SHOW REVIEW: ERMF 2012

Buck Shot Bill performed on the Kingsize Soundlabs Stage at Eagle Rock Music Festival 2012

 

EAGLE ROCK MUSIC FESTIVAL

Oct. 6, 2012

Eagle Rock Music Festival celebrated its 14th year on Saturday. A remarkably diverse lineup of acts primarily based in surrounding neighborhoods and a strong emphasis on community have continually made ERMF a success and distinct from other local fests. With a suggested donation of $10 at the gate that went directly to Center for the Arts Eagle Rock's education program, ERMF was quite a bargain when you consider how many acts performed (over 70 bands on 11 stages).

Many of the businesses and organizations along Colorado Boulevard participated. There was jazz, blues and soul at Camilo's Bistro and Colombo's Restaurant; international/global bass at Rantz Auto Center; folk, roots and Americana at the Women's Twentieth Century Club; and even experimental, roots and gospel at the L.A. Filipino-American Church. Food trucks lined the center of the street, and the eclectic mix of people milling around consisted of groups of teens, families and plenty of local musicians like Denny Weston Jr. and Saint Motel's A/J Jackson.

Occidental College's radio station KOXY presented the Emerging Stage in conjunction with FYF Fest and LA Record with bands like So Many Wizards, Tijuana Panthers and Imperial Teen. The side-by-side Kingsize Soundlabs and the Ship Studios stages hosted a bevy of local talent, such as Low Flying Owls, the Henry Clay People, Terraplane Sun and Robert Schwartzman & Friends. One act, Buck Shot Bill, a sonic tumbleweed of whiskey-drenched country twang with a punk rock edge, wooed the crowd with songs like "Man About Remorse," "Doin' Fine" and a cheeky ode to oral sex, "Down South." Then, Bloody Death Skull showered onlookers with confetti and bizarre tunes.

The main draws of ERMF, though, were the DJ sets showcased on the Dublab and Stones Throw stages. From Michael Stock of Part Time Punks and Daedelus to J. Rocc and Peanut Butter Wolf, both stages were guaranteed to be surrounded with dancing bodies into the night.