Silversun Pickups at DC101 Kerfuffle
Silversun Pickups performed at DC101’s Kerfuffle this past weekend along with Blink 182,Cold War Kids and the Violent Femmes. There’s a special place in my heart for festivals. Especially ones I get to take pictures at. Walking past the people sitting on the lawn. Avoiding sunburned dehydrated people from knocking into my camera bag. And then you get down to the photo pit area and you get the same spiel every time. No flash, first 3 songs only etc. Grab the right lens, set camera bag down under a gate-affixed stepping stool. Then it’s game time.
After a radio DJ comes out to hype the crowd and throw out some t-shirts, Silversun Pickups is finally introduced to the stage. Chris Guanlao comes out and approaches the drums, followed by Joe Lester to his keyboard. Brian Aubert and Nikki Monninger then come out to an infinite adoration from the crowd. Again, this is a festival setting so you have about 20 times the crowd of a smaller venue which means 20 times the amount of screams.
Jumping into their set with “Cradle” from their latest album Better Nature, the momentum never ceased to fade. It got slightly crazier with the crowd when their breakout hit “Lazy Eye” was played. Actually, thinking about it further, the same thing happened with “The Pit” and pretty much every other song. Brian has this childish smile he shares as he’s performing, as does Nikki. It’s a true staple that they are both doing what they love. Music can lose passion over the years, but not in this case. They wanted to be there. They wanted to please the fans. They wanted to share their hard work with 20,000 people. To get to that point is a true reward of keeping the passion and love they share towards their fanbase and each other. Synchronicity at it’s best.
Covering tracks from all of their albums, it was a great set, as it seemed to be a Greatest Hits sampling of their discography .Everyone seemed pleased with the finale of “Lazy Eye”. Brian played his signature Epiphone Sheraton II for most of the set, which blended perfectly with the acoustics of Merriweather Post Pavilion. All in all, such a delightful experience to be a part of.
