B.O.M.B. Fest Review

(Of Montreal performing at B.O.M.B. Fest)

When you combine some your favorite bands with a great place like the Durham Fairgrounds, there's really no way you can go wrong. That's what B.O.M.B. Fest was on Sunday. And it was a beautiful day, which made it that much better.

Of Montreal was definitely my favorite part of the festival. I saw them last year at Toad's Place, but their performance at B.O.M.B. Fest was crazy better. They played mid-day, and I think the outdoor stage was a better setting for their fun, sunny indie pop rock. And they rocked it, really playing to the crowd with lots of danceable songs - including a lot that people knew. And they played my two favorite songs of theirs - "Heimdalsgate Like A Promethean Curse" and "Bunny Ain't No Kind of Rider"! And it wouldn't be an Of Montreal performance without Kevin Barnes wearing a wacky outfit with colorful makeup or a crazy spectacle with guys and girls in wild costumes, doing everything from whipping one another to stabbing puppets with balloon heads to forming a pyramid. Or confetti. And they delivered on all of the above. You really can't watch Of Montreal and not have any fun.

The other two bands/musicians I couldn't miss were Girl Talk and Ra Ra Riot. Both were awesome. This was my third time seeing Girl Talk and second Ra Ra Riot.


(Girl Talk set)

Girl Talk at a festival was a very different experience from an indoor venue. There was still the crazy dancing crowd and the riot onstage, but Greg Gillis, who is Girl Talk, really put it best: He said it was like playing at a party in someone's parents' backyard. I love seeing Girl Talk live because he'll mash up songs you've heard him use before - like parts of his "Bounce That" but also throw in songs the crowd can sing along to, like "Shout" and "Since U Been Gone." Also, you get to see him at work, dancing harder than everyone else and stopping to slow it down every once in a while. He ended with a very heartfelt "Imagine," and with everyone waving their arms from side to side, it was beautiful.

After Girl Talk performed, I was pretty much set for the rest of the festival. That was a pretty nice feeling. But the day was young, and everything we got to see afterward was just a bonus. Actually, that counts the stuff beforehand too.


(Ra Ra Riot)

Ra Ra Riot was really good. So were Cool Kids, who were very fitting, and a pretty good tie-in between the indie bands and Lupe Fiasco. Also matching with those two was G-Eazy, a hilarious but awesome rapper from California whose party lyrics were totally fun. Garrett and I actually really liked him. Like, everyone thought he was funny at first, but we totally listened to his CD (Which he gave out for free after his performance) on the way home. Definitely throwing that on at the next party and waiting to see how many people ask who it is because it's so awesome. We also saw Mute Math, 40 oz. to Freedom and Clarias. The stage setup for stages 1 and 2 was pretty cool because after one band ended, the band on the other stage would be set up and could start right away.

30 Seconds to Mars reminded me that I'm not a 15-year-old emo kid anymore, so we didn't stick around for them. Instead, we saw Quintron and Miss Pussycat, a wacky, screamy and electronic duo from New Orleans. They were a lot of fun. We also took a ride on the Ferris wheel before heading over to Lupe Fiasco's set (which I was totally content with once he performed "Kick, Push" //hip hop class memories).


(Quintron and Miss Pussycat on Stage 3. Just a small group walked over to the stage for them, but they had fun.)

The free carnival rides were pretty cool, though definitely underused - probably because everyone in line was asking other people if the ride was free. I'm pretty sure the Ferris wheel operator's line to me, "It's all inclusive," was well rehearsed by the time I asked him if the ride was actually free. (Maybe that should have been advertised better.) The Ferris wheel was pretty cool because I could see all the stages, and I was in a good spot to listen to States Away playing at Stage 4, which was way out of the way from stages 1 and 2. They sounded really fun, and I was glad the ride was pretty long (we went around maybe 4 times), so we could enjoy at least some of their set, which ended just as we got off the Ferris wheel and started to walk over.

If B.O.M.B. Fest does go down next year, the fourth stage may be too much. I'm sure the bands that played were good, but it's really sad that they got such small crowds. It's like having a birthday party and inviting your entire class only to have one kid show up. (Not that I know what that's like..) I also thought some bands on the third stage got the shaft - I was super sad that M.T. Bearington's set was during Of Montreal.


(View from our Ferris wheel ride)

Another point: I don't understand why there was only alcohol in the VIP area. I could see it being a way to keep booze under control, kind of like how All Points West had closed-off beer gardens, but if that was the case, why wasn't there a non-VIP beer garden-type area? People with VIP tickets only represented a small percentage of everyone in attendance, so the festival lost money on potential sales. The festival obviously had to bring the beer onto the fairgrounds to supply it to the VIP section, so why not sell it to more people?

All in all, though, it was a great festival. It was definitely well organized, and the Durham Fairgrounds was the perfect place to hold it. There were plenty of bathrooms, enough vendors and a good variety, nice local causes allowed to sell stuff (like the Boy Scouts selling delicious Lime Rickeys), lots of benches and picnic tables to sit down and plenty of garbage and recycling receptacles so there wasn't much litter. Very impressive. Plus it was super close to home. And I got to see some great music, which was the point.

(All photos taken from my cell phone. They actually didn't come out too bad this time!)