First City Festival: Day 2 - Allston Pudding

By Tyler Loring

-Day 2-

John Brothers Piano Company played 3 sets each day at this little picnic area, the Vaudeville stage. I think each show they had more n more fans. They played some unique jazz/folk jams which was a nice change of pace.

Lake Street Drive was lead by the beautiful Rachel Price. This indie jazz/soul band from Boston has a sound of their own. Starting Sunday off on the Redwood stage they attracted a very giddy crowd, and had everyone moving their feet by the sets end. Got to give it up to Bridget Kearney rocking on the stand up bass too!

Future Islands was by far the most anticipated set of the weekend. We were all blessed with seeing the many faces and dance moves of front man Sam Herring. Within the first few songs I got goose bumps, I don’t think I’ve gotten goose bumps since I fell in love with a Brooklyn girl…( never fall love with a girl from Brooklyn). He’s on a whole different level then anybody else out there, reaching out to the fans just speaking the truth about life. His shirt was a light red at the beginning, and each song it got a little darker n darker and by the end of their set it was dark red drenched with sweat. Each song he gave a cool little story behind it, I love when artist do that. This is one very exciting band that continues to amaze everyone!

Connan Mockasin from New Zealand is one cool dude! This was a show that I just ran into randomly, and I’m very glad I did. They were grooving pretty hard and joking around between each set. It was cool to see MGMT’s legendary bassist Matt Asti rocking with them. I later saw them all bombing around playing 80’s jams from a portable speaker, just dancing around in circles. I think they were tripping. These guys are just living it up and it was very inspiring to see. Check em out!

Liars was another act that I kind of just stumbled into. Lead singer Angus Andrew pretty much played his entire set with his long sweaty blonde hair over his entire face, rocking all white, and frolicking all over stage.

I first saw The Naked and Famous at the Paradise Rock Club a few years back, just after “Passive Me, Aggressive You” came out, and have been a fan ever since. You can see the maturity they’ve develop over the years as they are now headlining festivals and putting on amazing shows. From playing some of their more popular songs, like “Punching in a Dream” to their newer stuff, they provided a great mix of sounds and tempos to keep the audience on their toes.

Cults closed out the Cypress stage late Sunday night, playing a mix between their first self-titled album, and their most recent album “Static.” Their retro sound blended perfectly with the setting California sun as the festival neared its end.

The National closed out the festival at the Redwood stage with an impressive set. At one point during the show lead singer Matt Berninger ran out about 200 feet into the audience, singing while people were running around following him. It was a great way to the end the weekend.