer of the night on the Ponderosa Stage, she got an extra 15 minutes, but the time still passed by too quickly, for both me and the huge crowd gathered to catch her set. Check out her latest single, “Chapel of Pines,” on Spotify, and definitely get her EP as soon as it becomes available.
The action returned to the Main Stage for Death Cab for Cutie. This was my first exposure to the band, which is signed to Atlantic Records, although my wife and step-daughter (who attended the show) are huge fans. The band is preparing to release their new album, Thank you for Today, and played songs from the new release, as well as some of their classic hits like “I Will Follow You Into the Dark.” Here’s the lyric video for the first single from the new album, “I Dreamt we Spoke Again.”
Many of the band’s oldest fans have not been impressed by the direction of the band since the departure of Chris Walla, and that attitude seemed to be present at this show. However, as someone who had never heard the band perform before, I thoroughly enjoyed their new material, which is true indie rock and reminded me of the music of groups like The Plain White Ts and Snow Patrol. I think Ben Gibbard and DCFC are amazing, and I was glad for the chance to hear them perform. I will definitely be checking out the new album when it is released on August 17.
After a 35 minute break to set up the stage, headliners The Decemberists started their set, and performed for nearly two hours straight. Although I had heard the name, I was not familiar with their material. Needless to say, after watching them perform for nearly five hours over the two day festival, spending time with Chris Funk, Jenny Conlee and Nate Query backstage, and meeting Colin Meloy’s mom, I have become a big fan. Their fans remind me of those that support another of my favorite groups, Blue October, since their musical style is similar and both bands have an amazingly close connection with their fans. I thoroughly enjoyed the stimulating sound and the intellectual while still fun lyrics as much as the banter, and was pleased to see the energy the fans gave back to the performers. The stories the band told were interesting, including the back story to “The Bicycle Song.” Since the band has been together for 18 years, they had a wealth of material to draw from, including songs from their latest, I’ll Be Your Girl. Sara Watkins lent her amazing fiddle and voice to a song about Butte miners, while Sarah Jarosz added her vocals to “We All Die Young.”
The band concluded their amazing performance with a very interesting song about a whale, which contained a lot of audience participation, and an inflatable whale that floated about the crowd.
Needless to say, the crowd loved every minute of their performance, and it was a huge job to get them to leave. Fortunately for all of us, there was still another day of great music to come. We’ll be back tomorrow with our review of day 2.