Whew. It was a good weekend, it’s all updated. We took a lot of photos (probably around 2,000, if not more), and I will be writing more. Stay tuned for more, it just may not be in this blog.

After The New Pornographers’ set, Face and I were tired. However, I still wanted to shoot moe.’s last performance and the crazy crowd they continually attract. As with most of the big name acts on the bill, I was only able to shoot the band for 15 minutes, and that was fine. In fact, I didn’t even take that long.

I got a couple good shots of the band and of the audience, which had grown significantly, yet was more subdued. Everyone seemed at the end of their rope, and moe. asked them to go for that final lap with them.

The band sounded good playing a cover of The Police’s “Synchronicity II” as I was walking to the car. It was a good ending to a tiring but rewarding weekend.

They played to a real small crowd. They worked it anyways. All photos by me.

This booking was a poor choice on Jay Goldberg Events & Entertainment’s part. The New Pornographers are one of the best rock bands going these days, but a jam band/psychedelic/anything the majority of the festival crowd would be interested in they are not. The audience was, while dedicated, a very small one. Where Girl Talk converted a lot of people through his high-energy show, The New Pornographers did what they do: played their songs, played them well, and left. It didn’t lead to many new converts.

Still, the band was on for most of the set. They opened their set with “All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth” from their latest album, Challengers, and from there they just kept going. Between songs, the band continually goofed around, playing snippets of The Violent Femmes’ “Blister in the Sun,” Crosby, Stills & Nash’s “Suite: Judy Blue Eyes” and Led Zeppelin’s “Dazed and Confused.”

That was the problem though. For about a third of the show, the band was just not playing the show like it needed to be: big. The songs were played well, but they were unfocused. Lead singer/guitarist Carl Newman would continually flub lyrics or parts, and would laugh it off. He didn’t seem like he was concentrating, and was just goofing off. That’s all well and good, but for that reason, something didn’t click for a while.

The band did pick it up though, and versions of Twin Cinema’s “Sing Me Spanish Techno” and “The Bleeding Heart Show” were played to reach across the three-fourths empty field. They played as if it was full, which was exactly the kick in the pants they had to have if the set wasn’t going to peter out.

The New Pornos closed their set with a cover of ELO’s “Don’t Bring Me Down” and left the stage. They came back for one encore, a very fast, very energetic “Letters from an Occupant,” sang by keyboardist Kathryn Calder. They left the small audience wanting more, but they closed the set 10 minutes early, presumably to allow the audience to get over to the Moonshine Stage to watch moe.’s final set of the night. Good show though.

Wow. Poo Poo Man, Sir Nose, George Clinton… wow. All photos by me. Flashlight, indeed!

Surprised as I was by how good Dumpstaphunk was, I knew P-Funk was the tops. The band specializes in crazy funk, pointless jams and repetitive, suggestive chants. It works though, because every member of the band comes on stage believing everything they sing, and it ends up being the closest thing to a minstrel show in the 21st century (save for all the racism).

I have seen George Clinton & The P-Funk All Stars back in 2006 at the House of Blues in Chicago (it was the same band. For all of you who don’t know, P-Funk is basically made up, at any given concert, of any of the members who decide to show up) and Parliament-Funkadelic (sans Clinton) at Urbana’s Sweetcorn Festival in 2007. I know what to expect, that it would be funky, complete with many members and crazy outfits.

The band started a little late, but it wasn’t terrible. Security for Summer Camp told us that we were only allowed to shoot the first three songs of the band…which ended up lasting 40 minutes (remember when I said “pointless jams”? I wasn’t joking). During that time, Clinton did not even appear on stage, which was kind of a gyp to the photographers.

Also, let me clarify when I say “pointless jams.” Maybe that isn’t the best phrase for it, but their songs go long, and meander with solos, chants and grooves. The musicianship is never less than top notch, and while it can sometimes be an exercise in testing one’s patience, they are always great shows.

This show was no different. The band came on and introduced the audience to the world of P-Funk. This includes ridiculous phrases such as “get off your (butt) and jam” or “it would be ludicrous to think that we are new to this, we do this, this is what we do.” These phrases were repeated and repeated, and by the end, the audience had no choice but to believe them.

The band’s music was high-energy throughout, with Garry “Starchild” Shider orchestrating a lot of it while Clinton wasn’t on stage. Oh, did I mention he was in a diaper?

P-Funk grooved along until Clinton finally decided to get on stage. When he did, he did it slowly. The man is 66 years old, but I don’t think that was why he was moving slowly…I think it was another reason…something that was referenced many times through their set…drugs. The band is all about the marijuana, which they explicitly asked for on a number of occasions.

When Clinton did do anything, it was through small gestures. These small gestures got the crowd so excited though. It was almost as if they were in awe of just seeing him. Clinton didn’t sing much, and when he did sing or talk, it was in a very gruff voice, barely able to hold itself up. The years of drug abuse and whatever else he did have taken a toll.

Still, seeing him was entertaining, and believe it or not, those were minor quibbles. It is obvious that these days the band itself is the show, and they are a funky band. The band tore through “Give Up the Funk (Tear the Roof Off the Sucker” and “Flash Light” almost completely on their own, and the crowd ate it up. Singers Kendra Foster and Belita Woods showed their chops off, especially Foster when she sang a slowed down version of “Bounce 2 This” from the 2006 album How Late Do You Have 2BB4UR Absent?”

The band played for a solid two hours, leaving the stage about 10 minutes late. At the end, it was just Clinton, who just seemed very happy. As the crew started to break down the instruments, he lead the audience through chants of “we want the funk, give up the funk” and “get off your (butt) and jam.”

The show is a hard to one to review, so look at the photos that will be posted by tomorrow to see what was really experienced.

I haven’t felt funk like this in a long time. All photos by me except for number 2, E Heisig.

At 2:30, Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk came on. Ivan Neville is the son of Aaron Neville of Neville Brothers, and he has played keyboards with The Rolling Stones and was a member of the Spin Doctors for a little while, in addition to having some acclaim under his own name.

With Dumpstaphunk, Neville has created a bona fide funk outfit with some ace musicians, including his cousin Ian. The band started off strong with a cover of Sly & the Family Stone’s “I Cannot Make It” and it only got better from there. The group often incorporated two bassists, Nick Daniels and Tony Hall, and their interplay was essential to the music. There were even a couple times where they got to battling each other, and the results were too funkily dangerous.

The band grooved along for an hour, and attracted a nice crowd throughout. This was party music, and each member seemed like they were having a blast on stage. When the group got to the song “Put It in the Dumpster,” they had the crowd in the palm of their hand, having them chant that phrase as often as they could.

Ivan Neville’s keyboards were essential to the group, as he took many organ solos throughout that were always interesting and never superfluous. When the set was over, it felt like it was too short. This was funk done right, the kind that makes you dance. It was dirty, grimy and all around a good time. George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic had a hard act to follow, because Dumpstaphunk were accomplished and setting the bar rather high.

My apologies to Blind Melon, here is my review of their show:

I did not know much about Blind Melon, other than the songs “No Rain” and “Galaxie.” I knew that their original lead singer Shannon Hoon died in the mid-90s, and they recently reformed with a new lead singer, Travis Warren.

For the record, I am always wary off bands getting new lead singers and calling themselves the same band. The Doors did it as of late, as did INXS, Journey (about three times) and Styx. I think New Order did it best when they became a new band after Ian Curtis, lead singer of Joy Division, died.

Anyway, I went in with low expectations, and came out rather impressed. Warren was able to hold his own surprisingly well, and the band seemed to gel with his style very well. The band opened with “Galaxie,” and I really did enjoy their set. The music reminded me a lot of The Black Crowes, with a very southern rock feel to it. It was loose, sloppy, dirty and fun.

The set was able to hold up well for the most part, with a drag in the middle where they felt a lot of ballads should be placed. It just didn’t do it for me. Then came “No Rain,” and the entire crowd sang along. By then, the crowd had grown significantly, so the sing-along went well.

The band played a couple more numbers before walking offstage. I really like being surprised, and Blind Melon did that for me. Thank you Blind Melon.

There were a few key acts we wanted to see on Sunday, so before that Face and I broke down our tent and moved all of our stuff to the ca. After we saw what we wanted to see, we were ready to split. It had been a great weekend so far, and even though we were excited for George Clinton & Parliament Funkadelic and The New Pornographers, we were beat (and I was, and still am, very sunburned).

I was also excited to see Ivan Neville’s Dumpstaphunk, because a) awesome name, and b) I didn’t want to miss a member of the Neville family. But their performance wasn’t until 2:30, so Face and I had time to wander. We watched a little bit of the band Euforquestra at the Starshine Stage, which really didn’t do much for me. Then we wandered over to the Sunshine Stage, where all the acts we wanted to see where at.

At 1 p.m., the Bloomington, Ill. band Backyard Tire Fire played. I went to Illinois State University for two years, and while I was there, I heard a lot about this band. I had never seen them though, so I figured why not. The band came on, and for a relatively unknown band outside of Bloomington, they attracted a sizable crowd. The group’s roots rock(with emphasis on rock) was surprisingly refreshing to hear. Their lyrics were simplistic and kind of stuck to the cliche’s you would hear a roots rock group sing about (girls, driving, drinking and everything in between), but the music and melodies were often so good you forgot about them.

The drunken (or kind of drunken?) escapades lasted about an hour, and they kept the energy up throughout. The band’s covers of Roger Miller’s “King of the Road” and Warren Zevon’s “Lawyers, Guns and Money” were faithful and were nice additions to a set of tunes that could have stood up on its own. It was a nice surprise to see something I wasn’t expecting.