Northside 2011 : Day Three Recap

Northside 2011 Day Three Recap

For the third year in a row, L Magazine threw its multi-venue Northside Festival, at stages across Williamsburg & Greenpoint in Brooklyn, June 16th-19th. And for the third year in a row, QRO was there:

Click here for QRO’s Northside 2011 Day Two Recap

The Battering Room Showcase, Bar Matchless

w/ Beat Radio, Marie Stella, Mussels, Diehard and more

The Battering Room showcase at Bar Matchless was on the agenda. It’s a cozy little dive that’s perfect for afternoon shows in good weather, with a patio that opens up the entire performance area to the summer breeze. Good for smoking, good for drinking, good for getting a listen to a live performance by the New York City-based band Beat Radio. QRO has been a fan since Safe Inside the Sound (QRO review) many songs of which got flipped over into the crackerjack Golden Age (on gold vinyl, of course – mp3 review). The band sounded tight; electronic-infused indie jams heavy on lyrical content. The keys were an issue at times, but the compositions are grounded in an acoustic strum that makes it impossible for the song to fall too far off the tracks. Dynamite stuff, perfect for a lazy summer afternoon. The band from Maine, Marie Stella came on next with a laidback thrashy vibe. Mussels, Diehard and more were up next, but this correspondent was already onto the next showcase, a kid in a candy store.
Beat Radio

Twosyllable Records & I Guess I’m Floating Showcase, The Woods

Click here for photos of Holiday Shores at 2009 After the Jump Fest in Brooklyn, NY in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery

w/ Holiday Shores, Arches, Beige, Secret Mountains, Celestial Shore

The Twosyllable (sic) Records & I Guess I’m Floating show started predictably late, pushing past three in the afternoon before a band had played. QRO’s previously covered the last two acts on the bill – Holiday Shores and Arches – in various formats, and knew this showcase had a solid finish.

Marie Stella The first three acts were an unknown commodity, at least for this correspondent. Opener Celestial Shore impressed with its musicianship. The five-piece interspersed stop-n-start indie rock with acid jazz breakdowns. Clearly someone has been to music school. But the intricate compositions didn’t sound over-intricate. Celestial Shore doesn’t beat you over the head with their ability; they simply execute provocative, sometimes absurdist pop statements without batting an eye. Secret Mountains followed with a performance that was painfully boring when it wasn’t boring simpliciter. The barefoot lead songstress did her best to dance & romance the conventional indie schmop songs into our hearts, but it was a no go. Beige came on next and renewed our faith in the showcase: the three-piece plays post-Animal Collective (QRO album review) nerd rock that crosses an Elvis Costello-esque lead guitar with dubby, clubby keyboardist holding reign over a drum machine — not to mention the big bear of a bassist wiling out in back. Sound guy issues torpedoed all hopes for a homerun set, but there were definite moments of brilliance in there.

Night fell and the number of Northside Festival showcases bloomed accordingly. If you took yourself seriously as a small-to-medium sized music club, there’s no reason not throw an official Northside Festival showcase. And if L Magazine sleeps on the intrinsic awesomeness of your line-up, or you forget to apply for ‘official’ status, go ahead and throw an unofficial Northside Festival showcase.
Celestial Shore

Northside: Bushwick, Goodbye Blue Monday

w/ Tayisha Busay, Planet Rump, Great Tiger, Comandante Zero and more

Bushwick got in on the Northside Festival action at Goodbye Blue Monday (QRO venue review). The club was likely too off-the-beaten-path for official showcase status, so they rocked it unofficially with an electro dancehall line-up including Comandante Zero, Planet Rump, Tayisha Busay, and Great Tiger. It was a guaranteed party, plus the house was throwing in a "1/2 gallon of free beer" to badge holders. Say no more! Add to this a back patio featuring it’s own folky stage in what looks like a post-apocalyptic chapel, and you’ve got the makings of a full and fabulous night in Bushwick.

Comandante Zero, a two-piece bass/drummer outfit, has to be seen to be believed. If DJ Pauly D played Secret Mountains bass, he would be Comandante Zero. Sporting a grin ear-to-ear, the immaculately clad bass jockey fingered five strings to freedom, using a synth-sampler prosthesis to pluck techno samples along with his bass lines. If that sounds cartoon-ish, it was; but it was also a blast.

Next, Planet Rump had a surprise in store for the audience: two new sequin-clad, tube-topped keyboardists. It’s a new look for Planet Rump following the departure of a particularly memorable Rumper that lent the outfit full-bodied oomph. But the remaining members compensated for the loss with some high-energy delivery. Give this act a little more time to get up to speed with the new members and Planet Rump will be well worth the visit.

Click here for photos of Tayisha Busay at 2010 Northside in the QRO Concert Photo Gallery

The guy/guy electro-heroics of Great Tiger closed out the night, but the real treat for this correspondent was Tayisha Busay. Since their candied-filth disco debut EP Shock Woo! (QRO review), the Brooklyn-based trio has been gyrating their way to the top of the glam charts. A real photographer’s dream, with spandex, glitter, strobe lights, props, and choreography up the yin yang. This is all in addition to dynamite electro pop that was made to get the dancehall moving. Tayisha Busay played plenty of new material off their upcoming album, due in September. From an early listen, it sounds like the trio has continued to improve their songwriting in the direction of "WTF You Doin’ In My Mouth?" (QRO review), the uncontested single of their EP. Great stuff.
Beige