The first Annual Northside Festival spread itself over all things Brooklyn this past weekend. As I have been staying in Greenpoint during this phase of my Wandering Summer of ’09 it was almost too easy to dip in and out of the numerous shows being hosted as part of this event’s pilot year. L Magazine pulled together a slew of venues and they, in turn, pulled in the acts. For a first year it went relatively smoothly. Since I am not a NY blogger, and wouldn’t imagine competing with the fine review work to be found Here > Here > Here > Here (amongst others) I am simply giving you a taste of the best acts I saw.
Bodies
(Download their EP too)
photo courtesy of Hannah Bergqvist
Xylos – These guys could easily provide the soundtrack to a summer at the beach. Their lyrics are good from the start and the whole package gets better the more I listen to them. They’re currently recording their full length so keep an eye out for that this fall as well as a little more tour action to support the effort. I have a feeling we’ll see a bit of them in Philly and of course I’ll keep you posted.
This House We Built
(EP action here)
Anamanaguchi - What do you get when you take a old school nintendo + electronic music and put it in the hands of knowledgeable tech heads? You get Anamanaguchi. This group had one of the most visually appealing sets we caught. They play the video games behind them as they provide a the live music (all out of a high jacked nintendo game system.) My picture doesn’t do its awesomeness full due it looks like they’ll by in the Philly-dom this summer so you’ll be able to experience it yourself.
Dawn Metropolis
Pink Skull – This Philly act has appeared on TWIAPC before so its not entirely a new introduction to their brilliance but their show at Death By Audio was such an exciting suggestion of whats to come on their fall release that I can’t help but start to build your anticipation for this dance friendly group. they’ll be at Schmidt’s piazza this Saturday as part of the 2nd St Festival go and be ready to groove.
Get Inside (My Tiny Pyramids)
photo courtesy of Steve Harmon
Laura Gibson - The final show we saw was Laura Gibson at Studio B. I’ve seen her before but she too displayed incredible growth of some already wonderous talent. Hers is a sweet vice with a little twist of, well, a life actually lived and felt…genuinely. Her backing band was also a sight to behold. Passing a variety of instrument tween the two of them and also contributing a grand addition to Ms Gibson’s beautiful lead.
Spirited
Very Honorable Mentions:
Screaming Females
Acrylics
Sisters
i played with Savoir Adore back in February @ silk city. Adorable does not do them justice. Check out there bk buddies French Horn Rebellion!
oh and how have you been homie?
Chang
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