I’ve kinda been procrasting writing this review all day.
The reason is that yesterday was the best day of my life. (Actually, Woody just corrected me this morning. The day you’re born HAS to be the best day… thanks MA!) It’s kinda a big thought to grasp. It’s a two part affair and we’ll start with the Pool Party first. Check out the second half here.
For the past few month JellyNYC and I have been working on the first show of their nine-week summer concert series they’re throwing on Sundays at McCarren Pool in Brooklyn. They were handling all the production side of things and I had the responsibility of curating the first big show at the pool. Stereogum jumped on board to help with the bands and to get the word out as well. Luck had it that hometown favorites Les Savy Fav were able to headline the concert and the rest of the bands fell into place after they confirmed.
The lineup was amazing (Beans, Holy Fck, Dragons of Zynth,
Proton Proton) and the turnout, for what used to be New York’s largest pool, was perfect. It took me a while to find a way to get Bessie up a couple steps but eventually we were able to pull her to the side of the pool where we were able to see and hear all the bands. Thanks to Julie’s Organic Ice Cream, we were able to give away 1500 ice creams to everyone. I’m a bit bewildered that there are still a handful of boxes of ice cream sandwiches chilling on dry ice in the truck at this moment.
Syd from Les Savy Fav kept bugging us to get Proton Proton on the bill. I’m glad he was persistent because the three piece hit the stage and kicked things off proper. There was a toy piano on stage that added a bit of charm to a few tracks. The bass man actually was doing double duty and somehow had guitar pickups attached to his bass so that he could play both guitar and bass at the same time. During the couple tracks that I got to catch, I found myself staring at him wondering exactly how he managed to pull that off.
Finger on the Pulse was manning the DJ duties throughout the day and they spun a mix of just about every style of music possible (Chocolate Watch Band, Love Is All, Hot Chip, and loads more). Check out their summer mix here. Once DJ Never Forget announced to everyone that the ice cream was FREE we had our first rush of the day. Thankfully Briana was a champ. She’s helped out a few times in New York and, until some backup help came from Kate and Virginia, she probably slung over 80% of the cream.
Dragons of Zynth rocked it next and, just as they started getting fired up, I got sidetracked into an interview with NPR. I’ve got this uncanny ability to ramble about ICM for long periods of time. Like one reporter once said, “It’s my job to de-bitch interviews,” which seemed perfect for all the stuff that went on tape yesterday. I could hear the Dragons rocking “War Lover” from behind the truck and tried to dance a little while I could, which isn’t that easy while doing an interview.
The crowd was steadily increasing and, about this time, the dodgeball court started to be the HOT place to be. I kept finding myself grabbing my camera (only half broke… I swear) and jumping into the pit. I’m a HUGE fan of dodgeball and have staged numerous X-mas time games in Long Beach over the last seven years. Even the little one’s were a bit vicious out there. It was all good natured though and every once in a while, outta nowhere, you’d here a gigantic cheer as somehow I either got pegged, caught a ball, or won the game. Maybe we need an Ice Cream Crew team? Hmmm….not a bad thought at all. Co-ed? Yeah, that would be awesome.
A couple years ago we met Holy Fck when they were the backing band for Beans at Coachella. Since then we’ve kept in touch and tried to get them to play as many of our parties as possible, like our Ice Cream Social in Austin. It worked out that Beans was in town, so it was perfect to have HF kick things off with a half-hour of instrumental, electronic funk before Beans joined them on stage. I ran out into the middle of the pool and stood right in front of the sound board. Lowell’s drums (thanks Gibson for the backline) sounded great and about two seconds before they were to end the band portion of the set, the power briefly went out. It only took a few seconds to get it back up and Beans jumped up and the crowd was fired up. I’m not the biggest hip hop fan. But hip hop with a live band is usually great (catch Digable Planets on tour now for a great example). Holy F_ck tightened up their songs and Beans’ unique staccato delivery and funky dancing fits perfect with the funk brought by HF. I think we’ve got some video around. I’ll try to dig it up and show you how funky he can be.
By now the World Cup final was over and the place was packed, yet comfortable, for Les Savy Fav. LSF started in Brooklyn a decade ago and are notorius for their live shows. Members live all over the place now so they’re only able to get together a couple times a year to play. I was hanging out at the truck, trying to actually WORK a bit when Tim, the lead singer, jumped off stage and headed straight for the middle of the dodgeball game that was mid-session. I grabbed my camera, snapped a pic, then kept heading over toward the stage. They were rockin’ it and you could tell they were loving every minute of it. The crowd was equally into it and played along with all Tim’s antics, including holding him above the crowd on a JellyNYC banner and holding his mic for him down front so everyone could make hearts with their fingers and wave them back and forth above their heads. A hula hoop and inflatable sword ended up on stage and the music kept flowing. I kept returning to check on the truck but sticking around there didn’t last long. They rocked an encore then everyone cheered for what had been a near perfect day.
We slung a bit more cream before helping jump start Holy Fck’s van. They mentioned there was a show they were going to that night and asked if I wanted to tag along. They said Broken Social Scene and Metric were playing but that was hard to believe because I, nor anyone, had heard they were in town. Cleaned up Bessie a bit before setting up the makeshift ramps to get Bessie off the steps. I had NO idea what was in store that night. Check out pics and review from Metric and Broken Social Scene at the China Club to see what went down.
Thank you to everyone who made the inaugural Pool Party such a success, to JellyNYC for putting everything together, all the bands who played, Julie’s Organic for donating ice cream, Stereogum, the crew who helped sling cream and shoot pics and video, and all the sponsors (Sens Production, Brooklyn Brewery, The Village Voice, Fine Urban Rituals, Gibson, Pure Volume, Insound, and the Burger Joint). If you’re in the New York area, there are eight more shows coming up. Dead Meadow is this Sunday and, on down the line, Of Montreal, The Walkmen, Spankrock, Archie Bell, Deerhoof, Beirut, and more. Check The Pool Parties Calendar.
