Desert Daze 2019 By The Minute Review

Desert Daze (10/11-10/12) By the Minute Review

Cynthia Rebolledo, Nelson Rodriguez and Chris Parker

Friday, October 11

5:15 p.m. Overheard at the bathrooms: “Excuse me sir are there bathrooms just for diarrhea or are they all the same?” (Chris Parker)

5:30 p.m. Just spotted some Ween Fans rocking giant Boognish chains and sailor outfits, channeling their inner “Ocean Man.” (Cynthia Rebolledo)

6:15 p.m. Crumb‘s hypnotic sounds coming from the Block Stage lure me over as they tuck the sun away with their psych-jazz vibes. (Nelson Rodriguez)

6:20 p.m. Crumb’s guitarist/vocalist Lila Ramani sings the words to the bands biggest hit “Locket” and the crowd is enchanted with the dreamy melody. (NR)

6:40 p.m. Stereolab’s long awaited reunion set is finally here and the anticipation is killing me! (NR)

7:00 p.m. Everything sounds better in French and I think this crowd watching Stereolab would agree. (CR)

7:32 p.m. Stereolab’s vocalist Laetitia Sadier tells the crowd it’s time to Percolate then the band launch into the quick tempo “Percolator” in the ripping 5/4 time signature while Sadier speedily sings her catchy French lyrics. (NR)

7:55 p.m. Stereolab are showing all the desert krautrock fans how it’s really done as they cruise through an amazing performance of “Lo Boob Oscillator” (NR)

9:00 p.m. Animal Collective are literally giving me the feels as they open up with “Banshee Beat” from their 2005 album “Feels” (NR)

9:15 p.m. After opening with an oldie Animal Collective switch gears to testing out new material with a catchy song called “Gem and I” which consists of vocalist Avey Tare on bass guitar and vocalist Panda Bear on drums/vocal duty. (NR)

9:30 p.m. Animal Collective give the crowd what most of them came to hear: a song from their 8th and highly praised studio album “Merriweather Post Pavillion” by performing the opening track “In The Flowers” (NR)

9:55 p.m. After a few very promising new tracks Animal Collective pick up the tempo as Vocalist Avey Tare yells the words to “Grass” which gets the crowd moving. (NR)

10:25 p.m. Many longtime fans of Animal Collective excitedly cheer as the band performs “For Reverend Green” for the first time in 12 years capping off another elevated set full of reimagined classics and a peek into a promising new era of music for the band. (NR)

12:53 a.m. “Metz late night was crushing but the mosh pit dust inside the tent was like a cloud of kitty litter” (CP)

Saturday, October 12

4:30 p.m. Flight jump suits and Devo hats are in full force today. (CR)

5:15 p.m. Parquet Courts’ singer Andrew Savage is wearing a red Devo energy dome hat even though the band’s song “Borrowed Time” fills the crowd with energy on its own (NR)

5:25 p.m. As the sun continues to beat down on the day 2 crowd Parquet Courts close out their set with the slow but increasingly loud song “She’s Rolling” (NR)

5:40 p.m. Festival founder Phil Pirrone hits the Block Stage with his band JUUJJUU which provide the perfect soundtrack that defines the standard Desert Daze sound heard throughout the entire festival. (NR)

6:40 p.m. After a ridiculously long video intro DEVO finally grace us with their presence on the Moon Stage. (NR)

6:55 p.m. DEVO change into their energy dome hat costumes and take the crowd back to 1980 with a flawless performance of “Girl U Want” (NR)

7:00 p.m. DEVO bassist Jerry Casale tells the crowd they’re going to play a song they’ve been working on and surprise surprise it’s their biggest hit single “Whip it” (NR)

7:30 p.m. The art installations have transformed into a neon jungle gym. (CR)

8:35 p.m. T Swift and Queen B fans ain’t got nothing on WEEN fans. This large cult fan base is OG and the Moon Stage has now become their altar. (NR)

8:45 p.m. Although the Ween album “Chocolate and Cheese” came out 25 years ago, vocalist Gene Ween is hitting the high notes to “Freedom of 76” like he was 24 years old again. (NR)

9:02 p.m. Overheard at the Ween stage: “I can tell I took too much molly because my farts are getting hotter.” (CP)

9:15 p.m. Dean Ween is melting guitar strings with his solos. (CR)