Southside 2010

June 22, 2010 by Johnny

Went to the Southside Music Festival in Neuhausen ob Eck, Germany with Sonja and Björn. Superb time.

We left Thursday afternoon around 2:30 and, after some stops, got down near Tuttlingen around 7:00. Tuttlingen to Neuhausen is typically about 10 minutes, but we hit a line of cars waiting to enter the festival before we even got to the actual town of Tuttlingen. Because of this we pulled into the festival grounds around 8:30. Long, slow drive at the end there. Anyway, the forecast had said that there would be light rain each day (Friday, Saturday, and Sunday) with a possible thunderstorm Thursday night. When we arrived at the grounds it wasn’t raining.

Awesome German flag car.

We grabbed the tent and made our way over to the festival entrance where you exchange your paper ticket for a wristband. Long line there, too. When we got in line it wasn’t raining. By the time we entered the check-in tent half an hour later, it was raining torrentially. Luckily, I’d worn my rain jacket. Sonja and Björn were not so fortunate – just had sweatshirts. I won’t describe everything that happened that night, but basically imagine the worst rain you’ve ever been in, save for, say, a hurricane. Ok now imagine worse than that. Seriously. That’s what the weather was like while we set up our tent and brought stuff from the car. The only

very fortunate thing was that Sonja’s tent was one in which you set up the outer tent first, so we had something to stand under while we set up the inner tent. That’s the only reason we had a dry place to sleep that night. Needless to say, the pants I was wearing were out of commission for the rest of the weekend and my shoes were wet for most of it – Gore-Tex is not supernatural, contrary to my own previously-held belief, unfortunately. My rain jacket surprisingly held up quite well, leaving my sweatshirt underneath wet only where water dripped down from the neck. Couldn’t believe it. Although the situation sucked in general, it really didn’t bother me that much. I just accepted that I would be a bit wet for the weekend and decided not to let it get to me. Worked out well. Getting anywhere the rest of the weekend was pretty ridiculous, by the way. Just mud everywhere, around 4-5 inches deep in the bad areas. Constant suction-cupping sound. It was hilarious seeing all the ways people tried to protect their shoes/themselves.

Got up the next morning and it was raining once again (it stopped about an hour after we got everything into the tent the night before haha). We waited a bit and it stopped, so we went to the car and grilled lunch. Delicious steaks, sausages, and zucchini. After that we went over to the festival. I’ll do a mini-review of each band below (pretty much just as an excuse to put more pictures haha), but I’ll finish the general info about the weekend first. Festival for the rest of Friday. The sun actually came out in the late afternoon and it got a little bit warm – probably up to around 60-65 when it had been in the low 50s (and was for the rest of the weekend). Got back to the tent around 1:00 that night/morning. Fantastic day.

(Middle photo: Yeah, that’s 3 guys peeing near the woods who happen to be lined up in perfect German flag order. I doubt that was an accident. Awesome.)

When we woke up Saturday it was completely pouring again. It didn’t let up, so we didn’t get to grill that day. That hurt the morale a little, but we substituted with cereal and a peanut butter sandwich. Actually the peanut butter was just me. Europeans are very much not into PB like we are back in the States. I said how I like to put it on sandwiches (paired with Nutella is a new, delicious discovery), with crackers, with celery, and that many candy bars have it. All of those things grossed Björn out. He said his dislike largely stemmed from the fact that his Aunt used to send him a big thing of peanut butter every Christmas. I guess he got sick of it. Anyway, we suited up in rain jackets and ponchos and headed over to the festival again. Another day of excellent music, although definitely much colder.

It was not raining Sunday morning, which was excellent because we’d planned to pack up the campsite. I had to leave Sunday night in order to be back for work on Monday, so I was going to take the train in the evening instead of going back with Sonja and Björn, as they weren’t getting back to Darmstadt until around 4:00am (leaving after the last show). After we packed up the site and were at the car grilling some food, the idea came up of leaving at that point and not going to the festival at all that day. That totally sucked, and nobody supported it at first, but the seed had been planted. We were all quite cold at that point (it was in the high 40s to low 50s with a decent wind and on and off drizzle – not ideal), and we were also worried about being able to drive out of there. The parking areas had early on become mud fields. Local farmers had started coming in as early as Friday with their tractors to tow cars out. We thought we’d be able to make it out as it was at that point, but we were worried what would happen if it rained again that afternoon or evening. Weren’t sure we’d be able to get out if that happened. Plus, I wouldn’t be there to help because I had to take the train in the late evening. Anyway, we ended up deciding to head home. None of us were happy with the decision, but it seemed like the right one at the time. Just a really sucky situation. As it turned out, the weather improved later on rather than get worse, so we probably could have stayed. You know what they say about hindsight, though.

Overall, totally awesome time even without the shows on Sunday. Oh, quick note on pictures: I only had my little Canon point-and-shoot with me, and I’m not yet used to how much battery life it has. I took a lot of HD videos of the shows on Friday (might make a little compilation video at some point?), so by Friday night it was pretty much dead. Fail. I managed to grab a couple pictures on Saturday before it died completely. So, plenty of pics from Thursday and Friday, practically none from Saturday and Sunday. So it goes. Now on to the short concert reviews/descriptions.

Local Natives – Never heard of them before. Liked their live show. Gonna check them out more.

Bigelf – Screaming metal band. I’m sure some people like it, but just really not my style.

We Are Scientists – I’d heard them before, but their live show was also quite good. Played a lot of songs from their brand-new album “Barbara.”

Vampire Weekend – Good show. Basically a less-processed version of their albums. And a fun time, as you’d expect from a Vampire Weekend show. We didn’t get too into this one because we were in the back waiting to head over to Florence after.

Florence + The Machine – Hands down best concert of the festival. Blew me away. When I listen to her album now, I just keep thinking of how each song was played at this show. I wish they’d release a live album soon, but I don’t have high hopes. Florence is an excellent performer, and you could really tell she loved being up there. Sonja and Björn had never heard her before, and they both absolutely loved it. Björn agreed that they were the best show of the festival, and Sonja said they were one of her favorites (hard to decide because she has different associations with different bands). If you get the chance to see them live, do it.

Jack Johnson – Caught the last 20 minutes or so of his set. Good guitar work, though quite mellow. It’s good in certain settings, but didn’t work too well for the mood at the festival at that point. They also mixed this super-cheesy wave/surfer background with the live video of him up on the screens.

Faithless – Didn’t know them before the festival. Really, really awesome show. I don’t really know how to describe them. Just check them out if you’re interested. One of their famous songs is “God Is a DJ” (which they played. ‘Twas great). Sonja said she’s seen them live multiple times, loved them each time, but then hardly ever listens to them at home. I can definitely see how that could happen. It’s music that, for me, is much more suited to a concert than headphones. Oh, almost forgot. They had one huge, regular drum set, but then also this gigantic percussion contraption? I don’t even know what to call it. Just check out the picture. It was insane.

The Strokes – This was the major disappointment of the festival, unfortunately. It was great to hear their songs performed live, and they did a lot of my favorites, including “Is This It.” (I’ve been waiting forever to hear that bass line performed live.) But that was it. The lead singer was definitely on something. He stopped after every single song to make some comment that was usually dumb, had to ask another band member at least 4 or 5 times what the next song they were playing was, and forgot the lyrics twice during “Last Nite” – during the chorus each time! I mean, c’mon. He was really just not into it at all. Like I said, awesome to hear their songs performed live, but that was about it.

(after this, my camera was pretty much dead and would just grab one shot here and there if I turned it on and took the photo immediately)

Shout Out Louds – Had not heard of them before. Good stuff. Gonna check out their albums.

The Gaslight Anthem – I’d heard of them, but had not heard them yet. Not the kind of stuff I would typically listen to, but has some potential for good driving music. Further investigation is required.

The Hold Steady – Another that I’d heard of a lot, and in this case I’d given the album a once-over, but I was excited to hear them more and see what they’d be like live. Not sure how I felt about the show. On the one hand, the lead singer had a lot of energy and was really into it, but then he seemed out of place next to the rest of the band who were not very lively, just seeming to play through the songs. Also, as captivating as the singer’s performance was, he hardly said one word to the audience between any of the songs. Not a strong connection there.

Phoenix – Great, as expected. Good show, and really awesome to hear their songs live. Played all the ones I was hoping for.

The Temper Trap – My only experience with these guys before the festival was listening to their Bonnaroo set on NPR. I listened to it again today and it’s a good set, but I like it a lot more now that I’ve seen them live. They were set up symmetrically on stage. Lead singer dead center. Drums behind him on the left, raised. Keyboard on the same platform as the drums but to the singer’s right. Guitar on stage with the singer a bit left of the drums, and bass same thing except a little right of the keyboard. Doesn’t seem like a big deal, but it made them seem more impactful somehow, especially when coupled with the expansive songs. The lead singer here was one of my favorites of the festival. Like Florence, you could tell he honestly loved being there. I love that. Great music to boot. I will say, though, that they seemed like one of those bands that might always be a little better live than on studio albums.

K’s Choice – The only song I’d heard by K’s Choice before this weekend was “Not An Addict.” Shout out to Cilla Patterson for including it on a mix CD she gave me back in….10th grade maybe? Anyway, chose these guys over LCD Soundsystem per Sonja’s recommendation. Some might object to that choice, but I figured LCD would be around for a while, and while they(/he) are on my list of bands to check out, haven’t given them much time yet. Didn’t know when I’d ever get a chance to see K’s Choice again. Was not disappointed with my decision, either. Really great concert, both musically and performance-wise. Definitely gonna be checking out some of their albums.

Tegan & Sara – Never seen them before, but they were exactly what I expected – engaging show and excellent music. They had a nicely mixed set that showcased their varying types of songs. They played a lot of my favorites and then some from their new album that I didn’t know as well. Props to them, too, as they were playing at the same time as Beatsteaks and Prodigy, not exactly quiet bands.