On the final day of Northside, there wasn’t really that much going on. One had caught all the Brooklyn bands one cared to see & more at this point, was worn out from three days, and was really getting to miss Manhattan (and hate the Bedford Avenue L stop). The line-up wasn’t that strong either, with two exceptions – one at the start of the day, one at the end.
Northside Festival presents @ Studio B
Phil & The Osophers, 3:30 PM 
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The last day of Northside started at – where else? – Studio B (QRO venue review), but earlier than ever before, thanks to Phil & The Osophers (QRO interview). Not that you could tell – after walking through the blinding light of the Sunday sun, reflected off white, empty riverfront Brooklyn, the inside of Studio B was basically completely black to the adjusting eye. One could literally walk in behind someone, after passing security & ID check, and completely lose them indoors – despite the person still being right in front of you! It all made for a very risky Studio B.
Phil & The Osophers began as just singer/guitarist Phil Radiotes, all the way through four self-released albums, but in the past year-plus he’s brought in not only his roommate Kevin Estrada on drums, but also fellow roommate Gus Iversen on bass. Both new Osphers (who were each taught by Radiotes) still could use some honing – Iversen picks at his bass strings a little too much (though at least he uses his fingers, and not a pick like all the wanna-be-guitarist who have to settle for bass out there), while Estrada maybe uses his cymbal too much (it is relatively low-lying for a drum kit). Combined with Radiotes’ garage-rock guitar and somewhat pitched voice, it leaves the whole band a bit too high on the register.
Phil & The Osophers playing “Staring Down the Sun” live at Studio B in Brooklyn, NY as part of the Northside Festival on 6/14/09:
They’re still a cut above the many, many other Brooklyn garage-rock bands, thanks to Radiotes’ guitar, a faster rhythm, and a refreshing lack of shitgaze over-distort that’s become way too common these days. And while they may be billed as ‘the smartest band in indie-rock’, they’re certainly some of the nicest guys in ‘the scene’. In fact, it was Estrada’s birthday (the second band I’d seen at Northside who had a member celebrating a birthday, after Electric Tickle’s keyboardist on Friday – QRO Northside Day Two recap), and Radiotes had bought him a metronome (okay, maybe that was slightly self-serving of him…) on eBay. Of course, it hadn’t arrived, but Radiotes gave Estrada a print-out of it to hold until then.
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Laura Gibson, 4:40 PM 
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The early show at Studio B did make the rooftop patio the place to hobnob – so comfortable, in fact, that I missed nearly all of Laura Gibson. Her stripped alt-folk was certainly sweet-sounding, but not that interesting – and a poor fit indoors during the daytime, not to mention between Phil (see above) & The Dodos (see below).
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The Dodos, 5:20 PM 
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A band that’s actually been living up to its hype is The Dodos. The San Francisco guitar-and-drums duo had a packed crowd, and they’re obviously skilled musicians, but when you’ve got both at the front of the stage, don’t both need to be sitting down. Plus, sometimes it feels like the drummer & guitarist are trying to outdo each other.
And calling them a duo is leaving out kind of their best member – the unofficial one on xylophone & trash can. He’ll literally beat the shit out of a trash can, leaving a massive dent (have to get a new each time, I guess) – but you couldn’t really tell that at Studio B. He was already relatively removed, behind the two Dodos (though they do both play sitting down), but the lighting struggled to reach him – and one still had to contend with the indoor-blindness if arriving from outside, or even the rooftop.
One really needed to grab those railings when coming down from the upstairs, but unfortunately the packed house sent many to stand on said staircase, making it even more difficult. Security did occasionally sweep the staircase free of the pests, but was very easy to slip going down those steps – or down the ones from the house-left landing to the stage floor, as one guy did (but deftly grabbed one of Studio B’s otherwise in-your-way pillars).
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Ponytail curates @ Studio B
Crystal Stilts, 12:00 AM 
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After The Dodos, was pretty much done with Northside – but was Northside done with me? Local noise-rock act – complete with small, cute, female singer – Ponytail (QRO photos in Brooklyn) was curating a showcase, but am not a fan of noise-rock. However, the night before they announced that their ‘special guest’ was garage-fuzz rockers Crystal Stilts, who had been blowing up in a serious way even before this year’s Alight of the Night (QRO review). In fact, it had been kind of a disappointment that none of the borough’s most successful young garage-rockers weren’t at Northside – no Stilts, no Pains of Being Pure at Heart (QRO album review), no Vivian Girls (QRO album review), no caUSE co-MOTION! (QRO album review), etc. This was just rectifying the matter.
All of those bands are relatively over-hyped (well, maybe not caUSE co-MOTION!, but that’s because they don’t have the same level of attention – need to get a female member, boys…), but Crystal Stilts seem like the most deserving of the bunch, less one-note than the bright Pains or simplistic Vivians. And they stole drummer Frankie Rose from said Girls, and she looks like (a not-pregnant) Claire from Lost (Emilie de Ravin) when she had black hair in flashbacks – maybe that’s why they’re the best…
Unfortunately, I remember very little of the dark-haired Rose or any of the rest of the Stilts (who all have kind of funky ‘do’s – singer Brad Hargett’s white-boy ‘fro, guitarist JB Townsend’s moptop & shades, and bassist Andy Adler’s balding dome – he resembles character actor Jon Gries, Uncle Rico in Napoleon Dynamite & Ben Linus’ dad in Lost) – it had been a long day of drinking, and perhaps shouldn’t have rustled myself up and back on the L for a band I’ve seen many times before, and will again – ’cause they seem to play NYC every other week.
The late notification (and late hour, on a Sunday night) did result in there being relatively few people at Studio B. Crystal Stilts may be blowing up, but Brooklyn seems to have been saturated for the band, who need to get on the road more.
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Unfortunately missed & fortunately missed:
– Really nobody on either end…
Other notes:
– Final total of bands seen at Northside with female vocalists? Thirteen out of twenty-three, or roughly 57%. When you add in the five bands that had women in other roles (including Red Wire Black Wire, whose lady was at Bonnaroo), get eighteen out of twenty-three, or over three-quarters. Long live the ladies of indie-rock!
– Final total of beers drunk at Northside? Too many to count…
