Among the costume-clad moogerfoogers roaming around Asheville during the fest this year, you may have spotted cameras from Fuse TV. The folks at Hoppus on Music caught up with artists like Donald Glover (Childish Gambino), Wayne Coyne, and Dan Deacon as well as the people behind the fest at Moog Music and AC Entertainment. Watch the video below to see interviews, music video clips, and a whole lot of confusion about pronouncing “Moog” (How many times do we have to tell you?) as Fuse recaps our favorite weekend of the year.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the first ever Moog Mountain clothing drive benefiting the local Goodwill.  With your help we were able donate over 1000 individual pieces of clothing which resulted in more than 500 pounds of textiles.

Thank you again to SustainU for partnering with Moogfest on this great cause.  Don’t forget we still have 2011 merch available in our store that was supplied and printed by our eco-friendly partners SustainU.

Save up your old clothes and lets see if we can destroy this record in 2012!

Courtesy of The Tuned Inn

As (mostly) life-long Yankees, with relatively little experience in the South, we were delighted with the charm, physical beauty, and hospitality The Tuned Inn staff received during our time in Asheville. The town seems to embrace all things Moog, and with the family and foundation’s history there, Moogfest plus Asheville feels like the perfect fit. Restaurants and stores were obviously happy with the extra business brought in by the festival and the “Support Local” decals in many business windows are clearly more than just lip service.

We only wish we had more time to eat (and drink) our way through Asheville. What we did taste was delicious: eggs Benedict at Over Easy on Broadway, a massive shared brunch spread at the Early Girl Eatery on Wall Street, and a fantastic staff dinner of shared pizzas at the ultra-groovy Mellow Mushroom (yes, it’s a chain, but we drank local beers and loved the service!). The Moog Filtered Ale from Asheville Brewing Company was another excellent symbol of the Moog/Asheville love and made us wish we had time to check out the brewpub to try the rest of the company’s beers. We also have to shout out to The Blend on Lexington for so generously and patiently hosting The Tuned Inn’s raucous after-party, featuring the incredible Fine Peduncle, on Sunday night (err—Monday morning?).

While our legs are still sore from a massive amount of walking back, forth, and all around downtown Asheville, seeing shows and art installations at 11 official venues throughout the weekend was the perfect way to get to know the city. Each venue had its own vibe, from the retro bar and huge glowing neon sign at The Orange Peel, to the cavernous, warehouse-like space of the Asheville Civic Center, to the cozy, theater-style seating of the Diana Wortham Theatre. Sure, having to hoof it from venue to venue made us a little (okay, a lot) short of breath (especially when doing the 15-minute uphill trek from The Orange Peel to the Civic Center to see overlapping shows), but each new venue added another local element to the shows. Many of us had a favorite venue by the end—whether it was because of the super nice staff, the delicious drinks, the lax rules about how long you could stay in the photo pit, or the placement of the stage—but it was still awesome to mix it up at different venues throughout the weekend.

The Animoog Playground, which was Moogfest’s first outdoor venue, generated a more typical festival atmosphere—giant balls bouncing around the crowd, food trucks, tons of glow sticks, and yes, port-a-johns. While it was uniquely fun to have the outside festival experience in the middle of downtown Asheville, it was also great to periodically leave and go to an inside venue to thaw out some fingers (and use a real bathroom).

Also of note? Ya’ll are so nice in Asheville! The Tuned Inn team is split between Philly and NYC, and while we love our respective cities, we couldn’t get over how accommodating everyone was. We didn’t hear a single car horn all weekend (you can’t go 30 seconds without hearing a horn in either NYC or Philly), and even the cops were nice. A sweet city embracing the freaks of Moogfest—we’re already looking forward to a return visit.

But enough about Asheville, let’s talk about the music. Below, The Tuned Inn presents our list of superlatives from Moogfest 2011.

Best use of tongue in musical performance: Fine Peduncle

Most thankful performer: Moby

Most likely to smell like a dorm room: Warm Ghost

Best birthday celebration: Hans-Joachim Roedelius

Sexiest use of the harp: Active Child

Most reminiscent of a McDonald’s ball pit: Flaming Lips

Most likely to make grown (straight) men swoon: Childish Gambino

Best game of laser tag…EVER!: Ghostland Observatory

Best rain-soaked dance party: Chromeo

Best act if you’re in the mood for Cirque du Soleil: STS9

Hottest guitar-shredding chick: St. Vincent

Best attempt at a fifth encore: Kode9

Poppiest dance party: Passion Pit

Best semi-slow dance: M83

Most intense visual storytelling: Lunzproject

Best father-son performance: Terry and Gyan Riley

Best use of burlesque dancers in a musical performance: Beats Antique

Most reminiscent of a basement punk show: Dan Deacon

Most laid-back peformance: The Field

Sexiest dance party: Special Disco Version

Best on-stage representation of a Tetris piece: Amon Tobin

Craziest Halloween dance party vibe: Holy Fuck

Closest that Moogfest will ever get to a Justin Bieber concert: The Drums

Most likely to spark your 12th wind of the night: Gold Panda

Courtesy of The Tuned Inn

Going Out with a Bang
With Moogfest behind us, it’s easy to reflect on the festival experience— what went right, what went wrong, and what completely blew our minds. Sunday’s lineup might have been the strongest of the whole weekend, and unless you had a very fast bicycle or magical powers, there was no way to catch everything.

Passion Pit debuted two new songs at the Animoog Playground while James Murphy spun ‘70s funk records (records!) and EOTO improvised themselves into the deep end. Beats Antique brought a zoo onstage to fight out a battle with a skull and some bowling pins in a style reminiscent of Leatherface’s fun-loving family. Sonmi played some of the weekend’s only old-fashioned rock ‘n’ roll, yet somehow still incorporated a DJ and tons of synth. Childish Gambino hosted one of the largest crowds of the weekend, and led a group of thousands in a chant about a love for Asian women. Umphrey’s McGee, one of the weekend’s only traditional jam bands, brought their wild lights to Thomas Wolfe to close out the festival.

With the mildest weather and the craziest lineup, Sunday was arguably the most memorable day of Moogfest. Though the crowd had noticeably thinned by the final shows, there was still an incredible amount of positivity and excitement circulating among the attendees all day. Sunday’s artists all brought exceptional energy to their performances, and it was a pleasure to see a selection as diverse as what was featured.

Diana Friedman on M83

Is it possible for a band to be both dreamy (not “dreamy” as in teenage girls talking about boy-band members, but “dreamy” as in immediately transporting you to a dream-like world) and completely energized? Apparently it is, because those are the two simulatenous states M83 seemed to exist in (and drew the large crowed into) at their show at the Asheville Civic Center on Sunday evening.

The music didn’t spark quite as much dancing as other bands that had packed the Civic Center earlier in the weekend (Holy F**k comes to mind), but the crowd was simply enthralled by the music and the band—everyone staring at the stage while swaying their bodies. The members of M83 put on an impressive display of indivicual talent—the female singer using her breathy voice to move the audience, in between playing drums and other instruments, while the male singers brought just enough strength to their vocals to add balance—which gelled into a cohesive sound, heavily supported, but not overrun, by synths.

The band’s complex sound, and their proficiency with both electronic and non-electronic instruments—and particularly the blending of the two—lent them a maturity that belied their years; one of the band members had his 20th birthday on Sunday. That’s right, some people in this world can fill an arena easier than they can get into a bar.

After a strong set, the band was humble, thanking the crowd and professing that they are “huge fans of Moog instruments” and that “it’s a dream come true to play at Moogfest.” Personally, I felt like the dream belonged to the fans—and it was a good one.

Kelly Bocich on Childish Gambino

Childish Gambino, aka Donald Glover, aka Troy from popular TV show “Community,” thrilled the Animoog Playground crowd Sunday evening with his skilled spitting of clever and honest lyrics. In his trademark schoolboy shorts, Childish Gambino offered Moogers a special treat by debuting brand new songs, never before played live. It was only during these new songs that the crowd stopped singing and rapping along to both Gambino and Adele as he incorporated her “Chasing Pavements” and John Legend’s cover of her “Rolling in the Deep” into his set.

Childish Gambino told the pumped-up audience that his new album, set to drop 11/15, features prominent use of Moog instruments. Although he remarked at the crowd’s dedication for staying through the set despite the cold, the audience hardly seemed to notice as they throbbed, jumped, and rocked to Gambino’s non-stop set.

Diana Friedman on Neon Indian

When the Neon Indian show first started, I felt like I had stepped into a video game. An intense light show was anchored by what looked like a flashing robot or someone’s idea of a futguristic jukebox in the middle of the stage. The stage show was the perfect completment to the electro-pop-rock sound, which featured heavy drums and electric guitar riffs, with almost surprisingly soft, poppy vocals.

From the back of the venue, I felt a little detached from singer Alan Palomo, as if the instruments had a farther reach than his “ahh ahh ahh” lyrics, but when I moved closer to the stage for the second half of the performance, I was pulled in and I gave up my skepticism for pure pop enjoyment.

Toward the end of the set, the band gave a shout out to Bob Moog, The Moog Foundation, Moogfest, “and pretty much anything with the name Moog in it.” That was the cue for a crazy synth jam session, aided by an equally crazy, and possibly seizure –inducing, light show. After that, the band came back on saying, “I know we’re at a festival, but do you guys want to hear one more?” It seemed a tiny bit rebellious, until the “extra” song ended and I realized that the band had still finished a good 15 minutes early.

Kelly Bocich on Passion Pit

One of the more mainstream bands to rock Moogfest, Passion Pit’s Saturday night set at the Animoog Playground was an all-out dance party complete with enticing lights and first-pumping sing-alongs. Singer Michael Angelakos was clearly having a blast, playing off the crowd and encouraging feedback and participation.

Still flying high on the success of their 2010 album Manners, Angelakos’ distinct falsetto and the band’s irresistible electro-pop sound made for an accessible and exciting show. Stepping off stage far before the audience was ready to say goodbye, the chant of “one more song” quickly turned into a demand for “three more songs,” which the band happily obliged, ending with a raucous rendition of “Little Secrets.”

by Shayna Hodkin – Nov 2, 2011

Courtesty of The Tuned Inn

Kelly Bocich on Hans-Joachim Roedelius

On his 77th birthday, Hans-Joachim Roedelius impressed a full house at the Diane Wortham Theatre on Night Two of Moogfest 2011. In front of a hushed and attentive crowd, the German krautrock legend played his unique mix of gentle keys and mixed synthesizer sounds.

Alternating between a piano and his synthesizer, Roedelius was a relaxing change of pace fron the mostly high-energy, pulse-pounding Moogfest shows. His face was mostly hidden on the dark stage, and his use of video imagery projected behind him was a perfect match to his cool, calm sound.

Roedelius is founder of krautrock groups Cluster and Harmonia and the ambient jazz outfit Aquarello. He also played Moogfest Friday night at the Diane Wortham Theatre with Tim Story as LunzProject.

Kelly Bocich on Amon Tobin

In one of the weekend’s most anticipated shows, Amon Tobin’s 10:15 show at the Asheville Civic Center had the packed arena completely enraptured with his one-of-a-kind aesthetics. Except for a few brief peeks through a translucent cube, Tobin remained hidden from view, letting his beats and incredible light show take main stage.

The show was projected onto a series of Tetris-like cubes, slowly building into moments of body-breaking bass. The love and respect for Moogers for Tobin was palpable before, during and after the show, which in addition to abstract designs and light patterns also included imagery of spaceships and weather elements. Consider Amon Tobin sensory overload in the best possible way.

Diana Friedman on Cloudland Canyon

The trio of Cloudland Canyon brought their heavy electronic sound to a dedicated crowd at the Asheville Music Hall. The rhythmic sounds of synths and keyboards, punctuated with loud drums made for music to get lost in. The crowd was nodding, their attention captured, when the band suddenly broke out into more of a dance beat and some people in the crowd started moving bouncing and swaying. Others stayed still, just taking in the music in the dark room, where it was almost hard to see the artists on stage. For an exclusive look at the Cloudland Set, check back at The Tuned Inn for video soon!

Oct 30, 2011

Maybe you have to have been born in the ’80′s to channel the music so well…Twin Shadow, the new wave electronic artist George Lewis Jr. plays the Orange Peel to the retro pleasure of all.

Spotted earlier at Moog studios checking out guitars, St. Vincent starts her set with “Surgeon,” off of her latest Strange Mercy.

-Becky Upham

They call it the Animoog Playground for a reason…The Flaming Lips light up the sky in Asheville.