It's a full day after the chaos that is the Siren Festival. For those not in the tri-state area, you probably already know about it, but in case you don't -- it's an all day free festival but together by the Village Voice. It's held during the summer in Coney Island, usually on the hottest day of the year, but this year it was 100% beautiful at 80 degree with clear skies.
This is my first Siren Festival. In the past I've balked at the line-up because of it's lack of variety -- the majority being white male, indie rock bands. This year, there was actual variety of styles, so I decided to have a go at it. Especially, I can knock off a few bands that I hadn't seen before. The line-up was spot on with something for everything. Also this might be the last time the festival will be seen in this form with Coney Island due for a revitalization with high rises and condos. Who knows what the future holds?
It was an exhausting, draining experience for me, having to navigate two stages. My goal was to at least see two songs from every performer. After eleven hours, two hot dogs, four bottled waters and zero bathroom brakes, I managed to see all the acts while socializing with fellow bloggers, readers, bands and industry people. By 10pm, I looked and felt like hell, but it was SO worth it. I had an amazing time, and I hope I can convey the festival experience from my prospective in the following posts.
With 788 photos and one blog, this is the hard part. I'm going to do one post for every band, then build a typelist on the right side so you can navigate each band. What other blog is going to give you such comprehensive coverage? I got you all covered here Nation.
In this post, here's a list of best and worst of the festival:
- Best Performance: M.I.A.
- Second Best Performance: New York Dolls
- Most Disappointing: Lavender Diamond
- Biggest Surprise: Dr. Dog
- Best Crowd Reaction: New York Dolls
- Band I Wish I Saw More Of: Black Lips
- Band That Got Screwed: Twilight Sad
- Best Use of a Chicken: Black Lips
- Band I Saw the Most: New York Dolls
- Band I Saw the Least: Twilight Sad
- Best Stage Banter: Matt & Kim
- Performance That Got Everyone Out of the V.I.P. Section: M.I.A.
- Band That Got Security Angry: Matt & Kim
- Band That Changed My Opinion: Matt & Kim
- Band I Probably Should Have Skipped: Cursive
- Best Dressed: M.I.A.
- Second Best Dressed: Shingai Shoniwa of Noisettes
- Best T-Shirt: the drummer from Dr. Dog
Enjoy the posts...
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