#stand4rd

Every summer, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden floods with music lovers young and old to celebrate the joy found in music of all genres. Beginning in 2004 as a one-day affair with decent attendance, Rock the Garden has skyrocketed to a two day event, bringing in over 40,000 beautiful human beings. This year, I was among the lucky thousands. I'll be detailing the weekend from start to finish, throwing some recommendations into the mix for those looking to expand their musical horizons.

DAY ONE

the stand4rd. Recommended highly for fans of Earl Sweatshirt. 

This talented group of four, hailing from the nearby St. Paul, has been rising to fame over the last year with slower, 'Earl Sweatshirt'-esque rap. They certainly didn’t disappoint at Rock the Garden, and kicked Saturday off well. This group is incredibly young, one member (Corbin, formerly known as Spooky Black) is only seventeen. But you wouldn't know that from hearing him sing, in a deep, confident King Krule sort of way. It's not just Corbin leading the group though, Allen Kingdom, Psymun, and Bobby Rapps bring huge talent as well. Individually, they each kind of remind you of that kid at your high school who really wanted a rap career... except talented, and well on their way to building such a career.

Lucius. Wow.

To be honest, this was a wild card for me- I had not done my pre-concert research of their music. Dressed to the nines, this fivesome blew me away with powerful stage presence, an impressive percussion section, and the lovely harmonizing of the lead singers, Jess Wolfe and Holly Laessig. It's always wonderful to see strong female-led bands, and Lucius struck me as an awesome Florence+the Machines meets Tune-Yards combination. Certain songs even had a slight Arcade Fire feel to them, such as "How Loud Your Heart Gets”. Jess and Holly both play percussion (drums as well as other instruments) on top of vocals, and this has a powerful effect on the music quality. They have a huge following in the Minneapolis area, and it's very well deserved.

Courtney Barnett. If you haven't heard this name yet, please Google it now. 

It's hard to believe three people can create a sound as fantastic as Courtney, Dave Mudie, and Bones Sloane do. It's also hard to believe such incredibly talented musicians can maintain such a down to earth, humble stage presence. For Courtney, the crowd was filled with dedicated fans, including one concert goer repeatedly writing lyrics and messages on balloons to throw in the air, much to the amusement of the band. Even Conor Oberst stood to the side casually dancing along.

Dressed in all black with a well timed smoke machine, Courtney and her bandmates absolutely killed it.

Conor Oberst. Conor holds a special place in my heart. 

You know how everyone goes through a 'sad music' phase in high school? Well, I may have outgrown Dashboard Confessional, but I will never lose my love for Conor's longterm project, Bright Eyes.

Conor is a man of many talents and numerous musical pursuits, but is currently touring as a solo artist, accompanied by The Felice Brothers from New York City. Named Best Songwriter of 2008 by Rolling Stone magazine for his work with Bright Eyes, Conor's songwriting has only improved with time. His solo album, Upside Down Mountain, is a beautiful testament to this: chock full of songs about love and life, loss and pain, crafted in Conor's uniquely eloquent manner.

I'm lucky enough to say I once saw Conor live in his full-blown, alcohol-fueled Bright Eyes state back in 2011. As amazing as that was (political rants and all), it's obvious he's matured quite a bit in the last few years, both musically and in stage presence. His show was very mellow, no yelling about Scott Walker or throwing of guitars.

Connor kicked off his show with "Time Forgot" and "Hundreds of Ways", my two favorites from Upside Down Mountain. More from his solo project would come later, such as "Artifact #1", but aside for these songs, much of the show was dedicated to his other projects: Bright Eyes in particular.

Casadaga was touched on, with "Four Winds" and "Soul Singer in a Session Band" but my favorite moments featured the heart-wrenching angst Bright Eyes is so known for. "Method Acting", "Easy/Lucky/Free", and "Poison Oak" were incredible. Conor can move a crowd emotionally like no one else, and Rock the Garden responded accordingly.

Please check back soon for a recap of Day 2 of Rock the Garden.