After a long, deep slumber, I awoke and immediately bolted to my first show, the Alabama Shakes.
These guys are amazing live. Not only do they sound like their album (no digital enhancements here) but their energy is incredibly infectious, like “zombie plague” infectious.
After a quick dinner it was off to wait in a very long (albeit fast moving) line…
… to catch the return (where did she go?) of Fiona Apple.
The girl is fucking ferocious live. And the songs. I swear, every bed should come with a built-in MP3 player loaded with Fiona. Sexy.
Next was a quick song by one of my favorite girls from 2011, K. Flay (see what I said here).
I finally made it to a restaurant-turned-venue for the Danish quartet, The Foreign Resort.
These guys sounded great and rocked the Hell out of that eatery. Damn, they were so good I almost made them my pick of the day. Almost.
Next I caught Total Unicorn.
If it weren’t for their awesome dance tunes, including a number about Dr. Who, they’d be the kind of stuff nightmares are made of. Seriously, just look at this before bed and tell me you don’t get night terrors.
(And if you do go see them, which I think you should, take some shrooms or acid.)
I then raced up the street into a coffee shop (I swore I was in the wrong place) to catch Emperor X.
This one man act was disarmingly charming and completely winning. His earnest, smart nerd-centric songs hit me so hard in the right spot that I was in a daze as I stumbled into the street after his short but very sweet set.
Next I caught the end of another 2011 favorite, Band of Skulls (here is the relevant post from last year). I waited around for Kimbra but after she was 30 minutes late, it was time to bail for my next venue.
Again, I caught the end of Kevin Devine and The Goddamn Band. They were good. Mental note: look them up when you/I have a moment.
The last act of the night was Right Away, Great Captain!
This one man act was good but every slow dirge of a song got me yawning. Next time this dude needs to pack the back-up band.
So while there were some very strong contenders, my pick of the day has to be Emperor X. Take a listen.
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And with that, good night.
(I better not have any goddamn unicorn nightmares)
























