Eagle Rock Music Fest Flies High With Low End Theory DJs, Pay The Man, Ollin and Egyptian Lover

Lina Lecaro

[For more exclusive images, see Colin Young-Wolff's slideshow "Eagle Rock Music Festival 2010"]

We're surely not the only LA native who wistfully recalled Sunset Junction Street Fairs of yore while stomping along Colorado Blvd. at the Eagle Rock Music Fest Saturday evening.

Like at the entrance, where we were asked to contribute $5 by a smiling lass holding a bucket and stickers, then at the Global stage where packs of giddy youths ollied, popped and spun about freely on skateboards to funky Dublab DJ-supplied beats, later near the Kingsize/Ship stages where a procession of vociferous punks and seasoned indie rockers sludged out for a cross-generational mass of shaking trunks and tresses (blissfully unaware of who was watching them do so) and inside all of the area's businesses, which were bustling with excitement and discovery.

Yes, Macy's was there handing out giftbags, but for the most part the corporate presence was minimal and the focus was where it should be: on the music and the different people that make up the fabric of the neighborhood.

Once upon a time Sunset Junction had this same kind of loose and organic feel. Trust us it did.

If one stage drew the crowds and chaos of something bigger than a low-key street party, it was The Low End Theory Stage where several diverse twentysomething crews consistently clustered about the stage to hear turntablists such as D Styles, Daddy Kev, Gaslamp Killer, DJ Nobody and Nosaij Thing spin fat hip-hop layered beats that were crowd-pleasing, yet rhythmically intense (no obvious bangers here). The Dublab Stage not too far away was mellower most of the day, but that changed when Egyptian Lover got "Super Freak"-y there later.

Lina Lecaro

Blank Blue get moody.

The Emerging Stage was the obvious hipster showcase with bands such as Darker My Love, Blank Blue and The Soft Pack playing to the mismatched set, while the Razorcake Stage just outside of the fest's borders offered psychobilly and punk bands, such as La Bestia and Nervous Gender, featuring Don Bolles on drums.

Our favorite hubs were both expected and unexpected. The Kingsize Stage felt like home with sounds ranging from messily melodious (Drink On Crutches) to distortion-heavy and hypnotic (Pay The Man, which was billed as featuring hardcore art legend Raymond Pettibon).