The Howling

Sacramento Electronic Music Festival 2012

Day 3 – Saturday, May 5, 2012

The moon was a big deal on Saturday. A full moon, either in lycanthropic blood mysticism or scientific tidal truths, calls into the locked cellars of our primitive impulses to come out and play. Saddle up the supermoon with the tequila abuse of Cinco de Mayo, and night three of the SEMF was a rowdy, depraved playground.

Salva

Weekend warriors that frequent MoMo’s argued with security as to why exactly they were relegated to the patio, while braceleted SEMF attendees roamed about freely. I fielded endless appreciative comments regarding the finely groomed herd of ladies and equally endless queries as to whether or not the Death Grips’ world tour cancellation would spell doom for a scheduled performance around midnight.

I should have been let down by the no-show. We all should have booed the ever-loving hell out of the acts on stage while demanding our Death Grips set, but SEMF was booked to endure a Death Grips no-show. It only stung slightly when Brian Breneman, half of The Master System, dropped the Beastie Boys’ “Looking Down the Barrel of a Gun” remixed over Death Grips’ “Guillotine” (which was goddamn brilliant, by the way) after Shlohmo’s headlining set. Earlier, James and Evander announced before one song they would be blatantly ripping off Daft Punk, and then delivered on their word, but in a respectful manner. Raleigh Moncrief unveiled an unheard archive of EDM meditations that hinted of Watered Lawn being far from a debut fluke.

Raleigh Moncrief

The hype should have fallen on its face, the moon was supposed to have roused our inner villains, but inspired set after inspired set kept the 27th block of J Street from letting the tequila and heat agitate the closing night of the SEMF. In only its third year, the SEMF is official. Now, we count the days until the Launch Festival as Sacramento’s next big power play.