Rebirth In The Springtime: Checking Out In Bloom Fest 2018, Day One

Hello, SCR friends! It took a little while to get beyond the allergies, but now I’m ready to get started with my field report on Houston’s newest “big field fest,” In Bloom Music Festival. I’ll begin with Day One and then cover Day Two soon, along with some random thoughts and hopes for the future.

Firstly, big thanks to my friends at the Fest for getting me in. I have been friends with and a fan of Jagi Katial and company for a long time. Jagi is one of my inspirations for putting on the smaller music festivals I have curated. I have no idea how they coordinate something this large and maintain any sense of uniqueness, but for the most part (especially thanks to Eleanor Tinsley Park and the Houston skyline), they did manage to pull off a uniquely Houston experience.

Over the years, I’ve been to almost every Free Press Summer Fest, ACL Fest, a few up in Dallas, Denton, Voodoo, and Coachella, along with my favorite, SXSW, which nothing else really compares to. I took it under consideration that this was the first year for In Bloom and was pleasantly surprised at how smooth everything ran.
 

Day One:
Musically, I was able to fill my time at the fest with plenty of acts that I enjoyed, and a few that moved me.

Unfortunately, I am no longer of the age that I can make it through a music festival from the opening bell to the last note. I’m good with a seven-hour day in a series of fields… So, my first band to see upon arriving was the end of Say Girl Say‘s set. I am mesmerized by these women’s music whenever I catch them live, which isn’t nearly as often as I should. If you like floating harmonies, ukelele, and violin, make sure you find yourself at their next concert (which is, by the way, July 6th at The Continental Club).

The next standout for me was Dhani Harrison, who I’d previewed prior to the festival. He and his band delivered the Rock with a capital R. Any expectations audience members may have had for a “George Junior” were quickly stomped on! However, some of my favorite moments of their set were the instances when you could hear that George Harrison guitar tone and long-held notes that he was known for.

At one point in the set, Dhani said something to the effect of “Thanks for clapping for the weird bits.” Those were actually some of the most moving parts of the set, because the band got loose and played off of one another. My other favorite parts of their set were the last two songs, “Admiral of Upside Down” and his single “All About Waiting”. They made us wait for the single, and it was worth it.

I spent San Diego party rockers The Frights‘ set hanging out and catching up with former Houston Press music journalist and photographer Jim Bricker and laughing along with the band as they medley’d through a terrible-on-purpose stack of classics by Journey, Sublime, Fresh Prince, Smashmouth, and more I forgot. I really expected them to launch into “If you want to destroy my sweater…”, but it only happened in my mind. These guys bordered on goofy cheesy Spazmatics glory, but it’s not music I’d find myself shelling out cash for.

Wolf Alice was up next. Like Dhani Harrison, they brought the rock a little harder than I’d expected in the beginning of their set before settling into more familiar shoegazer-y territory. I can see them making steps toward being a “big venue” band in the States like they’re already becoming in the UK, and they definitely had a large fanbase crowding near the stage.

Finally, it was time for New York City’s Grizzly Bear, who was the act I was looking most forward to on day one. As I mentioned in my previews, I last saw them on the Shields tour, and I’m most familiar with those songs, along with their 2009 album, Veckatimest.

Their set consisted pretty equally of their latest album, Painted Ruins, 2012’s Shields, and Veckatimest. I was a happy camper as I munched on the Clif Bars I had snuck in. But as the hour went by, something seemed a little off.

Oh, no! It was the dreaded “I’m here for the NEXT ACT” people! More and more people who seemed to not realize one of my favorite bands were playing jockeyed for position past me toward the front. Well, that’s festivals for you. It’s not like they were making a lot of noise, but they were just pushing through to the front when they need to learn their festival manners and wait until one band is done before claiming their spot. Perhaps I could help teach a festival manners class…

After Grizzly Bear, it was tough for other acts to match up, as great as they were. I watched Broken Social Scene (third time seeing them live at Houston festivals!), and though I’ve never dug into their music enough to know what I was hearing, I was more impressed with them this time than before. They mentioned from the stage how happy they were to be playing. It showed. Their fans were involved and I got a great feeling about life in general as the sun set.

I’ve also never dug into the catalog of El Paso/Brooklyn band Cigarettes After Sex. Talk about a band playing in slow motion — I’d compare it to The Cure on downers. They played with such precision, however, that I had no choice to respect it and listen to about five songs. I don’t know their recording process, but I think I’d enjoy it on vinyl, especially if they record all analog. Anyway, that’s a different conversation. On toward the headliners…

Finally, on came Beck and Incubus. I’m not sure why they scheduled the festival this way, as I would think a lot of people might have liked to catch all of both acts on the main stage (maybe putting Grizzly Bear later on a side stage?).

I ended up starting with Beck and stayed for the first six songs; I knew I could die happy once I heard “New Polution” live. Then I went over and found most of the people at the fest had chosen Incubus, which surprised me, although it shouldn’t have, because I’ve seen Incubus live, and they are indeed amazing. I watched about 20 minutes from afar and decided I’d better save some energy for Sunday…

Day Two report coming soon. END

(Photos: In Bloom crowd; Say Girl Say; Dhani Harrison; crowd at The Frights; Wolf Alice; Beck; Incubus. All photos by Jason Smith.)