XPoNential Music Festival, July 12, Wiggins Park

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XPoNential Music Festival, July 12, Wiggins Park

POSTED: Tuesday, July 15, 2008, 9:15 PM

Filed Under: Music Show

In another life, we shall be together ...

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I should have known something was up when some cowboy started whistling at me from the roof of a parking garage. "Come on!" he screamed. "At least gimme a wave!?" But, alas, no time for that — I was running late to Dean & Britta's set, the second-to-last of WXPN's Xponential Music Festival, and I would damned if I had taken three trains into Jersey for nothing.

Skirting a band of rowdy tailgaters, I finally came upon a row of barricades and yellow-shirted security guards. I stepped up for the pat-down, just in time to see a drunk dude turned away as his be-tatted companion asked, "Has Crew gone on yet?"

I stopped mid-spread 'em. Crew? What cr — and then suddenly, it all came together: The screaming, the drunkenness, the tailgating. I had almost wandered into a Motley Crue concert.

I made a quick exit and, minutes later, found myself in the midst of middle-aged summerland — kids, funnel cake and mid-thigh-length khaki shorts as far as the eye could see. Lucky for me, Dean and Britta had been pushed back, so I got to see the entirety of their performance. It was a relaxed (if slightly uninspired) affair that lulled the summer-drunk crowd with silvery, melting harmonies and dreamy aquatic instrumentals (punctuated, of course, by the roars of enthralled Crue-heads). The setlist was a democratic sampling of their four albums, topped off with a couple Luna and Galaxie 500 tracks for good nostalgic measure. As always, D&B drew their fair share of hardcore fans who, judging by their age, have been following the pair since the early '90s.

The night finished off with Michael Franti & Spearhead on the main stage. The crowd went nuts for their energetic danceable set, not to mention Franti's broad political proclamations (FOR freedom of speech and AGAINST the war, for the record). Yet standing there, in the middle of that public radio lovefest, I couldn't help but wish — just a little — that we could all just forget politics for a second and join together in a collective rendition of "Dr. Feelgood."

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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