US Open Free Shows!! Not bad. Pretty good.

[Jordanp]

They recently announced the music lineup for the US open surfing tournament in Huntington Beach next week.
I will be there on Friday for sure possibly Thursday as well.

7/25
FMLYBND, Twin Shadow, and The Faint

7/26
Modest Mouse, Matt Costa

These are really fun shows and they are free. If you're available. Come rock out!

[ocbruin84]

I plan to go both days. I'm off work at 4 in Orange/Santa Ana and I have friends who live nearby. I might take a half-day Thursday so I can see if Twin Shadow's any good.

[Jordanp]

Ya. I just so happened to get Thursday and Friday off. Next week. Im pretty stoked. They're always really fun. Great energy.

[ameeps]

I'll be there for the mouse

[TomAz]

I read the thread title and thought it was going to be about golf. I am glad that it is not. I would have had to disown Modest Mouse if they were playing a golf tournament.

[birdiearch]

^ I was thinking tennis. Good grief.
I'm super close, but I'd rather not fight through crowds.

[Jordanp]

Twin Shadow was actually pretty good. I dug it, the vocals reminded me of Morrissey if that makes sense to anyone. Also The Faint was(were?) fun as well. As usual. Super stoked for tomorrow. Ill be there at four. Im excited to see how drunk Isaac is and if we get Doin' the Cockroach or not.
I didn't realize that Twin Shadow played Coachella a couple years ago.
Geesh the things I don't know could fill the grand canyon.

[ameeps]

Twin Shadow was actually pretty good. I dug it, the vocals reminded me of Morrissey if that makes sense to anyone. Also The Faint was(were?) fun as well. As usual. Super stoked for tomorrow. Ill be there at four. Im excited to see how drunk Isaac is and if we get Doin' the Cockroach or not.
I didn't realize that Twin Shadow played Coachella a couple years ago.
Geesh the things I don't know could fill the grand canyon.

Certainly Modest Mouse will be more crowded, but can you give me an idea of how crowded it was today? How early did you get there and how close to the stage were you able to get. Also, is there convenient parking somewhere close to the stage?

[santasutt]

^ I was thinking tennis. Good grief.
.

Could headline.

[birdiearch]

HAHA GRRREAT

[ocbruin84]

Missed Twin Shadow unfortunately but I decided it would be more fun to stick with my friends than dash off early. We arrived during the Faint's first song probably and were able to get a decent spot just up and to the right of the sound board. The stage is kind of in a terrible position with respect to the sun, there were no lights, and the sound was just ok...and tons of kids everywhere, but overall the crowd wasn't unbearable and for a free show, what the hell, it was fun.

i anticipate modest mouse being busier today.

[algunz]

I was there yesterday, but missed most of the music. No matter how much I'd like to go see MM today, I'm not going down there again especially not with Izzy. The crowd sucks. I saw a girl get manhandled by her scrawny piece of shit boyfriend. He was saying mean things and then "playfully" grabbed her arm and twisted it until it almost popped out of joint. She was crying and some guy and I had to intervene. I asked if I could help her and through painful tears she said it was an accident. Then around the next corner some guy got hit in the face with a skateboard and then pushed down and his head smashed into the sidewalk. People just stood around and cheered. No cops. Nobody even tried to stop it. After he got up and was bleeding from the eye and the back of the head, I was the only person who even made an attempt to help him. I walked him back until some of his friends came over and I handed him a handful of wet wipes and tissue. It was not a feel good group on Main Street.

[birdiearch]

Yeah, definitely not going now.
I think a friend went last year and saw 12 year olds with short-shorts and/or crop tops with slutty verbage on them. ??
Fuck middle school kids.
'twas a shitty time.

[unit300021]

I was there yesterday, but missed most of the music. No matter how much I'd like to go see MM today, I'm not going down there again especially not with Izzy. The crowd sucks. I saw a girl get manhandled by her scrawny piece of shit boyfriend. He was saying mean things and then "playfully" grabbed her arm and twisted it until it almost popped out of joint. She was crying and some guy and I had to intervene. I asked if I could help her and through painful tears she said it was an accident. Then around the next corner some guy got hit in the face with a skateboard and then pushed down and his head smashed into the sidewalk. People just stood around and cheered. No cops. Nobody even tried to stop it. After he got up and was bleeding from the eye and the back of the head, I was the only person who even made an attempt to help him. I walked him back until some of his friends came over and I handed him a handful of wet wipes and tissue. It was not a feel good group on Main Street.

This sounds about right. That is pretty normal for Down Town Huntington and it 10 times worse. I live in Huntington and there has yet to be a free show they have offered that has made me want to put up with the shitty ass crowd that comes out.

[ameeps]

Ok, I was there for Modest Mouse today, took almost 2.5 flipping hours from LA. Since I was not expecting so much traffic, in fact traffic kept increasing as I drove so google/waze estimates were way off, I arrived with 3 minutes to spare. Rushed over to the stage just as they played the first notes of Dramamine. At first I was pretty far back, and it was absolutely terrible. You couldn't hear anything because the speakers sucked and there were surfer bros everywhere talking super loudly because they don't care about Modest Mouse. I also couldn't see shit because I was pretty far back, and the sun shines right in your eyes. I was almost ready to leave, and then I got a brilliant idea. I started yelling "Mosh Mosh Mosh" and lo and behold the surfer bros took the call to arms and started moshing.

It quickly progressed forwards, and I rode the mosh all the way to the front. 2 songs in and I was dead center 2 rows behind rail. Perfect. The sound at the front was still not up to regular concert quality, but it was definitely bearable. And I was close enough to the stage that I was shielded from the sun. As for the show itself, wow, significantly rowdier than the other Modest Mouse shows i've been to. At the front there were no surfer bros, it was entirely modest mouse fans, many wearing shirts and singing along to every word. Great crowd once you got to the front, if almost a little too rowdy. As for Modest Mouse themselves, it was a really good but not amazing show from them. I've seen worse, but i've also seen better. The setlist (in my opinion) was also the same, pretty good but not amazing. I also got a setlist after, which was a nice bonus. Isaac babbled incoherently between songs like usual, but i've grown to appreciate that aspect. I tried to take some pictures, but I could only really snap shots between songs/at the very beginning of songs because the crowd was too wild. Here are some of the few pics I was able to take.

Overall, I would say it was worth the long and trafficky drive. But if someone was further back and had to deal with the surf bros and bad sound, I can understand how it might not have been enjoyable.


Modest Mouse by ameeps, on Flickr


Modest Mouse by ameeps, on Flickr


Modest Mouse by ameeps, on Flickr


Modest Mouse by ameeps, on Flickr

Setlist:
Dramamine / Life Like Weeds
Interstate 8
Be Brave
I Came as a Rat
Dashboard
Shit In Your Cut
Ocean Breathes Salty
Fire It Up
King Rat
Bury Me With It
Heart of Mine
3rd Planet
Gravity Rides Everything
Fly Trapped in a Jar

[lehorne]

heading down to the pier for the Semis around 10am tomorrow, with ganj, then likely going to the Surfrider party on the beach in front of the Hilton tomorrow after the Finals. It's twenty bucks with five bands and a chance to win a Wyland marine life painting, although I'm not really a fan of his work. Singer Joe Wood of metal-era TSOL fame is one of the headliners.



2:45 (Occy at 3:27...so sick)

[Jordanp]

I was there from the beginning and i camped out in front of the sound booths. The crowd was really rowdy. Not that im complaining but after 45 minutes. I had gotten kicked in the head countless times and the novelty had lost its shine. Although on a side note, towards the end, if any guys wanted to surf they they were immediately dropped. I was upset they didnt play doin the cockroach, cowboy Dan, edit the sad parts, or satin in a coffin(my guilty pleasure.) But I'd go again next year. The stage placement was much better than two years ago, and what was up with ending their set 15 minutes early and then not doing an encore? Not that im dying to hear Float On again but just saying.

[unit300021]

So not concert related but after the surf event ended today a fucking riot broke out. Seriously I fucking hate my city sometimes.

[drummer333]

http://www.theinertia.com/surf/shock...en-of-surfing/

pics and video pretty much sum it up.

[Jordanp]

http://www.theinertia.com/surf/shock...en-of-surfing/

pics and video pretty much sum it up.

What a terrible fucking article to try and explain what happened.

[ocbruin84]

Saw the footage on the local news last night. Kinda doesn't surprise me. Holy shit thats a lot of portapotties knocked over. And ramming a stop sign through a store window to steal a bike....how the fuck is this explainable?

[algunz]

It already felt ugly on Thursday. I am not surprised it ended like this so many days later. HB sucks and the people it attracts supersuck. It's really sad that a surf competition is at the heart of this.

And that FB picture is disgusting.

[unit300021]

What a terrible fucking article to try and explain what happened.

Dude that article was published yesterday at 4pm and the riots didn't break out until 7 pm. Article has nothing to with the riots just explaining what the US Open is like now. When it was just a surfing competition it was never this bad and that's when I used to go. Then they started to make it until an actual event to be a tourist destination and well it's gone down the drain. Ironic part it surfing is all about peace and harmony but every year the crowd gets worse and worse.

edit: I did just see that the article itself was edited to add the riots to it since I last read it yesterday. but that still doesn't take away from my original point.

[lehorne]

she licked his hand afterward because she thought it looked like a glazed donut

[canexplain]

In my day, sure we loved SD&RR but if the surf was up, nothing and I mean nothing mattered except a wave. Kids these dayz....cr****

[birdiearch]

So ashamed to be from here.

[birdiearch]

Went biking with some friends last night through Huntington. They're still taking down ramps, bleachers, and scaffolding... but no trace of the bro-dom that ensued was left. Woot!