Yeah, I went with Hinterland over 80/35 this year. It was a pretty easy decision based on my tastes, and the chance to see an absolute all-time legend.
80-35 2016
- Thread starter jburke
- Start date
So this year I went in with very low expectation..... Wow, was I shocked at how good this year was.... To start there was no a single performance this year I did not enjoy to some extent.... Started with Wolf Parade who had a ton of issues, half their equipment did not make it to Des Moines so they were playing on patched gear from other bands, but in the end they sound awesome, honestly was a little shocked they were #3 on the main stage Friday, but in the end I was glad because it gave me a my crew an opportunity to make our way over to the free stage, where we saw the Pistol Whippin Party Penguins - awesome bluegrass band, Dilly Dally - easily a high-light for me on the weekend and Craig Finn - who's stage presents is unbelievable, I had also never seen the Hold Steady but am no looking forward to Riot Fest play of Boys and Girls in America.... After them we made our way back to main stage, Nas was blew me away at how good he was live, hip-hop live is always a bit of question mark at a festival but that performance was spot on, playing oldie to newie.....
Day 2, we prepartied starting at 11, so had a lot going for us when we made it down to the show.... Thao and Get Down Stay down was playing, such an original sound, she is definitely a up and comer, after her we stayed for a little bit of Jeff Austin who also was performance wise way better than I expected, I wish he would honestly go full on folk/alt country and drop the full string backing, his voice has soo much deep soul, would be spot on with most of what I listen too.... Slipped over to the free stage for Colleen Green and Lucky Chop which were both also highlight for the weekend for me, Colleen was as advertised electric drum and her with guitar, I could she her sound catching on very quickly.... Lucky Chops had a hell of a time getting through sound check as a 6 piece all brass band, when they got going though, wow it was worth the wait, half the crew stayed there as me and a few others headed back to see the Black Lips, a few songs in already but we caught most of the set they did no disappoint, my only disappointment was wanting to slam a little and every time it would get started security would start heading out to break it up... After that I took a small break and went to Fighting Burrito, on the way caught a couple songs from local up and comer from the Metal world in Iowa Green Death, they had the energy and great stage presents, but to me did not fit the bill at all..... I know the booking of Druids and Green Death were to pull in a new demo for this show but at what cost.... The Decemberist where the final headliner and did not disappoint, they sound and performed amazingly a nearly 2 hour set with a ton of old songs mixed with new. I was a boarderline fan coming in and would see them in the future if our paths cross. Looking forward to see where next year goes as the attendance was down this year and performance was up. Hoping next years 10 year will be mindblowing..... Now on to Shakey Graves and Streets of Loredo in 2 weeks and Hinterland to follow....
Day 2, we prepartied starting at 11, so had a lot going for us when we made it down to the show.... Thao and Get Down Stay down was playing, such an original sound, she is definitely a up and comer, after her we stayed for a little bit of Jeff Austin who also was performance wise way better than I expected, I wish he would honestly go full on folk/alt country and drop the full string backing, his voice has soo much deep soul, would be spot on with most of what I listen too.... Slipped over to the free stage for Colleen Green and Lucky Chop which were both also highlight for the weekend for me, Colleen was as advertised electric drum and her with guitar, I could she her sound catching on very quickly.... Lucky Chops had a hell of a time getting through sound check as a 6 piece all brass band, when they got going though, wow it was worth the wait, half the crew stayed there as me and a few others headed back to see the Black Lips, a few songs in already but we caught most of the set they did no disappoint, my only disappointment was wanting to slam a little and every time it would get started security would start heading out to break it up... After that I took a small break and went to Fighting Burrito, on the way caught a couple songs from local up and comer from the Metal world in Iowa Green Death, they had the energy and great stage presents, but to me did not fit the bill at all..... I know the booking of Druids and Green Death were to pull in a new demo for this show but at what cost.... The Decemberist where the final headliner and did not disappoint, they sound and performed amazingly a nearly 2 hour set with a ton of old songs mixed with new. I was a boarderline fan coming in and would see them in the future if our paths cross. Looking forward to see where next year goes as the attendance was down this year and performance was up. Hoping next years 10 year will be mindblowing..... Now on to Shakey Graves and Streets of Loredo in 2 weeks and Hinterland to follow....
I'd echo the sentiment of this year being better than expected for sure. I still expected a really good time since it always is, but thought it could a bit of a down year and left thinking it was not down at all. The perfect weather didn't hurt either.
The Decemberists and Wolf Parade were my highlights going in and they were both at least as good as I'd hoped to see. I also liked Nas' set a lot more than I thought I would, and really liked Thao and Lucky Chops. A couple other surprise highlights I'd add were Ravyn Lenae and Lizzo both put on really entertaining shows, and Frances Camp was pretty fun especially with how they ended their set (lit sparklers on the bridge of his guitar on the second to last song before chucking it 20 feet in the air in the parking lot and then smashing it to pieces on the last)
The Decemberists and Wolf Parade were my highlights going in and they were both at least as good as I'd hoped to see. I also liked Nas' set a lot more than I thought I would, and really liked Thao and Lucky Chops. A couple other surprise highlights I'd add were Ravyn Lenae and Lizzo both put on really entertaining shows, and Frances Camp was pretty fun especially with how they ended their set (lit sparklers on the bridge of his guitar on the second to last song before chucking it 20 feet in the air in the parking lot and then smashing it to pieces on the last)