Riot Fest 2017, Day 3

Day three was a perfect day, really. I did miss Beach Slang. Hot Water Music was a working class punk group (with name of course from Bukowski). That Dog provided a welcome change from much of the rest of the lineup--breezy pop in the style of the Breeders or Throwing Muses. The vocalist was mildly humorous in an NPR host way. The Orwells are a proficient band from the area. Aside from the music, though, just as the singer's bum crack appeared (due to some ill-fitting pants), he disappeared off the side of the stage, climbing atop a structure, never to be seen again. The first guitar god I saw today was Doug Martsch. Whereas in the past, I have seen Built to Spill with three guitarists, today they were a three piece, playing Keep It like a Secret. The sound was very full. Despite the cruel scheduling conflict, we were able to see about four songs from TV on the Radio before heading over to see Dinosaur Jr. perform You're Living All over Me, an easy desert island pick of an album. (J. Mascis was guitar god #2). And guitar god #3 was Tom Morello. Prophets of Rage was mostly Rage against the Machine with Chuck D. and B. Real. And I very much thought B. Real would be out of place, but he did a credible Zach de la Rocha. The instrumental "Like a Stone" for Chris Cornell was a nice moment. The night ended by going from the very familiar to the not-so familiar (for me). I wouldn't know it from the crowd, though. People filled the stage behind Jawbreaker as well as the field in front of them. And this was not immediately accessible music, hints of Fugazi, poetic but sometimes patternless lyrics sung in a gravelly voice. Blake Schwarzenbach joked that he hadn't gotten to ride the Zipper but would welcome someone to accompany him. I always closely scan the food offerings, and fortunately, it was not very difficult to find good choices as a new vegetarian, from burritos to pad Thai to something called a rice ball. I thank my Riot Fest partners Brian Kruse and Ramiro for surviving the weekend along with me.

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