1 CHBP: Best of the Rest

I finally finished writing at least a little about each one of the bands I was able to post a mobile blog about last weekend. It was a ton to think about, rehash, and write about. I don't know if you can tell but my posts started getting shorter and shorter from beginning to end. Oh well, I'm just glad I was able to get it done. I saw 25 + bands over the weekend but not all made the cut for pictures; some I forgot, and some I didn't have a good enough angle to even get crappier pictures than I posted already. Here is the best of the rest or just the rest for that matter.

On Friday, I started in Neumos and saw one of my favorite bands of the whole weekend, Band of Skulls from the UK. They are a three piece alt-rock band that really rocked the place with heavy riffs and very nice vocal harmonies between guitarist/singer Russell Marsden and Bass player Emma Richardson. The crowd got bigger after each song, and everyone seemed to really like what they were hearing. I just got my hands on their debut record and am excited to get more acquainted.

Next on the main stage I checked out Spinerette which features ex-Distillers Brody Dalle and Tony Bevilacqua. I was very intrigued early on by this band because Alain Johannes of Eleven and Jack Irons of Pearl Jam played on the album, though they unfortunately were not part of the touring line-up. Their set was good, but at times the poppy straight forward rock songs seemed pretty generic compared to the rest of festivals line-up. Good thing Brody Dalle was there, shes a compelling front woman and pretty damn hot!

I was a little upset at myself on Friday that I missed Past Lives on the Vera stage and The Duchess and the Duke on the main stage. I also only watched Deerhunter from afar amidst socializing so that was a miss, I suppose. I did catch the Sing Sing reunion afterparty at Neumos, which really was no consolation at all.

Day 2 was really crazy as I brought along quite a few friends and family including my wife. I was able to get a full day of music in but didn't spend as much time with PELA, New Faces, Japandroids, Constant Lovers, and Future of the Left as I had planned. I think my consolation here was the awesome bands I caught in the Cha Cha, the SY interview, and the Hallways and Curious Mystery sets at The Comet during the afterparties. I had seen Future of the Left before but the rave reviews made me a little jealous, I'll get them next time. Oh yeah, and I watched 15 minutes of Faux Punk while scratching my head?

Ok, well that is all of it. Pretty intense attempting to write about so many bands; some I know very well, and some I don't. I suppose it's good practice, and I hope it gave a good picture of this awesome event. They really did a great job curating a diverse lineup, and the new festival layout was prime for us concert beer drinkers. Like just about every year since it's inception, I'll be back again next year!

- SRG

PS: See archived posts for all the coverage. If you are wondering where to start, begin with the earliest CHBP post and work backward. Cheers!