So yeah, yesterday I got back from the Sonshine Festival. It was not the most exciting one I've been too, and me and my friends did too many social things for my taste. (For me, it's all about getting as much music in as possible, while for others, it's about hanging out with friends and some music.) But we caught the important shows.

As usual, Relient K had technical problems. I'm beginning to think their guitars and in-ears are made to not work in Minnesota. And as usual, the crowds during rK were insane. It was at least a thousand kids jammed up there so nobody could breathe.

Somewhat suprisingly, the crowd relaxed a bit to enjoy Switchfoot. The band played a couple new songs (their first single, "Stars," plus "Happy is a Yuppie Word") plus all the faves from The Beautiful Letdown. I'm still disappointed they never play some of their classic material anymore -- it still includes some of my favorites.

I also witnessed an amazing and terribly short performance by the amazing new Mute Math. They only played five tracks but every second was amazing. Their instrumental track, "Reset," is even more amazing live. They recreate the sounds perfectly, with Paul Meany jumping from keyboard to keyboard and then even the guitarist switching to a keyboard a bit too. Meany also had tons of fun playing the keytar (I dunno if that's a technical word, but it's the keyboard that is held like guitar). Half of it was new songs, so I hope they get the full-length out soon!

There were many other performances we caught, but not many were memorable beyond those three. I was hoping to check out Kids in the Way, but for some reason they could not make it. Plus, we got there late on Thursday, so we missed some amazing acts such as Skillet, 4th Avenue Jones, and a couple more. Too bad I had to work.