A pretty crazy day over at PDX Pop Now! yesterday. I’m going to attempt and sum it up as succinctly as I can (so I can get back to the fest). I’ve included Arya Imig’s (KPSU DJ/Friend of the site) top three PDX Pop moments of the day, as well.

Photos are by the great Jason Quigley except the obviously bad ones, which are by me. Brief videos by me as well. See all his awesome (seriously awesome) photos on his flickr page.

You should also be able to tune in to PDX Pop Now! here. And shows are supposedly being archived, I’ll keep an eye out.

Friday!

Typhoon had the challenge of opening up the fest, and doing so shorthanded (the band usually rocks between 10-12 members, but ran on a lowly seven tonight. “We’re going to try and make this as Piratey as possible,” frontman Kyle Morton told the crowd before playing “The Shallows.” They crowd helped form the choir of the damned.

Arya Imig:
“If ever there was a reason to be on time, it was Typhoon who kicked off the weekend’s festivities with all the class and talent we’ve come to expect from the ensemble, who were a septet for the evening. With their transcendent epic folk, Typhoon send chills up my spine, reminding me of the Pogues, Radiohead and Broken Social Scene in equal measures.”

Typhoon:

The High Violets:

The Hooliganship set was sorta crazy. People were too into the visuals to dance, so it was sort of an art gallery vibe.

Arya Imig:
“It’s safe to say that by the end of the weekend no act will have done at PDX POP NOW what Hooliganship did. The group’s performance, which came on member Peter Burr’s birthday, also doubled as their tour kick off show, and Hooliganship brought the works: 3-D glasses, projected background animation, and the funk. A truly unique act, the duo mashes up performance and video art with dance music into a jumble of fun that’s crazier than eating pop rocks and cola at the same time. I only wish more people had been dancing.”

Hooliganship:

Hooliganship video:

This was the first time I’ve seen Pocket Parade, and it sounds like it may be my last as they dubbed this a farewell show of sorts. It’s always good to see the saxaphone making a comeback.

pocket parade:

The Beauty was in fine form despite some minor sound “glitches.” Get it? Glitch Soul? Glitches?! Ha! No, but seriously, it was a fun set and the kids up front reacted with a good mix of dancing, clapping and getting down. Frontman Todd Fadel tried out a gimmick that didn’t really work out, though: He gave his phone number to the audience and promised a free private Beauty show to the first fifteen people to text him their email address. That’d be a heck of a party!

The Beauty:

Ah, Junkface. With more guest appearances than any other group thus far, this was a damn entertaining set, and it helped that the sun had dropped out of sight for it.

Arya Imig:
“Junkface’s set had guest appearences galore, including Josh Hodges of Sexton Blake/Starfucker and Erin Morgan of Nire, but it was the pieces the group performed as a classic trio that gave the outside crowd the biggest treat. Unfortunately, a number of people filed slowly inside to see The Blow for fear of being shut out due to capacity restrictions, and missed the band’s appetite for destruction at the end of the set, as Randy Bemrose and Ryan Bjornstead fought and wrestled on stage, and Kyle Briggs knocked over his drum kit. Post proto-art punk ? Whatever. I know it’s only rock’n'roll, but I like it.”

Junkface:

This is when things got a little nutty. Because of a 600 person capacity, an estimated 200-300 people were shut out of AudioCinema during the Blow’s set. Word from organizer Cary Clark was that the Fire Marshall was close to making an appearance, and hopefully more show-goers would be let in. It made for no small amount of drama, ask people pointed out the wide-open spaces in the room (it felt about 1/2 to 2/3 full on the inside). This lead to people crawling through the windows and arguing with festival organizers to get in, but for the most part the mob outside was pretty amazingly understanding. I’ve seen angry mobs before, and this was more like a “sorta bummed” mob.

The Fire Marshall showed up and gave everything a big O.K. sign, but by then the Blow’s set was over and much of the one-track-minded audience (shame on you) was on its way home.

Kids that couldn’t get in to see the Blow:

Cary Clarke explaining the capacity problem to some upset young fans:

A short video tour of the shut-out fans (it’s dark) during the Blow’s set:

the blow:

After the Blow, things cleared out and everyone who wanted to get in did so (with a minor fuss, of course). Lightheaded MC, Braille, may have talked a bit much, but he put on a solid set nonetheless. At one point he asked if the crowd was making fun of him, adding “that’s cold.” I don’t think they were, for the record.

Braille:

Hey Lover is furious. The two were fantastic to watch. Before the band’s set, Justin Varga said “Sorry we’re late, we were out drinking in the van,” which elicited hesitant applause. Then Terah Beth proceeded to scream and kick the shit out of her drums. One of the highlights of the day for me, for sure.

Hey Lover:

If there’s a better way to close out a night than March Fourth, I’m not sure what it is. Unfortunately, I had marching orders just before the huge band took the stage. I was impressed by the M4 bus, though!

The bus:

March Fourth:

More tonight! Or maybe tomorrow morning!