Since I'm Lazy Beach House / The Islands / Steve Malkmus and the Jicks / Broken Social Scene @ Siren Fest

After Jaguar Love, I took a much needed rest in the shade. I know I should of supported Ra Ra Riot, but I had seen them the most out of any band playing, and I just couldn't stand up anymore. The heat was getting to me and my water had turned warm.

Another highly anticipated band was Beach House. Add them to the list of first-time performers for me. I was worried that their sound's ambiance would lower the so far up beat tempo of the days performers...that I wouldn't want to stand around in the sweltering sun listening and watching a band create atmosphere outside for thousands of people. I was wrong...although the heat had finally taken its toll on me I was very content and relaxed albeit sweaty and sun-burned during their set. I left in the middle of their last songs to check out Islands.


When I got to the main stage again I noticed that the crowd seemed to be grown exponentially from the mid point of the day to the end. I got stuck between speakers that seemed to delay the drums and bass on The Islands songs. I was content still in the fact that they were playing lots of stuff from their first record, Return to the Sea, and even the new songs were being received warmly by the crowd.


I decided to try my luck and push forward as the crowd dispersed to go see Helio Sequence and possibly Broken Social Scene. I found a spot dead center about 60 feet from the stage so I could catch the start of Steve Malkmus and the Jicks. This was going to be my first time seeing them since moving to Brooklyn and the first time seeing them play with Quasi drummer Janet Weiss. The sound was full and everyone was on his or her game. Weiss' drumming style felt akward at times as it tried to keep up with the slow jam-esque songs The Jicks are know for...but then she would become the driving force behind the next series of bars, riffs and jams. Satisfied is the only way to describe how I felt leaving the stage.

I knew heading to catch the last band, Broken Social Scene, already through half of their set that I wouldn't be able to get close enough to enjoy the performance visiaully but I could still hear them and hopefully some of these new songs from an album that I just found out about a few days before. What I didn't count on was an ambulance riding down the middle of the crowd for no reason in particular. It didn't stop and help anyone. It just stopped. I feel bad if someone needed medical assitance and couldn't get it, but if some ass in an EMT uniform just wanted to get closer to the stage then fuck him or her. After the ambulance blocked my view I got annoyed by the people around me very fast. The 8 hours of music and sun had turned me into a very iritable person and the only thing that had kept me from snaping was seeing the next band. Now that I wasn't "seeing" the next band I noticed every little problem...I was hot, tired, I smelled of sweat and Coney Island (or maybe it just smelled where I was)...people were becoming real again and I had to leave as soon as possible. I couldn't even finish out the set, which I was told only lasted for 15 more minutes. I hopped the Q and was home in 20 minutes before the crowds.

My secret to a successful Siren Festival was drinking lots of cold water and walking on the boardwalk between sets since there was a nice cool breeze there. I also didn't eat anything there aside from a orange and a PB&J sandwich that I brought with me. (I made the mistake last year of eating greasy food and sugary drinks from the venders and it made things worse for wear as the day went on.) This was a great day all in all with record numbers showing up for all the bands and lets hope that we'll be able to have the 9th Siren Fest next year.