New American Music Union Day #1 Recap

By Jim Shearer on 08/09/2008

With three music festivals to chose from this weekend--All Points West (Jersey City, NJ), Virgin Mobile (Baltimore), New American Music Union (Pittsburgh, PA)--I decided to attend the latter, just for the fact that I was heading back to Pittsburgh anyway to compete in a golf/fishing/corn-hole triathlon.

I was only able to catch the first night of the New American Music Union Festival, which was the obvious appetizer course (Tiny Masters Of Today, NASA, The Black Keys, and The Roots) for the festival's second day (Bob Dylan, The Raconteurs, Gnarls Barkley, Spoon).

Being that this was the festival's inaugural year, there were some ups and downs during the first night. Here goes:

The Black Keys
UPS
Best performance of the night. Dan and Pat pulled out all the right tracks getting a big pop from the crowd during "Just a Little Heat," "Your Touch," "Strange Times," and ending solidly with a rib-sticking performance of Attack & Release's "I Got Mine." And what would a Black Keys performance be without a Captain Beefheart cover? The duo also helped fill their ample stage space with a huge inflatable Black Keys tire. A+ for stage props!

DOWNS
The funniest man in indie music, drummer Patrick Carney, still doesn't have a microphone for stage banter.

Anthony Kiedis
UPS
The man who handpicked the line-up was actually there, in the flesh, to back-announce the first three acts and introduce The Roots!

DOWNS
Anthony Kiedis' address to the concert-goers felt like a sales pitch. At first, it sounded like he was going to deliver the I'm-a-rock-star-here-for-the-money-and-I-have-no-idea-what's-going-on spiel, saying, "What's the New American Music Union? I have no idea."

If he left it at that, it would have been hilarious.

(above: "Look, Anthony Kiedis is as big as my finger!")

Then he took a page out of The Office's Michael Scott's playbook and told the sold-out crowd that the New American Music Union is a girl driving eight hours from Ohio to get here, it's his sister meeting up with him in Pittsburgh, it's the Black Keys playing an impassioned set (which reminded him of Hendrix playing Woodstock), it's...whatever we make it (can someone pass me a Kleenex?).

After watching just three sets by Tiny Masters of Today, NASA, and The Black Keys, Kiedis also said--and I'm not kidding--"What a night, huh? This is the best feeling I've ever had at a festival." If he was a 14-year old boy attending his first live show, yes, I would have believed him, but c'mon, the Red Hot Chili Peppers have played just about every huge music festival--in the world. The first-year New American Music Union Festival trumps them all?

The Roots
UPS
Opting not to trash talk on Pittsburgh sports fans despite the fact that their hometown Eagles were in town playing against the Steelers in an NFL exhibition game.

DOWNS
Jamming out on what seemed like a 20-minute version of "You Got Me."

Bike-powered Cell Phone Chargers
UPS
By peddling a bicycle, you could actually charge your cell phone!

DOWNS
The bicycle only had one adapter, which didn't fit my cell phone.
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Free Shirts and Water Bottles
UPS
A free water bottle meant you could fill it up at drink stations inside the concert grounds, saving you the $4 you'd usually spend on bottled water.

DOWNS
Getting free stuff is awesome, but it also means that you have to carry it around all night long.

Valet Bike Parking
UPS
Just the idea is awesome!

DOWNS
How much do you tip someone who valets your bike?
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Living in an Apartment Right Outside the Festival
UPS
You don't have to pay to get in.

DOWNS
Having thousands of people loitering in your backyard.
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Having a Media Badge
PROS
Getting to use a clean bathroom instead of the porta-potty.

DOWNS
Having to walk ten minutes across the concert-grounds to use them.
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Throwing a Festival in Pittsburgh
PROS
Another excuse to go to Pittsburgh--the greatest city in the world!

DOWNS
None.