CounterPoint 2012 Recap

The Disco Biscuits’ annual ‘Camp Bisco’ (QRO recap) in upstate New York has grown into one of the best melds of the two most popular types of festivals, jam & electronica, and in 2012 the people behind Camp Bisco – along with those behind huge events like Lollapalooza & Austin City Limits (QRO recap) – came down south to Dixie with CounterPoint Music & Arts Festival. Located close to downtown Atlanta, CounterPoint ran Thursday-Saturday, September 27th to 29th.

FRIDAY

Friday was a hot day with fairly low humidity for the Atlanta area. Bouckaert Park was located about twenty minutes from anything, so it was a good location for the largest electronic festival in the Southeast.

Gardens & Villa

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Gardens & Villa played second on the bill. The California band’s singer starting out with flute music created a fresh opener. Soon the other band members joined in and made beautiful sounds to go with the singer’s lush vocals. After a few slow numbers, including a sensuous cover of Fleetwood Mac’s “Gypsy”, Gardens and Villa played dance tunes that got the audience going. They are definitely an up and coming act.

As the stage was being cleared, the air became breezy. Suddenly, there was an announcement that the grounds needed to be evacuated by order of the National Weather Service. The audience was told to go to their cars. A sudden, strong storm hit the grounds for about 45 minutes. Tents were drenched. After the storm, it took about 20 minutes for the acts on the main stages to start again.

Washed Out

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More

Click here for all of QRO’s coverage of Washed Out in the ‘Spotlight On : Washed Out’ feature

Ironically, the next act to play was Washed Out, who performed with a full band. This gave the music a much fuller sound than when Washed Out has performed with just a keyboard. The other band members played keyboard, bass and keyboard, and drums. The bassist-keyboardist and drummer are brothers. Main member and Georgia native Ernest Greene’s (QRO interview) voice was very clear and smooth despite the downpour.

Theophilus London

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M83 cancelled because of water damage to their equipment and were replaced by Theophilus London. The NYC rapper infused rock and soul into his act, which was supported by a full band. There were several breakdowns, heavy drum and bass, and fast beats, as the singer was very energetic. “Hey Big Spender” and a Whitney Houston song played behind their own music. The band played in backlighting about 90% of the time but used full color backgrounds and strobes from top of stage.

AVICII

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Next was AVICII, a DJ extraordinaire who used heavily reverberated keyboards and various styles of music. He played renditions of “Baba O’Reilly” by The Who and “The Tracks of My Tears” by Smokey Robinson. All songs flowed together with wonderful transitional pieces. Placed behind a giant LED screen, graphics included worldwide times, his name, lines and flowing curves. Colored spotlights shot out from the stage at various times, shining on the audience and then into the sky. Although many songs with vocals were pop based, the instrumentals were sometimes classically based.

Bassnectar

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Bassnectar also played behind an LED wall where only his head was visible. The long aired DJ started the largest audience of the night rocking immediately and never slowed down. Definitely the user of the most dubs/wubs, he was an excellent follow up to AVICII’s set. His songs didn’t really transition. As one song ended, another began immediately. But the audience didn’t mind.

SATURDAY

Saturday was overcast but there was no rain. This made the experience more pleasurable, especially for those that were dancing or performing.

Zoogma

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Zoogma from South Carolina said, “We’re proud to represent the Southeast” at the start of their set. The young band created instrumental music with a jazz-fusion edge, as styles ranged from rock guitar grooves to soothing keys and violin to progressive to bouncy techno with rap and/or soul backing tracks. The audience was happy when they covered “Starry Eyed” by Ellie Goulding (QRO live review). Zoogma gave out free CDs at the end of their set.

Reptar

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Reptar from Athens, Georgia mentioned, “It’s been a second since we’ve been here.” Reptar has been on the road constantly touring their new wave influenced indie-pop. The keyboardist, drummer and guitarist were the most energetic in the band, however the bass player lost his glasses two songs in due to sweat and head banging. As the set went on, there came a point where the last few songs sounded heavily influenced by Rush.

Poliça

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The female Thom Yorke has been found. It’s Channy Leaneagh, the lead singer for Poliça, the Minneapolis offshoot of GAYNGS (QRO album review). She sings just as clearly and angelically as Yorke but her range is a bit lower. Her band also resembles Radiohead (QRO live review) excepting the live keyboards and guitar. Keyboards are pre-programmed and started by the bass player and there is no guitar. The band consists of two excellent drummers who lay down downbeat and upbeat rhythms equally well as the bass player blends in perfectly. When the bassist and singer harmonize for more than a few seconds, it becomes almost a duet. The smooth, sweet music has enough of a danceable beat that the singer can dance the slow, flowing Yorke-esque style and the audience can also.

Toro Y Moi

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Toro Y Moi is a funk and soul infused indie pop band from South Carolina. They showed a bit of a nod to Bloc Party (QRO album review) with the rhythm section, but the bassist got much funkier. Keyboards were prominent and the guitarist also manned a keyboard. The singer’s mid-range voice soared as he played sparkling keyboards and distortion synth accents. They were a wonderful afternoon in the park band that also would be fabulous at night with stage lights.

Big Boi

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Big Boi shouted out to Atlantans, “If you’re at home, you’ll never leave,” and he meant it. As he led the crowd in many sing-a-longs, the bass was almost as heavy as the humidity. Old school audience instructions are always a big part of Big Boi’s show and probably will be forever as long as his spectators follow them, as they definitely did at this show. Lots of people sang whatever they were asked by the band, and many knew the lyrics and sang along and danced.

Zeds Dead

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Zeds Dead are DC and Hooks, two DJs with huge talent for blending alternating heavy bass, techno and dub keyboard parts. The internationally famous Canadian duo played behind an LED screen, but kept it colorful and the screen was low enough to be able to see their upper bodies. Zeds Dead had no problem pleasing the large crowd in the Beat tent, getting people dancing even outside as they played their own music and remixes, including a song from Gorillaz (QRO album review).

Skrillex

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Back at the main stage area, Skrillex began his show involved in lots of smoke and lights, so much so that it was nearly impossible to see him amongst the two. He either blended into the darkness between lights or the bright color emitted from them. The LED screen also helped hide him for most of the show as well as a few laser beams. However, he would lean forward to talk and raise his hand with the music’s glissandos. And for the largest audience of night, the friendly, vocal DJ specifically played a song for Georgia and asked how they were feeling. Two reggae style songs that were recorded with Damian ‘Jr. Gong’ Marley were the most popular songs of his show. On Skrillex’s last song, sparkly fireworks shot from the top of the stage.