Jul 27

Popping Very Small Fruits: Reviewing The Siren Music Festival

MATT ROTHSTEIN (Westchester, New York)

EDIT: Now contains pictures!

As a first-timer to BOTO, this concertgoer/concert appraiser is a bit unsure of himself, especially in regards to the new writing style he is attempting, what with its rigid adherence to the third person, which you, the reader, must surely have noticed has already given him trouble.

But anydangways, the Siren Music Festival took place at Coney Island deep in the sunny, sandy bowels of Brooklyn with the stated purpose of being an all-day event of free music (of the indie variety, shall we say?) and considerably-less-than-free food and beverage, sponsored by Village Voice. The cast, from top billing down, went as follows: Stephen Malkmus & the Jicks, Broken Social Scene, Islands, The Helio Sequence, Ra Ra Riot, Beach House, Times New Viking, Jaguar Love, The Dodos, Annuals, Parts & Labor, Film School, Dragons of Zynth, and These Are Powers.

Obviously, since there was only one BOTO reviewer present at this jamboree, not all of the bands were witnessed firsthand, so here are some bullet points about each act that was.

•    Dragons of Zynth opened the day at 1 PM with “Anna Mae,” a sun-gazing, more atmospheric number, which, like all of the songs they played in their set, was off of last year’s Coronation Thieves. It was one of the highlights of both the set and the album, and would probably be the most widely appreciated song of theirs. After that, things got, let’s say, a little weird. They had at least one appreciative spectator, but his companions were less receptive, on the whole (BOTO redhead excluded). The main problem, other than being “too loud” (anyone else reminded of the beginning of Back to the Future by that complaint from a certain Quaker bouncer?), was that of the main twins of the band, Aku and Akwetey O.T., Aku was incredibly awesome as the lead singer and keyboardist, but Akwetey was horrible as the lead guitarist and backup singer. In fact, the best song of the act was “Breaker”, in which Aku took over guitar duties as well, producing an extremely badass riff (or lixx, for the hair band fans) as well as this incredible photograph:
•    This reviewer made it to about half of Parts & Labor’s set, but found it just slightly on the positive side, though lead singer B.J. Warshaw sounded uncannily like Billy Joe of Green Day, or like the lead singer from Brazil, if you are more inclined to believe people who are higher-ranking officials of dis yeer blog (Interesting side note: Having never listened to Brazil, this reviewer, in search for the lead singer’s name, found that the band has had more than one lead singer over its lifespan, so our trusty redhead is at most partly right/wrong.) The female guitarist was a huge plus, as she displayed both hotness and the ability to manipulate her sound very well.
•    The Dodos, while the biggest disappointment at the festival due to technical problems (they were only able to play five songs, one of which was less than a minute long and none of which were their best and most well-known song, “Fools”), still managed to be, as far as pure musical quality, the best band there. What can one say? The crowd managed to be entertained and quite excited, despite the presence of rogue beach balls that were vanquished by this reviewer so that all involved could simply enjoy the music, and guitarist/vocalist Meric Long displayed incredible power in both of his slashed pursuits, despite forearm sweat that, quite frankly, shouldn’t have been possible in their short time on stage.
•    Beach House was the most consistent and solid act at the festival, imbued with a quirky stage manner and songs that were perfect for an early evening chill-out in between the high-energy acts early in the day and the headliners later on. Highlights of the set include “Gila” and “Heart of Chambers”, though all songs were very good and was nothing if not consistent. The only problem was that the great keyboard that is so prominent on their fantastic album, released earlier this year and titled Devotion, was buried in the mix and was virtually inaudible.
•    Islands was also a second-half affair, much like Parts & Labor, and to this reviewer, was the lowlight of the festival. Easily the most mainstream act of the festival (normally not a straight diss, but here, sadly so), Islands lacked pathos. Perhaps it was simply that this reviewer was quite far away and had very painful feet at this point, but one needn’t have listened too hard to have noticed the eye roll-inducing lyrics, and anyone who had heard this year’s Arm’s Way would have noticed that all the songs were exactly the same live as in studio, beat for beat, note for note, which gets a little unsettling.
•    Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks were good, not great. In a way, they remind this reviewer of Television, AKA arguably the first punk band who are really just a different kind of classic rock band, in their intentional nonchalance, awkward-yet-cavalier stage presence, and casual, freewheeling guitar jams on comfortable song structure. Still, there was nothing wow-inducing in the slightest, and this reviewer was caught checking his watch, capturing more rogue beach balls, and wondering if he had incurred permanent foot damage.

Well, that was all she wrote, the fat lady (who was really a late-30’s/early 40’s guitar demi-god) sang, and the reviewer plodded home (or to the diner that wasn’t; the Yaffa Café) with his cadre of festival-goer companions, grateful for a long day at the sun where the only things that were free were the sunburns, the HopStop t-shirts, and the good music. Really, we did have a good time.