8:15 Girl Talk, possibly the most talented mash-up artist on the planet, is rocking the party. Dozens of fans from the crowd are on stage dancing in various stages of undress, turning the main stage into one big dance floor. There was a short line of folks waiting to get on stage and dance to Girl Talk’s laptop-driven creations and I momentarily thought about getting in that line so I could cut loose. But I decided if I’m not wearing a Teletubby costume then I’m not dancing on stage.
The highlight of Girl Talk’s set for me was when he played Lil Wayne’s “A Milli” over Weezer’s “Say It Aint So.” I played out a scenario in my head where the two artists actually meet and the introductions went down similar to David Letterman’s infamous Uma-Oprah bomb. “Weezy meet Weezer. Weezer, Weezy.” And yes, it’s like that inside of my head.
8:30 Thee Emergency, a band I’ve wanted to see for about two years now, is playing a terrific set of garage-rock blues. Singer Dita Voxx is getting down with her bad mohawked self, rocking the crowd as her beautifully soulful voice soars through Neumos. If you get a chance to catch Thee Emergency live you definitely should do it.
9:00 I’ve been intrigued by the Blood Brothers side project (well, okay it is not a side project, it is an actual band since The Blood Bros. broke up) Champagne Champagne because they are a hip-hop group, and hip hop is the exact opposite of the Blood Brothers.
Consisting of two MCs (one who was wearing a Nirvana shirt and the other a Beavis Butthead tee) and a DJ, the group came hard and heavy with some pretty solid beats and rhymes. The trouble with their set was that the sound seemed to be rigged for a rock show (which is mostly what was featured inside of King Cobra for the day) and, well, as I mentioned, Champagne Champagne is hip hop. But other than the sound levels being off, the energy was good and the music that I could make out, sounded good too.
9: 15 What to say about Les Savy Fav?
Well, I can tell you these guys are showmen. The singer, who looks like a balding, middle-aged, potbellied biker, is a rambunctious son of a gun. The group’s post-punk rock shredded was an excellent choice for the slot prior to headliners Vampire Weekend. The singer wore a female sex toy on his head at one point in the set, stripped down to his underwear later and he even did the truffle shuffle for a laugh. See, I told you he was a showman, Oh, and the music was great too.
