Bushwick Walkabout 2012 Recap

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Bushwick Walkabout 2012 Recap
SixPoint taste test

Before anything else, special mention should be made of how successful Berman is at lining up alcohol sponsors.  In addition to the open VIP bar, everyone got some free SixPoint Beer and/or 42Below vodka – not to mention a blind taste test table for the four different kinds of SixPoint.  There was even free Mercy, this drink meant to ward off hangover in the morning (to mixed results).

Oh, and if your sign for SixPoint is crumpled, weigh the ends down… with cans of SixPoint.

SixPoint

 

 

FRIDAY, JULY 13TH

Penrose

Penrose

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It’s never easy being the first band at a festival, and Penrose‘s start was delayed not only because the Philadelphia band was late, but also because there was water on the stage floor.  The group did play, though had drum problems throughout their set.  Still, their slow & heavy seventies rock with blues elements got better & better as their performance went on.

Penrose

 

Cavallo

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It’s tempting & easy to call every vocal-less rock band ‘post-rock’, but not having vocals leads any group towards expansive songs that rise and fall.  Such is the case with Cavallo, but they do it well.  There was a mike on the stage, for in-between song chatter – which of course fell off the stage.  Berman stood it back up, but almost put it in front of a speaker (for mondo feedback)…

Cavallo

 

Fast Years

Stop being silly!Click image for full gallery

The pop/rock of Fast Years was kinda pop/punk, but also pop/garage, yet was enjoyable.  They have an engaging too-tall frontman, who for some reason makes one think of a very young Graham Chapman (though maybe that’s just your Python-loving correspondent, who shares a birthday with the late great…).

Interestingly, the first three acts of Bushwick Walkabout had a wide variety of style, something that would become a hallmark of the event.

Fast Years

 

Shapes

ShapesClick image for full gallery

One maybe most associates Brooklyn bands with wild, drunken party-garage, and that was delivered in Shapes.  Let’s see – they had a singer who took his shirt off (and it wasn’t that hot…), a guitarist who ran in place, a smoking bassist, and white girl keyboardist with cornrows.  Oh, and they had a song about how indie-rock is a lie, did a Lil Wayne "Whassup!" impression during a tuning break, and before one song the singer said, "I wrote this song about a sixteen-year-old girl, but it’s okay, ‘cause I was 35 at the time…"

Shapes

 

Viva Mayday

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A light sprinkling of rain began to fall as Viva Mayday took the stage – tarps went over the equipment and VIPs went in the (inside) VIP area, but no more than some light droplets came down, though it did limit the number of people checking out the band.  Unfortunately, their garage got lost amid other acts – not as wild as Shapes, not as pop as Fast Years.  They did have a skankin’ song – and asked who knows what skankin’ is before playing it.

VIva Mayday

 

Slam Donahue

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The more accomplished and skilled Slam Donahue – another Bushwick ’11 returnee – had a nice mixture of garage, fun, and skill.  They were reminiscent of Cloud Nothings (QRO live review), if without the killer single.

[note: the bassist waved at your correspondent while he was taking photos – maybe the best way to acknowledge a photographer, as it’s funny and ironic while only skirting the douche line.

Or maybe he just knew someone standing behind your self-absorbed correspondent…]

Slam Donahue

 

Team Spirit

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Playing the day before their 4Knots appearance (QRO photos), Team Spirit had some straight-up rock ‘n’ roll.  They lifted a beer in praise of beer, and were that kind of band – honest & respectable.  They’re not The Gaslight Anthem (QRO live review), but who is?  They’re just a hard-working rock band.

Team Spirit

 

Town Hall

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The sweet boy-girl harmonies of Town Hall were reminiscent of the next day’s Ravens & Chimes (see below).  But were they right fit between garage-rock party and the headliner?  Would perhaps have done better on Day Two of Bushwick Walkabout.

Town Hall

 

Beast Make Bomb

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not a beastLast year, ArpLine (QRO album review) was supposed to be the Day One headliner, but instead decided that week to break up – with which lead-in Beast Make Bomb got bumped up to headliner, and seriously delivered (QRO photos).  So the band earned their headlining spot on Day One of 2012 Walkabout, though their set couldn’t quite match the prior years.  Of course, it’s always a better set when your super-fan in the crowd is a pretty blonde girl in a white t-shirt & shorts (QRO photo) that leads to some faux-lesbianism, rather than a too-drunk bro who went on stage, tried to sing along, knocked over a cymbal, and had to be semi-pulled off by Berman…

Oh, and being the actual headliner meant that they played later than last year, at past 1:00 AM…

Beast Make Bomb

 

 

SATURDAY, JULY 14

Courtesy Tier

Omer LiebovitzClick image for full gallery

Day Two of Bushwick Walkabout started early, and wasn’t able to make early acts like The Lost Revival, The Aviation Orange (though caught them a couple of Saturdays later at Catalpa – QRO photos), The Glorious Veins, or The Skins.  But thankfully the L train was working (so no over-packed shuttle like last year…), and made it to Brooklyn Fireproof in time to catch favorite act from last year, Courtesy Tier.

Of course, the duo couldn’t be as impressive now, after seeing them a bunch, than last year, the first time your correspondent saw them (QRO photos), but they were still impressive.  A cut above the million-and-one Brooklyn guitar-and-drums groups, the pair sound fuller and more skilled (and aren’t garage…).  Though does singer/guitarist Omer Liebovitz always look like he had a rough night last night?  He needs some Mercy…

Courtesy Tier

 

Hollis Brown

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While Hollis Brown didn’t play Bushwick Walkabout last year, they kind of filled the role of 2011’s Cold Fronts (QRO photos) as the Southern-fried country-blues barroom rock.  Admittedly might be more suited to playing indoors at a bar, but can rock anywhere.

[note: just FYI, Hollis Brown isn’t the name of anyone in the band, but taken from a Dylan song…]

Hollis Brown

 

The Loom

French hornClick image for full gallery

It was a bit of a whiplash to go from Hollis Brown’s barroom rock to the more orchestral The Loom.  They even had a bow on bass & a French horn, for some serious skill.

The Loom

 

Lean Hounds

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The band that traveled the farthest to Bushwick Walkabout was Austin’s Lean Hounds.  Their pressing electro actually reminded of Walkabout ’11 would-have-been headliner ArpLine (QRO album review), through traded in some of that bigness for more darkness.

Lean Hounds

 

The Yes Way

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An actual Walkabout ’11 returnee (and Berman’s favorite band), The Yes Way nicely mixed and integrated sounds, more than any other act at the festival.  That does mean that they don’t stand out as much as other acts, but also that they appeal to more people.

It was a better set-up show by The Yes Way this year – because Bushwick Walkabout in general was set up better than last year, but it particularly stood out at night with a skilled act like The Yes Way.

The Yes Way

 

Pre War

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At any festival there is at least one, often more, acts that you didn’t see enough of, but sounded good, and Pre War had that distinction at Bushwick Walkabout 2012.  Like the prior Yes Way, they’re accomplished indie-rockers who don’t feel the need to stick to a genre.  This means that they’re more skilled than most other bands playing the festival, but also not as memorable; would certainly be more appreciated at their own show.

Pre War

 

Ravens & Chimes

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RavenWhile Bushwick Walkabout is great for discovering new bands, it’s also really enjoyable to hear a band when you actually know their songs.  And Ravens & Chimes are so catchy, you know their songs.  Of course, most indie-pop is enjoyable – that’s the floor for the sound, but Ravens & Chimes do more.  It’s fuller, in terms of straight-up instrumentation.  It’s quite easy for a person to do indie-pop – it’s quite harder to have a band do full-fledged indie-pop.

Ravens & Chimes

 

Xylos

Xylos

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XylosClosing out Bushwick Walkabout 2012 was Xylos, a new local favorite who should be headlining something.  Their accomplished electro is amplified by an engaging frontwoman (and cheers to Walkabout for having so many female-fronted acts in what is still a male-heavy indie-rock scene), balanced by an active guitarist/keyboardist on one side, and a calm & cool keyboardist on the other.

 

 

Given his skill with booking alcohol sponsors, Bob Berman could certainly book one or two bigger acts at Bushwick Walkabout, for your more traditional ‘headliner & openers’ festival line-up, rather than the more evenly balanced throughout the day & night set-up he’s had going these past two years.  But then it’s just a pair of regular shows with more than usual number of openers – and that’s not what Walkabout is about.

Instead, Bushwick Walkabout lets you catch a whole host of great bands that you don’t know about but should (and probably will later on).  One might come to the fest because you know & like one band, only to discover some new ones.  Or you might just want to get a healthy slice of what’s going down in indie-rock – before everyone else.  Hell, you might just want some free drinks.  Any way you cut it, you get what you came for & more…

 

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