[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t was an unpredictable and unforgettable weekend in Detroit for indie-rock fans at this year’s Mo Pop Festival.
“I’m not a hundred percent sure what disappointment looks like, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t look like this,” Modest Mouse front man Isaac Brock told the crowd halfway through the group’s hour-and-a-half set on Sunday.
And he was right. Despite a brutal storm the first night that drenched the crowd and turned the main stage area into a small lake, the energy fans brought through the gates carried on through the night and into the second day.
Modest Mouse finished off an unpredictable but successful weekend at the 2015 Mo Pop Festival. Shannon Coughlin/The Pit
This was Mo Pop’s first year at Riverfront Park, and it didn’t come without its setbacks. Between the overpriced water bottles, the loss of a highly anticipated band and Global Warming’s wrath, the festival could have fallen flat. But most fans carried on from one set to the next without loss of enthusiasm.
“This is a good sign” for the future of Mo Pop.
Modest Mouse, the big headliner, closed the show with spinning lights and a sprawling audience, but the two-day event kicked off Saturday with smaller acts like Coin, Coasts and King Tuff. James Bay started drawing in more of the crowd from the food trucks, craft beer tent and arts fair and was followed by Atlas Genius.
Iron & Wine’s performance with Ben Bridwell was cut much too short by a sudden, unyielding downpour. The talented duo made it through only five songs before they were forced off the wet stage.
“They’re saying we’ve got time for one more song before a big storm comes and we all get
Sam Beam of Iron & Wine. Photo/Mo Pop Fest
electrocuted, so let’s do it,” Sam Beam (Iron & Wine) told screaming and cheering fans — the liveliest crowd yet despite the cold, hard rain.
It’s one thing to dance in it, but Iron & Wine and Ben Bridwell’s willingness to play on smiling through several songs while rain pelted their mouths and instruments was impressive. To sound so good on a sunny day would have been a triumph.
As soon as the music stopped, those who weren’t already under cover fled to whatever semblance of shelter they could find – tents, blankets, tables – while the puddle-turned-pond in front of the Grande Stage continued its metamorphosis.
A Mo Pop official assured everyone the show would go on after a quick break. The rain died down, and for a few minutes, a rainbow stretched from the Renaissance Center to the Detroit River. A few carefree concert-goers partook in some casual mud sliding.
The short rain delay turned into a near two-hour pause, though, when dark clouds suddenly covered Riverside Park and thunder announced the party was over.
The weather had dampened clothes but not spirits as much of the crowed waited out the storm. Fans welcomed Brandon Flowers after 9 p.m. Saturday. For many, his set, complete with two covers and a performance of “Mr. Brightside,” was well worth the soggy wait. And Chromeo, though rumored to potentially cancel, finished off the first night as planned.
Day two came with sunny skies but a different downfall: Passion Pit, one of the front-runners, had backed-out of the line-up. Lead singer Michael Angelakos is still rebounding from bronchitis/pneumonia. But if fans were disappointed, it it didn’t infect their energy too much.
The delightful Wild Child brought their folk pop to the mix Sunday with their laid-back but bouncy music — a perfect match for the 84 degree afternoon. The group rocked a guy/girl co-lead singer set-up, reminiscent of The Head and the Heart or Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros.
Modest Mouse frontman Isaac Brock. Photo/Mo Pop
The Front Bottoms changed the tempo with their punk pop/rock, but horns were the common thread through the last four sets.
The talented and catchy Saint Motel nailed it. They were just Mo Pop’s type. It was their third stop in Detroit, and the fourth can’t come soon enough. Native Detroit band Jessica Hernandez & The Deltas came next, and lead singer Hernandez’s sassy and powerful voice never faltered while she danced throughout the set.
Modest Mouse wrapped it up right. Despite a few quips that made a bit of sense, (“If you’re drinking, don’t drive. It’s fair.”) Isaac Brock’s sporadic musings were off-the-wall and, at times, unintelligible. Much like Modest Mouse’s music, he was eccentric but intriguing. Spot-on performances of favorites like “World at Large,” “Lampshade on Fire” and “The Good Times Are Killing Me” should have everyone floating on alright until next year.
