We were kinda unsure what kind of access we'd have for Sunday, but my friend Pete had arrived and told me he got me passes with Z-Trip so I headed back toward the entrance and caught a glimpse of Brett Dennen.
I went out of the venue only to find the tickets were en route. I ran into Steve from Dynamite Walls and Chris from Augustana, so we hung out at the will call until our passes arrived. At that point Natalie sent me a text that we had photo passes for The Album Leaf. After waiting about a half hour, the passes arrived and we entered through the artist entrance.
After hanging in the artist area for a while, Natalie and I mosied to the Album Leaf stage.
The sound on their stage was perfectly crisp though I didn't want to clutter up the photo pit for too long so I watched from a ways back for the majority of their set. I wanted to catch Paolo Nutini, so I headed back to the main stage to catch a few of his songs as well. "These Streets" sounded so amazing on that huge stage.
I had separated from Kristian so I met he and the rest of our friends in the electronica tent for Simian Mobile Disco. They were great, but it was a dj set so I didn't hang for long. At this point the moleskin the first aid guys gave me for my blisters had gotten dusty from the tent and I had forgotten my earplugs, so I took a couple pics but then was on my way.
Sexy and single...Kristian, Dave and Chris
In the tent I ran into the most famous bald head in San Diego, Mr. Tim Pyles.
I was running all over the place for most of the day. From the electronica tent, I went to Clap Your Hands Say Yeah for a few songs but this was my roughest point of the day...lack of earplugs, not enough sleep, blisters on my feet and I didn't hang at the stage for long.
I also had to catch Z-Trip for part of his set. It was familiar and felt like the same set he did at SoCo, but I knew he had a long set (an hour and a half) so I left to catch Spoon.
Britt and crew sounded awesome. I guess I've now seen them equally on small and large stages and I like both equally. I appreciate that the band is flexible and can pull off both quite well.
I then ran to see a couple songs by the Sweet and Tender Hooligans and I seriously think there are so many diehard fans of Morrissey and The Smiths, that I wouldn't doubt if the couple hundred people were at Street Scene only to see the Sweet and Tender Hooligans who really do the covers spot on.
Since Pete got me my passes, however, I had to make sure I arrived back at the electronic stage to catch his portion of the Z-Trip set. He blew it up yet again. The guy is amazing. I've mentioned before he's drumming for Z-Trip at the moment, but has also has played with Cake and Mike Doughty in the past. He blows me away everytime I see him.
After that, back to the artist tent for some tequila shots, a couple beers and a burrito before heading to catch Louis XIV on the main stage. Anya Marina came out to sing during "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" and Ray Suen has been playing violin with the band. He's definitely upping his demand by bands because he's absolutely amazing.
I spent the remainder of the night in the artist area. It was really fun back there, complete with a foosball table and an air hockey table, couches, and tv's to watch the acts.
Natalie and I had our geek out superfan moment backstage when we got the balls to approach Britt Daniels and get him to pose for some pics with us. He was really nice and didn't seem to mind us gushing like little schoolgirls.
Here's some more random backstage photos:
MC Flow & Crew
The one person I really wanted to meet was Joe Escalante of the Sweet & Tender Hooligans, The Vandals, and The Last of the Famous International Morning Show on Indie 103.1, but apparently he left as soon as their set ended because he has to get up early for his morning show. Bummer. I did talk to Jose for a while and he was really, really nice.
Jose, Sweet & Tender Hooligans
As things go, people were leaving and extra passes showed up, so we got The Roman Spring back in the artist area with us. Here's a pic of Joe.
Sean "Har Mar Superstar", Sean Na Na
All in all it was another amazing day at Street Scene. I am glad I took a chance and kept the faith about the event, and I know that no matter what form it takes next year, if it continues, I will be there. I hear the numbers didn't meet the expectations of LiveNation, but I enjoyed the space, the layout worked well, and the music was great. I guess the lawn stage suffered a bit from the Editors sound checking early which was lame, but as far as I could tell, the event went off without a hitch minus the usual complaints about charging for parking (when there is no alternative) and overpriced beer, but whatever. Those are pretty standard complaints about most shows.
I'm taking a night off from rock n roll and I'll try to get my things to do list up soon. Huge thanks to Dynamite Walls, Jason Burkhart, Conrado, Jake, The Album Leaf, Pete McNeal, Z-Trip, Kristian, Dave and especially to Chris for being my designated driver, and everyone else who was instrumental in making this an amazing weekend.
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