Sunset Junction has always presented itself to me, first and foremost, as the perfect venue to catch up on local artists. Miss a residency at Spaceland? Keep hearing about a new Silver Lake band but haven't gotten around to checking out their MySpace pace? Well, Sunset Junction is for you. It’s a modern day headphones wall in that gone-but-not-forgotten CD Megastore of yesteryear, a place to try new things and rediscover old ones.
Sunday's lineup included Mika Miko, Local Natives, Nico Stai, Love Grenades, Dengue Fever, and Fool's Gold—all Los Angeles locals. Though the crowd at Sunset Junction seemed to have shifted from Saturday's hipsters to Sunday's shirtless musclemen, no band did a better job of uniting the festival than my perennial favorite, Fool's Gold, a band that has enough chops for the indie set and enough danceable grooves for the burners.
Norteño-defenders Nortec Collective also united the two festival camps. They aren't from L.A. proper, but brought a big enough Tijuana crowd to have been hometown favorites.
Saturday’s festival-goers woke from their mid-day naps and made their way back to the Junction after Nortec Collective’s set, so the Sunday artists yet to take the stage—heavy hitters Arrested Development and Built to Spill—got the audience they deserved.
Arrested Development, as relevant for their positive message today as they were during the bi-costal hip-hop war of the early 90s, looked like they could keep going for another 15 years. Built To Spill, meanwhile, deserves a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction for more-or-less inventing indie rock. They proved their worth at the festival by closing out the weekend with a brilliant set running almost two hours, their final notes of feedback the last live notes that will hit the valley until next year's fest.
If there is one, that is. Every year it seems the festival’s existence is in jeopardy.
And yet, for all of her wonderful traditions, Los Angeles has no Carnival, no Outside Lands, not even a McCarren Park Pool Party. The one (admittedly small) festival that represents L.A. in the pantheon of outdoor summer concerts has been, for 29 years, Sunset Junction. I can't think of any tradition more deserving of another year.
Originally in Los Angeles Magazine
No comments:
Post a Comment