I know that this is late, but that just is what it is. Wednesday was the second day of me being at the Wherehouse for shows. Unlike on Tuesday, I had to stay at the front because I was running door. This is one of the more thankless tasks on the face of the planet, but it is rather fun. I got some stuff out of this, but that is immaterial to this night. Sitting at the door disables you from seeing the actual show, which is rather nice for an ambient show as you don’t really need to see what they are doing. It’s just (usually) dudes standing over a bunch of knobs and making noises. I should know because this is Wind Farm, which does the exact same thing.

The turnout was a bit disappointing down at the Wherehouse. We (Chris and I) thought more people would actually be showing up, but that just wasn’t the case. Unfortunately for those that didn’t make it, they missed an excellent show. It started off a little bit slow (and really, really late; we wanted to start about 30 minutes earlier than we did.) with Cocoon. They were pretty good, but their set reminded me of the other sets that I had seen in the sense that it was the same sort of sound and approach. It was also just super, super loud, which was really unnecessary as there were just not enough people to justify being so freaking loud.

Lwa came up next. Former Mission Creek member John (you’ve read something he’s written here before probably) and I were talking after their set. Both of us really liked it. He noted that, and I quote, “it sounded like they practiced.” Playing with a loop of old stag films on the projector, Lwa played a haunting, static-filled set. Their set showed progression from when I had seen them last and was long enough to satisfy while not overstaying its welcome. They are still exploring the space of noise, supplementing their travels with echo-and-delayed vocals. It was a really good set. I recommend checking them out in town some time.

After the break, David Daniell came up on the stage and DESTROYED! Playing some slide guitar, Daniell started really slow. As the show progressed, the sounds just started getting heavier and heavier. After about 25 minutes or so, Daniell was at full volume, filling the cavernous space of the Wherehouse with a lovely noise. I had no idea of what this set would sound like, so I was just trying to find out what would happen. As the set moved on, you could feel Daniell building the solid groove that would carry to the end of his show. It was a technical set as well as just a fun set, something that I rarely say about anything involving ambient music.

The headliners were Mountains. If you look earlier on this very blog or click my name, you will see a post from me about Mountains and a bootleg from a live show that they did a year or so ago here in Iowa City. If you listen to that, you will have a very good idea of what happened this night. The sound was very similar, drifting and spaced out. By the time they hit their set though, I had hit my limit with ambient music. Let me be totally fair: they did an excellent set. With a film from Brakhage playing in the background (I don’t much care for Brakhage, but that’s because I don’t much care for experimental film/video. I’ve see a lot of it in museums and find it boring much like the Brakhage film playing behind them.), Mountains processed their acoustic instruments through the variety of equipment that they brought with them. It was rather interesting to watch them make their sounds. All that said, there is only so much ambient music that I can take. I have to listen to a pop song every once in a while.

By the end of this show, I was totally ready for this to just be totally over and done. I went and got that aforementioned stuff, then went to bed. It was an overall good night, but I was looking forward to seeing everything that this festival could offer me as tomorrow would be the first day that I had total free range to cruise around town and see things.

We’re done here. A.C. out.