Mission Creek wrap-up… finally

OK, so good intentions and all that. I had planned to offer a daily blow-by-blow of the Mission Creek Festival, and here it is a week after it got done, and I’ve yet to make good on the promise. Here’s what happened: life got in the way. The busiest week and work I’ve had in years coincided with the festival, so I was lucky to see all of the shows I did, let alone report on them. So, here, with a week’s worth of hindsight, is a quick wrap-up, highlighting all the bands I saw.

British Sea Power: A review I read of the band’s new album said something to the effect that BSP had made another compelling record that was once again free of hooks. That sounds harsh, but in a way, it’s true.  Save for the chantlike first single, “Who’s in Control?” there is nothing from the set I can recall, and certainly nothing I found myself humming even as I walked back to my car after the show. Yet it was a pretty great set, an arena-sized performance crammed into a small club. Roaring guitars, inventive songs and a slithering violin snaking through the proceedings made this a great way to start the festival. Openers A Classic Education have internalized whole genres that petered out before they were born, offering up a nice mix of shoegaze and Sarah Records-era pop.

Railroad Earth: I described this as jam band bluegrass, and that comes as close to the truth as anything. Great, fast picking, wonderful harmonies, and songs that went on far too long. When the band played together, it was really nice. When the individual members took interminable solos, not so much. I saw five songs in 45 minutes and, having had my fill, took off. The beauty of the all-access pass.

Jeff Tweedy: This was probably the most entertaining and most puzzling show of the fest. I had read a review of Tweedy’s show from the previous night, which reported that the crowd was unruly and obnoxious. I began to wonder about halfway through the set if that’s something Tweedy brings on himself. He’s not obnoxious, far from it. But he has developed a sharp wit and a masterful stage presence, and it is as if his stance –whether by design or default — seems to encourage the crowd to test him. So, while his song choice and performance was top-notch as always — a solo version of “Wilco (the song)” proving he can do just about anything in that context — the crowd took things out of his hand for a while. At one point, a drunken girl shouted, “my dad is the mayor of Cedar Rapids!” “Now we know who you are,” Tweedy said. He subsequently played the Handsome Family’s “So Much Wine” as a sort of kiss off.

Thurston Moore/Kim Gordon: This was the let down of the festival. A Q&A with the Sonic Youth founders that was moderated by University of Iowa professor Kembrew McLeod was often boring, with the two laconic artists rarely engaged, and McLeod’s questions ranged from too specific to too self-serving (yes, you know Public Enemy. Good for you). A show later that evening with the amazing drummer Chris Corsano was also a dud. The pair had promised two sets — one of noise, the other of “song-based” material. Instead, we got one slightly longer set of noise, capped with a slightly less noisy song where Kim Gordon “sang.” I had hoped for material like that found on Moore’s fairly brilliant Trees Around the Academy release, but instead got the typical head-down noodling and feedback that is interesting only in the service of a song.

Guided by Voices: This was the highlight of the festival. Anyone who reads this with any regularity knows GBV is my favorite band, so the chance to see the reunited group about a mile from my house (after having traveled to Minneapolis and Chicago to see them last fall) was wonderful. Of the three reunion shows I saw, this was the best. I think the size of the room and my proximity account for much of that, but the set, having evolved to include a few tracks from Mag Earwhig! and excluding much of Mitch Mitchell’s ridiculous rap on the too-long reimagining of “Lethargy,” didn’t hurt. They’re playing Pitchfork and a few other places, but I think I’m sated now.

Kurt Vile: I didn’t get the hype about Vile until hearing his new album. There, promising moments coalesced into promising songs. In a live setting, some of the songs were elevated, the energy of performance giving them an extra kick. Others sagged, missing the atmosphere of the studio. Overall, the sound was less nuanced, more forecful, sounding for all the world like a second-tier Seattle band from the early 1990s (that’s not a slight; that second tier takes up significant shelf space in my CD collection). That new album and Vile’s performance moved him up my list from “mild curiousity” to “one to watch.”

Wye Oak: I’ve missed Wye Oak the past few times they have played town, but I won’t again. I’ve really liked their three albums, but I loved their set. Everything clicked for me seeing them live. Jenn Wasner is a monster on the guitar, and Andy Stack is dextrous and assured as he plays drums and keyboards simultaneously. Going back to listen to the albums after seeing the show, they have added depth and color. What a great band.