FREEFEST 2011

[Vas Deferens]

^ song's called "So Haunted". Cut Copy are a way better live band now than before. Really enjoyed them.

[azaghal1981]

Yeah. If only they had more songs like that and less that sounded like Men at Work.

[Arthwys]

I might be in the minority here, but I thought GP and the Nocturnals put on a near mindblowingly awesome set.  Then again I'm a classic/roots rock fan. 

Bombay Bicycle Club were enjoyable, but nothing terribly special.  Okkervil River were a pleasant surprise, and !!! were decent.  Left after that to go to a party for a friend being deployed, but overall another good V-fest experience.  Thanks to Seth and all the staph that worked hard to make it that way!

Saw thatguy in the pavilion, being his usual gregarious self.  Also was amused by all the people trying to get to the pit who walked down the right side of the center section of the seats, only to be told that they had to walk all the way back up and around down the far right side of the pavilion to get there.  Signage would've helped there.

[Unsanity]

First of all what is up with all those wasps and/or bees.

I got there in time for Alberta Cross and enjoyed their set. During Okkervil River I did lurk in the 9:32 and had some nice bourbon. I think I saw a forum meeting but I have no idea what any of you look like.

That whole chunk of acts on the Pavilion stage was great! Grace Potter was a nice surprise. Patti Smith ruled! TV on The Radio were the most rocking I have ever seen them and despite being late The Black Keys were killer. Deadmau5 was fairly boring but he had more fans there than any other act. Ghostland was pretty neat too but I had to jet before traffic got snarled. Was out in less than 10 minutes.

This was my first Freefest and I had a blast. I hope it is this good next year.

[sweetcell]

murphy's dj set kicked ass.  really enjoyed empire of the sun, but they weren't mind-melting.  i was suitably impressed by the black keys.  deadmau5 was... deadmau5.  he's good at what he does, but what he does does little for me.  very pretty light, tho.  i caught Ghostland's first 2 songs and i (and several hundred/thousand others) had a really good time.
 
highlight of the day for me: a smoked turkey leg.  DAMN that thing ruled.

EotS was probably the band i most looked forward to, but otherwise i didn't feel there was anybody that i really needed to see - and i loved that.  bouncing around from stage to stage all day was awesome.  merriweather is such a great place for a festival.

nice seeing the usual suspects at the 932 meetup, and thank you to mr. whippy for a ride home (equally huge thanks to co-passenger mr. K who had water bottles for us to drink on the ride home - such a godsend).  can't wait for next year's edition!

50,000 according to this (40,000 last year):

http://www.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/music/midnight-sun-blog/bal-virgin-mobile-freefest-draws-its-largest-audience-20110910,0,4701462.story

definitely felt more crowded this year and the lines were a lot longer.  i think the venue was a little over capacity, gonna need more facilities (of all types) to maintain that number of attendees.

[kosmo vinyl]

I think the mud caused the relocation of a lot of the temporary facilities, moving the dance stage alone change the location of the information tents.   Also think there were more portapotties by the second stage that weren't around the outer edge due to mud. 

What was interesting is what good shape the lawn at the pavilion was in...

[Staralfur25]

Had a blast!
James Murphy was the highlight of the show. Playing vinyl.
Was there from the beginning till the end.
That makes sense why there were not more portapotties..............cause of mud.  I couldn't
be on the west stage for long. the lines were crazy and the sun was killing me.
haha
we did get to ride on the ferris wheel before the line got outta control.

bombay has a killer song called lights out, words gone. that i had to download.

empire of the sun was neat!! 

glad i saw cut copy at a smaller venue earlier this year.    Toooooo many people and bahbah bees.

and as much as i love black keys/deadmau5 i was having fun dancing to ghostland. haha

[Vas Deferens]

empire of the sun had neat costumes, but where are the songs?

[xneverwherex]

Was great to meet/see some of you all again.

I think I lasted 2 minutes (that might be generous) for Grace Potter. If I never had to hear her again, Id be most thankful.

Other than that: I thought Id have been more imrpessed with Empire of the Sun and aside for the costumes it was a bit of a let-down. Didnt help that the crowd was pretty awful at that time.

!!! prob had one of the best crowds. Everyone was dancing and mostly quite into it. It was the one band that I was really looking forward to seeing (even tho I had seen them the night prior).


Other favorites were Two Door Cinema Club. I was surprised how young the crowd was in the front and everyone knew all their songs. I guess I didnt realize how popular they had become. There were less bees on the West Stage the closer to you were to the front.

I tried to avoid that stage like the plague as there were way too many bees. Spent some time in the pavilion to watch a fight break out and a guy go flying over the chair. No clue what happened, but I guess they kissed/made up.


Other bands were ok. Nothing exciting to report. Cut Copy for about 3 songs were better than I had remembered, but I was more interested in !!!. A little bummed I missed Patti Smith; seems I always miss her at festivals. Was really disappointed with Bombay Bicycle Club who I had really wanted to see. Good news - I wont be wasting money to see them with TDCC in NYC.

Thanks for a great time.

[Mr.Whippy]

Other bands were ok. Nothing exciting to report. Cut Copy for about 3 songs were better than I had remembered, but I was more interested in !!!. A little bummed I missed Patti Smith; seems I always miss her at festivals. Was really disappointed with Bombay Bicycle Club who I had really wanted to see. Good news - I wont be wasting money to see them with TDCC in NYC.

I agree with you on Grace Potter, she has lots of ability, but I didn't like what she does with it.

That's funny that there is a Two Door Cinema Club/Bombay Bicycle Club double bill in NYC.  Hearing some of both from a distance, I said to my friend that it sounded like basically the same band.

We had a great time, my favorite by far was TV on the Radio, who just pummeled everything in their path.  I also really liked Patti Smith and Alberta Cross, whose new songs are great.  Okkervil River has really stepped up their game since last time I saw them a couple years ago.

[fatskippy]

The festival stage smelled like a zoo

[Justin Tonation]

I wasn't there, but I'm gonna guess that the bees were yellow jackets. This time of year they hoard protein and carbs, often from people food. Were they swarming over the trash cans? That would be typical.

[miss pretentious]

THIS.

Also !!! was the highlight of the day for me. Hands down. Watched a bit of Cut Copy, and it was pretty good. Other than that, there wasn't anything that really piqued my interest too too much. Ended up leaving after TVOTR.

The festival stage smelled like a zoo

[azaghal1981]

Smelled more like a collection of poop from different zoo animals.

[sweetcell]

9 Best Moments of Virgin Mobile FreeFest
http://www.spin.com/gallery/9-best-moments-virgin-mobile-freefest