The first day of music at Little Kings was launched in proper Popfest style when Brooklyn’s Boy Genius took the stage in front of the small but enthusiastic crowd of music fans devoted enough to arrive early.  Kicking off a festival set at 2 p.m. on a Wednesday is no easy task, but as soon as the intro guitar riffs and cymbals of “Tied in Two” melded into a wall of fuzz, you were immediately engaged.  No warm-up songs necessary here. These guys meant business!

Upon listening to the live set straight-through, I’ve realized Boy Genius has really mastered the fine art of developing setlists.  With a 30-minute set, it’s had to say what you want to, musically.  The mid-temp pop beats behind “Tied in Two” were just enough to engage the crowd…this ratcheted up a notch for a segue into the more-aggressive “Scatter”, relaxed again for “No Beginning”, hit the ground running again for “Talk About Love”, etc.   Perfect pacing.

The band was giving away free copies of their Eureka EP at the merch table.  After giving it a listen at work today, I’m kicking myself for not picking up their full-length LP, Anchorage.

Anyway, here’s to a great start of PopFest.  Check it out:

Boy Genius
8.13.2008
Athens Popfest
Little Kings Shuffle Club, Athens, GA

Source:  Microtech Gefell M300’s > Lunatec V3 (opti-mod) > Nomad JB3 >
Firewire > CoolEdit Pro > CDWave > Flac16

Setlist:
1. Tied in Two >
2. Scatter
3. No Beginning
4. Talk About Love
5. Eleanor
6. The Hardest Part
7. Radio Silence

Sendspace link to the entire show.