News: Page 2

the Poison Control Center in the Rain

By Pat Fleming on July 4, 2010

Well now Im soaked I just did our free little acoustic show for the Yellowbrick Mag booth and there was so many people who came to see us, that we felt so blessed we needed to be out with them so we unplugged the guitars and played to them in the pouring rain and it was pretty magical! 80/35 you seriously are making this weekend one of the best of my life! THANK YOU!

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One of the best shows I have ever SEEN!

By Pat Fleming on July 4, 2010

WOW, I got over a hair late to catch Avi Buffalo but Devin told me they were incredible! I also heard amazing things about the WALKMEN’s set! So bummed i missed them both but I was there for the entire Christopher the Conquered set which was one of the greatest shows I have ever seen in my Life it was a total religious experience! He played piano from the sound booth, led a patriotic band horn section while a dude who looked like Billy Bob Holding an American Flag from the stage! I have seen so many CTC shows, and this was the cream of the crop! I would put it up there with Radiohead in 97, Wilco in 99, Flaming Lips in 99, Arcade Fire in 07, as one of the greatest shows I have ever seen in my life!

Im so happy people got to witness this local special talent!

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80/35 Photography

By Jill Haverkamp on July 4, 2010

A special thanks to all our photographers this year: Phil Thomson, Steve Fry, Viken Koundakjian, Karla Conrad, and Eric J Hermann.

Here are some of my favorite photos thus far:

Earl Greyhound bringing it down on the Kum & Go stage. Their performance was amazing, one of my favorites so far this year, and you gotta love her style!

Here’s a cool shot of Spoon. Their set last night was really fun. I loved all the people crowd surfing too!

This guy is having a blast!

I love the 9×16 television screen this year!

This is my favorite picture so far this year. The lighting on the Principal Building coupled with the blast of awesomeness from the stage is perfect. Scenes like this is a big reason why the festival is downtown. Love the urban vibe.

View more photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/8035.

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Christopher the Conquered & The Walkmen

By Andrew Duffelmeyer on July 4, 2010

Christopher the Conquered easily became my favorite free stage show at this year’s 80/35, providing great music, theatrics and humor into an excellent show that certainly grabbed them some more fans.

Imagine a deranged Elton John and you’ve basically found Christopher the Conquered. Great vocals, great keyboard work and a stellar backing band make them one of the Des Moines area’s rising stars.

The Walkmen were off to a great start when a downpour came in halfway through the show and swept me away to blog – mostly in the interest of not ruining my camera. The rain let up pretty quickly, though, and hopefully Mother Nature will cooperate for the rest of the day.

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LET THE SUN SHINE IN!

By Pat Fleming on July 4, 2010

Well a light mist never hurt anyone, or even rain in general! Everyone seems totally fine with the light mist this early afternoon at 80/35! Lots of great music to be seen, Avi Buffalo is going to be rocking the main stage soon! Great little band im stoked to see live!

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Drummer from Crowd Plays with Yo La Tengo

By Jill Haverkamp on July 4, 2010

Yesterday during Yo La Tengo’s set they called upon a fan from the crowd to play drums during on of their songs. Pat Curtis from Radio Iowa interviewed the lucky drummer. Click here to watch the video.

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Des Moines Register! I’m on the front page! Record Setting Day

By Pat Fleming on July 4, 2010

I’m at Devin’s from PCC’s house and his parents were like hey I think you are on the front page of the Des Moines Register! Yep, I am you can see my first pumping in the air to YO LA TENGO.. Its a great article by my buddy Joe Lawler and its nice to hear that yesterday was a record setting day! YEAH!

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SPOON SPOON SPOON!

By Pat Fleming on July 4, 2010

Man last night was incredible! SPOON had one of the best sounding fun sets I have ever seen at a music festival! The sound was amazing! And they played everything anyone would want to hear from a shortened Festival set! I loved the show! I was back hanging out with LADD A. From the Vaud during the show and we talked about how amazing it was that 8 years ago we were putting on shows at the OCTAGON or the Fall OUT Shelter and Now look at DES MOINES a mass sea of people watching some of the biggest artist in the WORLD playing in our back yard!

Man after the festival we headed down to the VAUDEVILLE for the FREE PBR after party and it was amazing, DES MOINES really came out to the after party and we rock into the 4th in style! HELL even SPOON showed up at the Vaudeville for the after party! Dreams coming true at 80/35! Get down to the fest today lots of fun stuff a head! Im so excited for Christopher the Conquered set, some big things are planned!

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Spoon doesn’t disappoint

By Andrew Duffelmeyer on July 4, 2010

Attendees of 80/35 witnessed yet another Des Moines first last night. After Yo La Tengo earlier in the day played Des Moines for the first time in the group’s more than 25-year history, Spoon played Iowa’s capital city for the first time in their 17 years together.

Spoon stuck mostly to songs from their new album, Transference, but also played some older favorites. There wasn’t a lot of talk from the band as they flew through an hour-long set before coming back out for several more songs.

The sound-quality for Spoon was great; call me what you will, but I felt like many of the other bands playing Saturday were much too loud. The one issue I noticed was some of their effects seemed to be going off at the wrong time, but I think most fans – myself included – were more than willing to overlook a few minor missteps in an otherwise great performance.

The bad news? There’s an 80 percent chance of heavy rain Sunday, and a 70 percent chance of thunderstorms tonight. Could get somewhere between two and three inches. I for one will still be out there!

Some more photos from Spoon:

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Happy 4th of July!

By Greater Des Moines Music Coalition on July 4, 2010

Yesterday you got a spoonful of great music now it’s time to keep the party rolling – music independence style! The forecast says rain, but don’t let that stop your fun! We have unfinished festival business: Modest Mouse, The Walkmen, Railroad Earth, The Heavy, The Cool Kids, and many more!

The show goes on rain or shine. Shine was yesterday.

Bring a poncho, raincoat, umbrella, and embrace the rain! U.S. Cellular and Kum & Go will be providing free ponchos at the volunteer headquarters building at 1312 Locust and around the festival grounds.

80/35 Day One: Fun in the Sun
Attendance figures approached 17,000 people who enjoyed crowd surfing, a big chicken, painted ladies, splashing in the urban stream, and plenty of music. Check out photos from the big first day at 80-35.com.

80/35 Day Two: Dancing in the Rain
It’s July 4th baby! Today’s lineup is a reason to celebrate, food vendors are open and ready to serve, the beer taps are ready to flow, and the activities are about to kick off. More than 20 acts will hit 3 stages, don’t miss it!

You can purchase one-day tickets at the gate with cash or credit for $40 or just come enjoy the many free area music and activities.

Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Main Stage
12:00pm – The Workshy
1:45pm – Avi Buffalo
3:15pm – The Walkmen
5:00pm – Railroad Earth
7:00pm – The Cool Kids
9:00pm – Modest Mouse

Kum & Go Stage
12:00pm – Dawes
1:15pm – Family Groove Company
2:45pm – Christopher the Conquered
3:30pm – Sara Watkins
4:30pm – Evangelicals
5:45pm – Califone
7:00pm – Dar Williams
8:15pm – The Heavy

Mediacom Stage
4:00pm – Guerilla Hustle
4:30pm – Gadema & Richie Daggers
5:00pm – Cleo’s Apartment
6:00pm – Kanser
7:00pm – Raj & Leeman
8:00pm – DJ Diverse
9:00pm – Maxilla Blue
10:00pm – Qwel
11:00pm – Brad Goldman & Mimic