Last weekend I had the pleasure of attending PDX POP NOW! for the first time. To summarize the experience in two words: awesome overkill.
The music was great, the people were friendly, and there was practically no wait time between sets. However, the 3-day lineup is almost an overkill. By Saturday I realized that PDX POP is a “drop in as you please” kind of festival, not a “stick around all day and eat” sort of gig. Not to mention, most of the bands playing are local, indie projects desperate for attention, so every set feels like it’s trying to explode into your music life.
Speaking of exploding, Portland all-girl drum mosh band Explode Into Colors (see how I did that?) were my favorite for the weekend. The late Friday night Explode Into Colors set broke out into a neon hipster mosh on the street. I pushed my way into the fun and managed to get to the front of the stage before some guy high on noise grabbed me by the waste and thrust the two of us backwards into the crowd, sampling the sweat of at least 20 people in the process. Great.
Explode Into Colors at 2009 PDX POP NOW! video
There were only two real hip-hop groups playing at the festival: Animal Farm on Friday night and Luck-One on Saturday. So there isn’t much to compare here, but Luck-One was definitely the take away of the two, with the leader spitting out skillful poems and none of the “laffy taffy” crap as he would say.
As I said before, PDX POP is a come-and-go kind of festival, so unfortunately I missed the Church set, which I hear was amazing. I was there for Saturday afternoon’s Nuclear Animals though. I knew nothing about the band before squeezing my way to the indoor stage, but this strange, colorful band blew my senses away. See video of Nuclear Animals @ PDX POP below.
Nuclear Animals at 2009 PDX POP NOW! video
Saturday got really nuts when Laura Gibson took stage. People flocked to the festival grounds from all alleyways of Portland. Gibson put on an amazing show, followed by a strange transition of Nice Nice to Pierced Arrows, an old punk group that I just couldn’t get into.
I went home before Sunday night’s headline sets of Menomena and The Shaky Hands, but I have no doubt they were as entertaining as the first half of the weekend. 2009 PDX POP NOW! photo gallery below.
