Friday night's Street Scene Festival, the first of a two day fest, saw bands like Beck, Justice, and Vampire Weekend return to the actual street; the past few years, the festival has bounced around town in less-than-desired locations. This return to roots move only added to the frantic and energetic performances from that day's bands.



Having gone to previous Street Scenes, I was immediately impressed by the layout; stages sat in between apartment complexes and businesses. The two main stages, Fulano and Fulana, sat on opposite ends of the parking lot adjacent to the downtown stadium Local businesses and food vendors had set up booths all along 14th, J, and K Streets, evoking some sort of urban Coachella.

It was certainly warm on Friday and The Films opened the fest at 4:30 to thousands of people pouring into the area. Opening that early in the day was rough, but they'd amassed a decent crowd by the time I headed over to watch Chester French.

And I don't know if Chester French's schtick is to be creepy and slightly misogynistic, but...well. That's what he was. His song lyrics were even worse. Oh well. Not my thing.

The first band I was stoked to see was Muslims, a native San Diego band that fuses The Stooges with The Replacements and so many dirty post-punk bands I won't bother naming. Basically, they rip. Catchy, raw, and energetic. The crowd was just as amped to see them as well.



I then wandered over to the other mainstage in time to catch a bit of Nortec Collective. I proceeded to lose my mind to their incredibly unique of norteño and electronic manipulation. (I Twittered that they sounded like Trent Reznor covering mariachi and I stand by that.) Check 'em out if you're adventurous.

From there, it was a blur, rushing from artist to artist. It was nice to finally get shots of Hot Chip after last year's Coachella attempt was a bust. (Thanks, overcrowded photo pit!) Michael Franti & Spearhead continue to gain popularity, as was evidenced by the gigantic crowd watching him rock the Fulano stage. I caught a bit of The New Pornographers, but the Zarabanda stage was built between two large buildings, preventing me from getting anywhere near the stage. I briefly watched Diplo's sound manipulations before heading to see TV On The Radio.



Oh man, what a GREAT band. Full of energy, life, and they put on a damn fine show. Easily one of the best performances of the fest so far.

After meeting up with Aileen (TrophyBoys here on Buzznet), I eagerly waited for GZA to show up.

And waited.
And waited.
And waited.

I gave up to see Cat Power. I still have no idea if he showed up.

Cat Power was plagued with sound problems. (Actually, both of the small stages were. Lame.) She was distracted by how quiet everything sounded and, to be honest, even I was. Hopefully, this will be fixed for Saturday. DeVotchKa had the same problems. At times, mics went out completely and all the monitors seemed unable to work. But the band soldiered on.



Justice had already started by the time I ran over to snap photos. I was then met by a photo pit full of gals in sorority gear and So Cal bros dancing. And none of them with cameras.

Confused and crowded, I only managed to snap a few shots worth saving. There's not much to see of the French dance duo anyway, since they hide behind their gear. Still, it was annoying to have to push past people who had no idea they were getting in my way. (Apparently, the Photo Pass and the Guest Pass were the same color and some guard mistakenly let all those people in. Awesome.)



Vampire Weekend still astounds me. The band and their fans are SO SO SO YOUNG. I think I stood in the photo pit with my mouth gaping the whole time. The band has clearly gotten much better live after having played so many shows this year. I didn't particularly care for them, but they sounded great and completely controlled the stage.



I passed Antibalas beginning their set and headed over towards Beck. The photo pit was highly regulated and only a select few of us were allowed in. It wasn't a long wait before Beck launched right into "Loser" as his opening song. From that moment on, he controlled the stage and controlled the night. It's weird to think I've been listening to his music since I was in junior high; he's still just as youthful as he was back then.

Check out my photo galleries from Friday's show:

Friday, September 19
Beck
Hot Chip
Vampire Weekend
Muslims
DeVotchKa