Escape Music Festival 2014 Preview

After many years of drought, New York is finally doing the festivals right, and now stretches the festival season into October (thanks, global warming!) with Escape, which comes to Governors Island on October 11th & 12th:

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 11th

Main Stage Moby, 10:15 PM – 12:00 AM Few artists know more about music & where it’s going than Moby (QRO live review). The iconic musician helped bring electronic music to the masses (QRO photos in Europe), both in his recorded material like 2011’s Destroyed (QRO album review) and last year’s Innocents, and in a plenary of licensing deals. While he’s great with his full band (QRO live review with band), he’s also one of the few artists you’d actually watch DJ (QRO photos DJing at a festival), thanks to his incredible music knowledge (including predicting the rise of something like iTunes in an Economist article years before Apple put out the iPod).
Placebo, 8:15 PM – 9:45 PM Long-standing British alt-rock act Placebo (QRO photos in the U.K.) come to Escape (QRO photos at a festival) behind last year’s Loud Like Love (QRO review).
Yeasayer, 6:15 PM – 7:45 PM The experimental Yeasayer (QRO live review outdoors) combine electronica, rock, and even tribal sounds, making them sound like the music of the cyberpunk future, multi-cultural in ways you’d never foresee (QRO live review). They’ve been steadily building since 2007’s All Our Cymbals (QRO review) and the futuristic “2080” (QRO video) & “Wait For the Summer” (QRO video), and managed to beat the sophomore curse with 2010’s impressive Odd Blood (QRO review) and songs “Ambling Alp” (QRO video) & “O.N.E.” (QRO video). They’ve also got a fascinating stage presence (QRO photos outdoors), especially at festivals (QRO photos at a festival) – even overseas (QRO live review in the U.K.) & in foreign-speaking lands (QRO photos at a German festival). The group (QRO spotlight on) comes to Escape behind 2012’s Fragrant World (QRO review) and songs like “Reagan’s Skeleton” (QRO video) – though guitarist Anand Wilder (QRO interview) has stopped wearing his camo jumpsuits.
The Crystal Method, 4:45 PM – 5:45 PM Los Angeles-by-way-of-Las Vegas, Ken Jordan & Scott Kirkland form The Crystal Method. They’ve done everything from TV to video games, films to advertisements, as well as put out their own material from platinum-selling Vegas to this year’s self-titled album.
Ra Ra Riot, 3:15 PM – 4:15 PM Oh, how they’ve grown (QRO spotlight on)! In the less than six years since their self-titled EP (QRO review) and the death of singer/drummer John Pike, the Nor’easter collective Ra Ra Riot (QRO photos) has not only rebounded but exploded (QRO photos at a festival), embracing life even more on 2008’s excellent The Rhumb Line (QRO review) than early single “Dying Is Fine” (QRO video) could have predicted. Ra Ra Riot’s live show (QRO live review) sees everyone but the new drummer running around on stage like kids on candy (especially singer Wesley Miles – QRO interview – but also guitarist Milo Bonacci – QRO interview – and bassist Mathieu Santos – QRO interview), but they’re also relative road ‘veterans’ (QRO photos at a festival), from near-immediately after Pike’s death (QRO live review) to outdoor festivals (QRO photos outdoors at a festival) to in-stores (QRO photos) – even at an Apple Store (QRO photos) – to industry showcases (QRO photos at an industry showcase) to bigger & bigger rock clubs (QRO photos) to bigger & bigger outdoor venues (QRO live review outdoors) to opera houses (QRO live review) to fashion launch parties (QRO live review) – and even the occasional basement show (QRO photos). They’re also building in songbook, from early numbers like “Each Year” (QRO video) and “Can You Tell?” (QRO video) to Rhumb single “Ghost Under Rocks” (QRO video) and the Pike-penned “St. Peter’s Day Festival” (QRO video) to “Too Dramatic”, from 2010’s follow-up The Orchard (QRO review), and now “Dance With Me” (QRO video) & “I Shut Off” (QRO video) from last year’s new, more dancetronica, Beta Love (QRO review). Before Beta Love the band did see the departure of cellist Alexandra Lawn (QRO interview) – so what will happen to the usual tight pack of males (QRO photos at a festival) in front of everyone’s indie-rock crush (QRO photos in 2013)?
STRFKR, 2:15 PM – 2:45 PM Once and sometimes still known as ‘Starfucker’ (QRO photos) – and also as PYRAMID – having ‘fuck’ in your name isn’t the career handicap it used to be, as the Portland-based electronic band STRFKR (QRO photos) have been making dance music that’s also great to listen to (QRO photos at a festival), so they should know how to do a DJ set at Escape. Also: Basecamp, 1:15 PM – 1:45 PM
Courtyard Stage Moon Boots, 9:00 PM – 11:00 PM Closing out the first night of Courtyard Stage is big-name DJ Moon Boots.
Neon Indian, 7:30 PM – 9:00 PM Alan Palomo worked solo as VEGA (QRO photos at a festival) before recruiting a full band as Neon Indian (QRO photos at the same festival), but returns to his DJ days at Escape.
Also: Plastic Plates & Sam Sparro, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM Wolf + Lamb, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM JDH & Dave P, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM The Unsheathed, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Follow Me, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 12th

Main Stage Girl Talk, 11:00 PM – 12:00 AM Greg Gillis (Girl Talk – QRO photos at a festival) moved from biomedical tissue engineering to DJ mash-up engineering (QRO photos at a festival), taking samples from across the spectrum and making something very new (QRO photos at a festival). While he started out playing clubs, he’s graduated to ballroom & even the great outdoors (QRO photos outdoors) – but that just means he’s got bigger stages (QRO photos outdoors at a festival) and festivals (QRO photos at a festival) to fill with dancing concertgoers (QRO photos at a festival).
Mayer Hawthorne, 9:30 PM – 10:30 PM Actual name Andrew Cohen (QRO photos), he adopted his middle name & name of the street he grew up on (isn’t that how you get your porn name?…) for 2009’s A Strange Arrangement, and comes to Escape behind his third record, last year’s Where Does This Door Go.
The Joy Formidable, 7:30 PM – 8:30 PM Welsh powerhouse The Joy Formidable (QRO spotlight on) has already taken Europe (QRO photos at a European festival), Canada (QRO photos at a festival in Canada), Australia and even The States (QRO photos) by storm with expertly played opening slots alongside Passion Pit (QRO live review outdoors), Temper Trap (QRO live review) and Editors (QRO album review). The impressive trio (QRO live review) got a killer live show (QRO live review) to go with 2010’s killer The Big Roar (QRO review), and now they’ve got follow-up Wolf’s Law (QRO review) – so be ready for a jolly good time (QRO photos at a festival)! Be sure to catch killer frontwoman Ritzy Bryan as she rocks Escape (QRO photos at a festival) with bassist Rhydian Dafydd (QRO interview) and exuberant drummer Matt Thomas (QRO live review).
Also: ASTR, 6:00 PM – 7:00 PM – QRO photos at a festival Tesla Boy, 4:30 PM – 5:30 PM Anoraak, 3:00 PM – 4:00 PM The Most Definitely, 1:00 PM – 2:30 PM
Courtyard Stage Technasia, 10:30 PM – 12:00 AM Boris, 9:00 PM – 10:30 PM Miss Kittin, 7:30 PM – 10:00 PM Sebastien Leger, 6:00 PM – 7:30 PM Alan Fitzpatrick, 4:30 PM – 6:00 PM Toni Varga & Marc Maya, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM Sleepy & Boo, 2:00 PM – 3:00 PM Alex English, 1:00 PM – 2:00 PM

For full website, go here: http://escapemusicfest.com/