[MiNe 109]

Sound quality at music festivals is pretty dire. The main stages had
better mixes, but if the sound operator at a smaller stage wants to fill
half the park with boomy one-note bass there's no stopping it. Maybe
next year I'll just buy ten cds of the artists who interest me.

Vampire Weekend announced this was the last date of their tour. Their
sound guy's favorite instrument: keyboards. Enjoyable performances
including local rock/tango string quartet Tosca as guests on two songs.

Gogol Bordello have an over-the-top brand of gypsy punk and fill the
stage with cabaret instruments, percussion and dancers/background
singers, one of whom played a marching bass drum at one point. Admirable
energy.

David Byrne enjoyed good sound. His band didn't attain the funky heights
of "Stop Making Sense" but covered similar material while incorporating
newer influences. Not that much different from 1984 or whenever I saw
him last perform.

Austinite Alejandro Escovedo rocked! His band includes violin and cello
who weren't out of place even in in the Stooges cover.

That was plenty for me, but on the way out I heard some of The Mars
Volta, a mix of Zeppelinesque metal and prog with some free jazz
elements. Good, if you like that kind of thing...

Stephen