Day two: Time to lather up the sunscreen again, fight the heat-induced delirium, and get ready to do it all over.  Mad Rad kicked things off on the Yeti stage as I was in the media trailer typing madly, and from what I heard, sounded like they were showing the crowd a good time.  The computer table I was sitting at was rattling, and I managed to walk outside to catch one of the Radsters shenaniganning about on the roof of the stage.  Sweet.

As Mad Rad finished up, Hockey was taking aim on the Wookie, and came out kicking. The Wookie stage is the closest to the entrance, and as people poured into the grounds, the Portland group’s highly-danceable glammed-out garage rock definitely drew a good amount of them over. It was nice to see. These guys looked really poised, sounded super tight and abounded with energy, even getting a crowd of people pogo-ing under the high noon sun.  In short, it was a great set, and I’m looking forward to checking them out the next time they come through Seattle.

Later in the day, I made sure to muscle up close to the main stage for TV on the Radio’s late-afternoon set. Their mix was pitch-perfect–saxophones, synths, guitars and vocals all at perfect levels, making me wish that yesterday’s Animal Collective set sounded so thick. “Wolf Like Me” came out roaring, and makes a contender for best single song performance of the fest. The growling synth that grinds beneath Tunde Adebimpe’s equally snarling vocal delivery, threatened, and eventually did, break loose and wreak havoc on the crowd, sending hands up, feet hopping and heads uncontrollably rolling. “Staring at the Sun” also got a shot in the arm, picking up momentum at each measure, Adebimpe unleashing lightning bolts of kinetic energy, the song crescendoing and breaking to reach that magic ratio of equal parts rock-out and groove. Perfect.

It took some speed walking to get over in time to catch M83’s set, which had to have been the most serendipitous scheduling decision of the weekend. With the sun setting behind a haze, the breeze was cooled and the lighting golden, an unbeatable setting to witness M83’s shimmering, blissed-out synth pop.  Another expertly mixed set, thankfully, and when front man Anthony Gonzalez dropped the “let’s go” sample that leads off “Sitting,” the trio onstage brought some pretty straight-forward big beat house that reverberated through the thousands in attendance. This was a mere prelude to set-closer “Colours,” however, which left the biggest smile on my, and every other face I could see around me. The best part of the immense 4/4 punch that that song packs is that even those in attendance who aren’t so, let’s say, rhythmically inclined (and there were many), can figure out how to jump in line with the beat. You could catch the glimmer in Gonzalez’s eye, looking out over the sea of thousands, glowing in pitch-perfect evening lighting with the gorge behind, hands in the air, jumping like their life depended on it to a track so full of youthful abandon that it’s almost as if it was written for that very moment in particular. Dang.  The group even pleasantly surprised us with “Slowly,” off of 2001’s self-titled debut, a crunchy, bloopy, 8-bit styled synth gem that remains one of the groups strongest showings.

M83’s early evening show didn’t leave a lot of room for improvement for the festivals second day, but if there is a band to challenge that notion, it is Of Montreal. Thankfully the group was up next, spirited as ever and theatrical as one would expect (they closed their sets by smashing their guitars). Not a lot to say about these guys as I missed most of it to catch some of NIN’s appropriately mic-stand throwing, fog-machine/strobe light extravaganza. Trent Reznor looks like he’s been hitting the gym, but only building muscle in his neck.  It was weird, and added to the even more surreal experience of seeing Nine Inch Nails play in 2009 under the setting sun.

Pretty packed day tomorrow:  Black Moth Super Rainbow, Deerhoof, Grizzly Bear, Fleet Foxes, and more!  Here we go…