Between Sept. 26 and 27, 42 bands played across five stages in the relatively secluded West Potomac Park along the banks of the Potomac River. Ten percent of the event’s proceeds benefited the Trust for the National Mall, the nonprofit set up to preserve and restore the federal land called America’s front lawn. With more than $750 million in backlogged repair work needed — and 39 years since the park’s last major renovation — the National Mall could use the help.

But the festival didn’t escape criticism in the lead-up to last weekend: a Washington Post article raised questions about whether public land should be given over to a private commercial event, particularly one with VIP tickets in the thousands of dollars. Not that the controversy appeared to dampen the spirits of 20-somethings who forked over their wages to see headliner Drake and the fireworks he brought with him Saturday night. (The Canadian emcee was one act Bandwidth didn’t get a chance to photograph; he only approved a handful of media outlets. See images at the Post or Fuse.)

Those with plebeian-level tickets (from $105 to $175) experienced a smoothly running festival — notable for any major concert’s inaugural year — with bands running largely on schedule both days. Attendees wandered freely between the stages to catch their favorite acts, with conflicts seemingly kept to a minimum, with only two or three bands playing at any given time.

But the vending operation was another matter. If Landmark returns for another year, it will need to get its food and beverage service in line. Food stands from local restaurants offered tasty variety, and there was plenty of beer to go around — but lines became unbearable Saturday as the day went on. Other reviews mention difficult parking, scarce toilet paper and sound bleed between stages.

Below, what Bandwidth spotted at Landmark Music Festival — in alphabetical order, and without the long lines.

All photos by Matt Condon

Ace Cosgrove

Albert Hammond Jr.

alt-J

Avers

Ben Howard

Chromeo

Chvrches

Empresarios

Ex Hex

Hiss Golden Messenger

Manchester Orchestra

Miguel

Rhiannon Giddens

The Joy Formidable

The London Souls

The Strokes

The War On Drugs

Twin Shadow

U.S. Royalty

Vandaveer

Wale

“We don’t want to be flatliners — pump, pump, pump it up” goes a rallying cry in “Flatliners,” the big opening gambit on Twin Shadow’s third album. It’s a goal that goes more than a little fulfilled, but the pumped-pumped-pumped-up state of it comes by way of heartbreak and pain, too, with chest-pounding anguish over the making and breaking of promises in a relationship that sounds none too easy. Morrissey is a frequent reference point for Twin Shadow — not so much for the sound as for the simple fact that everything in his songs tends to be freighted and really, really dramatic — and it’s easy to understand why in a song so emotionally focused and acute.

“When The Lights Turn Out” goes even bigger, via a sound abounding with peals of U2-style guitar, strings that seem lifted from The Verve’s “Bittersweet Symphony,” and drums that sound as if they’ve been pummeled by Thor from the cataclysmic rock band Swans. “I stick around, though jealousy and ecstasy are slowly taking over me,” Twin Shadow sings in a state of fitful introspection. “Turn Me Up” takes more of a slow-burn approach but emphasizes the burn all the same, and then fleeter, more club-ready odes like “Old Love New Love” — with brisk beats and guitars that would get into the wires of Daft Punk — make sure to save time for brooding in the midst of so much energy.

Much of Twin Shadow’s sound skews toward the 1980s, so much so that certain songs could soundtrack the arcade scene from The Karate Kid. But then there are more contemporary referents: TV On The Radio, The Killers, Fall Out Boy, even Drake in his more incendiary and self-lacerating moods. It’s an all-over, ahistorical mix enlisted tightly and assuredly enough to make Eclipse sound like nothing other than Twin Shadow casting impressions on the present.

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