Hideout Block Party

The air was crisp, the beer was cold, and the music was rockin' at the Hideout this past weekend. Bloc Party closed on Friday night with an energy packed set. Seeing them play in a glorified parking lot turned concert venue was quite a treat considering these boys are busy playing huge festivals and arenas over in the U.K.


Saturday acts like Dan Deacon and Mucca Pazza got the crowd amped for the fun to be had later in the day, but the real must see in my book was Art Brut. I've heard this band be criticized for being too kitschy and not that musically inclined and I wondered: are they a buzz band because they can play well or because they have an amusing shtick? Who cares!? They were entertaining as hell, and I danced and laughed my way through their entire set. They also gave me some of the best photos of the weekend- thanks Art Brut!




The other highly anticipated set came from The Frames. They met and exceeded all of my expectations in every way, and I really don't think I have ever been so moved at a festival. Typically, I feel like artists give you a "best-of" set in their allotted 45 minutes of festival time, and while they are fun, they never really perform in the way you know they could if you were seeing them indoors, in a smaller venue, on their own tour. The raw, emotional, passionate songs that Glen Hansard sang were some of the best, and I will go on record saying he is one of the most underrated frontmen of our day. If anyone out there has yet to see Once (in which Glen stars and performs) stop reading right now and go watch this film.


Andrew Bird closed the block party on Saturday night. Yawn. Sorry man, love your music, but you bore me to death live.

Overall it was a great weekend, and I definitely got my $35 worth of music. Too bad the beer wasn't included in the ticket price.