V-Fest Baltimore pictures

[betao]

i dont even know if you guys care or not, but whatevers.

most of these are from day 1:

2nd stage at beginning of festival:



dave p DJ set



gogol bordello



gnomes in the crowd during gogol



soulwax (live set)



me and ferry corsten (he was interviewed at the fest before he started)



dance tent during steve lawler... this gives you an idea of how big the tent was... and how dead it was during lawler's set. I felt bad for him.



and of course...

Underworld!!













this last one is my favorite... so pretty..



day 2 to follow soon

[stinkbutt]

I wish I could have seen Underworld at night at APW you could barely tell those things lit up

[betao]

Underworld and Armin Van Buren were the only dance tent acts that actually got to play in the dark.

[C DUB YA]

that was another poor play on APW's part. If your gonna have a dance act play in the daytime - at least give them the lower light of a tent.

[rage patton]

Awesome Matt! It looks like a fun day. Besides Underworld, who were you favorites of the fest? And how was Gogol?

[paulb]

Could you list what bands you saw over the weekend.... Did you see The Offspring? How are SOulwax live?

[stinkbutt]

How are SOulwax live?

F'ing amazing should have seen em in 07 instead of camping out at the main

[paulb]

I should have, I really regret that, after having to split from the front after Manu Chao.... but, it was quite the experience.... Hard Haunted Mansion should have to do...

[betao]

i wrote up some reviews in the other thread, but i'll just repost them here since everyone is asking

So I, along with MassiveChemicalPunk, attended the Virgin Mobile Festival for both days. Overall, I had a really really good time. It's only a 3 hour drive from my place, and since its one of only a handful of music festivals that offers some genuine EDM, it's right up my ally.

The festival itself is designed very wisely. The 2 stages are on opposite ends of the race track, and there isn't really any sound bleed. The dance tent is put off to the side (in between the 2 stages).

Now the dance tent is small. It is no sahara tent - there aren't as many lights or as much production as our beloved Sahara tent has to offer. It is about the size of the mojave or gobi. But it is this small because it isn't as popular. The fullest the dance tent ever got was Chromeo. They drew more people to the tent than Underworld, Moby, or Armin Van Buuren, which really surprised me. And, due to the 10 PM curfew, most of the acts you see there will go on while there is still light outside.

The crowd this year was lighter than it has been the past 2 years. Outside of the dance tent, the crowd is pretty cool. Thanks to the type of acts (old rockers like Dylan, Iggy, and Chuck Berry to kiddie bands like Paramore and Taking Back Sunday), it was a very diverse crowd of all ages. Kids to people who looked old enough to be my grandparents. They were generally cool, it was like a coachella crowd.

However, the dance tent crowd varied depending on the act. The kids who listened to electro and no other kinds of EDM really killed the vibe. This will sum it up for you: a group of young teens were moshing to erol alkan. So though the crowd for the most part as cool, it did have its weak points. (The crowd for Underworld was perfect though).

Also, there was really no pushing at any of the shows I saw. You can easily move around or get close to the stage. I saw most of NIN's set; I showed up around the 2nd or 3rd song (March of the Pigs), and after a few minutes I was about 30 feet from the rail. Pretty cool.

a few other things that should be taken note of:

- No search to get in whatsoever. So for anyone trying to sneak drugs in, it is very easy to do so.
- Bottled water was $3.
- You could take beer wherever you want.
- Security was pretty chill. Only saw one person get taken out of a crowd, and within 10 minutes he was back.
- Getting in and out of the festival was easy with no real traffic jams. Many residents allowed parking in their yards for like 10-15 bucks, which was pretty cool.
- Bands ran on time for the most part. Only problem here was L'il Wayne, who started 45 minutes late (and reports say that his set was bloody awful). Thanks to him being late, the Black Keys only played for 30 minutes.

This was probably the coolest thing though. The dance tent, like I said, was kind of in the middle of the festival towards the side. However, artists that were playing had to walk through the festival to get to the back of the tent. This meant that you could realistically meet anyone that played. Because of this, I got to meet Moby, Ritchie Hawtin, Chromeo, Donald Gaulde, Bunny from RITM, and Ferry Corsten. It made for a very memorable weekend.

So thats all I can think of for now. If anyone has any questions regarding the festival, feel free to ask.

[betao]

band reviews:

Day 1:

Gogol Bordello - always a good time, but now that i've seen them in a small venue with them headlining the gig, seeing them at a festival (especially in a setting like their mainstage performance this year). is just never the same. people in my part of the crowd weren't that into it, but it was still a good time.

DJ Dan and Donald Gaulde - a very very cool DJ duo. They did a sick remix of Jammin by Bob Marley. Wouldn't be surprised if they were in the sahara next year.

Soulwax - very cool, and it was a live set. I'm not too big on electro, but I really enjoyed them. Played a cool version of Robot Rock.

Chuck Berry and the Silver Beats - while it seems like tribute bands aren't really that popular, a beatles tribute band is a genius idea for a music festival. almost everyone knew all the words to every song, and it was just fun to hear some classic music. I left before Berry came on (which I regret, even though I heard his set really wasn't that good).

Ferry Corsten - He was pretty cool. Not a big fan of trance, but like his production. But what I was really excited for was...

Underworld - best set of the weekend. 2 full hours of it. They opened with Crocodile, and played most of the hits: Rez/Cowgirl, Pearls Girl, Push Upstairs, Moaner, Two Months Off (the balloons were just too cool), Dark and Long Train, and, of course, Born Slippy, which the crowd loved. They closed with Jumbo. Karl commented that he was impressed with the vibe we gave him. The only real complaint I have for the set is that at some times it didn't seem loud enough. But it was still amazing.

day 2:

Chromeo - this was as packed as the dance tent got, which kinda pissed me off. They were cool though. I only caught the last few songs because I showed up late, but I liked it. After their set, about 70% of the people left, which gave me plenty of room for...

Rabbit in the Moon - Wow. Holy jesus wow. Even though the show wasn't at night, it was still awesome. Bunny is an awesome frontman and really got the crowd into it. Their live show is just that: an actual show. At some points the audience, most of whom were unfamiliar with RITM, were just like "...holy shit. did he really just do that?". I will be entirely happy if they do coachella next year.

Iggy and the Stooges - I made an effort to see them though not knowing any of their material, and I really really liked it. Iggy seemed drunk as hell, but was having an awesome time. Very cool set.

Bob Dylan - thanks to L'il wayne running 45 minutes late, Bob's set was pushed back as well. And, i've got to say, his voice is what hurts his live show. But it was cool to see some of him anyway, and i'm glad I did.

Moby (dj set) - moby put on an awesome DJ set, better than any of the DJs i saw that weekend. loved his choice of tunes - he played a wicked mix of "porcelain" which led into born slippy. really enjoyed it. after his set was over, it was off to...

Nine Inch Nails - a completely amazing performance. Forget Radiohead's light show - NIN takes the cake of having the coolest lights and stage production i've seen this year. His setlist was very good, containing material from all of the albums (though I would have loved to have seen more from "With Teeth"). But, the way he does "Only" on this tour is just too cool. Tied with RITM as my 2nd favorite set of the weekend.

[paulb]

nevermind

[paulb]

cool man.... Glad you had fun... ya, Gogols sets on mainstages really have nothing on their club sets...and you need to the audience to make a great Gogol show.

[gmoneyak]

Gogol, Underworld and Soulwax = a pretty good fuckin' day


Glad you had a good time, I thought this festival looked pretty cool when it was posted. I'm always sent to Maryland on business and was hoping to swing on by if I had the chance this year.

[woogie846]

From the picture, it doesn't really look like anyone is in to Gogol. Except for the gnomes of course.

[betao]

people towards the center of the crowd got into gogol around halfway through the set. but like I said, it just doesn't compare to a small venue show.

Underworld setlist:

1 crocodile
2 spoonman
3 rez
4 cowgirl
5 pearls girl (not on list)
6 push upstairs - nice to hear, its been awhile
7 nu train
8 you do scribl (not on list)
9 two months off
10 rowla (another excellent version)
11 shudder / two months off [yes, that's right - no king of snake]
12 born slippy.nuxx
13 moaner [great build up, and some nice 'blue monday' swooshes over it]
14 jumbo

day 2 pics to follow tomorrow

[betao]

Rabbit in the Moon











me and bunny from RITM



me and donald gualde



these kids tore the dance tent up.



iggy pop and the stooges



ritchie hawtin

[betao]

moby



me and ritchie hawtin



bob dylan



me and moby



Nine Inch Nails

[rage patton]

Oh my god. Rabbit In The Moon look like they are a blast live. I have never listened to thier music though... where is a good place to start?

Also, great NIN photos.

[idrive1life]

Nice. Thanks for sharing, Matt. I'm glad you had a great time. I wish I was there especially for the Underworld (and most of those shows in the dance tent), NIN, Iggy ...

[ivankay]

For future picture taking, lower your iso. Your fine pictures are overexposed. You are allowed to edit your memories. Pardon me for taking the liberty to edit a few for fun:

[Boourns]

No Cat Power or She & Him? Booo.

[feather]

That is sweet you were able to meet all of those artists. What a lucky day... Bunny!!! I can't believe RITM played during the day though, with all of their lights and fire it is amazing at night. Great pics.

[suprefan]

Yes, Mikes pics > most everyone else.... And you know I dont have to Mike, cause they come out right the first time......

RITM looks freaking sick...

[betao]

That is sweet you were able to meet all of those artists. What a lucky day... Bunny!!! I can't believe RITM played during the day though, with all of their lights and fire it is amazing at night. Great pics.

thanks! i can thank the festival layout designers for the ability to meet all of the artists. the dance tent was in the middle of the festival, so artists had to walk through the festival publicly to get to the tent. it really made the trip memorable.

i remember the first thing i said to bunny was "man i'm really sorry you had to play at 2 in the afternoon". he responded "yeah i know, but i think the crowd still really enjoyed it". and he was right - we definitely did.

I really hope that I can see the gang soon, and in the dark.

[betao]

Oh my god. Rabbit In The Moon look like they are a blast live. I have never listened to thier music though... where is a good place to start?

Also, great NIN photos.

thanks josh! just do what I did and download their CD "decade". i'll upload a copy for you. One of their tracks, "lets dance", is a david bowie cover, and its amazing.

[betao]

oh, and one last thing - ivan, you are awesome. thanks man! i'll turn down the iso on the camera next time around.

[bmack86]

I'd love to see Rabbit in the Moon. They loook like they'd be great live.

And, Soulwax Nite Versions was one of the best live sets I've ever seen. They absolutely destroyed the Sahara Tent in 2007. Their drummer was so near perfect.

[ivankay]

oh, and one last thing - ivan, you are awesome. thanks man! i'll turn down the iso on the camera next time around.

No problem.

a good way to find out what a good iso might be in a given place is to try a shot with the automatic setting, see what the iso and shutter were and start from there with the manual settings. It will help speed up the figuring and give you a good starting point to go higher or lower in both iso and shutter. When it's a shot you have to get now, picking you favorite automatic setting can help get the moment (although not necessarily at the best quality...but hey you got the shot).

[feather]

I really hope that I can see the gang soon, and in the dark.

Sahara '09 perhaps....hmmm that would look neat.