_and despite the frenzy of songs like “

on a mission. The setlist was a great mix ¢

it didn’t seem at all out of place whe
solo rendition ¢

wersized Oilers flag. The

gize for bringing so many

the journey across the Rockies
pped a few extra so that he
ner trip if a few of them did-
bout the music right?

tage was the place to be for

’s Bedouin Soundclash opened
edictably entertaining set of their
nusic- ‘(tead: reggae). Aussie indie-pop-
tecture in Helsinki followed, and although their
ifted songs never gelled with me on CD, their live
ade me a fan. They were spunky and energetic,
their on-stage banter left me smiling, I only wish that
had included a cover of Men at Work’s “I Come
rom the Land Down Under.”

I moved oyer to the main stage for Sufjan Stevens who
regaled us with songs about the 50 states from a stage full
of people dressed in red, white, and blue. There was
inflatable Santas and Supermen, a guy dressed as Uncle
Sam, an electric guitar shaped like the United States, and
audience members waving little flags. It was a solid festival
appearance, even though Stevens’ vocal delivery was a tad
too timid. I guess that’s his deal though.

Regrettably, Sufjan’s set overlapped with Stephen
Malkmus and I arrived back at the small stage just in time
to see the former Pavement leader say thank you and
goodbye. My self-pity at missing such an icon only lasted
for a moment, as The Constantines took to the stage
shortly after. Midway through their set, the sky opened up
began to hail violently. This set the crowd off, and
h some ran to find shelter, most braved the ele-

to bear witness to The Cons.
Nn not prone to hyperbole, but mother nature’s fury,
ined with Bryan Webb’s Springsteen-meets-
er vocals, and the Cons’ ability to conjure such
rock n’ roll made for one of the best concert
: that I’ve ever had. And unlike Neko Case, who
main stage when they weather went sour, the
ed until the small stage had a power outage! The
bout the strength of their live show are definite-

of The Tragically Hip and The Shins’ sets were
ring from the hail. Many of the merch booths
people sought dry clothes. Nevertheless, ‘The
Hip and The Shins were The Shins. Gord

d and ad-libbed, and James Mercer falsetto’d
h catchy pop songs.

meaning to bug The Sasquatch about his

e Ben Harper play after The Flaming Lips,
er’s nature little intervention that after-
Harper's tight schedule resulted in The

eir rightful place as headliners. However,
at we had to sit through Ben’s set before
ds. Harper’s show was long and arduous
mon.. .) and full of follow banter and

 

showed us Wayne’s face in front of the mic), aes
stage banter, and sing along covers of both Queen’s
“Bohemian Rhascle ’ and Sabbath’s “War Pigs.”

an sing about his girlfriend dying her hair
with oranges and it’s infinitely more moving than Ben
Harper’s “every second song is about changing the world’
routine. :

 
 

  
 

  

May 28: The “Mainstream” Day

“Let’s Go Oilers!” It’s 8 am. The guy was like clock-
work. It gave me time to heat up some soup and have a
shower in the sink, so it wasn’t all bad.

Despite protests from other OP abductees including
Trevor Hargreaves and Kevin Lalonde, I skipped out on
Nada Surf’s set to check out canuck singer/songwriter
Chad Vangaalen. He’s been opening for the Cons on =
Canadian tour and he had recruited Bryan Webb as a bass
player. Chad delivered his eclectic brand of pop-rock with
charming awkwardness and I noticed at least a few girls i
the audience swooning. Much of Chad’s set was unfamili
to me, and must have been culled from his archive of ove
150 unreleased, home-recorded tunes. Nevertheless, rock
ers like “Clinically Dead” and “Echo Train” were instantly
recognizable standouts.

It was back to the main stage for Arctic Monkeys and
The Decemberists. The Monkeys’ set was laced with too
much of a “we know we're cool” vibe, but the boys are