This originally was gonna begin as a review of the whole shebang. All the fest. All the techno, beer, bands; all. But what essentially required a weekend of stamina ended up being encapsulated by two brilliant band performances by on the Saturday night and away we go below.
When first band Hila Ruach came to the stage and started to go-to-town on their effects and drum patterns - I immediately was hook-lined in, in the same way The Yeah Yeah Yeahs invigorate with their chosen elements being the finest-cut. The vocal filters and effects pedals morphed this into a fictitious movie in my head called "Showmanship Totale." One of the major effects of these two performances was that the conviction of singing in Hebrew added much more weight than mere style. A love-song to Uri Geller didn't need any explanation or context - the sentiment to me recalled the ultimate lovelorn experience - Swedish band Dungen's Du e för fin för mig ("You are too fine for me") being the pinnacle of that kind of aesthetic.
So again, getting right to the front of the rouge-stage setting of the excellently decorated Pavilijonas - it appeared that the next act were caking each other in lipstick and make-up. As The White Screen were getting ready, again I was reeled in like a gefilte-fish before the music had even begun. When frontman Gabriel Broid started posturing in his animated style, he recalled Xiu Xiu front-man Jamie Stewart in his theatrics and it opened up the floodgates for an intense and sumptuous set that was far beyond glam or trash or any style-oriented first impression.
For The White Screen - we're talking a bad that muddles together everything from T-Rex to Charlie Chaplain to macabre outlooks in flourishing production. Stunning instrumentation and audience collaboration chanting "no, no, no!" in a teary number - the name we're not sure of - packed in a wide spectrum of emotion.
Whether we are having the party, or the party has been had - The White Screen - though sheer osmosis - reminded us to not take the party to the rest of the world. The frequent howls from Gabriel in this set resonated as equals to any pre-penned words. As the world continues to get more fokked, it is too convenient to say it keeps on spinning. We need to fix it first before we comment on mere orbit. But still, this was a night somehow in align with the moon of shine forever.