Jubilee Music Fest boasts big ambitions and energy, but suffers low turnout as it debuts in downtown L.A.
Kevin Bronson on
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For all its promotional heft, the reinvented, relocated Jubilee Music & Arts Festival on Friday felt like Introduction to Concert-Going. That owed mostly to the crowd, which was not only alarmingly sparse but very young.
Rosy-cheeked fans moved in gaggles, bouncing to music from peers such as teenaged quartet Cherry Glazerr, moshing to rough-and-tumble rockers Pangea and huddling against walls to save enough energy to thrash later to Trash Talk and the Black Lips. Thanks to the setting – a maze of distressed, graffiti-stained, once-industrial buildings in the shadow of the 6th Street Viaduct in downtown L.A. – the festival felt like a big secret: an underground warehouse show with vendor booths, fashion show and food trucks.
Beer gardens were underpopulated; the festival was a breeze to negotiate; sets ran largely on time after a slight delay opening the gates at 3 p.m.; the sound on all three stages (one outdoor and two indoor) was decent considering the brick-and-mortar trappings; and the shopaholics who attended had a field day in the Jubilee’s many pop-up boutiques. The biggest detractors (and they had every right to vent) were the performers and fans at the spoken-word and comedy stage.
The Santa Monica Stage (the Jubilee retained the stage names – Hoover, Myra and Sunset – from its days in Silver Lake) was situated in a small building about 40 yards west of the outdoor stage and only 10 steps east of the warehouse housing the Hoover Stage. Despite the brick walls, the sound bleed was oppressive. “If you’re fed up and want leave, I get it,” the host said in between comedy sets as Trash Talk’s music thundered through the walls. “I don’t usually scream ‘f*ck’ in the middle of my set,” one of the performers said, “but if any venue calls for it, this is it.”
After the jump, my Top 5 highlights from Day 1 of Jubilee:
Pangea on the Sunset Stage: Whatever Pangea is doing – and I can’t decide whether it’s the Ramones-doing-Nirvana or vice versa – they’re really good at it. Recently signed to Harvest Records, William Keegan and pals roared through 45 minutes of smirky garage-rock in front of a crowd (hopefully) too young to relate to the anecdote behind Pangea’s song “Too Drunk to Cum.” Maybe it was the backdrop (the 81-year-old 6th Street bridge behind the stage) or the fact that they dusted off the Ronettes’ “Be My Baby” (50 years old this summer), but it all seemed very vintage.
Kitten on the Myra Stage: Teenage terror Chloe Chaidez and mates gave another in a long line of explosive performances, alternating between disco-rockers and arena-ready anthems. At times, Kitten seems determined to bring back the power ballad, although with its own twist – vaguely glammy, overtly sensual. Chaidez’s hair-tossing energy was particularly contagious in the dim confines of this industrial building; while other sets here garnered looky-loos who would stop by for a song or two and then sample other music at nearby stages, Kitten kept its crowd for 45 minutes.
Mikhael Paskalev on the Myra Stage: The Norwegian/Bulgarian singer-songwriter, fronting a five-piece, brought a distinctive flavor to his melange of classic rock, indie and country. As opposed to many in the indie arena, Paskalev’s live show is free of affectation – it’s only rock ’n’ roll, he seems to project, and we should like it. First gaining attention for his “I Spy” video, Paskalev recently released his debut album “What’s Life Without Losers,” and if I could’ve found the merch booth, I’d have bought one.
Future Unlimited on the Hoover Stage: One of only a handful of out-of-town entries on the Jubilee’s dance card, Nashville’s Future Unlimited may not be the future, but they are a decent take on the past. Built around the duo of David Miller and Samuel D’Amelio, Future Unlimited makes hooky, propulsive electro-pop that borrows equally from the ’80s’ more stylish synth acts and from darker post-punk. Their robot beats at times recall a newer New Order, or somebody from that species, but both their craft and stage energy were perfect for a room seemingly straight out of “Lost Boys.”
Incan Abraham on the Hoover Stage: As it was with Tashaki Miyaki later on the Myra Stage, the environment – brick walls, concrete floor and high tin roof – suited the reverb-saturated electro of the L.A. quartet perfectly. Earlier, folk trio Yellow Red Sparks had boldly tried its get-the-crowd-involved practice of asking for an unamplified, a capella sing-along to the 1961 Elvis hit “Can’t Help Falling in Love.” That proved difficult with the festival’s other noises bouncing around the room. No such worries for Incan Abraham and its wall-of-sound synth-pop, which, especially from the back of the room, sounded almost stereo-quality.
More photos to come; below, Bleached on the main stage
Yea, very underwhelming overall. Waste of my money. They should have stayed in Silverlake and kept it cheaper/truly local. FYF its going to kick its ass downtown.
The festival was overpriced for what it was. Very hard to find. It should have been closer to a Metro Red Line station. Also, it should have stayed on the streets. If on a street, people will stumble on it. Here, it was like a “secret”, so attendance was very sparse. It should have been $25 a day and $40 for a two day pass. I saw very few people from bands checking out their peers performances
Agreed. also, too many teens and preteens for my taste. and sometimes the noise from the outside stage bled into nearby warehouse making it hard to hear the bands playing inside.