Download Festival Chicago 2007 Entertainment Art Charter One at Northerly Island Chicago, Ill. September 2, 2007

As the balmy day began to unfold at Charter One Pavilion, it was barely evident there was a concert, much less a festival show taking place. The revelers were lazing around the grounds, checking out the multitude of corporate sponsors, and lining up for the free wares rather than being held captive by the acts.

Maintaining an affinity for The Veils is generally seen as a merit badge in the indie world. With a terrible member retention rate (front-man Finn Andrews is the only surviving member from the first Veils album) and possibly a terrible fan retention rate to match, the crowd was dead in the water. Indie-noir just may not quite be appropriate for an early afternoon.

Men, Women, & Children have a raw energy that translates so well to stage, it’s a damn shame that the crowd couldn’t manage to give what they received. Funky, raunchy, and basically pure fun, MW&C tried in vain to get the crowd to act like they were at a show that they paid to get into, but the handful that were actually standing did so as if they were being punished.

Next up, De Novo Dahl, hailing from Nashville, Tennessee brought with them the glitz and glamour of a Grand Ole Opry performance in the form of bedazzled suits. Dinosaurs, spider webs, and roses- nothing was off-limits. The imaginative sensibility about this group is infectious and uplifting and pure fun. New single “Shout” sounds like a Bowie b-side from the Ziggy Stardust era and finally got the crowd to move.

When Honeycut hit the stage, much of the meager crowd was sitting down or slowly milling around. But by the first chorus of the first song, almost everybody was dancing and having a good time. Their laid back groove and unorthodox approach to not only their live show but their music in general, proved intriguing and engaging. Keyboardist RV Salters dances as much as the crowd, jumping high enough to clear the keys, and almost knocking them over as well. “I just about knocked the keyboard over a couple of times, and I had to kind of pull it back onto the stand,” he said later, when I ran into the guys later in the day. Bart, on vocals, loves soul music, and it shows. “The Day I Turned to Glass,” the title track from their debut, is a sensuous exercise in pop music, and a treat for a live setting as every key, every drumbeat, and each sound effect is performed live, with Tony Sevener on a drum machine, a revolutionary approach executed well by few.

Wolf Parade hasn’t released an album since 2005. Maybe it’s not a good idea to trot out a feeble stable of songs from one release at a festival show while road testing songs from their absent sophomore album. The follow up to the critically acclaimed Apologies to the Queen Mary has been much delayed, to the chagrin of fans that have seen such Wolf Parade contemporaries as Arcade Fire blow up and cross into the mainstream.

The next two acts, Minus the Bear and Band of Horses suffered mainly for the same reasons. Both bands boast exceptional musicianship and the skills to create remarkable composition, however, such technical music is not exactly well suited for an outdoor amphitheatre in the hot sun. There is a reason bands such as these book intimate venues when on tour, and that is for optimal appreciation for the music. Without the proper acoustics, Minus the Bear’s unique approach to songwriting, taking the chance to experiment with how silence can be as deafening as tone. Finally receiving their due in the press as discovering how to be different without sucking, their achievements were lost on the Download crowd. As for Band of Horses their ambition and drive lead them dangerously close to self-indulgence. Whereas normally a band brings their most recognizable, upbeat songs to the festival setting, Band of Horses manage to make every song sound as ethereal and dreamy as the last.

Brand New had the distinction of the first act of the day to seem extremely out of place. Starting out slow, displaying their strength as a moody, clear-cut alternative act, building slowly to punk rock intensity, drawing the crowd closer and closer with each song. It seemed as though the crowd was teeming with Brand New fans, and finally the crowd sang along. Bringing out mostly their more mature fare, these Long Island boys have stepped out from their past, and from beneath the emo umbrella. Brand New simply knows how to work a crowd it just helps that the crowd was full of their fans.

The air crackled with excitement in anticipation for Snoop Dogg. One potential attendee for the set had been tackled by police just outside the gate, presumably in possession of a little celebratory greenery for Snoop’s set, and finally there was the feeling that we were at a music festival. When 7:45, the time Snoop was to take the stage came and went, it was clear: with this level of anticipation, how were The Shins going to follow this?

Snoop hit the stage a full fifteen minutes late, and when the lights panned the crowd, the plumes of weed smoke billowed from the crowd, the beer spilled, and the fun started. Sporting a jumpsuit made entirely of blue bandanna fabric, and a blinged out microphone spelling out his name in diamonds, Snoop Dogg worked the stage, replete with live band, DJ, and hype men in the form of Daz Dillinger, Kurupt, renowned Chicago pimp-cum-“spiritual advisor” Bishop Magic Don Juan, and Snoop’s own uncle, Snoop rocked it out with everything from his latest hits to a rousing rendition of “Lodi Dodi” from his debut album Doggystyle, including an ode to Tupac in between. Commanding the stage, Snoop flat out refused to leave the stage as the stage manager implored him to do so, staying a full 15 minutes beyond his hour and fifteen minute set, resulting in an hour-and-a-half delay total for the show.

With a strict 11pm curfew for the city, it was clear The Shins were going to get the short end of the set stick. As soon as Snoop took off, so did most of the crowd. Another fifteen minutes of delay later, The Shins finally hit the stage, but it was as if they themselves knew there was no way for them to put on a proper set after the magic that had been the hour long traffic of the stage before them, so they put in the least amount of effort. They might as well have done the set in the parking lot, and the crowd would have had the same reaction. It’s not fair to say it was their fault, because Snoop knows how to put the asses in the seats and then get them to shake.

The Shins hit the bases and even changed things up a bit, experimenting with their songs flexibilities. Hitting the pop bases with “Phantom Limb” and showing just how beautiful their music can be with “A Comet Appears,” maybe it’s not too much to think the Shins are amazing, but how do you follow and act like Snoop Dogg? With their truncated set, The Shins made the most of it yet ultimately, they left a little to be desired.

When it’s all said and done, the Chicago leg of Download Festival 2007 was lackluster at best, but the bright spots were amazing. Maybe next year they’ll get it right.

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