Saturday’s Blue stage line-up began with a true head-bangers ball. The Atlas Moth represented the concious side of metal well, with three guitars and screamed as well as growled vocals. There was also plenty of hair flying as half the band had a longhair, black-clad hesher look to them. The screamer wore a beard and plaid, distinguishing the band from the typical metal bros. The drummer split the difference with both flowing locks and an impressive beard.

The intricate guitar parts and death march vocals conjured a basement game of Dungeons and Dragons. I’m not sure the band had anything to do with it, but there was even a horrible dank smell coming from beneath the stage. If they are capable of making their music smell, The Atlas Moth could be the best metal band in history.

As my stomach rumbled from the stench I started wondering what would go on an Atlas Moth burger at Kuma’s Corner. It turns out the folks at Kuma’s had the same thought back in 2009. According to Noisecreep.com the Atlas Moth burger is “a 10 oz. slab of beef on waffles, topped with collared greens, fried chicken, chicken fried bacon and a bacon infused maple syrup.” Sounds like delicious death on a bun- perfect for The Atlas Moth.

Watching Lotus Plaza set up, I realized the scheduling of this year’s fest has a theme of collaborators performing opposite each other. Yesterday it was A$AP Rocky and his producer Clams Casino. Today Deerhunter is represented both by Atlas Sound and Lotus Plaza, the solo project of multi-instrumentalist Lockett Pundt.

The group mines early nineties British indie rock for inspiration- most notably My Bloody Valentine. With so much Anglophilia in the air it was not surprising that it started raining during Lotus Plaza’s fourth song. While it’s never pleasant to get drenched with photo gear, the band did what they could to ease the crowd’s pain by drawing out their feedback washes. After surrendering to it, there were worse fates than standing in the rain enveloped in Lotus Plaza’s lush soundscape.