At a festival with tons of temporary pop-up venues and bands playing several shows a day, tech problems are inevitable. But what divides the pros from the amateurs is how well they deal with disasters. In some cases, that’s what bumped up a show from good to memorable.
Tune-Yards had to restart two songs after issues with Merrill Garbus’s loop pedal, but she handled it with such grace and confidence that the audience came away impressed rather than disappointed. After stopping one track 30 seconds in, she earned applause for telling the crowd they deserved better, and then proceeded to blow us away with a glitch-free rendition.
Similarly, when Dan Deacon’s initial barrage of beats knocked out the power to his table of electronics, he managed to flip the situation by turning the gaffe into just another part of his we’re-all-in-this-together routine. The crowd exploded once he got the machines running again.
An airline damaged much of PS I Love You’s gear on the trip south, which was clearly frustrating for them. But instead of whining about broken guitar effects, Paul Saulnier unplugged his pedals and cranked his amp to an obscene level to make up for the busted fuzz pedals.
Not everyone dealt with sound issues so well. Teen-rap terrors Odd Future barely got through three songs at their Billboard showcase before yelling at the sound tech about mic problems and storming offstage. Maybe they’re milking the immature angle a little too hard?
