Concert Review
Damian Marley
September 5, 2010 @ North Coast Music Festival
By Janelle Rominski/Music Craving Productions
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Moby
September 4, 2010 @ North Coast Music Festival
By Janelle Rominski/Music Craving Productions
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Review by Janelle Rominski
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I love music! The North Coast Music Festival (NCMF) was the perfect way to cap off the summer. The festival, coining itself as "Summer’s Last Stand," took place for three days over Labor Day weekend at Union Park in Chicago.
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NCMF hosted a plethora of different musical genres including rock bands, hip-hop artists, DJs and more. The headliners on Friday were Pretty Lights and The Chemical Brothers. Saturday brought forth De La Soul, Umphrey’s McGee and Moby performing a DJ set. Sunday showcased the talents of Lupe Fiasco, The Disco Biscuits and Nas & Damian "The Gong" Marley.
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Upon entering the festival, I felt a great sense of community and was greeted by a group of gals spinning hula hoops around their waists, arms and legs with the Willis Tower as the backdrop to their hula performance. I saw to my left the Groupon: What’s A Music? Stage, straight ahead – the North Stage, farther off in the distance was the Red Bull Local Stage and to my right was the Coast Stage.
I got right into the variety of music being offered at this first-time festival.
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FRIDAY
Pretty Lights, an electronic music duo, played to a massive crowd that moved to their beats with such high energy. Of course, the lighting was insanely colorful and luminous and overflowed out into the audience.
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Moments after Pretty Lights concluded, The Chemical Brothers – a British electronic music duo began their set to another gigantic group of onlookers. The Chemical Brothers are known for their single “Block Rockin’ Beats.”
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SATURDAY
Rock jam band Umphrey’s McGee headlined the North Stage on Saturday night in front of thousands of their faithful fans. The last time I saw Umphrey’s McGee was at the Riviera half a decade ago. I was eager to see how this show would differ from the last time I saw them. While waiting for them to grace the stage, I met a woman who travels all over the country following them… just another affirmation that this band has loyal listeners. The band starting jamming and their performance has matured since the last time I saw them. The lighting display was phenomenal and the vocals and exuberance of Umphrey’s McGee entertained for over an hour.
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Moby, who gained mainstream notoriety with Gwen Stefani for their collaborative single “South Side,” played a DJ set for an hour. He played with intensity and had a wonderful backdrop behind him playing great visual art to accompany his tracks. There were dozens of beach balls being thrown around the audience during his show and the ones that made their way on stage were eventually thrown off by Moby to give the crowd more reason to party.
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SUNDAY
The first act I caught was Grammy Award winning Italian electro DJ Benny Benassi. Despite his global fame, Benassi played an earlier set at the NCMF because he had a gig in Las Vegas at Rain later that night. He was a natural on stage, totally carefree and very delightful to watch. He has this aura about him that sets you at ease and keeps your body moving with his music. “Satisfaction” is one of his biggest tracks.
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Soul singer Mayer Hawthorne & The Country was my next musical stop of the afternoon. Admittedly, I had never heard of Mayer Hawthorne and thought he was trying to rip off John Mayer’s name, but I was highly mistaken. I had to Google this artist and figure out where his name came from. Per Wikipedia, his middle name is Mayer and the street he grew up on in Michigan was Hawthorne Street. When I first laid eyes on him, I noticed his suave blue suit, retro sunglasses and slicked-back hair. He looks similar to Michael Buble and he made reference to that later on during his show. His smooth moves brought a sense of sophistication to the festival.
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Within two hours I caught four new performers: Flying Lotus, Green Velvet, Lupe Fiasco and The Disco Biscuits. I wanted to catch more of these performances, but there was so much music to catch in so little time. Flying Lotus, an electronic musician, bounced from side to side of his laptop with a big smile. Green Velvet were rockin’ their turntables and even brought out dancers to energize their audience even more. Rapper Lupe Fiasco was a big hit with his crowd and had a very commanding stage presence as he sang all over the place. The Disco Biscuits’ performance area was lit up by light features and lasers that zoomed into sky and treetops.
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The main stage act I was excited about was Nas & Damian Marley…together. In anticipation of their performance, it felt like I was waiting forever for them to begin. Once the stage lights dimmed, a flag bearing the colors of Jamaica was being flown about the stage. Nas, a hip-hop artist took to the stage followed by reggae artist, Damian Marley. The energy of their performances was so intense. Marley, whose father was world-renowned singer, Bob Marley, sang many of his dad’s tunes.
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The entire weekend I felt like the metal ball inside a pinball machine getting moved by the music from one side of the festival grounds to the other. Three full days of walking from stage to stage, getting an education in diverse music and meeting many interesting people...I had one amazing time. The NCMF to me now stands for Nights of Complete Musical Fun!
Editor's note: You can view Janelle's full North Coast Festival photo gallery on Flickr here. You can find Janelle on Facebook at "Music Craving Productions."
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The main stage act I was excited about was Nas & Damian Marley…together. In anticipation of their performance, it felt like I was waiting forever for them to begin. Once the stage lights dimmed, a flag bearing the colors of Jamaica was being flown about the stage. Nas, a hip-hop artist took to the stage followed by reggae artist, Damian Marley. The energy of their performances was so intense. Marley, whose father was world-renowned singer, Bob Marley, sang many of his dad’s tunes.
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Grace Potter and the Nocturnals
September 4, 2010 @ North Coast Music Festival
By Dave Miller
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Van Ghost
September 4, 2010 @ North Coast Music Festival
By Dave Miller
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Review by Dave Miller
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The first North Coast Music Festival lured healthy crowds to Union Park for three days this past weekend thanks to a lineup featuring techno DJs, jam bands and rappers, but it was two rock bands that attracted me to the event on Saturday.
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I heard good things about Van Ghost and Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. The chance to enjoy a last fling with summer and the opportunity to check out a new festival provided further motivation to hit the fest.
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I’m glad I did.
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Grace Potter turned out to be a revelation. She hit the stage like a fireball, dancing and singing like Tina Turner in her prime right down to her long legs and short skirt. Potter is a major talent as a performer. I couldn’t take my eyes off her whether she was singing and dancing or playing keyboards or a V-shaped guitar. She has the voice of a blues belter that keeps up with her physical stage presence. Perhaps her greatest attribute is her ability to lose herself in the moment. She didn’t seem to be performing for the crowd as much as losing herself in her performance.
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It’s a tribute to Potter that she commands so much of your attention onstage considering her band is compelling visually as well as with its playing. Guitarist Scott Tournet gives off a rock vibe as does bassist Catherine Popper, who with her long, black hair and black skirt not only served as a visual foil to Potter, but also looked like she’d be at home playing in a heavy metal band. Drummer Matt Burr with his long hair kept out of his eyes by a red headband and shaggy rhythm guitarist Benny Yurco looked like they were recruited out off a jam band.
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The Nocturnals, from Vermont, lived up to their name by being clad all in black. Their energized playing not only kept up with Potter, but helped support her dazzling presence. I thought to myself early in the set that Potter was losing herself in her performance in a similar way as Cathy Richardson does with her singing. Then later in the set Potter covered “White Rabbit,” which I saw Richardson also cover in a show earlier this year. You have to take a leap and really put yourself out there to sing the song and, like Richardson does, Potter did so in such a way that could have made a choir boy do drugs. Then “White Rabbit” segued into “Nothing But the Water (I)”/”Nothing But the Water (II)” where she sang about washing her soul clean.
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Late in the set, Potter sang “Medicine” with its chorus “She got the medicine that everybody wants” and there was no arguing that. She closed with the risque “Paris (Ooh La La).”
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Earlier in the afternoon, local band Van Ghost represented Chicago well with its strong set on the other main stage. The six-member band featured excellent vocals and strong musicianship, which was showcased by a great mix. Lead singer Michael Harrison Berg’s vocals rang out over the park clear as a bell. The band started well and then soared when Jennifer Hartswick sang and broke out her trumpet. The hypnotizing harmonies of Berg and Hartwick sound like a warm, summer breeze.
Von Ghost allows its songs to take off on little jams which last long enough to be tasty without becoming self-indulgent. They take interesting turns, too, colored by guitarist Grant Tye, bassist Klem Hayes and pedal steel player Rocco Labriola. A highlight was “Easy on Me,” which turned into a full-blown rocker. Hartswick broke out her trumpet again to take the song home.
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The set took a late turn into mediocrity with a ballad followed by another pedestrian pop number, but Van Ghost left a favorable impression with most of its music, which seemed a perfect fit for a late summer afternoon in the park.
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The festival allowed me the opportunity to check out the some of the DJ, techno and rap acts. I sampled The New Deal, Rukus, Jay Electronica and De La Soul, which received a good reception from the crowd who clearly appreciated the old school hip hoppers. I’m a fan of live music and not really a dancer so DJs don’t do much for me. It was interesting to hear the beats and rhythms and momentum created live by a drummer, bassist and keyboardist, but the repetitive nature of the music doesn’t hold my interest and there’s not much to watch onstage. I can see, though, how dancers can get into being part of a large crowd that breathes like a single organism on a dance floor or in a park field.
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The festival crowd contained an eclectic mix of hip hoppers, clubbers and hippies - the latter who came to see Umphrey’s McGee headline at night - along with the music curious and adventurous. There was an easy-going, feel-good vibe in the park. The fest grew more crowded as night fell, but there was still plenty of room for everyone to dance and move from stage to stage. Event organizers look like they've created a success.