(This is Part 2 of our Live 105 2008 BFD Coverage. View Part 1 HERE.)
From the moment the very proper-sounding Flogging Molly took the stage, it seemed like only a matter of time before a full-on mosh pit erupted. Looking like a reserved folk group in nice hats and jackets, and toting three guitars, a banjo and a violin, the seven-piece issued the first strains of “(No More) Paddy’s Lament” and already beer and water bottles were tossed into the air. By the second song, “The Likes Of You Again,” featuring a crazy-fast violin, mohawked dudes were crowd surfing, and by the time they got to their latest, “Requiem For A Dying Song,” the crowd was fully writhing and clapping along.
While Celtic rock fans danced to Flogging Molly’s “Tobacco Island” in front of the main stage, inside the dance tent funky kids in neon accessories roared for L.A. tastemaker DJ Steve Aoki. Seemingly taking cues from Cut Chemist, the one and only Kid Millionaire dropped an “Are You Ready?” loop beneath smoky purple lights and the crowd cheered a hearty “yes!” Relying less on lyrical hooks, with the exception of Daft Punk’s effervescent “One More Time,” Aoki engaged in a set of sonic experimentation. Playing a set that one might expect more from a House DJ than the auteur of Pillowface And His Airplane Chronicles, Aoki let thick beats drop, rarely letting a full lyric sneak its way in.
Yellow lights flashed, a possessed hipster climbed the scaffolding (only to be immediately escorted out upon his return to the ground), and Live 105’s music director, Aaron Axelsen, peeked his head out from behind the backstage curtain. Aoki was working his magic, and even The Kooks’ Pritchard and a girl in an outrageous neon full-body leotard and spandex outfit had to come out to dance on top of one of the stage’s speakers.
Outside the dance tent Pennywise was getting political and letting the F-word run rampant. Shouting “My Own Country” from 1999’s Straight Ahead, the SoCal anti-authoritarians transformed the stage into a soapbox, cursing and yelling about the government, and ultimately busting out a truly fine cover of The Ramones’ “Blitzkreig Bop.” Later in the evening an excited teen would call in to Live 105 and report that he’d broken his nose during Pennywise’s performance, and between the group’s angst and the crowd’s thrusting, it was easy to see that happening. (The teen was, for the record, was thrilled to have seen Pennywise.)
After Cypress Hill got everyone jumping around the main stage, the party continued in the dance tent with a pair of undeniably talented New Yorkers—headliner Moby, who dropped his Last Night disc earlier this year, and the irrepressible Brooklyn diva Santogold, who pounded her body rhythmically and chanted “Creator” from her self-titled debut. Wearing a baseball cap and huge hoop earrings the critical darling knocked out a bhangra-infused “You’ll Find A Way,” pumping her fist and shaking her hips.
At the end of the day, when the hipsters put away their shades, Flogging Molly fans passed out in the grass, and shirtless dudes ventured home to nurse their sunburns, one thing was certain, regardless of what kind of music you like to rock out to—from Britpop to blues to Celtic rock—you got it at BFD.
More on Live 105's BFD and BFD bands here:
www.moby.com
www.steveaoki.com
www.cypressonline.com
www.floggingmolly.com
www.myspace.com/santogold
www.myspace.com/pennywise
Downloads:
“Creator” by Santogold – [mp3]
“Devil’s Dance Floor” by Flogging Molly – [mp3]
“Drunken Lullibies” by Flogging Molly – [mp3]
“Boom Biddy Bye-Bye” by Cypress Hill – [mp3]
“Fuck Authority” by Pennywise – [mp3]
