Kyle Dean Reinford

Rodrigo y Gabriela y Amadou y Mariam @ APW - pics & video

August 12, 2008

Kyle Dean Reinford

Though I got there late on the first night (in time to see Girl Talk, some of Underworld and then Radiohead though), I did make the trek to Jersey City all three days of the All Points West festival this past weekend. Unfortunately (for the festival I guess?) I don’t think there are not many people besides state police, ferry operators, festival staff and photographers that can say the same thing. The admission price was high and Sunday’s lineup was not very popular (in this neck of the woods anyway). Sunday’s crowd looked completely different than Friday and Saturday. Sunday’s crowd looked like people that didn’t mind paying close to $100 to see Jack Johnson, Ben Harper and Trey Anastasio. Saturday’s crowd looked like people that weren’t about to spend another $100 to see Cat Power, Rogue Wave and The Secret Machines in Jersey City on a Sunday.

Anyway, I went Sunday (to which I got very many “Why??”‘s). I was most excited to see Amadou & Mariam followed by Rodrigo y Gabriela (the ‘world music’ segment of the show) followed by Cat Power. They are the three artists that started the day off on the same stage that Radiohead headlined the two nights before. And because I was in attendance at both of those Radiohead performances, it was extremely difficult to get myself moving back to Jersey City on Sunday early-afternoon. Somehow I did though. It probably took me about 90 minutes to get there, and the whole time I knew there was a good chance I’d miss A&M. When I finally did get there, it was about to rain and, for the second day in a row, I had to wait on a long line to get through the gate. Luckily for me, the impending rain also caused Sunday to start late. I heard it was because they were making the grounds a little safer and more waterproof before they let anyone in (I didn’t confirm that). Because of the delay I got to see a song of Neil Halstead, a song of De Novo Dahl, and almost all of Amadou & Mariam who weren’t a letdown, but all factors considered (early, gloomy, about to rain, small crowd, running late, frustrating commute, seeing Radiohead in the same spot the night before), I wasn’t having the time of my life like I was when I saw the same group play Summerstage a couple of years earlier.

The schedule was all screwed up at this point, so from A&M I was able to run over and catch a decent amount of Rogue Wave on one of the smaller stages. They sounded great and weren’t boring. I think that’s when it started to drizzle. Not bad enough to seek shelter, but enough for the umbrellas (which supposedly weren’t allowed in the venue) to start popping out. From Rogue Wave I headed back to the main stage to catch Rodrigo y Gabriela. As exciting as it was to see them again, it really started to pour during their set. Sick of getting wet, I moved to a covered area. I could still hear them from a distance, but it was hardly like being upfont. That’s where I stayed until Cat Power.

Photos and video of the first two Sunday main stage sets below….

Amadou and Mariam…

video walking up to Amadou and Mariam