Echo Park Rising 2018, Day 3: Shannon Shaw, Harriet Brown and a hey-wait-a-sec from Poppy Jean Crawford

on
2
Dancing Tongues at Echo Park Rising (Photo by Zane Roessell)
Dancing Tongues at Echo Park Rising (Photo by Zane Roessell)

■ Part 1 of three parts of our Saturday Echo Park Rising coverage

Has the evening fare at the main stage at Echo Park Rising ever been as mellow as it was Saturday night? Probably not.

Capped by a swoon-worthy performance by Shannon Shaw, the Liberty Stage was vibe city Saturday night after indie-rock trio Pinky Pinky was done. First there was Harriet Brown, channeling the high-octave spirits of his 2017 album “Contact” and new songs like “Bag Away.” Then came Bardo Martinez & the Doves, the side project of the charismatic Chicano Batman frontman, groovin’ like it’s 1977 (and spreading the “Love of Mine”).

Then Shaw, in her new post-Shannon & the Clams incarnation, conjured up a little Patsy Cline with songs from her new album “Shannon in Nashville,” adding some inner warmth to a glowing Saturday night.

The crowds were huge, adoring and well-mannered (as opposed to some Saturday night mosh pits of past Echo Park Risings). There were plenty of sets to catch if raging physicality was your thing, though. Like the sets from Spare Parts for Broken Hearts or Dancing Tongues, to name just two.

Best unexpected highlight of the day was Poppy Jean Crawford, shredding like a 19-year-old possessed (quite possibly, she is), tossing shards of dark noise all over a packed Echo.

And then there was the Chavez Ravine, adding some old-guard intensity to the day. From the moment they each hit one note for soundcheck, they shook the walls of the Echoplex. Producer-singer-guitarist Manny Nieto, bassist Gregory Alan Coates (from Pleasure Burn, filling in for bassist Mando Lopez currently recording a new covers album with Morrissey) and drummer Phil Guerrero shared their specialty of hard guitar-fuzz-core effects paired with indie melodies about clowns, crushes and living la vida musica en Nuestra Señora la Reina de Los Ángeles.

||| Also: See our Day 1 coverage; Day 2 coverage

Photos by Zane Roessell