I spent this weekend completely immersed in show after show after. Well, mainly two: Tiger Spirit at the Darkroom which you can check out my review for elsewhere on the site and The Hideout Block Party. When the lineup was first announced all I cared about was Neko Case solo and The New Pornographers. When they added Robbie Fulks, it was just something extra special for the weekend.
Then Saturday September 21st came and changed all of that.

It’s rare that a musician captures their audience to the brink of hearing a pin drop. In fact, before Giant Sand, it’s only happened to me one other time and that was Nick Cave. But Howe Gelb is now in this elite league of musicians. Giant Sand commanded the attention of any one in earshot as they played their own sect of country-twinged musings and you soothed and slightly shaken up by this band. Which I crave from bands, that clash of emotions that most bands miss. Giant Sand reminds me of camping out on a cool autumn weekend, getting wasted on whiskey with a big group of friends, singing old folk songs and enjoying that starry night that a city home can never bring.
Giant Sand is comprised of Gelb, Danish musicians Thoger T. Lund (bass), Peter Dombernowsky (drums) and Anders Pedersen (slide guitar).

Highlight #2 of Day #1: Little Cow. A fantastical gypsy-like pop rock group from Hungry. They are absolutely crazy, fun and lovely! Normally when a band spews some ska-ripped riffs into their songs it makes me vomit a little in my mouth, but there are always exceptions to the rule and Little Cow is one of the few bands out there that can pull that off. I barely got any photos of the band because I too busy dancing and jumping around, in fact, I don’t think anyone around me could keep still, it’s possible when Little Cow is on stage. I immediately had to have their newest album (which I’ve already procured.)
Then to boot, they were great guys, which you can hear for yourself in the interview we got. Still unsure? Check them out: Little Cow

Next came Dan le Sac vs. Scroobius Pip who I only caught a couple songs until I had to get out of the sun for a few. But what I caught, I loved. They’re hitting up the Hideout again soon, and I’ll definitely head out to give you a better review and to give myself some more time to hear their goodness.

After that came two bands I really wanted to love. I really tried. But I just couldn’t. First Plastic People of the Universe. I will say this about them, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. So to say that they weren’t good is a lie, they were great… for what they do… Then came Monotonix which a couple of my friends came all the way from Indiana to catch. And the fire on the drums? Cool as fuck… and being lifted over the drums, rad. But, um, well, the shock tactics, been done right? Garage rock, done that too right? I mean, in fact, weren’t they called The Stooges? Sorry.

Then came Black Moutain. Who put on a great show. If you’ve ever heard of them you’d know they’re on Secretly Canadian, but by no means mirror SC’s normal standard of lo-fi mellow sound. They’re dark and heavy and a perfect Autumn band.
Check them out: Black Mountain

After waiting for seemed like forever for Vieux Farka Toure to end their set (sorry, I was waiting up at the Neko Case stage saving my spot up front so I didn’t really catch them and I was too antsy for Neko to come on stage so my review of them wouldn’t really be precise, it would more be like: they played a song, that was too long because I wanted Neko to come on stage, then they played another song too long… you get the idea) — Neko finally took the stage with notables like Kelly Hogan, Nora O’Connor and Jon Rauhouse. They played through all of my favorites (though they made me wait until to end to “Hold On, Hold On”) – including a cover of “Alimony” by Harry Nilsson. I read her set was 80 minutes, but honestly it felt like it went too fast and was too short.
Check her out: Neko Case

Check out Day 2 of The Hideout Block Party