All Points West 2008 | Day Two in Brief

All Points West is wrapping up today and we’re pretty sure that it’s going to go off without a hitch (unless, of course, you consider the five-beer limit to be a stopping point altogether). Sam already filed his quick report from day one, and LeeAnn Rossi went to day two of All Points West and filed this report just now…

In my limited festival-going experience, there seem to be two crowds: the celebrity seekers and the true music enthusiasts. While you can be a true music enthusiast and still appreciate, adore and obsess over Radiohead, APW seemed to be one of the few festivals I’ve been to where people were obviously there for a single-minded purpose: the headlining act. While the Radiohead set was amazing from the light show to the 6-paneled JumboTron (that was a performance to be studied in and of itself) to Thom Yorke’s emotional performance – the celebrity seekers of the day missed out on some other truly impressive and innovative artists.

Before 6pm the crowds were completely manageable, so walking from stage to stage to catch highlights from all the performers was rather easy. Alberta Cross’ bluesy rock was lovely and soulful. Chromeo brought the party to APW with their funky beats and ability to engage the crowd. The Virgins got a hefty plug from Atlantic Records which was a bit much, but they put on a wonderfully nerdy, infectiously happy show so everyone forgot about the fact that money is what makes the world (even our precious music world) go ’round. Sia was adorable; the most powerful vocalist at APW all day and followed every song with a smile and sincere ‘thank you.’ She even asked the audience to inform her if she had a camel toe because of her short, 70’s inspired denim shorts and bid a public adieu to one of her bandmates who’s leaving to tour with Beck “because he pays a lot more” – needless to say her unaffectedness was a lesson in humility and normalcy amongst all the hype the celebrity of musicians.