After the Jump Festival

Saturday I volunteered at the After the Jump Festival. The day show actually wound up being inside which was probably better since it was sooo hot out. I wound up having a good time, met a lot of people, saw a lot of bands - none of which I'd ever heard before. None of them were really stuff I would regularly listen to, but they all put on very energetic performances and seemed to be having a good time.

Locksley was one of the first bands to go on and their show was very lively. Ra Ra Riot also really went all out - towards the end of their set they were really on. They started to sound very Police-ish. One of the last songs they played "St. Peters Day Festival" was written by their drummer who recently passed away. It was a very poignant moment when they mentioned it in the beginning, and a lot of emotion came through as they played the song even though it was an upbeat, loud one. The last band that went on was Spectrum. They were very atmospheric and shoegazey. Initially they reminded me of Ulrich Schnauss a bit (which I was glad about since I will be missing both of his NY shows since they fall on the same days as the Chemical Brothers). Overall though they are a bit different than Ulrich...their lyrics are more prominent, but they definitely have a similar sound in terms of the music.

I left Studio B around 8:30 to stop home, eat something, change, before heading back for the night show...but I never made it back. I Wound up having dinner and drinks with my roommate and our friend Mark...and then I was pretty much down for the count - I had been at Studio B since 11 and was pretty beat. Oh well...c'est la vie...I had a really good time during the day. There was a pretty good turnout. Everything seemed to run very smoothly and people seemed to have a good time. From what I've read the night show was pretty awesome and a lot of money was raised for NYC school music programs which was what it was all about. I missed Riot in Belgium...but I'm glad it all went as well as it did and that I got to help out with an event for such a good cause.