The Detour fest has become a bit of destination for me. I don’t live in Los Angeles anymore, but I always manage to find my way back to town for the show. The first annual all-day concert in 2006 was rollicking featuring outstanding sets by the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, !!!, Blackilicious, and Beck. It was easily one of the best festival show I have ever seen. The second year featured Justice and Bloc Party but lacked much of the DIY charm of the first. This year is a mix of the best and worst of the previous two with outstanding live performances overshadowed by frustrating corporate interests.

One of the pleasures of the Detour fest is going early. Many people don’t show up until mid-afternoon or later, but those who come at noon are rewarded with a selection of excellent artists on the rise. This year featured perhaps the strongest lineup of semi-knowns.

The first act of the day was Funeral Party a dance-punk crew of awkward teenagers who, in spite of their shaky stage presence, put on a damn good show. While their sound is reminiscent of The Moving Units and Bloc Party (both of whom headlined last year), these kids handedly outshine both acts in hooks, energy and fun. The very fact that they got an extremely sparse crowd to dance at noon is a testament to their skill. Plus, they play the cowbell.

Another early afternoon surprise was Nico Vega, this act has improved immensely since I saw them last year. They have refined their sound, sharpened their claws and upped the sexual ante. Brassy, sexy and powerful front woman Aja Volkman screeches and yelps like some type of latter day Courtney Love, while her band tries to keep pace. What struck me as tedious last year has grown into something truly mesmerizing, much better than their corset-and-body-paint aesthetic would imply. The crowd sang along to many of the songs as Volkman pushed the act over the top without ever losing her cool.

However, the best of the day’s first half came with Noah and the Whale a 6-piece pop band from the UK who rocked a horn section, ukulele and harmonium. Noah’s brand of tuneful, earnest love songs is perfect for summer love. While the album is a touch overproduced, the raw, crackling energy of the live show is mesmerizing peaking with the absolutely transcendental, “5 Years Time.”

After Noah’s set the concert began to fall into a bit of a rut. We are Wolves played an uneven and annoying set of music that is probably unbelievable when high, but pretty uninteresting when sober. The brother duo of Mugison played an interesting brand of bluesy European pop but seemed to feel awkward on stage. The vocals and the sound are absolutely there, but it didn’t feel like much of a show. On the opposite end of the spectrum, The Mae Shi did a phenomenal live show full of exuberant performance, but their pseudo-dada brand of punk never felt cohesive. And though The Japanese Motors sound great on record, they are a nonentity live.

Things picked back up when the day’s big buzz band, The Submarines (www.myspace.com/thesubmarines) took the stage. Their perfectly placed set washed away the doldrums and enlivened the afternoon. The Submarines have been making a bit of a stir of late and they live up to the hype. Their effervescent blend of Mathew Sweet style pop is the perfect soundtrack for lazing on the grass on a warm afternoon. The audience blew bubbles and they danced to the xylophone beats. Though, the lovelorn songs seem a bit odd when coming from a couple.

Matt Costa took the stage and continued the mellow mood playing an energetic and versatile set of troubadour and piano-man songs about friends, lovers and his dislike of cigarettes. Costa makes simple, fun music without the pretense of the tortured-artist cliché. His live rendition of “Mr. Pitiful” is nothing short of inspiring.

And then it was time for the big guns.

Gogol Bordello. Oh. My. God. I go to a lot of concerts. A lot. And I have never seen anything like Gogol Bordello. From the moment they took the stage until the last seconds of their set Gogol held the audience in their palm. Their joyous, rambunctious and anarchic blend of eastern European folk music and Motorhead style metal is great on record and earth shattering live. 

With propulsive beats and strong vocals Gogol rocked the stage and damn near caused a riot in the first few rows when members jumped out into the audience. The cacophony of awesome seemed unending. At a point the set even evolved into a sort of eastern European ska.

The band displays superhuman energy, showmanship and craft. They don’t just play a concert, they put on a show. Worth pretty much anything they’re asking. A must see.

Sadly, The Mars Volta could not keep up the sublime energy. Perhaps if I were 12 and the band were still called At the Drive In and all of the members were still alive the set would have been more exciting. But, as it stands, The Mars Volta is just not very interesting for people who don’t geek out to really fast guitars or excessive drug use. The huge crowd of pot smokers made the outdoor area smell like the inside of Cheech and Chong’s van. People love this band but maybe I’m too square to get it. My friends were impressed but I ended up on the steps of city hall dancing my ass off to a great DJ set from The Bloody Beatroots.

And though the acts were strong across the board the mood of the festival was off. All of the local art exhibits, a major highlight in previous years, are gone. All the local vendors and kinky, weird, homemade clothing booths replaced by corporate sponsors. In fact, an entire 2-hour set of DJ work was dedicated to, ostensibly, advertising Kross Brand Noise Canceling headphones.

Most obnoxious was “The Card System.” Food vendors didn’t accept money but instead required you to use a prepaid card to purchase food. You literally could not pay with money, and there was a $20 minimum to activate the card. You could get your money back at the end of the night, if you waited in line. Thankfully, those were short.

But even with these business headaches the music was top shelf and I went home with a big geeky smile.