Saturday - LouFest 2011

Kings Go Forth

The weekend began with Jon Hardy and the Public. I heard a rumor that they practiced the entire set fifteen times including turning off the AC at Jon Hardy's house to experience the predicted heat. It paid off because they sounded great. Near the end of the set, one of their guitarists had to quickly change clothes and go get ready for a set with his other band, Troubadour Dali.
Troubadour Dali rocked the house (err... lawn) with their psychedelic music. They definitely helped prove that St. Louis does in fact have great local music, something that everyone in this area should recognize.
Sleepy Sun played some of their heavy, long jams. The best way to describe this is 'epic.'
All nine members of Kings Go Forth appeared clad in white uniforms. Their funky soul music was a great contrast to Sleepy Sun, pouring out love and sunshine. It was incredibly danceable, as I quickly found out.
Dom was, although limited, very cool including a special cover of The Cure's "Boys Don't Cry." Not that it matters in the long run, but the singer totally looks like a girl. Girl hair, pants, and voice. It was a little awkward but contributed to the absurdity of their music.
Surfer Blood played a good combination of fun and dark songs including some new tracks that have yet to be released. The frontman needs to learn to not talk quite so much but still a very fun set.
Due to hurricane Irene, The Roots could not make it. However, ?uestlove graced us with his DJ set of awesomeness. Boasting that it covered 85 years worth of music, this was a great big dance party at LouFest.
Deerhunter appeared calm and cool on stage while they played many fan favorites. The bass player looked pretty stoned to me but it certainly didn't prohibit him from playing some amazing bass lines. After announcing to the audience that this would be the last song they played on tour for a long time, the singer realized they still had thirty minutes left in their set. This mistake caused some people to leave that area but didn't take away from a great set.
To end saturday, The Hold Steady took over the blue stage. The sun had gone down at this point, making the stage even more of a focus. Belting out lyrics like a dictator giving a speech, singer Craig Finn was full of energy, frequently repeating lines away from the microphone and moving his limbs around. They played a wonderful set despite last year's departure of their keyboard player. It featured a great combination of old and new material.