Sorry it took me so long to give you all a recap of the bands that I saw at Sunset Strip Music Festival and what I thought of them. I really should have gotten to it sooner. What can I say? I was stressing over Sunset Junction being canceled this weekend. In any case, here they are..... I linked some of them to their MySpace pages. I know it's very 2005, but its the easiest place to listen to music for free.
School of Rock
It's kids planing in a band, so I can't say anything bad. The kids were actually really impressive. They were all right on point, and the singers - all the ones I caught were girls - had very mature voices for their age and size. But I do have to say it seems like about half are into the attention and not the music, and the other half are into the music, but would rather not be on stage. Click here to them cover Gwen Stephani. That's little Ava Cohen singing lead, she is definitely my fav.
Cobra Starship
They are best known for their club hit Good Girls Go Bad but I would argue that they are better than their reputation. Their performance was neat and clean. Very sharp just like their looks and their vocals. They had the best commentary between songs too.
She Wants Revenge
They were alright. Their best days are behind them for sure. The lead singer was a little too strung out, he even started into the wrong song at one point and his basest had to stop him and correct him.
Jordan Cook
I had some free time between bands scheduled in to see if I could stumble upon someone new, and I did. The very talented, and Canadian, Jordan Cook. The best part of his performance was watching him sing and play guitar, then play drums and guitar simultaneuously, then play harmonica and guitar at the same time, then go back to singing and guitar, all in one song, all without skipping a beat. Literally.
Deluka
British punk band with a female lead singer. Good, but not totally memorable. Better on their recordings than they are live.
Matt & Kim
By far my number one with a bullet favorite of the day. This is now the band whose album is on repeat in my car. It's just the two of them, and it's like watching a pair of A.D.D. class clowns putting all that energy toward banging on the band equipment. They had more energy, synergy, and charisma than every other band I saw put together. Highlights were Kim showing a weird tattoo, and a thousand blue balloons being thrown into the air on the count of four. I am buying up all their music on iTunes, and memorizing all their songs, and at next year's festival I'll be in the front row singing along to all their lyrics.
Bush
This is when everyone else showed up at the festival so I was way in the back for this one, but from what I could here Gavin was great, sounded just line in high school. Looked for Gwen, but couldn't find her.
Public Enemy
These guys had like 25 people on the stage, it was really impressive. Master P has great stage presence, and Falava Fav wore a big clock around his neck - the crowd really went wild for him. For being in their 40's (I'm guessing), they moved really well, like they were still in their 20's. Great job, I would see them again for sure.
All in all, this was an awesome festival. I can't believe I saw all these bands in one day, and they really were all very good. I'm still sad about Junction being canceled this weekend, but I think I'll survive on the musical sustenance that I had from this day.
