Ghost was awesome -- who would have thought that their loose-limbed psych folk would create such a tight, rocking monster on stage? (The new album, in any case, is harder than usual, more Amon Duul II than Amon Duul I.) They started off with a whirl of guitar chaos and theremin feedback, and went on from there: the band stopping and starting on a dime, Masaki Batoh signalling the beats with each crank of his guitar -- not quite approaching the levitational intensity of Second Time Around, but producing a movement somewhat alien to a Ghost concert: headbanging. With flute. "Sun is tangging indeed," to quote an old review.
(The same, alas, could not be said for White Magic or Six Organs Of Admittance. I otherwise liked the former's Through the Sun Door album -- thoughts of a cross between Cat Power and early Helium came to mind -- but live, the songs weren't nearly as compelling. Dust and Chimes spent a good amount of time in my stereo this year, but Ben Chasny's solo, all-acoustic set -- maybe he was joined by other musicians at some point, but I didn't stay long enough -- was tedious and unbearable.)
[The next day, back at the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.]
I can't say enough about Gillian Welch and David Rawlings -- their interplay on stage is amazing, and combined with a stellar repertoire of songs spread over only four albums (Welch already hit the ground running with her debut album Revival), this was for me the main draw of the bluegrass fest. A massive crowd (almost as large as the one that saw Ralph Stanley yesterday) greeted the duo, who started with "I Want To Sing That Rock & Roll." This was also Izzy's very first concert ever, and she was quite pleased, dancing to "Big Rock Candy Mountain" and the standing-ovation crowd sing-along "I'll Fly Away." What an awesome fifty minutes -- I'm really tempted to see them again this weekend...