Good Eats, Good Beats at Colorado Boulevard’s Fest

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Author: Riley Kimball & Rachel Silver

 

Pedestrians rarely occupy the length of Colorado Boulevard more than cars do. But last Saturday, Oct. 1, residents took over the street for the Eagle Rock Music Festival (ERMF) to listen to local music acts for free. 
Now reaching maturity in its 13th year, the festival spread out across 12 stages packed with everyone from emerging acts with unfamiliar names to the relatively ubiquitous bands, Flying Lotus and Rooney.
“How does it feel to know you’re part of the largest outdoor music festival in the city of Los Angeles?” asked Councilman Jose Huizar, mastermind of the ERMF. Music blared from every direction, enveloping patrons as they wandered from stage to food truck to stage. Kids roamed Colorado with light sabers, devil horns and LED mohawks.
The festival featured many up-and-coming acts and showcased local talent. Boom Bip, for example, played on the KOXY-backed Emerging Stage. A self-described “intelligent dance music” producer, Boom Bip, backed by three other musicians, gave an uncharismatic but stimulating performance. 
The band members stood almost in a circle on the stage, leaving the audience with only the music to enjoy, but this did not detract from the performance. Two simple hand waves signaled the end of their set and their farewell to the audience. Other small local acts, like Shadow Shadow Shade, gained exposure by playing before bigger names like Rooney.
Slightly less family-friendly acts, like those at the Low End Theory stage, drew in a larger youth audience, spotted with huddles of Occidental students enjoying the music and atmosphere. As the night progressed, that particular stage transitioned from thunderous bass to a more modern house sound. Nosaj Thing and Gaslamp Killer brought some enthusiasm to the stage as the crowd started to swell in anticipation of Flying Lotus, who closed the night with an eclectic set.
The Gaslamp Killer provided commentary and voiced the night’s missions of youth involvement and community promotion in his set at the Low End Theory stage. “We’re building this thing year after year to bring people here and show people this motherfucking awesome community,” he said. “We’re doing this for the youth, looking back to the youth and looking forward to the youth.”
The Center for the Arts Eagle Rock and Los Angeles City Council member Jose Huizar presented the Eagle Rock Music Festival. Generous sponsors, ranging from local businesses to Occidental College to large corporations, helped keep the festival free, with a suggested five-dollar donation. 
Local businesses involved in music, whether through radio or other outlets, sponsored the various make-shift stages. Unique set ups included stages at the Welcome Inn Motel and Rantz Auto Center garage.
Shadow Shadow Shade, a sextet based in Los Angeles, played a set of psychedelic pop on the Ship Stage. A bigger band than usual, they had more hands to put to good use, playing various percussion and strings. Before they finished their set, however, the anxious audience began chanting, “Rooney.”
The California-sunny indie rock group may be familiar to the Generation Y demographic from their appearance in the 2001 Disney movie “The Princess Diaries.” Lead man Robert Schwartzman still showed the same enthusiasm from a decade ago by dancing around the small stage, but his bandmates seemed apathetic until they warmed up at the end. Rooney had the audience grooving to a set that ended abruptly. The festival security climbed on stage at 10 minutes past 11 p.m. to end the music that was running over time. Drummer Louie Stephens and guitarist Taylor Locke took that cue to briefly body surf in the crowd. Locke tweeted Sunday, “who caught my @rooneyandstage dive last night? that was a sick festival.”
Aside from the music, food was another highlight of the festival. Crowds gathered at restaurants up and down Colorado, including Dave’s Chillin-n-Grillin, The Oinkster and Colombo’s, which served as a venue opening at five. 
Food trucks and less conventional tents from small restaurants like Auntie Em’s dotted the boulevard as well. Festival attendees enjoyed everything from barbeque sandwiches from Spring Street Smoke House to Fresh Fries’ classic cut fries with curry ketchup. 
High customer traffic seemed to surprise this food truck, which ran out of its curly and sweet potato stock by nine o’clock that night.
Once again, ERMF combined local food and piles of artists, both known and unknown, to promote both the venue but also the surrounding community. 
In many way the ERMF is Eagle Rock’s biggest event, and with the success of this past Saturday, the audience can look forward to the Eagle Rock Music Festival growing and attracting more great musicians in years to come.

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