I'm curious as to the overall success of Orlando Calling's first day. The GA floor was perhaps a third full and the stands only speckled with people by the time The Killers took the stage for their day-ending set. The Roots closed out the grassy, more festival-friendly Authentic Stage an hour earlier with a far more intense performance in front of what looked to me to be like a larger crowd. And blisteringly awesome main-stage performances even earlier by Pixies and The Raconteurs easily out-classed The Killers' Vegas glitz-and-glam. On what basis were The Killers chosen to close this festival? Spectacle must have been prioritized over substance, because the latter was found elsewhere…
- Tracy May
- Jack White, The Raconteurs
My day started around noon with a forgettable steak and cheese-substance sandwich consumed to the sounds of Civilian. The Florida natives opened the fourth stage sounding not too different from how The Killers would end the day (despite my dark foreshadowing of The Killers' performance above, I do mean that as a compliment). I wandered to the second stage and was surprised by an unlisted all-girl synth-rock band delivering cheese thicker than what I'd just encountered on my lunch. After some research, I discovered they were Orlando act Dollface, added to the lineup after I printed my schedule last week. Later, this stage's tardiness would affect my schedule for the rest of the day — and now I know there was a shitty band to blame.
(More band reviews and setlists from Pixies, The Raconteurs, and The Killers after the jump.)
This article appears in Nov 10-16, 2011.