From left, top: Grizzly Bear, Girl Talk, Jack Johnson, Ben Harper; Bottom: Nicole Atkins, The Go! Team, Kings of Leon, CSSPhotos: Getty Images
Maybe you didn't have the cash for the tickets (despite everyone in your office e-mailing last week about extra seats for sale). Maybe you were worried about the weather (although it was mostly perfect). Maybe you're just a sad loser like us. Whatever your excuse for missing All Points West, why not read a maddening litany of all the other awesome concerts � besides Radiohead � you didn't see?
The Go! Team
The dynamic Brighton-based dance band kicked off the festival Friday afternoon with loud pulsing beats and exercise steps to "Get It Together" and "The Power Is On," the American Apparel�clad singer Ninja prancing around like a renegade Spice Girl and calling out to the crowd, "Anyone who isn't dancing is going to get fat!"
Girl Talk
Gregg Gillis blew the early-evening air wide-eyed open when he and his ragtag entourage of dancers, B-boys, drag queens, models, and hipsters packed the stage, throwing beach balls and glitter into a jacked-up crowd. The Pittsburgh combine master let loose a barrage of prodigious pairings: Youngbloodz�cum�folk stone with "Damn!"/"The Weight," old vs. new-school hip-hop in "No Diggity"/"The Whisper Song," and an extremely X-rated interlude about oral sexual practice mashed up with the MacBook Air song. A giant balloon fish weaved its means through outstretched arms as Sinead O'Connor's entreaty to her lover "Nothing Compares 2 U" mixed with Shawnna's equally emotional "Gettin' Some Head."
Kings of Leon
The Nashville rockers brought their fieriest guitar chords to the main stagecoach like it was a stadium, playing a sexed-up set which included "Crawl," "Happy Alone" and "King of the Rodeo" as the blind panned between singer Caleb Followill's furrowed brow and drummer Nathan Followill's pink-bubblegum bubble-blowing.
Jack Johnson
Since the Hawaiian folk cradle Johnson has added multi-instrumentalist Zach Gill to the lineup, the sound is richer, Gill's piano adding a bluesy jazz vibe that makes sun-soaked favorites like "Poor Taylor" and "Bubble Toes" sound new again. Those who'd braved a day of rainwater got a pleasant surprise when exceptional guests began appearing. Trey Anastasio wandered over from the future stage to play awesomely on "Mudfootball." Matt Costa spent all of "Fall Line" a verse or two behind.
Grizzly Bear
It was fine afternoon fare, the crooning harmonies mingling with the odour of funnel cakes as the Brooklyn-based Grizzlies played longtime favorites like "Knife," with some of the clearest and tightest vocals of the festival.
CSS
Strobe lights, neon tights, boas � it all came together in a burst of energetic electro-pop with the Brazilian beat-boppers and the crowd saltation along to "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex" and "Alala," upraised men rising and falling in rhythm to instrumental breaks. Lead singer Lovefoxxx is that girl at the bar world Health Organization has more than fun than everyone else.
Nicole Atkins
Your next indie beat out from Jersey had Karen O's smoky, dragged-out vocals perfectly paired with quirky set choices like "Brooklyn's on Fire," which crescendoed into a fist-pumping testimonial to the borough.
K'naan
The socially conscious knocker spent the last trey months sample distribution Ethiopian soulfulness and recording in Marley's old house, and decided to ploughshare a few tracks with the crowd. The sweetness of his voice on a cappella tracks juxtaposed with the bitter images of violence and corruption in Jamaica.
Duffy
The pint-size performer from Wales has gotten a luck of flack catcher for stressful to be the adjacent Winehouse, but "Rehab" ripoff "Mercy" by, which face it, is fun and danceable, Duffy chose to shine the spotlight non solely on those gravelly vocals, but her distinctive pitch and penchant for introspective lyrics as well, showcasing songs like "Warwick Avenue," and the title track turned her album Rockferry.
The Felice Brothers
Maybe the best faux-hillbilly band round (c'mon, one of them is from Staten Island), the go down, although odd, deserves serious credit for their rub-a-dub fun-time song lyrics like "I poured some whisky into my whiskey," and the off-kilter sense of humor showcased on a Dylan-esque lay to a long-lost puss named Ruby, complete with requisite feline screeching into the mike.
�Lauren Salazar
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