My legs are aching, my back is sore and I have a pretty noticeable farmer’s tan. However, it was sooooo worth it. Rock en Seine, in case you didn’t read the previous post (shame on you), is an annual 3-day music festival, similar to Bumbershoot but sans all the cheesy hippie arts and crafts booths. I finally got to see Björk, and it was pretty spectacular! It would’ve been even better if the guy in front of me didn’t keep whipping my face with his dreadlock ponytail. Eh, c’est la vie. Here are my highlights:

Arcade Fire
They had a full-sized pipe organ on stage! With 13 members, I can only imagine the size of their tour bus. Maybe a tour dirigible? One of the girls, the lead singer’s wife I think, was all over the stage playing every instrument she could get her hands on, from drums, to pipe organ, to accordion, to this strange stringed instrument with a rotating lever.

The Hives
To be honest, their flavor of rock/punk rock gets old pretty quickly for me. However, their stage presence is fucking gold. The lead singer, Howlin’ Pelle Almqvist, is hee-larious with great quips like, “alright you French people, we are the Hives… c’est fantastique!” And the rhythm guitarist has this crazy way of strumming that made me wonder if he was even playing or not. Pure entertainment.

Mark Ronson
I’ve only heard his second album in one of those listening stations inside music stores, but after seeing him live, with a full band, I’m going back today to cop that shit. What’s better on a summer day than a great horns section and funky bass guitar licks? Answer: using those to cover a Smiths songs, that’s what.

Kings of Leon
I honestly don’t think I really knew what Rock n’ Roll was until I saw these guys live yesterday for the first time. The lead singer, Caleb Followill, said his voice was a little sore, but that didn’t stop him from giving it everything he had. Maybe the shot of Jameson whiskey he drank, after toasting it to the crowd, helped him along. His brother on lead guitar had a cigarette lit almost the entire show and either kept it in his mouth or on the end of his guitar. The drummer was drinking a can of Heineken with a bendy-straw, and the bassist completely pandering to the camera. Before and after their performance, there were sporadic girlish screams coming from backstage. This band is fucking stellar.