I went to Rock the Garden on Saturday with Amber and her brother. The line up wasn't that exciting (Retribution Gospel Choir, OK Go, Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, MGMT) until I heard Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings on the radio a couple of weeks before the show. I like RGC, but an outdoor festival playing to thousands doesn't do their music justice.
Words will not do Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings justice, either. To say that they are a throwback to James Brown-esque soul cheapens them, because they are authentic, straight out of 1968. I can't recommend them enough; if you get a chance to see them, plan on a spiritual experience. I haven't listened to any of their albums yet, but was encouraged that all four are available on vinyl.
Retribution Gospel Choir is worth checking out too. Fronted by Alan Sparhawk of Low fame, they are the heavy, doomsday preachers that you'd expect to be the project Sparhawk fronted in college, rather than after 18 years of grandfathering the slowcore movement (is that a fair summation of Low?). His strong, yet broken voice brings all the harrowing themes you've come to know and love from Low. Oddly, it fits in well with the dive bomb riffs and hypnotic sludge of RGC. It would have been nice if they played later in the day to cleanse the palate of all the high gloss and tightness the other bands brought to the stage.
Note: Picture of Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings courtesy of Jason Albus (if he ever finds out that I used it).
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