LA's Hurting Download Festival Rescued by Caribou [LA; 07/20/08]

We made it back out the day after Wolf Parade for a one-day festival called Download at the Gibson Amphitheater in Universal Park. From the get-go, this show had a bevy of obstacles. For one it was scheduled on a Sunday. Two, it fell on the same weekend as the Pitchfork Festival in Chicago, which might not have directly affected attendance but more so press and the actual performers available to play. Three, Download’s LA demographic had stayed up all night at Santa Monica’s Glow beach/art/rave thing. Four, it turns out the Gibson Amphitheater is a rather weird venue choice, being indoors with assigned stadium seating, all inside the tourist zone of Universal Studios. Five, the lineup was as randomly varied as it was strong. Six, the headliners were legends, but really dated legends. And seven: this whole thing was packed with enough sponsored product placement to make any fan or band feel weird.

Nonetheless, there were a few acts that I had been dying to see live, and a last minute promotional push online to sell tickets got me in the door for $10 (plus hidden fees).

4:00 M83 topped the list of “dying to see live" and we arrived just in time for them. The French brainchild of Anthony Gonzalez did their best to fill the empty room with shoegaze landscapes. The older material mixed right in with 80’s wave stuff on this year’s Saturdays = Youth record. It all looked pretty cool from where we were (hundreds of empty but reserved seats in between us and the band).

5:00 The nifty rotating stage flipped around to present a fully set-up, Yeasayer. They sounded great, but it kind of felt like an early, uninspired round of Star Search. This band has sold out every hip venue in 2008, and understandably looked fairly bemused by the seated audience. Compared to their show at the Echo in January, this was a dialed-in performance. It wasn’t their fault really. The crowd simply observed rather than feeling that spiritual vibe that Yeasayer has going on.

5:40 Perhaps the most unfortunate casualty of this whole thing was the outdoor Blitzen Trapper set. Download had a second stage outside to either house “lesser known” bands or to anticipate an overflow (that never showed up). There is no doubt in my mind that Blitzen Trapper hasn’t played for such a dismal turnout in years. We literally had about 20 people either lying on the grass or checking out cell phones at the nearby vendor tent. Tipping this over the edge was the occasional flames that shot over trees by the stage from a pirate ride at Universal.

My heart went out to Blitzen Trapper.

6:00 Thankfully some guys with a sense of humor came out to the Gibson main stage. Ghostland Observatory did their thing with an identical energy to any other time I've ever seen them. Ghostland could have fun playing a nursing home. The exaggerated “Midnight Voyage” got people grooving atop their seats. It was almost normal.

7:00 Mutemath = the dude from Maroon 5 backed by a progressive alt rock band. Moving on.

If the crowd came to see one band, it had to be Brand New. No complaints there.

Just nothing to write about.

Fast forward through 9:00: those old legends, Gang of Four and The Jesus and Mary Chain both deserved a better reception. Embarrassing. So we, like many others had already done, left the theater early.

On that tiny outdoor stage stood the last possible hope for what was otherwise a colossal flop, Caribou.

Wind struck the stale, empty Gibson grass. The Download Festival brought to you by Seagate, VW, Spin, nowwhat.com, 5 Gum, Last.fm, Live Nation, and Epiphone Instruments, sat there on the ground, a bleeding failure. And then, from the Canadian mountaintops galloped a majestic Caribou. In one furious stride, he picked up Download, and carried it to safety.

Instantly, I was hit with a sensation that all was not lost. Dan Snaith (Caribou) and his touring band ripped into a monster set focusing on what they do best: percussion. Snaith and Brad Weber sat face to face; drum kit to drum kit, syncing together a stunning exhibition of drumming. Snaith has a Ph.D. in mathematics and once wrote a thesis, titled Overconvergent Siegel Modular Symbols. He plays with a mathematic accuracy, while the overall sound of Caribou favors the aesthetic. You can check last year’s best of list, to see where Andorra landed. Pick the record up. Carry it to safety.


I took a video of the encore. It’s a tad dark, but stay with it, you won’t see a better striking of objects with sticks this year (unless you catch Travis Barker and DJ AM like I did last week, blog coming soon).