If you book the bands, they will come. And you know what, people did come on Sunday to Street Scene. Maybe it's not the 50,000 people a night during the festival's heyday, but it's not the doomsday graveyard crowd which shuffled around Coors Saturday either. I'd say a good 15,000-18,000 people attended on Sunday. When you get past all the corporate trappings of the Live Nation-era of Street Scene ($10 for parking, crazy amount of sponsorships and no encores), there were a bunch of positives on Sunday.
First, the booking was much better on Street Scene's second day. Spoon (they should have headlined the mainstage). Steel Pulse (roots rock reggae at its best). Louis XIV (sounding more like a legit rock 'n' roll band than ever). Air (moody and a nice change of pace). Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (awesome indie rock). Arctic Monkeys (bringing British sneer and rock riffage). I didn't even make it to the early stage: Sondre Lerche, Brett Dennen, Dios and Elvis Perkins. (I'll be uploading a bunch of photos all day today). The bands in general were more interesting and better suited to pulling crowds by the scruff of their necks into music fest bliss.
Is Street Scene dead? After Saturday, I thought this was Street Scene's death knell. More eclectic booking on Sunday may have bought Street Scene another year. But please, can we call it something different?
