Siren Fest – July 18, 2009
Following a few days of being quite ill, it was nice to wake up on the morning of Siren Fest with at least a resemblance of a clear head and a fully functioning body. The plan was that if I was able to be prop myself upright, I would go to Coney Island to watch the Frightened Rabbit performance, and then maybe mingle about a bit, catch a few bands and then call it an early night. Well, I ended up feeling better than I anticipated and upon checking the schedule and a chance run in with a few groups of friends, decided to dedicate myself to the day and enjoy every minute I could.
With sound system struggles and the occasional gust of wind mucking about my favorite Scotland boys’ set, I resigned that maybe today just wasn’t going to be the day. So, with my roommates Jeff and Laural, myself and our found friend Sound-man Tim in tow, we headed off to the beer tent to sooth the pain of our aural disappointment. While we were there a strategy meeting ensued over what it was we wanted to do with the rest of the day, and a quick scan of the rather ‘meh’ lineup of this year’s Fest only left one beacon of hope; Tel Aviv’s answer to Gogol Bordello, the deranged garage rock stylings of Monotonix.
After recounting tales of youtube videos where amps were immediately moved from the stage to the audience, and balconies were brazenly leap from, the decision was made, and anticipations rapidly began to grow. “How would it work with a festival stage?” we asked one and other while making our way up thru the crowd until we were just in line with the FOH mixing board (if you didn’t know, this is without fail the best sounding spot at any show).
As we stared at an empty stage waiting on roadies to set up the slap dash drum set the band travels with, suddenly a roar of distorted guitar rose from the ground in front of us. They were already in the crowd, already beginning their set, and already in complete control. With merely a simple hand gesture the sea-side sea of people split right up the middle creating a running lane for singer Levi to literally bowl beer can contents up drummer Bonanza’s bum. A few more antics backed by a roar of distortions and then boom, a beat and cutting guitar riff set the revelers bouncing away.
With a musical style and energy that reminded me of a slightly less intelligible Rage Against the Machine, the trio hacked and slashed their way thru the set with only brief pauses from time to time to relocate the drum set via crowd surf. Amazingly, not once did their iron clad grip on the crowd slacken. As if under hypnotic command the hoard did exactly as it was told. Whether that be, move this from here to there, lift this, hold this, or perhaps even the most epic of all commands, “Sit the fuck down and shut the fuck up!” the audience’s only choice was to acquiesce.
After it was all said and done, we all walked away with massive smiles on our faces and a dedicated direction back to the beer tent. We knew there was no need to try and get over to the other stage, because nothing that Build To Spill could ever dream up could come close to touching what was obviously the highlight of the day (although the stop by Popeye’s for the ride home was a close second).
-M
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