80/35 Day 2

Day two of 80/35 was just as crazy rad as the first. The threat of rain may have caused some people to wait it out a bit. Or they were really hungover from the Girl Talk party the night before. Whatever the reason, the crowd started out a bit sparse on Sunday with Rebel Creek opening the day. Those of us that got there early were handsomely rewarded with a killer performance by local boys, Rebel Creek. At such a young age, these guys have already mastered the perfect combination of rock and blues music and have the stage presence to please the crowd. Keep your eye on this band because they have real, raw talent.

I stuck around the main stage to check out Yelawolf and indulge my love for hip hop music. It may be a shock to some, but I don’t just listen to hippie jam bands all of the time. I’m a fan of nasty beats. The first thing I thought during this performance was that Yelawolf sounds just like Eminem. Well, it all made sense when he said that he was signed by Eminem. Will the real Slim Shady please stand up? Although it was fun, I don’t know that I need another Eminem spinning on my playlist.

I decided to check back in on my local band homies and went to listen to the River Monks. What I love about this band is the unique sounds they put together from the vocals to the instruments. And you can get up and dance or just sit back and chill during the set. I chose to kick back and chill as I was running on little sleep and no food. I’m getting old…

Back on the main stage was Karl Denson’s Tiny Universe. This was another performance that brought the funk to downtown Des Moines. I was not as familiar with Karl Denson as I am with Galactic, but after this weekend I know I will be adding some of this funky flavor to my regular iPod mix.

How my time was spent after this will be a later post as it was one of the coolest things I have gotten to do since I started this blog. I can’t wait to share the details on that later…

It was time for me to go local again for a bit with the Parlours. I am perpetually hard on female singers for the most part. I think I have been slightly ruined by the Ke$ha’s and Lady Gaga’s of the world. But front woman Dana Halferty won me over several months ago. Her voice lends itself perfectly to the folk-pop sound of the Parlours. It is sweet but strong.

As I just said, I am not usually the biggest fan of female singers. However, there are three women that I like to call my girl crushes as they have the talent, the style and badass attitude that can blow any male rockstar out of the water.

1. Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs

2. Liz Berlin from Rusted Root

3. Grace Potter

I think the most overheard phrase of the day was “I’m in love with Grace Potter.” And this was from men and women alike. Grace is one badass chic. I ran into the equally as lovely and badass Bonne Finken earlier in the day, and I think she summed up Grace Potter perfectly, “She is like a Heidi Klum that can sing.” The pipes on this chic are unreal. She was laying it down with rock, pop and even a gospel sound. If you didn’t love her before, I’m sure you changed your mind after that performance.

I rounded out my night by dancing my ass off to one of my new favorite bands, the Macpodz. The perfect blend of horns, drums, guitar, keyboard and bongos, these guys barely have to incorporate much in terms of vocals. I made several new friends while having a giant hippie dance party that resulted in free hugs all around. Yes, it’s true, I skipped of Montreal, but for me, the night ended perfectly with the Macpodz. To each their own