@ The Crystal Ballroom (Music Fest NW)
The Crystal Ballroom is one hell of a venue. With its large, 20+ foot ceilings and spring-mounted floor (think: bouncey), this Portland landmark can be one hell of a place to catch a show, provided the right band. Rilo Kiley was sadly not one of these. Playing in support of their latest Liz Phair-esque, “I’m tired of being poor, put me on the radio” effort, Under The Blacklight, Jenny Lewis et al. put on a mediocre set that let my ADD take over and led me on to the next concert on my schedule.

Keep in mind though, I’m not crazy about Rilo Kiley to begin with. But I will say this, they band was incredibly tight and Jenny Lewis’ voice was impressively on point, which no doubt had an effect of the crowd, which was more than pleased to be in attendance. Hand-in-hand with their significant others, hugging while bobbing back and forth, the crowd indicated this was a lover’s set and sadly my attempts at “having game” is a foregone conclusion. Of all the bands to take the stage at the Crystal Ballroom, Rilo Kiley lacked the energy and crowd interaction necessary to really set it off.

Wolf Parade on the other hand, ohhhhh man. But you’ll have to tune in Tuesday for more on that.