Firefly Festival

So a couple weeks ago we rented an RV and went to the Firefly Festival in Dover, Delaware. This was the 2nd annual FF, and our 2nd visit. I think I'm done with it--the crowds were too huge this time. The best thing about the first Firefly was how chill it was, how close you could get to all the acts without feeling jammed in. This year there were way too many drunk-ass rowdy college kids who marshed my mallow.

Notes on the tunes:

The Skins were the first act I saw. Three very young African-American siblings (singer, drums, bass) and two young Caucasian kids (guitars). I don't know what I expected when they took the stage, but it certainly wasn't a series of hard-rock tunes with Black Sabbath leanings. The singer has studied her Noisettes, and the lead guitarists can shred like nobody's business. Really tight band, very entertaining. I don't think anyone was better than the Skins all weekend.

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers are amazing. I'd never seen them live and they played a 2-hour greatest hits list going deep into the '70s. Just great. And "Tweeter and the Monkey Man"? Aw, hell yeah.

The Red Hot Chili Peppers are the most boring band I've ever seen live. Every song sounds exactly the same, and the little jams between songs are so tired and ineffective. Just stop.

MGMT are polished and spot-on live, but you might as well stay home and listen to their CDs. Passion Pit and Foster the People are about in the same class of sparkly digital music as MGMT. Django Django are interesting, the Alabama Shakes are soulful and worth seeing, Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes were OK, and thank GOD the Lumineers cancelled because Charlie Musselwhite and Ben Harper filled in and they really rocked--their cover of "When the Levee Breaks" is the greatest cover I've ever seen live anywhere by anyone.