MadFork Festival - Madison Indie Music Mania!
Battling a stiff breeze off the lake, with unseasonably cool temperatures, the Antlers took the honors to kick off the event at 6pm. The large, early crowd was rather subdued, politely clapping after every song. Not enough beer flowing yet! The Antlers' latest album, Hospice, was recently named "Best Album of 2009 So Far" by NPR.
Baltimore's Ponytail revved the crowd up with quirky indie pop that won them the honors of most unique band of the evening. Lead singer, Molly Seigel, looking like a cross betwee Bjork and Yoda, jumped up and down while screaming lyrics like a crazed Yoko Ono. At one point, Ponytail invited about 30 members of the audience on stage to join in the craziness.
Seattle's new royalty, the Dutchess & the Duke parlayed their retro 60's folk pop into a jingle jangle sing-along. At one point they started to whistle along with the melodies, making me think it was some kind of Andrew Bird tribute. It wasn't.
Cymbals Eat Guitars is another indie buzz band with a big sound. Opening with 'And the Hazy Sun' from the album 'Why There are Mountains' lead guitarist Joseph Ferocious sonically assaults you with hook-filled power chords before bringing you back down with delicate melodies. Talk about song dynamics! Definitely, the best guitar playing of the night.
Yeasayer got a late start as the last band and apparent headliner. I had never seen the group before and fans surrounding me talked about how good Yeasayer was live. The background scoop was an experimental indie group that normally played with a projection screen behind them, featuring trippy visuals. Well, there was no screen tonight and the band was delving into newer material that sounded good, but definitely leaned toward the dance side of indie pop. Still, vocalist Chris Keating showed his vocal prowess and front man skills that kept you interested in the late night set instead of the dropping temperatures. Even though the hard core Yeasayer fans were somewhat puzzled, I enjoyed the band and would actually pay to see them again.
All in all, the MadFork music festival was a lot of fun and kudos go out to the Wisconsin Union Directorate music committee for proactively picking up the indie onslaught headed to Chicago for Pitchfork. Let's do it again next year and make it a full day event with some local opening acts!