Kevin Bronson on June 10th, 2013

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[Buzz Bands LA contributor Dan Frazier covers Saturday at Jubilee:]

By Dan Frazier

The second day of the the Jubilee Music & Arts Festival again failed to attract big crowds Saturday – Friday was light too – but that didn’t stop the bands from playing as if they were at a massive. In fact, on a night that was capped by a headlining performance by the Drums [above], it was a day for small bands to shine in a big way. Here are some highlights:

HOTT MT:  There’s a reason that HOTT MT (Hour of the Time Majesty Twelve) received an onstage shout-out by No and Cayucas later in the day. It’s because their festival-opening set was sparsely attended, which was a shame. They sometimes sound bizarre with random vocal bursts and waves of noise, but that’s expected from a band with stage names like “Chairman Towel.” Frontwoman “Queen Ashi Dala” and her boys did their buoyant best and started the festival off right by pumping out dreamy-pop electro fresh of their recently released debut album “I Made This” (Manimal Vinyl/Frenchkiss). Don’t be surprised to see them play more festivals this year with a much later time slot.

Big Tree:  It might have already been the afternoon by the time Big Tree began playing their folk-pop, but it felt like a refreshing morning breeze to wake the senses. The quintet drove all the way down from their hometown of Berkeley and were one of the few bands at the fest to represent NorCal. During their set, the sun poured through the warehouse’s filthy windows and when co-vocalists Kalia McIntyre-Bader and Anna Ghezzi harmonized, the beams shone brighter. This early ambience was in stark contrast to the club vibe that would dominate the stage later that night with performances by DJ Ted Keyes, PAWN, and Daddy Kev.

Great White Buffalo: Jubilee was littered with garage rock (Bleached), surf punk (Pangea), indie (NO) and even hardcore (Trash Talk) but lacked earnest rock and roll –except for Great White Buffalo. After seeing these grit-pop rockers pay their dues at various dive bars across town it was inspiring to see them graduate to the music festival circuit. Guitarist Stephen Johnson’s catchy licks lead to melodic soars as Graham Bockmiller wailed out every song off their latest (and best) EP. And as always, they fed off the energy from their faithful fans.

The Dead Ships: Anyone who saw the Dead Ships can attest to the power of reverberation as the duo-turned-trio blasted out garage-blues rock. Guitarist Devlin McCluskey’s screams never sounded so piercing as they echoed off the warehouse walls. No one was louder at the Myra stage that day and if you’re expecting an apology from the band please don’t hold your breath.

DWNTWN: Fresh off a national tour with Capital Cities and Gold Fields, DWNTWN took to the Sunset Stage and turned the stagnant crowd into a mob of dancers. Vocalist Jamie Leffler tried to copy her bandmate Robert Cepeda’s signature look by wearing a similar hat but took it off after the first song. Maybe she missed flipping around her long blonde locks that led her to commenting, “Eh! I have hair in my mouth.” While staring at a distant horizon, her voice soothed over backbeats and kept the audience moving. While synth-pop is best accompanied by lights, perhaps it was too early for their full stage presence to be met. But they did their job to break in the mood.

Cayucas: As Cayucas sang about the California sun, it was setting behind the downtown L.A. skyline. With laid-back surf-rock tones, the Santa Monica-based band turned the Los Angeles River into the Pacific Ocean. Having recently returned from a tour in Europe, they probably missed a hometown crowd that could relate to their beach bum lyrics. Band founder Zach Yudin occasionally abandoned his guitar and strutted around on stage with the mic in hand. Before breaking into their single “High School Lover,” Yudin told the heartbreaking song’s back-story of when a girl he had a crush on in middle school wrote him letters, but he never answered back. By the time they finished up their closing jam, the summer’s warmth was gone.

Photos by Carl Pocket

Dan Frazier blogs at freebikevalet.com