100 Nights of Summer, our annual tour of European festivals, officially kicks off this Friday at This Is Not A Love Song Festival in France. This article started off as a “best picks”, but who am I kidding, I want to see all of them – one of the reasons I picked this fest. Below is a sampler of some of the bands that caught my attention on the lineup poster.
As always, check the official website in case they change set times/locations and because I’m usually drinking when writing up these previews.
Dilly Dally
Friday 19:00-19:50/ Grande Salle Paloma
Toronto, Canada
Wikipedia Says: Alternative rock
What We Say: Channeling the ghost of nineties alt-rock, Dilly Dally is a welcome return to that classic indie rock sound. Amazing vocals from lead singer Katie Monks.
Foals
Friday 23:40-00:50/ Scène Extérieure “Flamingo”
Oxford, England
Wikipedia Says: Indie rock, alternative rock, art rock, dance-punk, math rock (early)
What We Say: With their crowd friendly rock, the Friday night headliners have built a reputation for engaging festival performances. The indie rock mags have already started the “these guys have sold out” chant which means they’re doing something right.
Destroyer
Friday 20:20-21:20/ Grande Salle Paloma
Vancouver, Canada
Wikipedia Says: Indie rock
What We Say: It may sound like the name of a metal band, but Destroyer is actually a super chill singer-songwriter from Canada. And the video below is pretty damn great.
Lush
Saturday 19:40-20:40/ Scène Extérieure “Flamingo”
London, England
Wikipedia Says: Shoegazing, Britpop, dream pop, noise pop, alternative rock
What We Say: Shoegaze pioneers (and recently reunited) Lush kick off an entertaining trio of nineties alt-rock on Saturday night along with Air and Dinosaur Jr. It’s going to be hard to leave the main stage.
Algiers
Saturday 20:40-21:30/Grande Salle Paloma
Atlanta, Georgia
Wikipedia Says: Experimental rock, post-punk, gospel, noise rock, art rock, work songs, psychedelic soul
What We Say: The infusion of soul to indie rock gives Algiers a sound unlike many of the others on the bill. Really interested to see how this works at a music festival.
Her
Saturday 23:45-00:30/Club Paloma
Rennes, France
Wikipedia Says: No entry…yet.
What We Say: There’s hardly any information about this French band, but I dig what I’ve heard so far.
Dinosaur Jr.
Saturday 00:00-01:00/ Scène Extérieure “Flamingo”
Massachusetts, United States
Wikipedia Says: Alternative rock, indie rock, noise rock
What We Say: I’ve been humming Feel the Pain for twenty years. It’s about time to see Dinosaur Jr. live.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OQZmrdwK7YM
Drive Like Jehu
Sunday 20:10-21:00/Grand Salle Paloma
San Deigo, United States
Wikipedia Says: Post-hardcore, emo, math rock
What We Say: We never got our Drive Like Jehu curated (and headlining) festival so catching them at this festival will be the next best thing. As always, I’m curious to see how these guys rock after 20+ years.
Paraquet Courts
Sunday 21:20-22:20/Scène Extérieure “Flamingo”
Brooklyn, United States
Wikipedia Says: Indie rock, post-punk revival, garage rock, art punk
What We Say: A lot of pretentious genre words get tossed around to describe Paraquet Courts. I don’t have any to add. They just sound like solid indie rock.
Beach House
Sunday 23:10-00:20/Scène Extérieure “Flamingo”
Baltimore, United States
Wikipedia Says: Dream pop, indie rock
What We Say: Beach House is one of the festival darlings of the 2016 season so hoping to catch them multiple times in the next few weeks. Their surreal low-key vibe should help ease us slowly into a Monday.