You know what's great? A festival where you can relax, not have to wade through obnoxiously cramped crowds, and eat delicious samosas. Oh, and good music is a plus, too. Adequately staggered set times and proximity of the main stage to its two small counterparts provided an environment that allowed for crowds to quickly migrate and reform their ameoba of a crowd at different locations at B.O.M.B. Fest in Hartford, Conn. It's worth noting that the festival's proceeds go towards music-based charities. And even though it wasn't filled to capacity, it was a great opportunity to enjoy a festival where you could sit on a grassy hill and listen to some jams.
On Day One, before night time, I tried to check out as many acts as I could. The Turbo Fruits, early in the day, provided a thrashy set that turned a parking lot stage into its close relative, a garage rock scene. Shred-ridden solos and distortion-ridden shuffles were aplenty.
HEALTH, on the main stage, was watched from backstage by a smiling and intrigued Dan Deacon. The crowd seems just as intrigued, too. HEALTH performed with some jarring transitions, going from dirty electronic riffs to floor tom breakdowns, and occasionally drifting into pretty straightforward indie rock. But it was the jolts from some crazy headbanging to dancing that kept the short set interesting.
I only got to catch a bit of Real Estate. I had the opportunity to see these guys open for Titus Andronicus on New Year's Eve, and also saw Titus checking them out during their set. Look out for these guys. Clean-cut surf-pop out of New Jersey may seem a little unbelievable, but trust me, it exists in the form of this little band.
RJD2 is as smooth as DJs get. Still playing with four turntables, a real keyboard, and real vinyls, RJ brought a solid dance party to B.O.M.B. Fest early in the day. If he offered DJs lessons in how to change vinyls in milliseconds, every college radio would be right on that, I swear.
Best Coast preceded Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes. Now, I'm not a huge fan of Best Coast, but the band did soundtrack a sunset pretty well. Perhaps fuzzy indie-pop isn't fit for a giant amphitheater, but jokes and banter about cats is, right?