Loufest 2013!

Shark Sandwich!

St. Louis in the summer is hot. And that’s how Loufest 2013 can be summed up: HOT! With temperatures that soared into the mid 90’s on both days adding in the smothering Midwestern humidity brought on by morning showers Sunday made for an exhausting weekend where shade and the free water were greatly appreciated. First, the bad news and it’s minor so don’t sweat it too much Loufest! We would greatly appreciate next year getting a  press pass!!!!! We may not be a huge music site or a newsprint based service, but we are local. We love the fact that there is a valid music festival right here close to home. So throw us bone next year please! So, for that reason we regret that we don’t have pictures to share. And maybe next year more than one entrance and exit point. That makes a hefty walk to and from parking and/or the public transportation available. (BTW, completely unrelated: Thanks for giving me my change in all useless one dollar coins Metrolink, had a heck of a time finding someone to convert those to dollar bills.)

Saturday Sept 7th

So Saturday started off with me arriving slightly late, my fault, to the beautiful and magnificent Forest Park where the festival is held. The sweet sounds of Jukebox the Ghost  were already rocking the Forest Park Stage and I was able to catch the end of their set. Wish Icould have made it earlier to be able to swing by and catch local band Kentucky Knife Fight but that’s festival life, you pick and choose because being in two places at once is impossible! One of the great things about festivals such as Loufest are the timing of the stages. Once the the smaller stages ended the main stage acts started right up causing an African plain like migration of people between stages that was fun to watch. By this time the heat was oppressive and J. Roddy Walston & The Business added to it by blazing through their blues rock soaked set. I caught a good portion of Nashville’s Modoc from the shade tree I was under and they are quite good with their brand of rock n’ roll and should be checked out. It was clear from the face paint on the younger generation that the Robert De long show at the same time was well attended. Modoc’s show ended before his and I was able to at least hear his electro infused music from across the field. I wanted to get over and check out his joystick and home made instrumentation but I didn’t make it in time! Festival staples Trampled By Turtles brought their great bluegrass sound to the main stage and were well received by the crowd that was seemed to be struggling through the heat by this time. The mighty Space Capone another Nashville based band (from many that were on the bill) took the BMI Stage and had the crowd moving even in the stifling heat with their funky grooves. I found my way over to The Forest Park Stage to catch the high energy Ra Ra Riot set in progress as the band finally returned to St. Louis and the large crowd gathered in front was loving every second of it ,as was I. Come back soon guys! Fitz and the Tantrums came out blazing, almost literally, in the hottest part of the day and laid down their soulful and danceable grooves with an intense energy. I made it about halfway before the need for water called me away, but the great thing about Loufest is you could hear the action from anywhere you went!

Desert Noises and Toro Y Moi both gave great sets as the heat continued to take it’s toll. Utah’s Deset Noises infectious guitar rock was a welcome respite under the shade of the tree I was under. Toro Y Moi’s indie pop set was fantastic as well. I was quite hungry and grabbed a bite eat, along with everyone else it seemed, as the Nosh Pit was pretty crowded before heading to the main stage for The National’s way higher energy than I expected it to be set, which was a very pleasant surprise. Extra thumbs up for bringing out the horn section! Music needs more horns!  Wild Belle took the BMI Stage bathed in red light and their infectious island flavored pop drew a considerable crowd for their headline slot on that stage. Bonus points as well for breaking out the horns! My Morning Jacket’s front man Jim James and his solo act headlined the Forest Park Stage with his psychedelic, soul, funk, jam based rock which was a perfect fit leading into main stage headliner and hometown hero Jeff Tweedy’s Wilco. Tweedy headlined the inaugural Loufest with a  solo set. This time he brought the whole band! Not even the light rain could dampen the St. Louis crowd’s excitement of their own boy bringing his super tight and rocking band back home. Their set started with an over twenty times repeating of the word “Nothin'” from “Misunderstood.” They threw in an appreciated Uncle Tupelo song and Missouri reference “New Madrid”, a guest spot from The National and their horn section for “California Stars“, a group sing along to Tweedy’s father for his 80th birthday, more St. Louis references of seeing band’s play on The Landing (Laclede’s Landing adjacent to The Arch back in the day) with “Heavy Metal Drummer” and “Casino Queen” (The gambling casino docked to the Illinois side of the Mississippi River) and for a foregone encore because Tweedy and the band “…don’t have time for that bullsh*t!”, and an appearance by the guitar tech going shirtless and cowbelling like crazy during set closer “Hoodoo Voodoo.” Tweedy expressed gratitude,and said that playing the show was a healing factor in coping with the loss of his brother earlier in the week, and the recent loss of St. Louis music icon Bob Reuter. You just can’t beat a Wilco show.

Sunday Sept. 8th

Sunday began with a few slight storms passing overhead in the morning. While ratcheting up the humidity it did leave behind some cloud cover to begin the music under relieving some of the heat. The Mowgli’s took the Forest Park Stage and stormed through an energetic set. Really wanted to get over and check out The Lonely Biscuits but unfortunately missed their set! Bummer big time. L.A.’s Youngblood Hawke were first on the main stage and were impressed that the crowd was ready to go “.. it’s only one o’clock!” That’s how we roll in the Lou baby! Nashville artist Andrea Davidson played her acoustic based set on the BMI Stage to a mostly older crowd while the younger crowd were camped out at the Forest Park Stage to catch Twin Shadow’s synth based indie pop set. It was about this time that the clouds started opening up and the sun came back out in force. The Court Yard Hounds took the main stage and played a flawless musical set with Charlie Sexton on guitar which was a huge bonus for an eighties kid like myself. My hands down favorite set of the weekend was St. Louis native Tef Poe, the only rap act on the entire lineup. Tef Poe and his entire entourage, that added up to between 10 to 13 people, were extremely entertaining, often quite hilarious, energetically crowd hyping, even jumping into the crowd for a little running man dance, and doing a back flip off the stage! In music you have to earn it and Tef Poe earned the honor of Loufest MVP in my book and made it impossible to get over to the WALK THE MOON set. Sorry WALK THE MOON I’ll catch you next time!

Local Natives drew a good majority of the crowd to their main stage set. The band played their indie pop to an eager crowd as the heat continued to pick up.  Another Nashville based band Wild Cub’s set at the BMI Stage was a sturdy rock set from the up and coming band. I couldn’t resist scooting over and checking out Swedish pop duo Icona Pop on the Forest Park Stage. The girls brought a lot of energy and showed some DJ skills on top of it and the crowd exploded for the finale “I Love It” singing the chorus loud enough to hear clear over into Illinois. A crowd had already been gathering at the main stage for the Alabama Shakes and luckily Icona Pop ended about five minutes early and let the crowd move on over so Brittany Howard and the boys could flat out play some of their sturdy rough and tumble blues rock. Man, that girl can belt it out! You can tell when music comes straight from the heart. I was more ready to see New Jersey fellows Brick + Mortar who were heavy underdogs going on against powerhouse band Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeroes. They did a mighty job getting the crowd to chant along and scream with them. Edward Sharpe’s mega hit “Home” serenaded us as we walked across the fields toward The Forest Park Stage to find that the majority of the crowd were already there so getting close wasn’t an option as Alex Ebert and band played their epic sounding set. Luckily, there was just a couple minutes to get on over to the main stage to catch the night’s headliner The Killers return to St. Louis after a long absence.

As the crowd sang along to The Outfield’s 80’s hit “Your Love” pumping over the sound system the you could feel the energy rising. The band came out strong jumping right in with “Mr. Brightside” with Brandon Flowers yelling out “ST. LOUIS!” making the crowd go ballistic. There were no disappointments  through their solid set. They even threw in their Joy Division cover “Shadowplay.” “Miss Atomic Bomb” featured pyro. Each member of the band got a solo to throw in topped off by Ronnie Vanucci’s insane drum solo. They also broke out their version of the old Tommie James & the Shondelles song “I Think We’re Alone Now” claiming they were taking it back from Tiffany. The set didn’t leave out any of the hits as the one and a half slot didn’t seem like it was enough time as the band closed out the festival with “When You Were Young.”

So it was  a great time, a little warm, but the outstanding lineup made up for that. Good luck topping that next year Loufest although I’m quite sure that you will. And remember us, press passes please please please!!!  I’ve pasted my preview I did below if you want to go back and peruse through. And as always head over to Bandbook.com and sign yourself up especially if you are in a band!!!!!! Also, check out the September new music post and follow all the months posts as new music is added daily.

Loufest 2013 Preview

Hey all you music lovers in Chicago. Did Lollapalooza sell out on you? Riot Fest too punk for you? Pitchfork Festival too indie and obscure for your tastes? What about you Kansas City folks out there? Heard about the unfortunate demise of the Kansrocksas Festival. Down in Memphis the Beale St. Festival was pretty cool and all but that was WAY Back in May. Good people of Louisville, now that the buzz of the collegiate basketball championship is over and the Forecastle Festival is over what to do now? Over there in Indianapolis, music festival- is there one? Party people in St. Louis, sure go ahead and live it up this Labor Day weekend, but what about next weekend? I have the answer to all of those questions and just made your plans for you! You’re going to Loufest! The St. Louis area’s premier music festival set for September 7th and 8th in the beautiful confines of Forest Park. Thirty bands over two days fora bargain price? Why wouldn’t you do that?

Saturday September, 7th

Kentucky Knife Fight

12:15 p.m.- BMI Stage

Local area boys are one of two representatives of the city’s vibrant music scene that will be rocking the festival this year so show up early and show some hometown love.

Jukebox The Ghost

12:15 p.m.- Forest Park Stage

The indie pop trio from Brooklyn will be kicking off the festival’s Forest Park Stage early on Saturday so don’t be late through the gates!

J. Roddy Walston & The Business

1:00 P.M.- Bud Light Stage

Kicking off the main stage for the weekend will be this rollicking quartet of southern boys will blast out the blues, rock, gospel, and country sometimes all in the same song. This band is known for it’s high potency live shows so be prepared to move and groove and shake a little bit.

Modoc

1:45 p.m.-BMI Stage

Up and coming band from Nashville will rock the BMI Stage in the early afternoon slot and you should be there to catch them.

Robert De Long

1:45 p.m.- Forest Park Stage

Seattle electronic musician Delong has made a few waves within the last year especially with his Alternative hit “Global Concepts” and his album Just Movement using items such as Wii controllers and joysticks to creates sounds for his music should be an interesting show.

Trampled By Turtles

2:30 p.m.-Bud Light Stage

Perennial festival favorites Tramples By Turtles will bring their bluegrass sounds to the main stage. The Minnesota band always puts on a stellar show and usually stand out at festivals so boot scoot on over to the main stage when they hit it.

Space Capone

3:30 p.m. BMI Stage

Space Capone will be bringing the funk to the festival. I must urge you to catch this band and their groove heavy set. You will not be disappointed.

Ra Ra Riot

3:30 p.m.- Forest Park Stage

Indie darlings Ra Ra Riot bring the current tour in support of their latest album Beta Love to the festival stage Saturday. Should be a good time.

Fitz And The Tantrums

4:30 p.m.- Bud Light Stage

L.A. band Fitz And The Tantrums will bring their slick soul pop to the (hopefully no to much so) heat of the day on the main stage. So load up on water before boogieing along.

Desert Noises

5:30 p.m.- BMI Stage

The young band from Utah will roll eastward into out fair Midwestern city to play their high energy harmony rich jangly guitar anthems to our ears. Do not miss!

Toro Y Moi

5:30 p.m.- Bud Light Stage

Capping off the evening will be Chazwick Bradley Bundick or as we know him by his Spanish and French mixed stage name Toro Y Moi and his band with their funky, chilled out, psych, jazz inflected work outs. Grab a few brews and get lost in the music.

The National

6:30 p.m.- Bud Light Stage

The National have been tearing up festivals all summer and expect nothing less when the come to the heart of Cardinal country.

Wild Belle

7:30 p.m. BMI Stage

Sibling duo Wild Belle will slide south out of Chicago to bring their reggae infused indie pop sound to the headline slot of the BMI Stage Saturday night.

Jim James

7:30 p.m. Forest Park Stage

Jim James brings his solo tour in support of his solo album Regions Of Light And Sound Of God to the headline spot of the Forest Park Stage. Probably one of his last shows before reconvening with My Morning Jacket for their tour with Bob Dylan and Wilco!

Wilco

8:30 p.m. Bud Light Stage

Headlining the festival’s first night will be displaced hometown hero Jeff Tweedy and his band Wilco. Tweedy of course started his musical career the “alt-country” movement in the legendary band Uncle Tupelo  just east of St. Louis in the city of Belleville, Ill. Tweedy already headlined the festival once as a solo act, but brings the full band along this time!

Sunday September, 8th

The Lonely Biscuits

12:15 p.m. –BMI Stage

Starting off Sunday with a funky fresh soul, pop, and hip hop mix will be this band from Nashville. So do yourself a favor and show up early for these fellows.

The Mowgli’s

12:15 p.m. –Forest Park Stage

Getting the Forest Park stage rolling will be this eight piece outfit from L.A, and their big hook heavy sing along choruses and folksy indie pop. Should be a big burst of energy right off the bat for Sunday.

Youngblood Hawke

1:00 p.m. Bud Light Stage

L.A. based indie pop Youngblood Hawke will get the main stage for Sunday up and running with their electro infused bouncy tunes.

Andrea Davidson

1:45 p.m. BMI Stage

Davidson will bring her lush acoustic folk rock to the Loufest. Word on the street is that her shows are uplifting and powerful so make time to check her out!

Twin Shadow

1:45 p.m. Forest Park Stage

Twin Shadow is the stage name of George Lewis Jr. he will be hitting the stage with his indie pop sounds early Sunday so definitely don’t be late!

Court Yard Hounds

2:30 p.m. Bud Light Stage

Sisters Martie Maguire and Emily Robison move their famous harmonies out front to fantastic effect in their new band. And listen up 80’s kids, their guitarist is none other than Charlie Sexton, yep that Charlie Sexton! Vocals are good,Guitars are good, so be front and center then!

Tef Poe

3:30 p.m.- BMI Stage

St. Louis’ own rising star will be the only representative of hip hop found at the festival, so support your local talent and hip hop and show Tef Poe some love.

WALK THE MOON

3:30 p.m. Forest Park Stage

This fine young Cincinnati band has made a few waves over the past year. Based on the fun vibes the band puts off onstage it should be a high energy set.

Local Natives

4:30 p.m. – Bud Light Stage

The critically acclaimed L.A. band will play their exquisite indie pop Sunday afternoon on the main stage and light up the park with their gorgeous melodies and atmospheric music.

Wild Cub

5:30 p.m. BMI Stage

Nashville’s Wild Cub’s sound is a new wave influenced blend of guitar laced indie rock with great hooks and harmonies. The band includes Loufest in its many festival dates this year so do not miss them!

Icona Pop

5:30 p.m. Forest Park Stage

This Swedish duo are getting gonzo amounts of press lately with the release of their sophomore album This Is…Icona Pop and the club shaking anthem from last year “I Don’t Care.” The girls have been stealing hearts at festivals all summer long.

Alabama Shakes

6:30 p.m. Bud Light Stage

The rootsy down home blues rock of this Alabama four piece featuring power house front woman Brittany Howard have gained a lot of traction in the music world behind great live shows and their powerful debut album Boys And Girls.

Brick + Mortar

7:30 p.m. BMI Stage

This New Jersey duo will headline the BMI Stage Sunday evening. Touring behind the more pop friendly sounds of the latest release the e.p. Bangs the band should be in good form when they hit the stage.

Edward Sharpe & The Magnetic Zeros

7:30 p.m. Forest Park Stage

Been a long time since Alex Ebert was in the band Ima Robot. since then he’s gained quite a lot more attention and praise for his psuedo hippie folk roots ensemble that blew up after their first album hit song “Home.” The touring band features Nora Kirkpatrick who is also an actress, probably best known for portraying Esther, Dwight Schrute’s neighbor/love interest on The Office. Should be a fun one as the close out the Forest Park Stage!

The Killers

8:30 p.m. Bud Light Stage

Closing out the 2013 edition will be The Killers who’ve been tearing up the festival circuit all summer and plan to include Loufest on their hit list. Come sing along to all the hits as the boys from Vegas will bring down the house like they always do.

Should be a fantastic festival and a great time for all. For more info visit the website Loufest.com.