All Photos Copyright © David J. Simchock. Visit David’s Website: Vagabond Vistas.
WXPN is the listener sponsored Triple A radio station associated with the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia, and one of the finest stations of its kind in the United States. The station is known for treating its listeners as family, and toward that end WXPN has been throwing a summer weekend festival since 1994. In the beginning, it was called the Singer Songwriter Weekend, and it was held at Penns Landing, a beautiful outdoor venue right on the Delaware River in Philadelphia. A few years back, pending construction closed Penns Landing. The event’s name was changed to the XPoNential Music Festival, and moved across the river to Wiggins Park in Camden, NJ, an equally beautiful riverfront venue.
There are two stages at the festival, the main or River Stage, and the smaller Marina Stage. Beginning on Friday night, popular artists from the station’s playlist alternate sets through Sunday evening. I was only able to attend the Saturday festivities, and since most of the artists that I really wanted to see were playing on the River Stage, that’s where I focused my attention for the day. People gathered in front of the stage in varying numbers, while on the half-bowl hillside facing the stage, hundreds were set up with their beach chairs.
Between Jersey shore traffic on the Garden State Parkway, and Six Flags Great Adventure traffic on the N.J. Turnpike, the trip which would normally take me not more than 90 minutes clocked in at nearly twice that. I was happy to arrive just in time to see the first band of the day that I really had some interest in. Brooklyn’s young Yeasayer played a compelling set that blended electronica, psych, and tribal rhythms. They opened the set with two promising songs from their upcoming new album. Guitarist Anand Wilder is handling a few more lead vocal chores now, and I enjoyed his more pop-oriented songs. (more…)
As we approach summer, I find myself somewhat unimpressed by 2008 as a new release year. Granted, the second half of the year is almost always stronger than the first, and 2007 was no exception. But 2008’s best releases, so far, don’t feel quite as important as last year’s.