Treasure Island 2009

[Gribbz]

I'm not a big fan of The Decemberists, but they were pretty good when I saw them live.

[shakermaker113]

I'm not familiar with the Decemberists but from what I am told they played some new rock opera and no old material. can someone confirm?

[gmoneyak]

After reading the last 3 pages, I'm kind of glad I missed this year.

[psycobetabuckdown]

Shaker yeah I'm pretty sure that's the case.

I'm hearing rumors that The Decemberists were enjoyable. That can't be right.

Thats definitely a disappointment that The Flips are only playing 2 songs from "Embryonic", but like all the portopotties and random walls at Bonnaroo 07 said in spray paint , "God Bless The Flaming Lips". Those pictures are amazing, confetti makes everything better

That's another thing. The same people who complain about not hearing songs from a new album would also complain if they only played songs from the new album (see: Decemberists). I agree I would've liked to hear 3 or 4 instead of 2 (actually 3 would be better), but not at the expense of Race for the Prize or Fight Test. In fact, I'd be okay with less new material if that meant Waiting for a Superman or some other older songs that we didn't hear.

Yes, the Decemberists were good. I am familiar with almost none of their music but they were fantastic.

After reading the last 3 pages, I'm kind of glad I missed this year.

If it makes you feel better about it then be glad. Lie to yourself.

[shakermaker113]

I didn't like grizzly bear, and appear to be the only person who doesn't like that band.

[gmoneyak]

If it makes you feel better about it then be glad. Lie to yourself.

Nah, no lying. Each year has progressively gotten worse, especially the vibe and crowd by most accounts.

[fikus222]

I didn't like grizzly bear, and appear to be the only person who doesn't like that band.

I have seen them like 3 times (as openers and at festivals) and I don't really care for them either.

[shakermaker113]

youtube won't let me edit the video to add a title or details right now, but here is Beirut performing The Shrew:



time to bump the beirut thread I think.

[PassiveTheory]

Photos by Passive -

SLEEPY SUN









THAO WITH THE GET DOWN STAY DOWN





SPIRAL STAIRS



EDWARD SHARPE AND THE MAGNETIC ZEROES



GRIZZLY BEAR











BOB MOULD





THE WALKMEN



YO LA TENGO

[digduggler]

Grizzly Bear: Fuckin' A Awesome
Beirut: pretty good
Lips: not quite mediocre.

[skyismad]

Ok, story time:

My friend and I were sitting next to the bridge stage sound booth waiting through The Decemberists' traveling musical they've got going on right now, and we noticed some guy clearly tripping balls and staring at the sky and making pseudo-worshipping hand movements. Less than 5 minutes later this guy peaks on whatever he is on and begins to essentially interpretive dance the entire The Hazards of Love with specific dances for each song and movement. He had basically a ten foot diameter section to himself because people just backed away and watched as his movements became more and more energetic. I'm talking leaping around and flailing his arms at points. We were dying laughing because had it been any other band besides the fucking Decemberists it would have been a somewhat regular occurrence however the juxtaposition between the band and this guy was hilarious to us.

Finally, during the last reprise or whatever, about 15 people moved in next to him and all begin swaying and throwing their hands to the air, mimicking his movements, and became this throng of ridiculous acid dancing and basically made his fucking night, giving him high fives and hugging him afterwards. It was a far better show than The Decemberists could have ever hoped to achieve on that stage.

You saw him too? Holy fuck that guy was amazing.

[seyrnon]

Flaming Lips - amazing. I touched the bubble! I had a gash of *fake* blood going down my forehead, everyone was creeped out/ loving it. The set list was the usual that we've been seeing lately, but Fight Test, Pompeii, and Enthusiasm for Life are all new for me live (apart from Silver Trembling Hands and Convinced of the Hex). The show started out pretty fucking wild, but they tamed the crowd with their sing alongs and Mystics stuff. I really enjoyed it. Far from mediocre. And the best part was being surrounded by a bunch of first timers at a Lips show - it was refreshing and chilling.

oh that was you?
I was next to you for most of that show. I think you corrected me on the date of the Decemberists animation release before the Flaming Lips started.

I'm glad to hear somebody else found that show to be fucking awesome, me and my friends were first timers and I thought it was an absolute blast, I'd see them again in a heartbeat.

[sbessiso]

I didn't like grizzly bear, and appear to be the only person who doesn't like that band.

Definitely not the only one.

[tubescape]

I'm going to chime in here about the Flaming Lips and a rather dull performance as well. I was expecting something exceptional and instead it felt like Wayne was going through the motions. Especially starting off the set with the bouncy ball. It was like he had some sort of checklist and just wanted to get it over with. The banter was annoying as hell and the constant requests of the crowd to make noise (hey, you know what Wayne, there is a 25mph wind blowing AWAY from you, we're loud but you can't f*cking hear us, get over it). They could have easily played 2-3 more songs during their set, but instead of keeping the audience on its toes and dancing, we got to sit there in the cold and wind and listen to him ramble. Yeah, you're the headliner, now act like it. They seriously spent 10-12 min during the first hour of the set talking nonsense. I was at the NYE show in LA a few years back and that set was so ridiculously good I knew the TIMF performance was going to be something less, but I was not expecting to walk away wondering what the f*ck just happened. And the confetti, while cool in an indoor venue, just blew right over the crowd, over the VIP area, and probably over the whole freaking island and into the bay. Hopefully they manned up, gave something to Bay Keepers and cleaned that sh*t up proper.

[bmack86]

I'm glad that the ungrateful SF crowd got to have David Barbe play on Sunday. We had a dude that Bob flew out to play the last two shows with him, and it was cool that he could fill in on such short notice, but Barbe would have been awesome.

[PassiveTheory]

-eyebrow- Ungrateful?

[BlackSwan]

I would make a The Rock joke, but that would involve wrestling humor.

[chiapet]

And the confetti, while cool in an indoor venue, just blew right over the crowd, over the VIP area, and probably over the whole freaking island and into the bay.

Yea I was wondering about that too but I'm sure it must be relatively harmless. I saw them at Sasquatch and the confetti blew into the river there.

[tubescape]

I guess I forgot to mention the good fun I did have on Sunday in my above post. I should also mention that I am a fan of the Flaming Lips and still plan to purchase Embryonic, I just thought the closing set of the festival was weak even though Wayne seemed pretty pumped up. For those of you who didn't attend, it should be noted that it was cold and windy all day long, so that kinda wears on you and definitely contributed partially to my mood when the Lips took the stage (via a pussyrific entrance I might add). I really enjoyed sets from Beirut, Grizzly Bear, the Decemberists and Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros. And I like how lazy you can be at the festival and still see every band. Improvement from years past was the little section they opened up along the food/drink vendor side of the venue that made the space seem less constricted. Failures - the bathroom maze. Horrible design on that set up. I didn't make until about 1:30pm, so I missed the meet-up/group photo or whatever at the Ferris Wheel. Hope you all had fun.

[psycobetabuckdown]

I would make a The Rock joke, but that would involve wrestling humor.

I would get it. I'm currently wearing a Rob Van Dam t-shirt. Would the joke involve a humorous jpeg of The Rock with a caption like "IT DOESN'T MATTER WHETHER OR NOT YOU'RE GRATEFUL"?

Because I might enjoy that joke, depending on the delivery.

[psycobetabuckdown]

it felt like Wayne was going through the motions. Especially starting off the set with the bouncy ball.

He did that at the last SF show too, but the show was amazing. I don't think it's going through the motions; I think it's for efficiency. If he tried it in the middle of the set or the end it would end up cutting out a song or two.

The banter was annoying as hell and the constant requests of the crowd to make noise (hey, you know what Wayne, there is a 25mph wind blowing AWAY from you, we're loud but you can't f*cking hear us, get over it).

I enjoyed most of the banter (not his stupid Obama shit) but I agree about telling the crowd to make noise constantly. Fucking earn it. This behavior is only forgivable in hip-hop.

They could have easily played 2-3 more songs during their set, but instead of keeping the audience on its toes and dancing, we got to sit there in the cold and wind and listen to him ramble.

That's just the type of band they are and the type of person Wayne is. I don't mind it, but I can see why someone would. I think part of what makes a Lips show special (maybe the only thing) is these type of quirks. Dancing aliens, sheep, balloons, beach balls, confetti, space bubbles, gongs, and yes, Wayne telling stories and being intimate. This is the only band I've seen that feels this intimate at gigantic shows. Therefore, the only major flaw at a Lips show is they're not going to play every song they could and no matter how many times you see them there are songs you just won't hear.

And the confetti, while cool in an indoor venue, just blew right over the crowd, over the VIP area, and probably over the whole freaking island and into the bay.

Wind = not their fault. They came with confetti, they used it, and it helped even if it wasn't perfect.

[jpunk79]

hey I was wondering what the rest of the Lips playlist was. I left after Convinced of the Hex.

[chiapet]

I think you have to assume going into a Lips show / set that you're going to get a substantial ratio of spectacle to actual song performance. If that's really bothersome, they're not a band you should see live. [*Based on only seeing them twice ]

[HandBanana]

I think you have to assume going into a Lips show / set that you're going to get a substantial ratio of spectacle to actual song performance. If that's really bothersome, they're not a band you should see live. [*Based on only seeing them twice ]

Yeah. Remember Coachella 04 when they played like a song and a half the entire set?

[tubescape]

thanks for all the rebuttals y'all. to each their own. I don't mind it when a band tells stories, but when they starting asking the audience about local bands, gesturing for people to get into the set when the set really hasn't begun, etc. then I get a little annoyed. It's not like I was yelling "Hey, F*CK YOU!" I just wanted some music to groove to and keep me warm. For the record, I bought my ticket b/c the Flaming Lips were headlining (as well as the outstanding other bands on the bill). I like them, I just felt that their TIMF closer set was lacking. I mean, were all of you that are claiming their set was awesome wearing blindfolds or something? Did you not notice half of the crowd bail about 35min into the set? While Wayne may be a goofball and people love him for it, there is a fine line between doing goofy sh*t and doing goofy sh*t that keeps your audience engaged in the show.

[chiapet]

Oh I don't think I was refuting your opinions... I just think that's kind of what you get with them (with Wayne specifically). I'm sure you didn't see me saying their set was great.

[psycobetabuckdown]

thanks for all the rebuttals y'all. to each their own. I don't mind it when a band tells stories, but when they starting asking the audience about local bands, gesturing for people to get into the set when the set really hasn't begun, etc. then I get a little annoyed. It's not like I was yelling "Hey, F*CK YOU!" I just wanted some music to groove to and keep me warm. For the record, I bought my ticket b/c the Flaming Lips were headlining (as well as the outstanding other bands on the bill). I like them, I just felt that their TIMF closer set was lacking. I mean, were all of you that are claiming their set was awesome wearing blindfolds or something? Did you not notice half of the crowd bail about 35min into the set? While Wayne may be a goofball and people love him for it, there is a fine line between doing goofy sh*t and doing goofy sh*t that keeps your audience engaged in the show.

Their set was much better in 06 but "awesome" is a pretty good word to describe Sunday's show too. I was expecting it to be worse though, seeing how it's at a festival. No, I didn't notice the crowd bailing because I was in a pretty good spot and my eyes were pointed in the direction of the stage. Were you in the back like that drunk fro guy from Santa Cruz?

People bailed during MGMT too a lot earlier, from what I hear. Maybe it's the people that didn't care too much for the headliner or only cared to see a little or wanted to beat the rush/traffic or get to BART on time. I stayed the whole time and barely made the last BART to Millbrae.

[zenidogx]

oh that was you?
I was next to you for most of that show. I think you corrected me on the date of the Decemberists animation release before the Flaming Lips started.

I'm glad to hear somebody else found that show to be fucking awesome, me and my friends were first timers and I thought it was an absolute blast, I'd see them again in a heartbeat.

Oh yea, even the slightest mention of the Decemberists captures my attention. Everyone at the front seemed to enjoy the show, but some people on the way out of the festival were on the fence about the performance.

[PassiveTheory]

I didn't see MGMT so I can't speak on their behalf, but I did see Justice headline last year and, unlike the Flaming Lips, they busted out every single little trick they had up their sleeves (including dropping a few remixes that hadn't been heard regularly since the start of their 07' tour) and I didn't see nary a person leave that set until the very end (hence how long it took to get off the island last year compared to how easy it was to get out this year), but as for the Flaming Lips, that was just embarrassing.

[CalmerThanYou]

HEY! HEY!

Anyone see MSTRKRFT?

Sheesh!