Basilica Block Party, Day 1: Set-by-set reviews

If Vegas took bets over the Basilica Block Party, I could've cleaned up on opening night of the 17th installment. Fitz & the Tantrums had the best set overall. David Gray was the most boring. Michael Franti & Spearhead drummed up the biggest amount of audience participation. The Jayhawks were wonderful again, but nowhere near as memorable as in 2009. And like Fitz & Co., Lissie was another newcomer that made a strong impression. To me and probably to a lot of the more devout music lovers at the party, all of this was as foreseeable as the drunk kids feebly trying to add up their beer tickets near the end of the night.

Here's a more thorough rundown of all the performances, in addition to the report for Saturday's newspaper. Full disclosure: In most cases, I only caught about half of each performer's sets, as is necessary at the Basilica with the overlapping set times.

FITZ & THE TANTRUMS: The L.A. soul-pop band only just made its Twin Cities debut at Bunkers in February, a gig that backup singer Noelle Scaggs well remembered: "It was freezing last time we were here." Friday's crowd seemed surprisingly familiar with and hot for the band despite the newness. The band has grown even tighter and simply knows how to work a room (even when there technically isn't one). "L.O.V." and its farfisa organ groove sounded especially infectious, and the horn-spiked rendition of the Raconteurs' "Steady as She Goes" was a clever addition.

DAVID GRAY: There were some lovely moments of the British folk-rocker's moonlit performance, like the big "Babylon" singalong and the dramatic "Lately." But for a guy who had to cut his set to shorter than usual, his songs surprisingly seemed to drag on and on and repeat the same hooks into oblivion. "Please Forgive Me" was especially drawn out. Like each of his two predecessors on the main stage (in fact, almost every one of the bands brought up the issue onstage Friday night), Gray addressed the gay marriage ban by calling the church's support of the state amendment "only a few thousand years behind the times." And then he played "This Year's Love" for what seemed like forever as his finale, working in a little of Van Morrison's "Into the Mystic" to lengthen it even more.

MICHAEL FRANTI & SPEARHEAD: The sun had set literally but not figuratively halfway through the Bay Area reggae/rap-rocker's set. His recent, beachcombing hit "Sound of Sunshine" was perfectly accompanied by giant bouncing beach balls and lots of giddy hippie-style dancing. Franti maintained that sunny, feel-good vibe even while slipping in edgier tunes, including "Sweet Little Lies," "Yell Fire" and "East to the West." The latter tune had him singing, "God is too big for just one religion," standing under the basilica steeples. Later in his set, he jumped into the crowd, as if he hadn't already worked it enough. Only time things dragged was when he told a lengthy story about a butterfly, bird and a tree. Note to Michael: Children's story time isn't until Sunday at the Basilica.

THE JAYHAWKS: Returning to the scene of their big 2009 reunion, the local legends moved over to the big stage this time and got a little lost in transition. They wound up playing to a less-interested crowd (heavy with Gray's fans). Even their own fans, though, probably weren't as excited hearing "Blue" and "Waiting for the Sun" again after they also played a string of First Ave gigs in between. Still, "Over My Shoulder" and "Clouds" came off as polished gems, and two of the three new songs they played were rich in harmony ("She Walks in So Many Ways" and "Hide Your Colors;" the other, "Black Eyed Susan," is also a dud on the new record).

LISSIE: The Rock Island, Ill., native (age 28) grabbed the crowd first and foremost with her voice, which is folky-songbird-sweet but with a little rural grit and haunting pain in it. She churned out some pretty alluring tunes, too, especially including the climactic "Bully," which she dedicated to her mom in the crowd. The hit from another, non-sponsoring radio station, "Little Lovin'," also went over well. The sandy-blonde, hippie-chic singer tried to cast aside her internet-buoyed cover of Kid Cudi's "Pursuit of Happiness" but got too many requests for it from the crowd. I could have seen that coming, too.