Sled Island Day One: Grizzly Bear And The Mae Shi

I heard last weekend's Virgin Festival was a gong show. Not only were Calgarians who shelled out $125 for a two-day pass subjected to a sub-par lineup, but they were expected to withstand a heat wave, seven-dollar diluted beers and typically terrible festival food. Boiled hamburgers, anyone?

In all fairness, I didn't go. But hearing about all of this made me even more excited for this year's Sled Island Music Festival. More venues, bands and genres than V-Fest meant I would probably see something new that would spark my interest.

My night started downtown at the Central United Church. Brooklyn, N.Y.'s Grizzly Bear took the stage pretty much on time and wowed the audience with their sonic atmospheres and hypnotizing guitar swells. Every band member took on another instrument at some point, and they incorporated accordions, flutes and recorders to great effect.

With such a similar sense of textures and ambience, it's no wonder these guys are opening for Radiohead this summer. Many of their songs sound like something ripped directly from the Oxford band's Amnesiac, but Grizzly Bear actually managed to hold their own throughout their 80-minute set. The beautifully strummed chords of "Knife" resonated through the cathedral, while "Marla" caught my ears with its catchy, waltzy hook.

The band ended with "While You Wait For The Others," a new tune that made me curious to hear their next LP. After leaving to a standing ovation, the band returned for a one-song encore of "He Hit Me."

It was evident that Grizzly Bear were a hit in Calgary. Hopefully they'll return soon to play for more than a couple hundred people in a church.

Next, I hustled over to Broken City to catch the last half of DD/MM/YYYY. Admittedly, I'm not familiar with their music, but I've heard good things about this Toronto band. Imagine a busted Atari fed through some stomp-boxes and you get an idea of what they sound like.

"Just so you know, we're fucking posers," bassist Mike Claxton proudly exclaimed near the end.

They didn't come off as posers, however, as they drew the full house in with their energy and raw power. By the end of their set, DD/MM/YYYY had people bobbing their heads and attempting to scream along to their somewhat indecipherable lyrics.

Gimmickry seems to work for The Mae Shi. They began with various members scattered throughout the crowd, helping audience members chant the words to "I Get (Almost) Everything I Want."

From there, the L.A. punks kicked it into high gear and rifled through tunes from their latest HLLYH album. Singer Jonathan Gray kept up the antics by yelping into the mic during "Lamb And The Lion" and covering the crowd with a white sheet during "Run To Your Grave," by far their catchiest and most interesting song.

The crowd was riled up after 30 minutes, but The Mae Shi were ready to throw in the towel. The band encouraged everyone to check out Dan Deacon, who was starting down the street, but I was far too wiped to take in the gig.

Considering The Mae Shi's style, set length and spastic tendencies, I'd argue that they'd work better on the Warped Tour than at an indie festival. Their memorable blend of post-punk, electronica and freak-out rock would definitely whip the kids into a frenzy.

One day down, two more to go. Check back on Friday for reviews of Mother Mother, Okkervil River and more.