Mission Creek fest broadens horizons

In addition to bringing as much great music to Iowa City in four days as we’d usually get in a month or two, the Mission Creek Festival also has expanded my horizons.

That expansion began Wednesday night with a concert by GZA/Genius, a member of Wu Tang Clan. I’ve long had a fascination with Wu Tang, more for their non-musical exploits, ideas and marketing, though I have Enter the 36 Chambers and a couple of solo albums from members. I didn’t, until recently, have GZA’s Liquid Swords, however. That has been rectified and I now have heard him perform it in concert.

GZA’s performance led off and headlined the fest. He filled the normally staid Englert Theatre with a crowd full of beer-swilling (and occasionally pot-smoking) fans who chanted along with every word. I was amazed that a guy pacing back and forth across a stage bare save for a platform with a DJ manning two turntables could hold an audience’s attention for 80 minutes, but he proved worthy to the task. Though I had listened to the album a handful of times, I didn’t recognize much. But the pulse and energy of the music easily hooked me.

The best moment: A young fan at the show with his dad was pulled on stage by GZA early on. He was maybe 8 or 9, and he stood tentatively at first, then got into it, acting as a cheerleader/mute hype man for the star. Transposing that to my world: The Replacements get back together and perform Let It Be in it’s entirety and my eldest gets pulled onstage by Paul Westerberg.

Thursday night was less of a stretch, but I nonetheless took in bands I might not have stayed up for had it been a non-festival show. First came Headlights, a band whose web site clips put me in the mind of the Cardigans, but which actually offered rocking, peppy pop full of carnivalesque keyboards and sharp vocals. That was followed by Fruit Bats, a band that on record sounds like the Posies’ Ken Stringfellow fronting the Shins (leader Eric Johnson has been a Shins sideman) but that sounded more like a countrified power pop band live. A nice cover of Bob Dylan’s “You Ain’t Goin’ Nowhere” (by way of the Byrds’ version) was a highlight.

Last came Beach House. I’ve heard both of the band’s albums, and while I admire their craft, I’m rarely in the mood for such a comedown. The live show was very different, an in-your-face wash of echo-laden guitar, trebley keyboards and soaring vocals. It was bracing and made me want to go back to those records in search of that same intensity.

Tonight, I’ll catch John Vanderslice and Mountain Goats, and will wrap up Saturday with No Age. Watch here Sunday for a full report.