I got to Summerstage at 230p for a 3p start to modern African pop music. It was sunny….
By the time the first band of the afternoon went on stage, Fool’s Gold, it was raining and by the time I left, it was pouring.
I have been to summerstage maybe twelve times in the past three years and this is the third time I’ve been stuck in a rainstorm.
1. Vampire Weekend in 2008. It rained so much it destroyed my fucking cell phone. ezra nearly got electrocuted. That’s the bad news. the good news is it was a great set and if it hadn’t been raining there is no way I would’ve gotten in.
2. TV On The Radio and Dirty Projectors, 2009. It should’ve been called for rain. Destroyed what ever hance DP had to make an impression and all i saw of TV On the Radio was umbrellas.
And now West Coast collective Fool’s Gold brought their African-Rock fusion and the audience was ready to love em but the weather wouldn’t let them.
Me, I wasn’t ready to love em too much. Fool’s Garden are an old fashioned jam band using African rhythms to pull you deeper into the mix. Those rhythms: a drummer, a conga player with a big bassdrum on one side and two congas on the other, another conga player who also plays on some songs, maracas, bass… all these pounding instruments is a great change.
It is what makes Fool’s Gold special. The beat is relentless and it overwhelms everything inside and that’s important because if you strip it away what you are left with is the dave fucking Matthews band plus flute (you heard me) sung in some African dialect. The first song, “Nadine” was in English and I just bought it. Think I preferred it live.
So no not my scene but no reason to think they shouldn’t make the opening band Wishlist of everyone from Widespread Panic to Gomez.
And then I got rained on and went home.