Now/It's: Live On the Green 2017 - Week Two
Round two of Live On the Green 2017 was wetter than most (but not by too much), but even despite the precipitous environs, good (free!) music prevailed. Local Natives, Real Estate, and Minus the Bear took the stage for semana numero dos of Live On the Green making the second week a particularly indie affair.
Full disclosure, I missed the majority of Minus the Bear's set - thank you traffic (but what else is new?) - but did catch the latter part. Nothing like some solid indie rock (slight grunge) from Seattle, featuring what might be the most political statement ever to grace the grounds of Live On the Green - a guitarist wearing an Obama 2008 "HOPE" shirt.
Vague (and brief) political musing aside, Live On the Green operated "business as usual" in the second week of its current installment, that is until the heavens began to make themselves known. Actually, that last sentence might have been a slight overstatement - there was no torrential downpour, no claps of thunder or lightning - a light sprinkle came here and there, but nothing serious.
Luckily for the true indie faithful, however, the rain meant that the fair-weather festival goers cut their losses and left in a hurry in hopes of avoiding a presumptive thunder storm, opening up space for power pop and psuedo indie folk fans alike. Local Natives put on the high octane show that they were flown in from Los Angeles for, where the two loudest screams came about following the start of "Wide Eyes" and when lead singer Taylor Rice let down his tendril hair. All in all, a solid headlining set.
No offense to Local Natives, but Real Estate's set was the "winner" for the evening, in my humble opinion. Real Estate brought out a solid set that ran through highlights from In Mind, Atlas, Days, and their eponymous debut, Real Estate. As far as family festival sets go, Real Estate is about as a strong (and safe) an act to enlist - it's guitar pop with vague and whispery lyricism that doesn't run the (psuedo) risk of offense. On top of such a fact, the guys in Real Estate seem pretty amiable as well - "Not a stretch to say we're facing some troubling times these days. Thank you for coming to this peaceful gathering of love and support."
