Had a great first day at San Francisco’s Outside Lands Music Festival. The weather was absolutely gorgeous providing the perfect background to some great music. I spent my festival time cautiously today. Since it is my first time here, I chose to acquaint myself slowly on day one and hit things with more gusto over the next two days.

We started our day with a set from Los Campesinos! who Madison fans will remember and who provided just the right amount of energy for an early afternoon. We stuck around and caught The Dodos whose new material was a welcomed soundtrack to the afternoon. Speaking of new material, The National continue to roll out new tunes in concert. I think there were a total of three new ones played yesterday if my memory serves me correctly. The set ending “Mr. November” has become a guarantee lately, but that bother me one bit nor did the rest of the packed crowd.

Pearl Jam closed this down the first night in proper fashion. I had a feeling we might get a special guest appearance by Neil Young last night, but that didn’t happen. Instead, the band channeled Shakey via his catalog with covers of “Throw Your Hatred Down” and the night’s final tune “Rockin In The Free World.” Having seen Pearl Jam plenty of times this one ranks up there in terms of favorites. It was the first time I’d heard them play “Crazy Mary” and The Who’s “Real Me” was the ultimate highlight for me.

Please follow @Muzzleofbees for frequent updates of our festival coverage. Not here, but want to be? YouTube is providing a webcast for the entire festival weekend.

Good news for fans of The Dodos. The band will release Time To Die later this year on FrenchKiss Records. I caught them a couple times last year behind Visiter and really enjoyed it. Who can forget their show at the Terrace last summer with Haley Bonar supporting.

Time To Die:

1. Small Deaths
2. Longform
3. Fables
4. The Strums
5. This Is A Business
6. Two Medicines
7. Troll Nacht
8. Acorn Factory
9. Time To Die

Photo: Ed Oliver
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Myspace: The Dodos
MP3: The Dodos – “Fools”

The Pitchfork Music Festival once again receives the MoB stamp of approval. Though I only spent one day at the festival this year, being able to catch High Places, The Dirty Projectors, The Apples In Stereo, King Khan and the Shrines, The Dodos, M. Ward, Spiritualized, Bon Iver, Dinosaur Jr., and Spoon all in one day makes for a excellent Sunday.

King Khan bounced around the festival, then took the stage sans shirt + cape and proceeded to rock out raunchy soul style. M. Ward was probably my favorite set of the day, I’ll never tire of his tunes. Biggest surprise act of the day came during Spiritualized who absolutely blew me away. His set was loud, I was thankful the “B” Stage was running behind because it let me catch a lot of their set before heading over to catch Bon Iver. Bon Iver added another member to his touring line up and busted out a cover, his songs in a live setting are being expanded and tinkered with. The crowd held up their end on the sing-a-long requests and by the middle of his set the sun was down and for the first time during the day I felt somewhat comfortable. Buy hey, no rain!

Spoon provided a very brief (55 min) closeout to my festival experience. Many were weathered from the extreme heat, but that didn’t stop Spoon from bringing out the horns and getting down to business. The Gimmie Fiction material really shined last night, especially on “The Beast and Dragon, Adored” and “I Turn My Camera On.” Then it was back in the car and straight back to Madison. The sleep timer got its workout this morning, and as reluctant as I am to start another week, we’re fortunate to keep the good times coming with The Hold Steady tonight at the Majestic.

Below are some photos from Sunday, but I can’t close without thanking the Ice Cream Man, Boost Mobile, Goose Island, Pitchfork, Stereogum, and You Ain’t No Picasso. I’d especially like to thank Jodi for her very much appreciated festival coverage on Friday and Saturday. We’ll see you next year, and Chicago we’ll see you again in a few weeks!

How was your Wednesday night? Last night two Muzzle of Bees favorites took the stage at the UW Terrace. How gorgeous is Haley Bonar’s material? Did The Dodos rip it up just like you expected? Who got on stage? Leave your memories/reviews in the comments. Big thanks to Ed Oliver for holding down photo duties, they turned out great!

Myspace: Haley Bonar
Myspace: The Dodos
MP3: Haley Bonar – “Something Great”
MP3: The Dodos – “Fools”

Find MP3′s at The Hype Machine or buy stuff from Strictly Discs | eMusic

I got plenty of Southern sun this morning before the sky opened up and dumped buckets of rain all over as I raced towards my rental car. I’ve crossed the state line from South Caroline into Georgia, currently in Savannah. Sometimes it takes a lengthy road trip to sort through your iPod and rediscover old favorites. That’s exactly what happened today with Visiter, the hard-to-resist recent offering from The Dodos.

I caught these guys based solely on word of mouth buzz at South By Southwest earlier this year, and wasn’t disappointed. Ok, it didn’t hurt that the singer/guitarist was rocking and old school 49ers t-shirt. I was in the front row for their entire Hot Freaks set at The Mohawk.

The Dodos play a free show at the UW Madison campus on Wednesday, July 9th. I’m hoping that scheduling will allowing being able to catch the band and then head over the Majestic in time to catch Lee “Scratch” Perry.

Photo: Chromewaves
Daytotter: The Dodos
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Myspace: The Dodos
MP3: The Dodos – “Fools”

Find more MP3′s at The Hype Machine or buy stuff from Strictly Discs | eMusic