Moogfest Day III: A Bildungsroman (editors note: due to space concerns we were only able to include the chapter headings of this work.)
By Chall Gray
Chapter I: In which our we meet our narrator, driving intently toward the city, intently focused, ready for any eventuality.
Chapter II: Our narrator arrives at the festival and sees the promising local act Two Fresh, playing to a small crowd in the Civic Center, and fails to be captivated by Shout Out Out Out Out.
Chapter III: In which our narrator sees a friend, they share a quick meal and he gains entrance into the Orange Peel.
Chapter IV: Omar Souleyman performs and our narrator is taken by the spectacle, by his rapid Syrian singing (which our narrator is not completely sure is different from one song to another, and which doesn’t really matter), his carefully cultivated sheik chic look, and by the fact that he has someone else who speaks for him when things need to be said.
Chapter V: A protracted meditation on the verisimilitude of performing one’s native music in a non-native country when most of the audience for that person’s music is there partly or mostly because of the kitsch factor of that music.
Chapter VI: In which our intrepid narrator returns to the Civic Center and sees Neon Indian, who are veritably Neon enough to cover any lack of ethnic requirement to uphold with regards to the rest of their band name.
Chapter VII: In which our narrator sees a couple simultaneously arguing and dancing and consequently has a protracted rumination on the healing power of dancing together, on love, and on the transient nature of friendship and deciduous trees.
Chapter VIII: In which our narrator has a lengthy consideration of the proliferation of jumpsuits as costumes.
Chapter IX: During the course of which Hot Chip performs, spectacularly.
Chapter X: In which Pretty Lights indeed turn out to have pretty lights.
Chapter XI: In which our narrator, having traversed the hallways and hills, leaves the urban center, to retreat back to his warm and slightly disorganized domicile, hungry, tired, and thoroughly satisfied.
Chapter XII (Coda): In which our narrator, whilst typing the last lines necessary of him, looks around the room he is in, at the laptop he’s using, at the keyboards, synthesizer, effects pedals, loop pedal, electric guitars, amplifiers, and ultimately reaches for an acoustic guitar, strumming softly into the night, content to, for the moment at least, retreat back to the implements of a more genteel time.
Chall Gray is a freelance writer and producer. He is currently working on opening a cafe/bar/theatre called The Magnetic Field in the River Arts District.
Chall Gray, the author at his finest. Thanks for the insightful posts on the weekend. Twas a pleasure following th4e action from your perspective. Meanwhile, the rest of us will get down to the grt down get down and enjoy the memories of an epic weekend. Cheers Chall Gray — you captured many a highlight of one of Asheville's finest weekends! Ciao!
Aww, that's a shame about Shout Out Out Out, I liked them so much I bought their album (a very nice gatefold triple LP with blue, green and red vinyl, and free digital download of the full album). I guess music, like beauty, is all in the beholder!
Just when I think Chall can't top his last post, he does.
Anyone out there think this coverage isn't better than all the rest?
Kenetic wordplay at its finest, with a first-person perspective that made it truely memorable.
Excellent and poignant coverage from Ashevegas and Chall. I would expect no less and you guys delivered. Can't wait till next year.
-=WL=-