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| NGHTCRWLRS |
Too Much?
My Saturday: 25 bands. More than 12 hours. Many hundreds of photographs. Probably a few pounds lost in water weight from sweating in stifling heat. Sore feet. So a pretty fantastic day and night.
Things started off for me when I headed up to Jersey City for the inaugural North Jersey Indie Rock Festival. New Jersey independent labels, Sniffling Indie Kids and Mint 400 Records, put together the festival to showcase their bands and some of the artists and businesses from around North Jersey.
The event took place in a recently de-sanctified church called Cathedral Hall. In the main sanctuary upstairs, pews had been removed or moved to the side; but the vaulted ceilings, stained glass windows, and marble all remained. It made a stunning backdrop for the 11 bands who played that stage. Downstairs consisted of a banquet / event hall with a large stage at one end. It was certainly less imposing than the church upstairs, but it was actually a more purpose-built performance space. Vendors and a bar dotted the area around the perimeter of the downstairs room.
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| Ken DePoto and The Goddamn Jets |
Now, let me get out of the way that it was excruciatingly hot. After the first few minutes, I resigned myself to the facts that there was nothing to be done about the weather and that everyone was as gross and sweaty as I was (right?). I just settled in for the bands.
I got to see bands for the first time that I've written about here before like Tri-State, The Clydes, Underlined Passages, LKFFCT, C.R. and The Degenerates, Ken DePoto and Quality Living. I got to enjoy sets from bands that I've seen and enjoyed many times like YJY, dollys, Sink Tapes, Toy Cars, Rocky & The Chapter, and NGHTCRWLRS. I even got to experience some bands like Shane Vidaurri, Young Legs, Ancient Babies, The Bitter Chills, Fairmont, The Maravines, Pixl-Visionary, and a one-minute set from Cult of Mary for the first time. Down the stairs. Up the stairs. Down the stairs. Up the stairs. One really solid set after another.
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| Dave Sachs (YJY) and Frank DeFranco (Sniffling Indie Kids, NGHTCRWLRS). It was hot. |
The festival was an amazing thing to pull off, and I commend the organizers -- Neil Sabatino (Mint 400), Frank DeFranco, Joe Lanza, Eric Goldberg (Sniffling Indie Kids) -- for a job well done. Credit should also go out to the Jersey City 4th Street Arts Organization and Mike McNamara. They're a non-profit that raises money throughout the year to help kids with music and arts education and helped to organize and promote the event. I'd like to thank everyone for allowing me to participate in a small way by having me introduce Underlined Passages and dollys. Also, thanks for inviting so many other bloggers, writers, and photographers. It was great to see so many friendly faces. I look forward to whatever the team has planned for the future.
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| Ed and Alice Magdziak of You Don't Know Jersey introducing YJY |
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| dollys |
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| Sink Tapes |
Festival done and I headed back to the CoolVan for the trip into Brooklyn to help Lost Boy ?, Little Dickman Records, and State Capital Records celebrate the release of Lost Boy ?'s Goose Wazoo. It would be an evening of singing drummers with The Prits, Warcries, and Yucky Duster rounding out the bill.
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| Chris & Amy Dickman |
There wasn't any relief from the heat to be found at Shea Stadium; but, again, I just threw on a dry shirt in the van and rolled with it. It was a pretty festive atmosphere as Lost Boy ? mastermind, Davey Jones, is a fixture in the community that's grown up around Shea Stadium, playing some instrument in what seems like just about every one of the bands that calls the place a home base. As the evening progressed, Shea got more and more packed; and the energy level ramped up.
In keeping with the evening's singing drummer theme, The Band and The Carpenters blasted over the PA between sets. Each opening band brought something slightly different to the proceedings from the noisy, lo-fi pop of The Prits, to the more experimental sounds of Warcries, to the hilarious and hilariously subversive pop punk of Yucky Duster.
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| Yucky Duster |
Davey Jones emceed a joyously sweaty party during Lost Boy ?'s set -- first from behind the drums, then from the edge of the stage. The set included Goose Wazoo, Lost Boy ? deep cuts, a Ramones cover, and guest appearances, including one from Detective Goose Wazoo himself and a turn from Bueno's Luke Chiaruttini whose band I'd just seen on Thursday and who Jones will be touring with in the fall.
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| Lost Boy ? |
As Lost Boy ? were finishing up, my friend Joe and I made our way down to the CoolVan for the ride home. I was pretty much toast, but it was a great day. Sunday? Less of a great day, but that's the price I pay, I guess.
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| Portrait of Goose Wazoo by David Owen Byers |
Pictures from the entire day will be going up into the Flickr galleries as soon as I finish exporting them. If you prefer squished, low rez versions, those will be up on the Facebook page.
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