Seraphina Lotkhamnga on April 17th, 2011

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Who: The Radio Dept. in the Gobi tent
In 3 Words Or Fewer: Twee Only Dept.
I Will Remember This Until: I see the Swedish dream-pop band come back with more energy. Or at least more of the distorted fuzz that makes “Lesser Matters” so memorable. The soft set did a fine job of tugging at twee heartstrings, but the Radio Dept.’s strength is balancing the sweet with shoegazing, and it seemed reasonable to expect a bigger sound at a festival performance. However, from the very first measure of “Pulling Our Weight,” frontman Johan Duncanson stayed pretty shy until the very end. Barely saying a word to the audience, a majority may have tuned into a different station (or tent in this case) if he hadn’t introduced “Never Follow Suit” and “Heaven’s On Fire” into the set.
What I’d Tell My Friend Who Was At Delta Spirit: Although the love for the Radio Dept. is generally loyal, I’m pretty sure your spirits were higher than mine at this time.
– S.L.
Photo by Scott Dudelson