The biggest trend to emerge from the CMJ 2010 Music Marathon? It wasn’t necessarily what went down at the festival itself, but what happened on the periphery. From competing non-CMJ shows to unannounced surprise performances, sideline attractions became the main event.
Phoenix set the bar only two nights in with the help of some old friends. The French band, along with The Dirty Projectors and Wavves, performed at Madison Square Garden (the first time the arena has hosted CMJ), and wowed the Twitter-frenzied crowd when Daft Punk came out to perform mega-hits “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” and “Around the World.” (Word on the street is they also sound checked in full futuristic gear).
Then there’s Kanye West, who unexpectedly showed up at Pitchfork’s #Offline fest, running concurrent with CMJ. Mr. West’s star power reportedly blew Daft Punk out of the water as he ran through a set of newer songs at Brooklyn Bowl for the Fool’s Gold party, mostly from his weekly G.O.O.D. Friday releases.
There were plenty of other special appearances throughout the week, including the GZA, Chromeo, Raekwon and The Drums.
While CMJ’s 30th anniversary didn’t dazzle, plenty of musicians still find it worthwhile. Das Racist and O’Death explain the benefits of CMJ, while Marnie Stern talks about the path that led her to become one of the busiest musicians during the fest every year. They don’t call it a marathon for nothing.
TOPICS: Trendspotting