Kevin Barnes of Of Montreal
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R.E.M. Matisyahu and Ben Folds Warm Up the Crowd on Langerado’s Cold
Saturday Night
By Claire Austin
I knew I had to go to the Langerado music festival before I left Miami, but I had an embarrassing lack of music knowledge. With no tie-die shirt, folding chair or bong and the ability to tell State Radio from Citizen Cope, I bought a Saturday ticket purely based on the three artists’ names I recognized: Ben Folds, Matisyahu, and R.E.M. All three, for the most part, didn’t disappoint.
Ben Folds’ show seemed the most intimate of the three; I was close to the stage but still had room to breathe. The band was decidedly laidback, yet pleased fans with displays of wacky energy – at one point, Ben lifted a keyboard in the air like a guitar.
He also knew how to work a crowd. Standing on his piano and directing the audience in a three-part harmony for "Not the Same," he seemed like the conductor of a freaked-out acappella orchestra.
Ben injected biting humor into his show by making fun of the fans who sung along to the chorus of "B****es ain’t S***”. He also praised the festivalgoers for "coming together and singing on Indian burial ground," a dig at the festival’s location in a Seminole reservation.
Lead Singer Michael Stipe of R.E.M.
At the Matisyahu show, I was anticipating hearing his song "Jerusalem" so much that I didn’t enjoy the other tunes he played as much as the rest of the audience, who was packed more densely than at the Ben Folds show. I did catch the Hassidic reggae star’s hit "King Without a Crown" among the many songs he sang, which fluidly transitioned from one to another, as well as his two drummers’ outrageous solos, which almost threatened to overshadow the star – until he started beat-boxing.
Matisyahu talked about an "army of peace" (an easy crowd-pleaser). At one point, he sang the Sh’ma, a traditional Jewish prayer—which was a little weird to hear outside of my synagogue—and then launched into rapidfire rapping.
When I joined the crowd headed to the R.E. M. show, the festival seemed to have flooded with people: Had some of the crowd driven in just for the headliner act?
The Everglades stage on which they performed had flanking video screens, but I was determined to see the band directly. (The alternative seemed too much like TV.) Despite the sea of people in front of me, I was able to get a decent view. They opened with "What’s The Frequency, Kenneth?" and moved on to other past hits as well as A LOT of material off of their new album Accelerate. I yelled out the lyrics to "Losing My Religion" while jumping around with three layers of clothing and a towel on to try and keep warm as my toes went numb.
Singer/Songwriter Ben Folds
R.E.M.’s performance of "The One I Love" (with Michael Stipe singing some of the chorus into a megaphone) was pretty powerful. Unfortunately, the band walked off afterwards as though someone had forgotten to tell them they still had another half hour to play. They returned unceremoniously for an encore, which, as tight as R.E.M. sounded together, seemed a bit haphazard.
Everything ran smoothly despite the huge presence of drugs and alcohol (though there were few "ugly" moments) and the bands went on as scheduled, which I was not expecting. I definitely left Langerado with a greater appreciation for both less popular bands as well as Saturday’s "big three."
Click here for more band photos
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