I did a little better job of sticking to my show schedule last night, compared to the night before. It's tough to make a plan and stick to it here when there's so much good stuff happening at once.

I arrived at the Cedar Street Courtyard with the intention of sticking around through the night to see Billy Bragg at 1am, but the awkward set-up of the venue and the strangely fratty crowd made the prospect of spending 6 hours there a less than appealing one. Nevertheless, I did want to see Islands, Tim Fite, and Man Man before cutting out.

Islands played a good set, but it underscored the fact that you can't expect a band to live up to its members' former bands. Additionally it seemed like a lot of the audience didn't really get Islands' whole attitude toward their performance. I heard a few of these: "Dude, what the hell is this?"

When Tim Fite came on, he immediately got the crowd visibly more excited (and palpably less comfortable to be a part of). I'd never seen or heard Tim before, so at first I didn't know what to think of the large video screen behind him. His use of video, however, turns out to be an integral piece of his live show - when he's not interacting with the hand-drawn illustrations, or telling one of his song-stories with visual aid, the video shows one or several doppelganger Tim Fites, playing the keyboard or stiffly dancing to his song.

The venue's shortcomings lost whatever veils they had, up until then, retained as Man Man started their set up. I had seen Man Man this past summer at the McCarren Park Pool, so I knew what to expect from their performance, but the crowd seemed particularly bizarre. Sure, there were the usual hipster-types with handle bar mustaches and Deaconesque sweatshirts, but there was also a large contingent of folks who looked like they had just come from a UT frat party and all they knew about Man Man was the fact that they're from Philly. This was evidenced by the fact that they spent much of the time between Tim Fite and Man Man chanting "E - A - G - L - E - S" and much of the actual Man Man set standing still and looking confused.

Regardless, Man Man put on a show that matched their usual high-energy, raucous style.

I was thoroughly sick of the Cedar Street Courtyard after Man Man and high-tailed it out of there for the more sedate setting of the Central Presbyterian Church to see Mark Kozelek. I was early, so I caught most of the set by Retribution Gospel Choir, a three piece that often backs Kozelek in his solo efforts.

Retribution was a little disappointing, they seemed unfocused and unable to find their sound. Their set wavered from power pop, to droning introspection, to dark and plodding rock. They came across as a band that needs more time to hone their act.

Mark Kozelek, however was the perfect way to end the evening. He performed solo acoustic, opening with "Salvador Sanchez" from Sun Kil Moon. The woman sitting next to me explained that this was an uncharacteristically friendly night for Kozelek, who is apparently known for snapping at his audience or giving them the cold shoulder. Instead, last night, he seemed to truly enjoy performing and engaged in friendly banter and jokes.

I may have missed Billy Bragg last night (though I did catch him during the day), but all in all it was worth it if only to get out of the Cedar Street Courtyard.