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As always, !!! last night wins the prize for dance parties that cross all divides between hippie and frat boy. They just keep adding members, and they get more and more fun, and I think that they would be excellent to party with. And Zooey Deschanel did not make a guest appearance at M. Ward, no matter how hard we all wished that she would.

It’s possible that every festival day–and possibly every other day too–should start out with a good dose of The Shackeltons. Mark Redding, the lead vocalist, was all over the stage, tossing shrubbery and falling down and talking a whole lot, inexplicably, about fish. He invited the audience to tell their darkest secrets, asked us all to imagine plucking a rose by the thorns, and somehow managed to not sound at all gimmicky through any of it. This is partly because the songs themselves are solid and interesting post-punk. They have no current plans to come back to town any time soon, but someone should endeavor to bring them back. I would sign that petition.

It’s lucky for my poor tired legs that there was a bit of a lull this afternoon, because by the time These Arms are Snakes came around I was ready to spend a little while trying to move quickly away from their thrashing fans. The last time I saw the band a few years ago I got kicked in the head when Steve Snere went pinballing off the stage and into the audience, so I knew enough to stay off to the side this time. This proved to be wise, since he went right into it and dove on to the crowd during the very first song. The sound in the Exhibition Hall is noticeably better this year, and even though my tolerance for hardcore gets lower and lower as the years go on I couldn’t leave until I had gotten at least a few songs in. (The best part about the sound in the Ex Hall not being awful is that I’ll finally get to see–and hear–the Weakerthans, here in a few minutes.)

It was a huge change to leave These Arms are Snakes and go to catch the end of Ravens & Chimes, from New York, in the EMP. I am always hesitant to like any band with a flute and a glockenspiel,
but their sweet indie pop was nice and soothing after the assault my eardrums had just received. The lead singer took a picture of the crowd for his mom at the end of the set, which is exactly the sort of the that never fails to charm me.