You, wonderful you, enjoying Chromeo on the main stage. Photo by joshc [flickr].

Last year’s Capitol Hill Block Party made for one of the best weekends of music I’ve ever had (Daft Punk’s Sunday night finale at WaMu Theater definitely helped). This year’s Block Party had a lot to live up to – probably too much. But you know what? I enjoyed it nearly as much as I did last year. The Block Party moniker is apt – it really feels like a big neighborhood party. I bumped into old friends at almost every stage and by the end of Saturday night had made up my mind that I’d take a Capitol Hill Block Party over a Bumbershoot or Sasquatch any day.

After the jump, some thoughts on a couple of the weekend’s sets and my favorite photos from Josh’s Flickr collection.

Girl Talk: I was a little concerned that Girl Talk wouldn’t work on an outdoor stage and so early in the evening, to boot. But Greg Gillis is a madman (in the very best sense of the term) and he overcame the challenge of both the lineup spot and the contrived presence of fans who were hand selected to go on stage and dance like they’d never danced before (note to dancers: if you ever get a chance to do that again, more dancing and less taking pictures of yourselves).

Chromeo: No matter what anyone says, Chromeo is American Apparel’s house band. Their highly stylized sound is the music that goes along with a certain kind of fashion (even if the Chromeo duo don’t abide by that fashion themselves). The crowd loved them and it’s hard to criticize any band who gets a street full of people (and the rooftops!) dancing and jumping up and down.

Later in the night, at the Sing Sing After Party, Chromeo did an excellent DJ set but not without a hiccup before they started. Dave 1 tried to take the stage and a Neumos bouncer grabbed him and stopped him from climbing the steps. The bouncer, who had no idea who he was accosting, yelled at Dave angrily. Those standing close to the situation (including myself) tried to intervene but were unsuccessful. Dave was obviously upset when he explained to P-Thugg what had just happened to him. I can’t blame the bouncer too much, though. He was manning the door nearest the stage trying to keep both the very rowdy crowd from climbing onto the stage while also monitoring the doorway itself. He was clearly overwhelmed and as a result was extremely aggressive and angry. Note to Neumo’s: You were obviously understaffed. I saw more security at the Michael Ian Black show last winter. The incident with Dave 1 made you look bad.

A thoughtful fan takes in DeVotchKa. Photo by joshc [flickr].

The Hold Steady. Photo by joshc [flickr].