Categories: Entertainment

Live performance Recap: This Ain’t No Picnic Pageant Blurs Genres, Generations

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The Brookside Golf Membership on the Rose Bowl has seen lots of foot visitors over the previous few months, a lot of it unrelated to the game. The expansive course has turn out to be a handy setting for a number of music festivals and cultural occasions, together with This Ain’t No Picnic, which touched down in Pasadena this previous weekend.

The all-ages, family-friendly, two-day competition — named after the Minutemen music — boasted a invoice that learn like an NPR playlist. A transparent alternative for Los Angeles’ defunct, and sorely missed FYF Fest, This Ain’t No Picnic had a musical one thing for everybody — pop, hip-hop, dance, punk and rock have been well-represented genres — and featured the type of left-of-center artists who’ve turn out to be darlings of the indie scene, like Phoebe Bridgers, Moist Leg, Seashore Home, Courtney Barnett (pictured above), and of the final 20 years, as represented by Le Tigre, Caroline Polachek, and headliners the Strokes and LCD Soundsystem.

Amidst golf ball scraps and damaged tees lodged within the grass and dust, a crowd comprised of various ages — say 25 to 50 years-old — represented the vast majority of attendees, but additionally noticeable was the variety of youthful kids in attendance (these underneath 5 got free entry), outfitted in superior competition put on in comparison with their mother and father. The three-generational scope of festivalgoers mirrored that of the line-up which spanned artists from the Sixties by means of to current day.

There have been two distinct poles at Ain’t No Picnic: guitars and decks. On Saturday, on the Fairway Stage, Yves Tumor, who channels Andre 3000, with a band that appears prefer it’s on mortgage from Ozzy Osbourne throughout his Randy Rhoads period, turned it as much as 11. Tumor’s metal-studded codpiece (which at one level required some adjusting accompanied by some humping from a roadie), thigh-high leather-based boots, bondage straps and spiked bracelets added to the showmanship they’ve in spades with music that’s a cross between Pleasure Division and Billy Idol. The shredding continued on The Greens Stage with Magdalena Bay’s multi-instrumental producer, Matthew Lewin. The duo’s feel-good jams play like Billie Eilish had she emerged within the ‘70s, besides with frontperson Mica Tenenbaum as a sunshine and rainbows Okay-pop cheerleader avatar.

Nigeria’s Mdou Moctar who reduce fairly the determine along with his and his band’s iridescent caftans and blinding white turbans, tore up the Fairway Stage on Sunday. His confidence washed over the group as he smirked, singing intermittently in his native Tamasheq, enjoying his guitar — with out a decide — with speedy actions the “common” manner and excessive of the neck.

Elsewhere, t was the conflict of the cool chicks with guitars when Moist Leg joined Phoebe Bridgers to shut out her set.

Over on the Greens Stage, Deafheaven, which was delayed, had its sizable crowd on pin and needles. They proved well worth the wait delivering a heavy bass, Remedy-like sound. Additionally on this stage have been the humor-filled, oft-imitated iconic Sparks who’ve entered their sixth decade in music. Clad in all-black bar vocalist Russell Mael’s neon yellow pants, it’s solely after they undergo their high-energy set that you just understand simply what number of hits they’ve: “Angst in My Pants,” “Suggestions for Teenagers,” “Music That You Can Dance To,” “When Do I Get to Sing ‘My Method.’” Quirky as ever, Ron Mael’s keyboard reads “Ronald” as a substitute of “Roland.”

If there was a thread operating by means of This Ain’t No Picnic, it was punk won’t ever die. From classics like Circle Jerks, the Descendents and Mike Watt + The Missingmen to newer teams just like the ever-popular Idles, new favorites Turnstile and Disgrace, the ability and launch of a punk rock set can’t be denied. Circle Jerks reliably blasted by means of a music each two minutes or so and Disgrace tried to gamely do the identical. The Descendents ripped by means of their set with the depth that comes from expertise. Turnstile, probably the most talked about points of interest of the competition, drew an overflow crowd. And Idles, who’ve shortly turn out to be major stage materials, have been in high kind. Even lacking guitarist Mark Bowen, strong drummer Jon Beavis and emotive vocalist Joe Talbot delivered.

Bridging the guitars and decks have been Jungle on the Again 9 Stage. To cite Spotify’s Carly Eiseman, the duo is “the Steely Dan of digital music” and the group danced up a storm throughout the duo’s set. The efficiency hit a frenzy after they broke into “Stayin’ Alive” by the Bee Gees — apt contemplating the group’s have been in contrast to one another greater than as soon as.

On the other pole, Kaytranada led an eclectic set of dance-centric tracks on the Fairway. The 19th Gap Stage, which featured a superb array of “cool” DJs, proved harder to entry. This was significantly true of Honey Dijon who, contemporary from her Beyonce collaboration, closed out the night with few in attendance.

Essentially the most difficult space to achieve entry was James Murphy and Soulwax/2ManyDJs’ Despacio is Happiness space. Despacio is dubbed the best sound system on the earth, and for good cause. Pitch-black aside from the blue-and-green glow from the McIntosh speaker stacks positioned across the black-and-white checkered dancefloor, an enormous disco ball dead-center and pink and white highlight flashing on and off, supplied little or no visible on the DJ, which is a part of Despacio’s ethos. Working with vinyl solely, the gradual rolling rhythms supplied by Murphy and Soulwax’s Stephen and David Dewaele give a sensual really feel to the area — particularly throughout a hard-hitting remix of one other Bee Gees’ perennial, “Love You Inside Out.”



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