10/6/07 - L.A. Weekly Detour Music Festival, Los Angeles, CA

vikkivale · Post by **vikkivale** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:24 am

I was there too and I have a very different take. I had a great time! Unfortunately, I was right up front on the side (in front of a speaker) so I didn't have the best sound from where I was standing. But, every time I turned around to look at the crowd, everyone was going apeshit...pumping their fists and singing along so I dunno...

Post by **Mike** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:02 pm

October 8, 2007

POP MUSIC REVIEW
Detour Festival demonstrates the problem with being all things
Eclecticism reigns. Is that giving the crowd what it wants? Or just a big mess?

By August Brown, Los Angeles Times Staff Writer

Early in the afternoon at Saturday's Detour Festival downtown, a man in lime green sunglasses and a checked kaffiyeh scarf rode a scooter down Main Street to catch a set from art-rap duo the Cool Kids. His outfit was a one-stop collection of twentysomething urbanite fashion atrocities, but it symbolized how today's cool kids look at music. Taste in bands (like wardrobe accessories) is about curating eclecticism. Nothing's lamer than admitting you aren't equally versed in Parisian house, vintage reggae and knob-twiddling shoe-gaze music, all of which were on the plate at Detour.

The result of that approach, however, can be a bit of a mess. This year's Detour-goers got a head-scratching mix of vaguely popular indie-rock bands, aggressively chic DJ sets from hot-to-trot newcomers Ed Banger Records and Perry Farrell's latest misguided project, Satellite Party. If scattershot genre-hopping keeps one cheaply bleached DJ in a T-shirt with the words "I Love You But I've Chosen Disco" off the streets, it's for the best. But it doesn't mean that eclecticism for its own sake makes for a satisfying concert.

The best sets were from the lowest-profile bands. The Cool Kids' nerdy, virtuosic rhymes about cardigan sweaters and how they're "the new black Beastie Boys" reached dizzying heights of reverse cultural appropriation, and the Aggrolites' airtight reggae was blue-collar stylish.

Detour's most out-there act, the Mexican techno-punk-samba quintet Kinky, actually best embodied the festival's genre-exoticism, pulling it off with grinning enthusiasm. These musicians also nodded to their status as the sonic "immigrant aliens" of the festival, as the audience didn't quite know how to process a band that beat them at their own game of style-mashing.

The wheels started coming off of Detour during the target-market rock sets, though the Noisettes' spiky spy-movie rock and navel-gazing Autolux sounded great bouncing off the downtown skyscrapers. Jittery new-wave group Moving Units buckled under computer gear problems, while the Shout Out Louds' MOR indie-pop missed the live charisma that its Swedish cohorts Peter Bjorn & John (who weren't at Detour) have in spades. Satellite Party's New Age hair metal perpetuated the question of whether Farrell has lost his mind or if his new band is a deliriously ironic joke on Jane's Addiction fans.

Clearly the night belonged to French coke-house duo Justice, as fans literally sprinted down Main Street to get prime dancing spots (and scenesters run about as often as rappers smile on album covers). The band has a merciless attention deficit for any sound snippet longer than a few seconds. Justice bashes disco singalongs, gut-rumbling bass lines and squealing-siren wails together so quickly that they eventually add up to a cohesive, singular sound.

Xavier de Rosnay and Gaspard Augé radiated goofy metal-head charm (De Rosnay took the stage on a skateboard and smoked throughout the set), and it's no surprise that of all the blog-house acts to break in 2007, this one is fast becoming the genre's biggest star. Justice still needs to decide how to put on a visually interesting live show, but playful gestures such as splicing the bawdy chorus from 20 Fingers' "Short Short Man" over devil-horned synth riffs suggest this group is smart enough to figure it out soon.

The closing set from Bloc Party epitomized Detour's unnecessary need to be all things to all American Apparel shoppers. There are a few revelatory tracks on the post-punk band's latest album, "A Weekend in the City," but live the band is unsure if it wants to be a jagged party-starter or transcendent arena act. "Please be safe," frontman Kele Okereke asked an audience member sitting dangerously close to a City Hall ledge. Detour Festival tried not to play it safe but ended up there anyway.

august.brown@latimes.com

http://www.calendarlive.com/music/pop/c ... 0506.story

Post by **Mike** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 1:07 pm

Detour Fest 07 Proved Worth the Detour to Downtown LA

June Caldwell
October 8, 2007

Picture of Bloc Party by Rodger Caldwell
Review of 2nd Annual LA Weekly Detour Festival 2007 on Saturday, October 6, 2007
Downtown LA

One of those amazing days in Los Angeles due to uproarious wind the night before, it was spectacularly clear and gorgeous. From downtown LA you could see mountains and blue sky and imagine how it got so crowded here. All the stars were in alignment because this was the day of the second annual LA Weekly Detour Festival. Last year it oddly was competing with a festival down the street the exact same day with Kinky headlining down the street. This time Kinky was part of the Detour Festival with the rest of the excellent line up. The theme this year seemed to be new bands that have old-school roots. Big progressive rock sounds, soul and (gasp!) real solid guitar licks.

We were glued at the City Hall East Stage for most of the afternoon. Starting out unfortunately with The Pity Party, somehow voted as the winning local band, and hardly worth the title - the stage’s line up built up, up, up from there - with one exciting artist after another.

City Hall East

Pity Party – One of LA’s most overrated local bands, annoying and well-titled, almost unlistenably off-key, a duo that would not be improved by more band members.

Nico Vega – A band with classic rock roots, large sound evocative of big hair, looking for a center, but solid chops.

Kinky – LA meets Mexico in the dance party of the year every year. Crisp Latin grooves mixed with techno heart and soul.

Satellite Party – Perry Ferrell’s new project was the anticipated buzz of the day. Surprisingly languid and layered like Flaming Lips, the band harkened back to early Jane’s Addiction, Perry’s roots. Also able to speed rock they covered a wide stance.

Bloc Party – UK’s spiky sounding arguably most defining export of this millennium. Gang of Four meets the Futureheads. Their lead singer was charismatic as ever.

Justice – the one band so much anticipated we schlepped to another stage for. The dance tune duo from France didn’t live up to the hype but laid down some irresistible grooves and catchy sing-along hooks.

This was just some of non-stop music on four stages, with the City Hall East stage boasting far and away the best line up. LA Weekly’s Detour Festival proved once again that downtown LA has finally made it’s mark as an entertainment center and worth the detour from the freeways it is surrounded with.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articl ... leID=39715

Post by **Mike** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 3:25 pm

Everybody's Friend wrote:
janesayssitdown wrote:so the girl i went with, went to 2 or 3 janes addiction shows in 2003 and 2004.

shes been to awesome shows all around the world.

she knows her music, writes for some online magazines and shit like that.

anyways, i could go on and on about how awesome she is, but thats not the point.....

the point is, shes a fan but far removed from xiola.org bulllllllshit and stuff like that.

but yeah, during hard life easy tonight i looked over at her and said "im ready to go when ever you are" and she said "ok lets go now."

so as soon as we got far enough away to talk she looked over at me and said "dude, that was fucking pathetic."

epic words from an epic woman.

but yeah, then i ran into brian posehn and got a picture with him so it was worth it.

i have to give perry credit though, the ehco on his voice was perfect. just because was cool, and mountain song actually sounded decent. however, tahitian moon has been ruined for me, whatever soul the song had has been ruined, it sounded like a straight rock song. celebrate and hard life easy both BLEWWWW. the new guitarist couldnt do nunos parts or something.

but, autolux and justice were cool.

bloc party sucked though.........

ill scan my ticket and the pamplet for you later.

This post will self-destruct via admin in 3.....2......1.....

janesayssitdown, so I take it you didn't like the show.

That's cool.
As I've said many times if we all liked / disliked the same things the world would be a very boring place.
I've talked to two people that were there and their opinions are the complete opposite.
It doesn't mean they're right and you're wrong.
It just means your opinions differ.
Thanks for taking the time to review the show.

Everybody's Friend, I hardly ever delete any one's posts.
Usually when I do it's because the post is attacking in nature or defamatory.
I know I deleted one of your posts a little while back and I'll give you the reason since it seems to be on your mind.
You quoted somebody on another message board and used their post in a way that I didn't feel reflected their opinion.
If you've something to say whether it's positive or negative feel free to do so.
I do however spend much of my time trying to make this a nice place for fans of Perry and his work to visit and if your posts cross the line they will be removed.
I refuse to let people shit on my hard work.
I hope that makes sense but if you or anyone else have any questions feel free to ask.

janesayssitdown · Post by **janesayssitdown** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 7:40 pm

if you dont already have one

and

nexis · Post by **nexis** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 8:53 pm

I don't know about every show but from the one SP did in Orlando and from the youtube clips i've seen, Perry is really outdoing himself in terms of performance. His vocals have stepped up a notch from the old days and he's putting his whole heart into the performance. I was amazed/floored at what I was seeing/hearing and wish I could've seen more but they only did 1 show in the entire state of FL!

RyanJustAdmitIt · Post by **RyanJustAdmitIt** » Mon Oct 08, 2007 10:41 pm

Yo Janesays, so your whole review is based on this "awesome" chick who writes for some magaine. Music journalists are some of the most jaded and pretentious motherfuckers I have ever met, who have NEVER experienced any type of true scene and are thouroughly soulless when it comes down to it.
Do you like the Satellite Party record to begin with? Do you appreciate Perry's work beyond Janes? Personally I LOVE Ultra-Payloaded, and I feel that the SP show I saw in Philly is among the BEST I've seen and experienced ever. And the band has only just begun. Everything they played sounded amazing, Perry's voice was top-notch. I will agree that the current guitar work is not pefect, but it is still great. And sure, if I had a dream come true scenario I would love to see Perk still banging the beats, but the band is still fuckin rocking.

janesayssitdown · Post by **janesayssitdown** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:38 am

(a quick edit-dear nothingshocking....... please dont delete my post. ryan attacked and now i must respond. sincerely, kenny)

RyanJustAdmitIt wrote:Yo Janesays, so your whole review is based on this "awesome" chick who writes for some magaine. Music journalists are some of the most jaded and pretentious motherfuckers I have ever met, who have NEVER experienced any type of true scene and are thouroughly soulless when it comes down to it.

hi ryan,
some fun facts for you-

1. i never said she was a "music journalist." you made that part up in your head. shes actually an engineering student who writes for an online magazine, for free, because she gets into shows and gets to interview rockstars and stuff like that. its sort of a hobby.
2. your reading comprehension must be rather low, or you stoped reading after i said "epic words from an epic woman." she served as more of a device that allowed me to introduce a) the fact that i left early and b) the fact that i was not alone in my opinion, an unbiased (non xiola.org member janes fan) felt the same way. the bulk of my review had nothing to do with her.......

Do you like the Satellite Party record to begin with?

half and half. i have a signed copy from the original members and saw them twice before detour. both times i thought they were pretty damn good.

Do you appreciate Perry's work beyond Janes?

such a hard hitting question..... you should be an investigative reporter.

either that or like a psychiatrist or something. you can talk me through the fact that i thought they sucked the last time i saw them.

seriously dude, one time i was in the park, and i saw two guys kissing. that was the gayest thing i had ever seen until i read that question.

Personally I LOVE Ultra-Payloaded, and I feel that the SP show I saw in Philly is among the BEST I've seen and experienced ever. And the band has only just begun. Everything they played sounded amazing,

heyyyyy, thats great kid. sorry, i was wrong and my "soulles, pretentious motherfucking journalist" friend was wrong too. we were wrong in thinking that the concert we went to was any different than the concert you went to on the other side of the country. please accept my apology.

Perry's voice was top-notch.

janesayssitdown in the review ryan didnt like wrote: i have to give perry credit though, the ehco on his voice was perfect.

I will agree that the current guitar work is not pefect, but it is still great. And sure, if I had a dream come true scenario I would love to see Perk still banging the beats, but the band is still fuckin rocking.

ill call perk up and see what i can do.

in the mean time........

go fuck yourself asshole.

janesayssitdown · Post by **janesayssitdown** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 12:48 am

vikkivale wrote: I was there too and I have a very different take. I had a great time! Unfortunately, I was right up front on the side (in front of a speaker) so I didn't have the best sound from where I was standing. But, every time I turned around to look at the crowd, everyone was going apeshit...pumping their fists and singing along so I dunno...

yeah, mountain song sounded pretty good. people were going pretty crazy.

i thought it seemed rather tame though other than that.

im glad you had a nice time. venice and burbank were just infinantly better to me.

Japhy · Post by **Japhy** » Tue Oct 09, 2007 7:52 am

Whoa! I thought i was having a bad day!!! Janesayssitdown is gonna blow

I hear what you're saying though mate, and fair enough, you didn't like it. I saw them with Nuno and that, and it was a great show - surprised me cos i wasn't massively into the CD at the time. I've only seen them on the box with the new guys and i wasn't impressed at all. But they've now played a ton of shows and i'll reserve all judgement until they hit the UK again - but believe me, your review is as useful and meaningful as all the good ones and i'll go expecting the best and / or worst.

Quite the reaction to Ryan! I didn't think he was baiting you as much as you felt but hey whatever. I love a bit of banter and the occasional slate but i also dig the vibe that Mike is creating over here - it's all positive... kinda means that bad reviews will get jumped on mate, even if it is valid!!

Have a good day... and your chick sounds cute, seriously!

Japh