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Bonnaroo. Coachella. Lollapalooza. All Points West. SXSW. Each is a major annual music festival that brings thousands of people from across the country to their respective communities. Late last spring, over some drinks at Paddy Murphy’s in downtown Bangor, a few young guys asked each other, “Why not here?” And thus, just three months before the day of the show, KahBang was born.
For those of you who fell out of Bangor’s social loop this summer, West Market Productions was working hard to bring the city’s waterfront a day jam-packed with music by artists on the rise. The idea was simple but ambitious: Give Bangor a day as a cultural hub, one that would bring outsiders in to support the local economy.
“We all were born and raised within a 20-mile radius,” says Chris Michaud, promotions director for West Market and current University of Maine student. “We left for a few years and developed various skills, finally deciding we wanted to be Mainers and we wanted to bring something back.” Bring it they did.
On August 15, 11 indie bands from around the world rocked out by the river under a scorching hot sun. The day started off with two homegrown acts: Bangor High School alumni Sam & Yuri and the Java Jive-rocking four-piece The Bay State. Sam & Yuri began the day with a pleasant start of polite, unobtrusive indie rock. Their sound complemented the mood of the early arrivals, most of whom were relaxing in the grass. The Bay State picked things up a bit, beginning to work the crowd in time for the new wave of spectators. Their sound was a bit like Yellowcard, though less emo and more free-wheeling.
After an unfortunate lull during sound checks and stage-setting, Boston’s The Everyday Visuals took the stage. Though a bit more folksy on record, they brought their rock to Bangor. Classic style riffs and Neil Young-isms marked their set, which was full of thoughtfully written songs and a general sense of sincerity. Their retro-factor was a bit outdone though by the next and first act to take the main stage. Pint-sized April Smith and her band The Great Picture Show, fresh from opening Lollapalooza, played with a cabaret-like style she said was born from “turn of the [20th] century pop.” Think Dresden Dolls without as much of the noir-ish theatrics.
From here on in the adrenaline really started pumping. The aptly named group SEX! made raunchy blues rock with enough snarl and swagger to make George Thorogood proud. Between their chain-smoking and killer cover of “It Ain’t Easy,” SEX! were posterboys of badassery. Next was the high-octane, dance punk, five-piece Royal Bangs from Knoxville, Tenn. By now the heat had worn the crowd down, but Royal Bangs were enough motivation to fight through it. The next set — my favorite of the day — came from The Gay Blades, who fed off this energy to churn out their brand of post-teenage angst. Armed with just a guitar and drums, the Blades were like a cross between early White Stripes and defunct Canadian band Death From Above 1979. What was perhaps even better than their sound was their incredible stage presence. Their frontman, Clark Westfield commanded the crowd. He even attacked them with absurdly poetic freestyle rants, mocking some of the skinny jean and fluorescent shirt-clad hipsters who had shown up.
Norwegian punk-pop singer Ida Maria came up next, proclaiming to the crowd, “I am drunk and I hope you are too.” Given her booze and sex-crazy lyricism, it didn’t come as much of a surprise to anybody. After a little bit of slurring and a lot of song book checking, Ida Maria finished up with a fittingly belligerent cover of Iggy Pop’s “I Wanna Be Your Dog.” It made for about as good of a segue to hometown favorites The Killing Moon as you could imagine from the Norwegian songstress, what with the moshing that was to unfold. The Killing Moon created a thrash-worthy frenzy and a solid finale for the Side Stage. Shirts swung and elbows were thrown for the band’s first show in a year.
With the side stage shut down it was time for the two acts most of the members of the audience I spoke with had been drawn by: Ra Ra Riot and Matt & Kim. Ra Ra Riot — whose electric cellist, Alexandra Lawn, is an alumni of Camden High School — played catchy pop songs with a classical tinge. Their set was unfortunately slightly marred by the festival’s one mixing mishap after a day of surprising precision, as lead singer Wes Miles was nearly inaudible over the instruments, even from the front of the crowd.
Matt & Kim took the stage at 9 p.m. as the night’s big stars. With just basic chords on a little synth, Meg White-on-speed drumming and piano stool acrobatics, the pair started a dance party even Matt applauded.
“I found a piano I liked in my friend’s closet, and Kim always had rhythm, so she started on the drums. Simple is better anyway. Take ‘We Will Rock You.’ The part everybody remembers is BOOM BOOM BSH.” He may have had a point, as their simple tunes got the crowd dancing to the point of exhaustion.
Though the crowd may not have reached Lollapalooza numbers, Matt & Kim’s set and the enthusiasm both on and offstage represented a general sense of high spirits all day. Each of the musicians I spoke with loved being in Bangor and seeing Maine, some even repeating the sentiment to the crowd. The one time it was clear what Wes Miles was saying was when he made the crowd turn around to see the sunset over the city. There’s a lot to love about Maine – it’s what brought Chris and his friends back. With continued support, KahBang has the potential to keep young people in our state and bring commerce to Bangor. If you missed the festival this year, definitely do your best to come out next summer.
