Mission Creek: Wrap up

OK, so I had good intentions of doing daily reviews/wrap ups of the Mission Creek Music Festival. Thing is, staying out until 1 a.m. five nights in a row does something to yours truly. So, you instead get this post after the last show closed and I squeezed in a nap. Kiss always said if it’s too loud, you’re too old (more on that later); Gene Simmons didn’t have any sort of nap-related slight against aging rockers, so I guess I’m still in good stead.

Starting with the oldest show and working my way back to the present, we’ll begin with Thursday night’s panel discussion of Public Enemy’s Fear of a Black Planet. The album was released in March 1990, so this April 1 panel was a few days off from being the official 20th anniversary. No matter, by bringing together Chuck D, the Bomb Squad’s Keith and Hank Shocklee and “Media Assassin” Harry Allen, the panel brought the noise. Allen began by sharing some photos of his three fellow panelists in their earliest days, pre-PE, when they were known as the Spectrum City DJs. From there, the discussion, led by University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod, was wide ranging. They discussed technology, the racial climate, the way sampling laws (or the lack thereof) made it an album of its time and more. It was illuminating, entertaining, funny and even heart-warming to see these four men still sharing the bonds that helped to create one of music’s best albums.

From there I took in a little of Caroline Smith and Headlights, and would have a hard time distinguishing the two in a blindfold test. Each offered pleasant female-fronted indie rock with most of the edges polished. I had grand plans of somehow balancing the desire to see a Bomb Squad DJ set, Pedro the Lion’s David Bazan and Acid Mother’s Temple, all booked at the same time. All I caught was AMT, which was (sorry, Gene) too loud at that late hour. I caught one song and then headed out (I’ve seen them twice before, so my indie cred is still secure).

Friday brought a rousing set from the improbably still strong Meat Puppets. Curt Kirkwood began the set on acoustic guitar, but thanks to his chops and a few pedals, there was no lack of fireworks. They opened with “Plateau” from Meat Puppets II, and the response from the young crowd had me wondering if they knew it wasn’t a Nirvana cover. The Kirkwood brothers (whose Cris Kirkwood looked a good two decades older than he ought to chronologically, more on that later, too), played a nice cross section of their back catalog, and sprinkled in some well-chosen oddities like Freddy Fender’s “Wasted Days and Wasted Nights.”

I next caught VV Brown, a British R’n'B/dance pop singer that I had never heard of before this week. I have a feeling she’s going to be big. Little Dragon followed, but their empty dance pop lost me quickly, and I headed to see electronic artist Tim Hecker. I have and enjoy his albums, but was not at all prepared for the onslaught that awaited. The bar where he performed has a front room with a stage and a back room with the bar. The only lights in the place were in the bar room, meaning the stage was completely dark. For all I know, Hecker pressed “play” on his laptop and then went to dinner. I was physically unable to go check to see what he was doing because of the sheer noise. It was a wonderfully enveloping sound, like what it must be like to be dropped into the world’s most tuneful bit of manufacturing equipment, but as with AMT, it was too loud.

I’m glad I saved my hearing, for Saturday was the best night of the festival. It began with Camera Obscura playing to a packed house (side note: I find the older I get, the less of a grasp I have on an act’s relative popularity). It was a good set that got better as it progressed. I left halfway, content to be left wanting more (and wanting to more fully explore the band’s catalog) so I could catch Iowa City legend Greg Brown.

Brown is a favorite, and he didn’t disappoint. He started out solo acoustic, playing songs new and old. He then was joined by longtime foil Bo Ramsey on guitar and an out-of-town bass player, who gave the second half of his set a little kick. He played old favorites like “Your Town Now” and some new tracks that bode well for what would be his first new album since 2006′s The Evening Call. He was joined for the encore by his wife, singer Iris DeMent, and his daughters, which include songwriter Pieta Brown, who opened the show.

Another local favorite, the Diplomats of Solid Sound, offered a lesson in the perils of taking things for granted. I’ve seen the band dozens of times and am friends with a couple of the guys. Seeing them in a packed, sweaty club was a revelation. This is like a Stax soul review brought to life, and I was glad for the chance to be reminded just how good they are. One song from Cory Chisel and the Wandering Sons showed that there there is no end to the ways a singer-songwriter can play earnest folk-rock, and that was enough (I’ve heard he can be a soulful performer, so I’m willing to give him another chance soon).

He got short shrift because Husker Du’s Grant Hart was playing down the block. At one time, Hart’s band would fall into the “too loud” category, but not this night. Like Cris Kirkwood, he looked a good 10 years older than he is, and seemed to be a thread or two this side of crazy. Though his newest album is a pretty straight up garage-rocking affair, he instead played mid-tempo tunes that seemed more twisted Brill Building. It felt as if he was channelling Alex Chilton, indulging some personal passion while raising a middle finger to the kids who just want to hear “Girl Who Lives On Heaven Hill.” Then he said, “What would you like to ignore next?” by way of asking for requests. Someone asked for “She Floated Away” from Warehouse: Songs and Stories, and he indulged it. It was ragged, but nice to hear. He then went back to lesser-known work before closing with “Never Talking to You Again” from Zen Arcade. It seemed like a nice nod to old fans until one realizes that the song ends with the line, “I’m tired of wasting all my time, trying to talk to you.”

So, it was a great fest overall, with some great new discoveries (Dinosaur Feathers), some pleasant reminders (Meat Puppets) and some truly strange fare (Hecker and Hart). My one beef: the scheduling could have been better. Camera Obscura and Greg Brown were the two big draws Saturday night, for instance, and they were scheduled within 10 minutes of each other. I know it’s a headache to schedule 50-plus bands at six venues over five days, but I’d like to see more done next year to address this.

That aside, it was a rousing success for Mission Creek no. 5. Looking forward now to no. 6.