Beachwood Sparks never exactly broke up, but they haven’t played much since about 2002. Once dancey groups like the Yeah Yeah Yeahs and Peaches started stealing all the magazine covers, Beachwood Sparks packed their dusty ol’ spurs away and moseyed off in a bunch of different directions, bringing life to groups as diverse as Indian Jewelry and Xu Xu Fang. But their brand of lysergic country rock has been sorely missed as of late, so it was a hoot and a holler to see them up on the Bates Stage at Sunset Junction playing a set that included most (if not all) of the songs from their self-titled debut.

I never got to see them back in the day, so I didn’t know how well they came off live! Some of the songs that I’d assumed were purely studio concoctions were played and sung note-perfect, with every psychedelic bell and whistle gyrating on and off, just like the record. And the harmonies rivaled anything on K-Tel’s Sounds of the Seventies. It was exactly what the Junction needed. I even overheard one punk rocker, who’d stayed after the Germs’ set on the same stage, exclaim, “This band fucking rules.”

But what’s this!? On Sunday, August 24, “4:10 TBA/Aug. 17″ will be taking the Bates Stage just before the reunited Beachwood Sparks. Who the dickens could this be!? We turn now to you, faithful reader, for a comprehensive – nay, exhaustive – analysis of the possibilities, one of which will ultimately be announced by the organizers on August 17, a mere week before show time. Who’s touring? Who’s in town or near town during that time? Vote for your best guess or add it to the list if it’s not already there.

UP THE JUNCTION
» 2007 Sunset Junction Street Fair
» Sunset Junction 2007: The Pity Party
» We Played Some Festivals Recently
» Canadian Coffee Break: The Street Fair Season
» Blonde Redhead @ Sunset Junction, 8/18/07
» Sunset Junction, Saturday: One Perspective
» Sunset Junction Options Juiced, Elongated

This week’s topic: From Tofu to Sunset Junction, The Street Fair Season is officially upon us. How do Canadian festivals compare to those in Los Angeles? Topics to ponder…

• Live bands
• Sausages-on-sticks; grilled corn
• Greasy, rachety, dangerous-looking carnival rides
• Booze
• Entry fees
• Festival goers
• Parking situations

Marc
Montreal, where I lived for a decade, is known as the land of festivals. During the summer, a mix of inebriated tourists and locals turn the island’s streets into a city-wide Lionel Richie fantasy. It’s not unusual to find the streets packed to capacity at 3 in the morning, with clubs going in some cases until noon the next day. People seem to have nothing but good things to say about Montreal. This civic culture of celebration, no doubt contributes to the city’s reputation. Los Angeles, by comparison is infamous for terrible reputation (not that anyone here really gives a crap). This I think, is due in no small part to L.A.’s perceived lack of a public life. Having lived here several years now, I can see how one might see this city as being somehow insular, but I’d counter that there’s no shortage of public events. For every Sunset Junction, for example, there’s a year’s worth of monthly Midnight Ridazz, (which I’d argue qualifies as a kind of moving street fair). The trick in L.A. is managing to keep abreast of all the public revelry the city has to offer, which is one good reason for Losanjealous to bring back the monthly Benevolent Society event listings.

Sean Chrétien
As much as my instincts are pushing me to have an epic showdown between LA and Toronto street festivals on my keyboard, I’m gonna curb my urges. After all, it’d be a futile endeavor – Sunset Junction and comparable LA street fests annually remind us what’s fucking rad about our much maligned city and most fests in Toronto find a way to unite an otherwise factionalized town.

If anything – I would say that is the primary difference. In Toronto, the ‘Taste of the Danforth,’ ‘Caribana,’ and most effectively, ‘The Ex‘ (Canadian National Exhibition) all manage to attract members from all of Toronto’s diverse communities in addition to touristos Americanos, neighboUring Ontario-folk, and our provincial neighbors. There’s hardly a child in the province that doesn’t make it down to The Ex every August to partake in some mole whacking, some bumper boating, and some smack-laden cotton candy consuming. Perhaps more noteworthy, according to The Free Encyclopedia, Caribana is the largest street festival in North America. I recall one year Puff Daddy (his moniker that day) even showed up to dance like I wish I could. Brrrrriiiittz. Though I may be wrong, I can’t think of any LA festival that attracts just as many folk from Silverlake as it does folk from C-P-T or comparable numbers of Inglewoodians and Hawthornians. Mind you, that shit is probably impossible. God damn you for your bizarre size and cumbersome transport Los Angeles!

On another note, god bless you for your bizarre size and cumbersome transport Los Angeles!

One of these days I have to drop a line about Toronto’s ’street meat.’ One of these days…

Sarah (website)
This is a tough subject for me to write about, since my parents were murdered by a street festival. My memories are hazy at best. I recall sneaking off to Buskers (The Halifax International Busker Festival) around 8th grade. I bought some “sweet” board shorts (the style at the time), and watched someone eat fire on a unicycle. Standard busking.

The great/worst thing about that festival is that it’s right on the harbour. Great because of the view, the sound of lapping waves, and the occasional tall ship sailing past. Terrible because Halifax dumps raw sewage into its waters, leaving greasy surface puddles sprinkled with tampons. And condoms. Rumor has it a local tried to kill himself by jumping off the McKay Bridge, but survived the fall, only to nearly perish from the bacterial infections he acquired whilst in the water.

Feces smell aside, street festivals in L.A. are a whole different breed–living in a town with a healthy economy lowers the level of desperation. Suddenly they’re CHARGING people to enter. And the live music is often in the genre of “bands you’ve heard of,” rather than “local bar bands” and “junior high kids in kilts playing the fiddle for beer money.”

But as much as I love Beavertails (a flat, Canadian pastry sprinkled with diabetes-inducing toppings), there’s something magical about corn on a stick. Therefore, in the arena of street festivals, like murder and movies but unlike hockey and music, the U.S.A. beats Canada. Or at least Los Angeles corn on a stick and exorbitant prices beat the wafting smell of Halifax’s untreated sewage on a hot August day.

Jamie (website)
Growing up in Pakenham, population MAYBE 200, and growing up on a dirt road, we didn’t have many street festivals. One time I decided to open a store at the end of my driveway where I tried to sell Go-Bots that I didn’t want, another time my neighbor’s car broke down – those are the most exciting things that happened on my road.

I should speculate a Canadian street fair wouldn’t and couldn’t compare to a festival here in Los Angeles. You’re guaranteed automatic excitement when you have people yelling, “Ayayaeee!!” shooting their pistols in the air, running around in a circle, getting into their El Camino, and then driving away.

I’m aware of the Tofu festival. My grandparents own a slaughter plant in Pakenham (yes, they’re packing ham in Pakenham), and with it being one of the biggest industries in Pakenham (followed closely by John Barr’s Francis Fuels and Scoops Ice Cream – which is only open 4 months a year) I should say the street festivals in Los Angeles wouldn’t and couldn’t survive in Pakenham.

But hey – what do I know?? I can’t even sell Go-Bots I don’t want.

Shane: So, how do you feel about the show?

Heisenflei: Absolutely horrified.

S: Wow, that’s quite a response. Was it that bad?

H: Well, about 3/4 into our opening number, YR Life=Nice, Maurice’s pedal died.

S: That sucks, how did you guys recover?

H: I tried to fill time with motivational speaking and bad jokes.

S: I think you succeeded, I don’t think anyone even noticed the delay. How did Maurice deal with the delay?

H: He threw the pedal at the audience in frustration.

S: Maurice sounds like an intense guy.

H: We both were so intensely focused on kicking ass at Sunset Junction, that when everything started to go wrong there was a heightened rage quotient.

S: How did you prepare for the show?

H: Well, since it was a special occasion I busted out my eye tapes.

S: Eye tapes?

H: Yeah, I have them shipped from Hong Kong.

S: How exotic.

H: I felt it was right for the occasion.

S: So when is your next show?
H: [Tonight] actually, at Jensen’s Recreation Center for the Earlimart record release. We go on at 8:30. Sharp.

S: Swank, will you be wearing your eye tape?

H: Yeah. Earlimart’s worth it..

More photos to come – ed

This is a wide shot intended to convey the general atmosphere of the festival. Festivals frequently feature large numbers of people (“festival goers”), mechanical contraptions that move bodies through space, against our normal physics in an enjoyable fashion (“rides”) and temporary food and consumer product vendor stations (“booths”). Festivals frequently take place in the open air, as can be seen here.

Here is another one of these festival atmosphere photographs, but taken from a different vantage point. Note booths on the left, festival goers, and ride, in this case, some sort of centrifuge contraption.

“non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of life in the community of Silver Lake, Echo Park and Los Feliz and the greater Los Angeles area. Understanding and acceptance of cultural diversity life styles and gender are the motivation for our efforts.”

Despite copious inches of sausages consumed, when we drive by one of these, we have to stop. It’s in our very blood.

Last fall Blonde Redhead kicked off a Southern California outdoor festival trifecta of sorts at the LA Weekly Detour Festival. This was followed by a tremendous performance at Coachella Valley Festival in April. The latest stop for the band in support of 23, Sunset Junction combined outdoor music with amusement rides and community participation, separating itself from the other walloping festivals. Kazu Makino, Amedeo and Simone Pace performed energetically, with fervor, and differently than the other festival performances I’ve caught. As they walked off Kazu blew kisses to the large crowd and hesitated to leave the stage before blowing more, and finally departing. Blonde Redhead performs with Midnight Movies at the Glass House tonight.