Performance highlights from the first day of Street Scene 2009

Street Scene returned to the East Village for their 25th annual show yesterday and the first day was nothing shy of excellence. With performances by Matt & Kim, Mastodon, Girl Talk, Black Eyed Peas, Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave to name a few along with over 30 other artists. It is impossible to catch every single moment of each performance, so I carefully selected those that were a “must-see” for my musical taste.

The show started at 4:00, and due to the heat wave us San Diegan’s have been experiencing over the past week; it was a hot one! I wore a hat, sun block and sunglasses as poised by my dad who is extremely insistent on prevention of potential sun cancer. I cannot blame him, so if you are attending in the afternoon please appropriately SPF-15-yourself.

I had been explained that the best way to get to Street Scene was by parking at Qualcomm and taking the trolley down to East Village. Needless to say, the way there was a snap and only took about a half hour. But, I cannot lie and tell you that the ‘quick and easy’ transportation as promised by MTS for this event was really such. Getting back to my car after the event took over an hour. Luckily I met some great folks on the trolley ride. So, c’est la vie.

The first artist I checked out was Trombone Shorty & Orleans Ave on the Fulano stage. Their performance was amazing, and a new discovery for me!

Trombone Shorty (Provided by 'NickAllen' via Flickr)

Troy “Trombone Shorty” Andrews creates “faboulous funk” experience with his horn and trumpet playing likes of which I haven’t seen before. His near minute-and-a-half trumpet solo (without a breath) got an audience cheering for more, even with the sun rays pounding down.

Next up, I rushed over to Shooter Jennings on the Zarabanda Stage. I was only slightly familiar him as the son of Maylon Jennings. But Shooter’s performance solidified him as one of the CD’s I will buy coming out of the Street Scene 2009 experience. These dudes rock out the old-fashioned folk head-banging style. That is my style, that is true rock.

Their live performance was electric, and sweetened by Shooter’s baby daughter in the crowd cheering on her pops.

I couldn’t miss Matt & Kim! For those familiar you’ve seen their happy-go-lucky YouTube videos, or recent appearance on Jimmy Kimmel. But if you haven’t, you might be missing out.

The romantic duo from Brooklyn has a lot of promise for success. They deliver up beat tempo, fun songs that started to attract a huge crowd at the Casbah stage. Kim who is the drummer, admitted her shyness to sing. While Matt on the keys and vocals encouraged her. They both seemed to be so real. The set closed with their song “Daylight”. The song is such a hit; it is set to be in upcoming Bacardi Mojito commercial:

Look for the Entertainer’s upcoming interview with Matt & Kim.

Girl Talk was one of the most creative performances I have seen in awhile. Once the Zarabanda stage was in sight you could see that it was filled with 30-40 people jamming, dancing and grinding- mostly female.

Without a clue to what induced these people to get on the stage, or who they were, I was still moved by the mixing. I have no idea how Girl Talk has fallen beneath my radar over the past years. But the Pittsburg based DJ, who started releasing tracks in 2001 provided one of the best mixes I have ever heard live. Sampling The Beach Boys and Public Enemy in the same song, along with anything else you could think of!

A Girl Talk performance (Provided by 'dpstlyestm' via Flickr)

The involvement with the crowd was insane, see above note about the 30+ people on stage. Girl Talk’s crew had special toilet paper blowers which they used to toilet paper the stage, the crowd, themselves- everything. They did the same with water, and confetti. Everyone was dancing in the crowd and singing along, it was a really cool experience.

Stay tuned for more Street Scene reviews, footage, and pictures!