As a follow up to our Northside Festival preview, here is a recap of some of the shows we got to catch during the past weekend long festival.
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Despite their New-York-centric pun of a name, rock duo Jamaican Queens actually hail from Detroit. And on the very night their hometown filed for bankruptcy, the band’s equipment seemed destined for similar failure: time stretched on as they pleaded with the crowd for patience, a drum machine too high, vocals too low. But finally, when everything was in place, frontman Ryan Spencer electrified the crowd with his commanding vocals and an extensive musical arsenal behind him— what could best be described as an electronic-hip-hop-rock fusion— producing catchy, dance-ready glam-pop hits. Continue reading
My goal for Northside Festival was to catch many small Brooklyn-based bands with the hope of discovering some promising new ones and to get those being buzzed about some added exposure. I saw a lot of frankly terrible bands, but I saw a number of good ones as well. Here are the good ones:
Try to take in too much at the Northside Festival and you’ll lose your mind; just putting together this guide was a harrowing experience! However, if you wander out into the wilds of the Brooklyn music circuit with no itinerary, you’ll find yourself in just as much of a state.
In addition to four days of music and five days of film, this year’s festival includes a tech conference called NExT (Northside Entrepreneurship + Technology). Although it’s nice to see that Northside–now in its fourth year–is expanding and going strong, this guide will focus on the music side of things.
Thursday (6/31)
Swans, Chelsea Wolfe at Warsaw, 7pm ($32): If Iceage and A Place to Bury Strangers aren’t going to be loud enough for you, go to this. Come early for Chelsea Wolfe’s spooky folk.
Kisses, Selebrities, Rush Midnight, Chad Valley, The Ice Choir at Cameo Gallery, 7:30pm ($15): If you like your “Ice” bands a little dreamier, then this is the show for you. The hotly-tipped ‘80’s throwbackers Selebrities and the pleasing electro vibe of Chad Valley should steer the night away from being too overly-twee. Continue reading
