all words and photos by Dakota Fine
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You will be forgiven for not knowing that Santogold played the Washington DC convention Center last Friday night to 5000 screaming kids. After all, it was for a conference called Powershift 2009, and if you weren't attending teach-ins, you weren't invited. Maybe you heard about the 12000 enviro-kids who descended upon Washington this weekend to urge our government to adopt more environmentally conscious legislation in the name of global warming? Yeah well, there was entertainment to boot.
The openers, The So So Glos from Brooklyn, may have been some environmentally conscious indie rockers (because I'd never heard of them), but Powershift pulled out all the stops booking Santogold, and in return she delivered a performance to remember. At one point coming down off the stage to greet her fans in the crowd for a sing-a-long the erstwhile pop/hip-hop rock-staress had a jubilant crowd of college kids bobbing up and down to her infectious, anthemic brand of indie gold.
My personal favorite, Shove It ("we think you're a joke, shove your hope where it don't shine"), was delivered with a characteristic dash of sass, and though its message seemingly jarred a bit with the would be feel-good vibe of the event, it was a refreshing and much needed break from an otherwise completely movement (as in political movement) oriented program.
The performers did not pontificate, thank god. Graciously, they kept to what they're good at, playing music, and left the clean energy message to the experts.
Powershift 2009 was hosted and organized by the Energy Action Coalition, for more information and to get involved, please visit powershift09.org.
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Previously in Live DC:
- 2/13: LiveDC: George Clinton & The Parliament-Funkadelic @ 930 Club
- 2/13: LiveDC: Veronica Falls/ Brilliant Colors @ Black Cat
- 2/13: LIVE DC: Steve Aoki/ Datsik/ Alvin Risk @ Fillmore
- 2/13: LiveDC: The Darkness @ 930 Club
- 2/9: LiveDC: Theophilus London @ 930 Club
- 2/9: Best Weekend Bets
- 2/8: LiveDC: Kathleen Edwards @ 930 Club
- 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
- 2/8: LiveDC: Thurston Moore/ Kurt Vile @ Black Cat
- 2/7: LiveDC: Demetri Martin @ Warner Theatre
God loves a cheerful giver.
Soooo..... glad you guys covered this.
Thank you Dakota for the super photos!
agreed, the photos are great.
i really wish someone would get that girl a backing band though. *really* disappointed to see she is still doing live shows with that "dj." she is great and all, but i think it could be soooooooo much better with live support.
her name is now Santigold: http://www.myspace.com/santigold
i saw a bunch of kids with bamboo tote bags on the mt. vernon square metro last weekend.
i saw the so so glos the other night, and they are pretty good live. i wish they got more attention (like my other favorite brooklyn band, oxford collapse).
not to be confused with Powerman5000:
@victoryrose On her next tour she will have a full band, however your condescension towards DJs and hip-hop culture is noted.
*cries* wish I knew about Santigold. damn
@cullen - ahem. seriously?! i'm not being condescending towards djs an hip-hop culture. i really like miss santIgold. own pretty much all her stuff. i saw her perform in new york and i thought her performance was extremely lack lustre and a little boring. i think she would have a ton more energy and her show would be significantly more interesting if she played with a live band. period.
also, i think her particular dj isn't good. that doesn't mean i don't like djs. i mean, i have been known to dj once or twice myself...
and, thank you for the information! i'm thrilled to know she will be touring with a full band. i will be sure i see that!
(p.s. mr. stalin, i'm the one that got you to book finger bang city at taxlo...between me and you, *that* is enough said.)
Is condescending towards DJs and hip-hop "culture"
See? I even put the word culture in quotation marks to indicate the depth of my condescension.