80/35 Day 1 review

A mile wide and an inch deep. That seems a fitting review for Girl Talk's set, though I don't mean it in a negative way. Gregg Gillis doesn't aspire to a message or heartfelt lyrics about romance or religion like past headliners Public Enemy and Ben Harper. With Girl Talk's music, what you hear is what you get. It's about fun and enjoying the night. There's nothing below the surface, but boy is the surface fun.

If you don't like the idea of Girl Talk's music, sorry, but you might not enjoy this review. Saturday night was a blast. Gillis entered the stage on his own (dressed in a workout suit) and was quickly joined by an assortment of festival goers that included Emily Svec's painted men and women.

"It's nice to be back in Des Moines right now," Gillis started off. "Can we get some hands in the air?"

It was a sweaty end to a sweaty day, with the crowd dancing non-stop for an hour and a half. A musician friend I was with said Girl Talk does seem like the perfect kind of headliner. Once people understand the concept, the music is easy to enjoy. You know every song. There are no "Here's one you haven't heard before" moments. You'll know either the lyrics or the underlying music for every song, because every one is a hit. Just someone else's.

There were some weird moments. I never expected to hear an 80/35 crowd enthusiastically singing along to "Living on a Prayer" for example. Or Rush's "Tom Sawyer" backing "Meet Me in the Club."

Confetti streamers were fired into the crowd, balloons were unleashed, lights were flashed. I'd say Girl Talk matched the energy that people loved about The Flaming Lips in the first year. I expect when people talk about their favorite 80/35 moments, Girl Talk will be prominant on many lists.

How about the rest of the day? The Kum & Go Stage was problematic from the start, running 30-45 minutes behind most of the day. Toward the end there was a second hiccup, when a generator blew midway through Jessica Lea Mayfield's set. I wasn't there, but I'm told she continued playing acoustic to fans near the stage for a portion of the set, before ultimiately taking a break waiting for it to be fixed. Unfortunately, that didn't happen though the stage was up and running by 9 p.m. for Blackalicious.

Blackalicious was an impressive set, with Gift of Gab starting with speed and intensity on "Alphabet Acrobatics." Unfortunately, I only got to catch a few songs before heading in for the start of Girl Talk, but Blackalicious was a strong closer for the free stages.

The mainstage acts were strong, with Reverend Peyton, Titus Andronicus and Edward Sharpe all putting on fantastic sets. Titus Andronicus's Patrick Stickles talked about the band's last visit to Des Moines, playing the Vaudeville Mews in 2008. After the show they went to see "The Dark Knight," and Stickles said he thinks about Des Moines every time he watches the movie.

Edward Sharpe was simply fantastic. Frontman Alex Ebert spent most of "40 Days" holding hands with a single audience member. It gave the song an added bit of intensity and highlighed the intimate feel of the performance. The band also seemed to be sort of winging their set, with Ebert telling stories between songs and asking for requests. He even launched into an impromptu version of Woody Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land."

Galactic was joined by Living Colour frontman Corey Glover for an added bit of start power. The New Orleans band started off with some straight instrumental funk before moving into material from their most recent album "Ya Ka May." It was a lively set, and fitting percursor to Girl Talk's high energy closing.

The local stage also had some great acts. Once again Christopher the Conquered brought a great show, conducting his Brass Gold Brass Band to start things off, and later bringing BellaSoul's Tina Haase Findlay on stage for a duet on a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Democracy."

Wolves in the Attic, La Strange, Brother Trucker, Thankful Dirt and Cashes Rivers were all great from the bits that I caught. I was all over the place for a while and sadly didn't get to see as much as I wanted. I completely missed Poison Control Center's set, but I heard great thing about it.

80/35 acts from the first day that I'm most hoping return are NewVillager and BBU. I wasn't sure what to expect from NewVillager, but the New Orleans trio really impressed me with catchy songs, fun banter and weird voices. BBU seemed like a great party, with a few political points that didn't derail the fun.

Today I'm looking forward to Yelawolf, Okkervil River, Handsom Furs, DCM, Parlours, David Zollo and, of course, Of Montreal. I'll be posting updates throughout the day.