To make it clear, we will be at Shoreline Amphitheater in Mountain View Ca. on May 19th in order to see Live 105 BFD 2013. We are not as enthusiastic as we had hoped, but the lineup is well worth the price of admission, the event is well run, and the format allows concert-goers to see a lot of music with very little downtime.
The Live 105 lineup was announced today. It is good, but the doesn’t have the “explosiveness” of its recent predecessors. We hope to be proven wrong, but there isn’t a band that will explode in 2013 to the same level as 2012 saw with fun., Of Monsters and Men, and Imagine Dragons (all in the 2012 BFD lineup) or 2011 saw with Foster the People. Instead, there are a number of bands having the potential to do in 2013 what Walk the Moon (another 2012 BFD performer) did in 2012. The “Walk the Moon equivalency” is something almost any Indie band would be happy to accept, and we are not complaining, but…
Comparing the 2013 lineup to the last two years:
Budlight Stages (side-by-side) – not as good as either 2011 or 2012.
Main Stage – Not as good as 2011, but better than 2012.
Local bands stage – Better than 2011 and 2012 (but it may be a function of our having a greater familiarity with the 2013 bands).
Sonic Tent – Better than 2011, and about equal to 2012.
Simply giving grades to the four opportunities:
Budlight Stages (side-by-side) – "B"
Main Stage – "B+"
Local bands stage – "A-"
Sonic Tent – We don’t feel confident here, but we’ll go with "B+"
So, here are some samples. As a "warning," this section will be updated over the next few days, so that we can be more thorough. Starting with the Main Stage performers.
"Closer to the Edge" by 30 seconds to Mars – they put on a strong show at the San Jose Event Center in 2011.
"Take a Walk" by Passion Pitt
"The Pit" by Silversun Pickups
"Lakehouse" By Of Monsters and Men (our favorite from the group)
"Kill Your Heroes" by AWOLNATION - A knowledgeable friend (Alan L.) asserts, "If the Foo Fighters were just starting out today, they would be called AWOLNATION."
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Next, the Budlight stages:
"Rockstar" by Jimmy Eat World (there were very limited options on Soundcloud)
"Timeless" by Airborne Toxic Event (For more on Airborne Toxic Event, go to the earlier blog post: CLICK HERE
"MoneyGrabber" by Fitz and the Tantrums
"Safe and Sound" by Capital Cities
"Trojans" by Atlas Genius - An Austrailian group that seems to be focusing on the U.S. market. We saw them at the Rickshaw Stop in 2012 and walked away pleased.
"We Come Running" by Youngblood Hawke
"Guns for Hands" by Twenty One Pilots. This is not my typical choice in music, But these two guys know how to put on a show - energetic and acrobatic.
"Sweater Weather" by The Neighbourhood
"Demon to Lean On" by Wavves. The band has been receiving a lot of positive attention. We admit to not appreciating them yet. Their songs are not demanding, either instrumentally or vocally.
"San Francisco" by The Mowgli's
"Harlem" by New Politics
"Dark Again" by Gold Fields
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Next, the Local Band Stage:
Within the last twelve months, we have seen five of the bands scheduled for the Local Bands Stage. We saw all five at SLG Art Boutiki (affectionately known as “The Comic Book Store”) in San Jose, which is the best kept secret for live music in the Lower Peninsula. Below are our favorite songs from those five bands.
“New York” by Finish Ticket
“Circe” by Picture Atlantic
“Toxic Pocketbook” by Rin Tin Tiger
“Roll with the Times” by Tumbleweed Wanderers
“The Breeze” by The Trims (the song is not on Soundcloud - but we love this song!)
More updates will occur as time allows.
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