The Rock the Garden festival at the Walker Sculpture Garden last Saturday had all the trappings of a disaster waiting to happen: Huge lines to get in, huge lines for beer tickets, huge lines for beer, huge lines for the bathroom, etc. etc. Somehow the Walker and Current sponsored concert defied logic and pulled it off though, making the whole experience less a drag and more the quintessential summer concert experience then circumstances would imply.
This was due to a number of things: first of all a stellar lineup of musicians, Bon Iver, Cloud Cult, the New Pornographers and Andrew Bird, every one of whom has at one time or another sold out shows in Minneapolis all on their own. Secondly, the artists were given nice long timeslots to fill, making it possible for me to both fill my beer and empty my bladder, all while only missing a small portion of Cloud Cult’s set. Lastly, you had a gorgeous Minnesota Summer day. Yeah, so it rained briefly in the middle of it, but only enough to cool off some of the sunburns that had started to manifest themselves on tank-topped shoulders throughout the audience. Besides, what is a Minnesota Summer day without some freak weather occurrence?
The artists themselves were in rare form as well: Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) showed that not only can he hush clubs down to the intimacy of a church service, he can also, as Wayne Campbell might put it, “really wail.” His guitar solo on “Blindsided” was proof enough of that. There were some great cover songs played as well. Cloud Cult played Neil Young’s “Hey Hey, My My” and the New Pornographers covered E.L.O.’s “Don’t Bring Me Down.” Although they were Neko-less and Bejar-less, the New Pornographers still put on a pretty rockin’ show that included crowd favorites “Mass Romantic,” and “The Electric Version,” which Carl Newman informed the crowd that they “never play anymore since it became a level on a videogame,” referencing Rock Band’s popularity. Lastly, Andrew Bird was his usual virtuoso self—though he took far fewer liberties with his songs this time around than I have seen before. With the help of local boys done good, Martin Dosh and Jeremy Ylvisaker, Bird kept the audience captivated, even after taking a 10-minute weather related break mid-set.
Even after the show ended, the experience remained pleasant—for the most part everyone exited in an orderly fashion without major incidences of drunkenness or violence, plus the Walker staff and security detail were actually very friendly and helpful throughout the whole process. No one shouted at me to drop my beer and get the hell out either, which for me is a summer concert deal sealer. Though Rock the Garden has come and gone in past iterations (it has been on hiatus for a few years) if Saturday’s experience was indicative of what is to come, I hope that this time the festival is here to stay.
