For some reason, Siren Fest is a tough festival to attend, let alone cover. Despite the allure of Coney Island on a Saturday in summertime, the pull of a free festival, and the overall attractiveness of the stellar lineup, most music lovers I know stay far, far away. I guess all those striking features that make Siren so unique, also cause the overcrowding and frustration that small spaces, two stages and thirty minute sets will inevitably lead to. This year though, was to be the year I bit the bullet and dove headlong into the madness.
I arrived to a hot, cloudless day on Surf Ave. without a press pass. Although I was fully prepared to brave the crowds, Abbey, patron saint of music reviewers, managed to snag me a bracelet, which made my day infinitely more easy and successful. I jumped into the press pit just as The Twilight Sad was going on. Although I’d read a bit about it, I didn’t really pick up on any of the music from Fourteen Autumns and Fifteen Winters, I did however really appreciate their cover of “Climbing up the Walls” for Stereogum‘s OKX, so I was happy to have made it in time for their set. The Twilight Sad is pretty loud, very moody, and Scottish. James Graham is good to watch, he sort of faces sideways and sings directly and intimately to the mic. They also weren’t hesitant to really layer on the noise, which made my hung over head feel bad, but made my heart feel happy. Also the bass player was in dirty gym socks, which I liked, I don’t believe you really need shoes on stage.
I then made the first of so many trips between the Main and Stillwell stages by way of the boardwalk. I was going to catch the last few songs of the White Rabbits set, which unfortunately kicked off at the same time as the Twilight Sad. On my way to the stage though, I passed the skeeball booth. Skeeball sings my true siren song and it was a great effort not to stop in and play. My strength came from the knowledge that that last time I missed a White Rabbits set, it was due to skeeball, and Kate Schruth doesn’t make the same mistake twice. I arrived to vampy, almost tango-y music, and I was pleased. I really dig their sound. I think I got there for the end of “Kid on my Shoulders” which reminds me of “Copacabana” and early Phish, back when they used to invoke tropical elements for their song writing. So for that reason, while the two drummers and two guitarists are fun to watch, a lot of the focus falls on the keyboardist. I think I may need to get out to their show at Bowery next month. See what that’s all about.
It was then back to the Main stage to hit Dr. Dog. This show was great for a check in to see what Dr. Dog is up to, especially after the release of their new album. It was the usual cheerful hand-clappin’ antics. Scott McMicken cut his hair and was barely recognizable, but he soon began arabesqueing, kicking his shoes off and was familiar again. I was especially blown away by not only how good “The Pretender” sounded, but also by how well it went over, it felt at home on a festival stage. Their sound was always bigger than the small clubs I used to see them in. So that’s good.
From here I went there. And there was the Elvis Perkins in Dearland set. Elvis and crew have the appearance of subtle silliness, but that’s really only appearance. It’s actually a pretty straightforward, if not serious, sound. At least that’s the way I was struck. Although I’m not a knowledgeable listener in terms of Elvis and his band formation, I do know I heard much of them on KEXP, which is where my respect was born. They played sharp and clear, songs like “Shampoo” and a cover called “The Weeping” from the year 1865. That was a long time ago! I was hoping for “While You Were Sleeping” but I either missed it or it wasn’t played. In the excitement of one song, two pairs of sunglasses fell off and something like a harmonium fell over. The upright bass was also fantastic.
The next hour was night and day. Back to back sets were the Noisettes and Lavender Diamond. It went from the rollicking, scaffolding climbing, raw temper tantrum that is Shingai Shoniwa over to the seemingly wishy-washy, glissading, baby talking Rebecca Stark. Two front women who hold the stage in very different ways, and are backed up by casts of characters who compliment them in sound and appearance. Shingai Shoniwa has everything going for her, what a presence right? I was so involved with her that I hardly even noticed that by the end of the third or fourth song the entire drum set had been completely destroyed. While they were trying to figure out the setup for the remainder of the set, I ran over to see Lavender Diamond’s last few. When I arrived they were trying out some of their subtle comedy on the crowd. Didn’t really seem like it was going over. They did some lovely songs with their stripped down set up, and then it was just a matter of waiting for Matt and Kim to come on.
Matt and Kim got me. Got me good. I had listened to some of their album material, but it always kind of annoyed me. Their live show, however, did not. Kim is so hard on those drums – the loudness is fantastic. And Matt talks to the audience with a manic tone completely unable to contain his excitement. And why not? This was their first festival stage – that has to be exciting. So although drums and synth alone isn’t really my bag, their feeling and sound were contagious and moving. At Matt’s encouragement kids were jumping the barrier into the press pit and security came in. There were scuffles and crowd surfing. I think they won the prize for my favorite band at Siren.
At this point I was burned and beat. I opted out of MIA and New York Dolls and the other bigger acts. By this point the VIPs started coming out of the woodworks – crowding the press pit, it was just getting a little sticky. So, proud of my first go at Siren, I got back on the F train and wondered if aloe was going to do the trick on my lobster skin. It did.
