Sweet start to a summer filled with song...

I had been anticipating this weekend for some time now but my excitement really kicked up when I actually received our tickets to the "KINK on the Waterfront" Concert Weekend: eight bands at an awesome outdoor venue over the course of two days for $50.

The gorgeous weather we had experienced earlier in the month got my hopes up a little bit but it is the start of Rose Festival so I couldn't raise them too high.  The start of the Rose Festival is notorious for rainy weather and, true to form, we truly had our share of Pacific Northwest Sog this past week.  Mother Nature, however, had different plans for the weekend and we were blessed with cool, partly cloudy evenings with just a bit of a breeze. Truly beautiful, outdoor concert weather for Portland, Oregon.

The concert weekend was part of the Rose Festival and directly attached to the CityFair which carries it's own unique brand of entertainment but I won't get started on that carnival.  I always have such high hopes for it and it never fails to leave me with underwhelmed.  Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of most things Rose Festival, the CityFair just isn't one of them.

Fair food, on the other hand, still holds an exciting allure.  Will it be as awful as it sounds?  Will it be a suprising taste treat?  Will I regret this in the morning?  I won't dwell too much on the food in this particular blog and will save my culinary musings for BiGMoUtH but if I could do it again I would do the TriTip sandwich and the Smoked Mac and Cheese from Bates Steakhouse all over again.  This was legit.  This food cart actually represents a pretty spendy steakhouse in Eugene and I was excited to be getting such delicious fare at fair food prices.

Now, onto the music. I love music.  I love live music.  I love live music played outdoors best of all. 

Saturday night's line-up started with Fort Atlantic, a duo featuring singer/songwriter Jon Black from Athens, Georgia. You cannot deny his talent nor that of drummer, Josh Cannon.  Sweet, lush harmonies like those in their KINK featured song  "Let Your Heart Hold Fast" lend to sleepy easy listening.  This was looking to be a very mellow evening.

 The second band, also sleepy sounding, Wake Owl.  Wonderful lyrics.  Soft, emotionally compelling.  Pacific Northwest based (?).  My current "favorite song" is their "Wild Country". Smile.  These guys were great to watch and sweet to listen to but nothing to pull you out of your lawn chair, per se. Not that that was a bad thing, I was really comfy in my new low back lawn chair. It felt like it was time for a nap.

The evening really began to pick up with Sons of Fathers.  Yes, yet another great thing associated with Austin, Texas.  I think these guys are well versed enough to headline on their own but they fit into the festival concert scene with amazing ease and have played plenty including Bonaroo and Austin City Limits.  They spoke easily with the crowd and played with energy and enthusiasm.  And come on, a stand up bass?  You know they rock.  They put on a great show to a very appreciative audience.  I was just happy to wake up from my snooze.  I was beginning to feel my age. 

It is a good thing I was able to nap earlier because Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros were here to play.  Alex Ebert and Jade Castrinos put on a beautiful show to behold.  I had seen them once before in the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall- delightful.  Best part of the evening really came during "Home".  I know this may sound sappy but in the part where Jade and Alex used to hold a dialogue about their own relationship, they asked audience members to come up with a story.  A young girl bravely spoke up about how her mother and her were huge fans and were there that evening to celebrate the mother's victory over a bout with cancer.  Immediately choked up.  It took Alex and Jade a couple of moments to re- compose and carry on with the finish to a really wonderful evening.  I was happy to be a part of it.  

Sunday Evening's line-up was much "peppier" so to speak, and felt more like four headliners than a progression of bands.  We started with Milo Green, an amazing group of multi- talented, multi- tasking musicians.  They can move through a mellow mooded harmony into a raucous riff with ease.  Their lead single "1957" is a good start but don't finish listening there. 

Move onto Michael Kiwanuka.  This Londoner has a voice to swoon over and guitar skills to match.  He began his set with his soon to be iconic "Tell Me a Tale" and continued through a repetoire of beautiful music that really defied genre or generation even when covering Jimi Hendrix.  Touring the rest of the summer with Mumford and Sons, I'm sure his own following will grow to massive proportions fairly quickly.  

Following Mr. Kiwanuka was the blues(?) rock-duo, little hurricane.  I know I'll probably take a lot of guff for this but I don't like them.  They strike me as a cheap White Stripes knock-off duo.  I guess they killed 'em at SXSW and people love to rave about gritty, dirty, edgy boy-girl combos.  Perhaps the venomous lyrics they spew tainted my soul and turned my mood foul.  Perhaps I'm just not the 40-something post-punk hippie I thought I was.  Perhaps I'm simply un-impressed.  The male part/counterpart Anthony Catalono has an interesting voice and he carries a cool bluesy feel but the drummer, Celeste Spina who can really kill it on the drumkit, didn't really do much for me vocally.  I wonder why these two actually got to claim seperate billing with the headliner...

Then, oh then, Fitz and the Tantrums. Michael Fitzpatrick, Noelle Scaggs, James King, Joseph Karnes, Jermy Ruzumna and John Wicks.   I give you all of their names because individually they are some of the most talented musicians and hold fabulous stage presence.  As a whole they are Fitz and the Tantrums and give one of the best concerts I've seen in a while.  "Fitz" and Noelle are the fronts for this group and they not only command the audience's attention but participation as well.  In a nice way.  When they say "dance" you WANT to dance.  They were able to get a couple hundred people (at least) to kneel down in the sandy trampled lawn of Waterfront Park because they "like to get low".  The band has a retro feel but only in as much as they remind me of great bands and musicians who have made me want to dance and sing myself.  Their energy and enthusiasm is electifying and contagious.  Their initial album effort Picking Up the Pieces went to #1 on Billboard and their sophomore effort, More Than Just a Dream, is just as infectious.  In a good way.  

Overall, KINK and the Rose Festival did a fine job of putting on two nights of really amazing music and I would not hesitate to return to the RoZone for future concert events.