Musical Experiences of the Weekend (Or, the Most Fun I've Ever Had While Feeling Like I Was Going to Pass Out)

The remnants of The Men's drumset at 4Knots

I didn't go to Governor's Ball. I'm assuming a lot of other people didn't go as well. Shelling out $250 to see Japandroids in knee deep mud, when you can see them at some Brooklyn club for $8 doesn't sound that appealing.

I also don't have $250 to spend in the first place.

This past Saturday, and for the majority of June, two festivals have occurred, that are on a much smaller scale. There's the Seaport Music Festival and 4Knots (held by the Village Voice). And guess what? Both festivals are free! Seaport Music Festival and 4Knots are for us, the perpetually broke.

So with my broke self, these are the musical experiences that I had this weekend. 

Seaport Music Festival has been happening for a couple of years now. Throughout the month of June, concerts are held every Friday... I think that's what happens. In past years, I was able to see The Radio Dept. at one of their very few U.S shows. Unfortunately this year, I missed Ex-Cult and Oblivians and was only able to see Bass Drum of Death and Unknown Mortal Orchestra. But hey, that's not bad.

I showed up late, only catching about 20 minutes of Bass Drum of Death's set. Bass Drum of Death play fast and loud garage rock music, which is pretty one note and unoriginal. However, they are a great live band and a lot of fun. The rain that was threatening us for the whole week, started slowly falling around 7:40, and Unknown Mortal Orchestra were ushered on stage.

Ruban Nielson quickly introduced the band, before launching into "The Opposite of Afternoon", from II. The band played the song a lot heavier than it is on record, adding some muscle to their music. The added muscle also worked out great on songs like "Thought Ballune" and "Strangers Are Strange" from their self titled debut. The band played an excellent mix of songs from their two albums, and it was nice to see the audience enjoying many of the songs from UMO's back catalogue, along with a cover of Can's "Vitamin C", played during their encore.

Throughout the set, Nielson and his drummer would launch into minute lasting solos, showing off how tight of a live band UMO is. The best moment of the show, was when "So Good At Being in Trouble" faded out, and before the audience could react, the opening drum and guitar line of "FFunny FFriends" kicked in. What occurred was a sea of bobbing heads, and some awkward dancing here and there. "FFunny FFriends" is still a brilliant song, even two years later, and Nielson played some well earned solos throughout. Seeing Unknown Mortal Orchestra perform in the rain is one of the best experiences anyone can have.

I woke the next morning, tired and with a headache. I had only gotten five hours of sleep (that's what happens when you're an insomniac) and the prospect of standing in the heat while watching a band like White Lung was very daunting. But I ate some oatmeal, took an aspirin and was determined to enjoy the day.

The 4Knots festival is now in it's third year, and will hopefully continue for years to come. Past years have featured Titus Andronicus, Archers of Loaf and Doldrums. 2013 had the best line up though, featuring Fat Tony, The Babies, Parquet Courts, The Men, Whit Lung, Kurt Vile and Clams Casino and Keyboard Kid at the after party with some internet rapper named Lil B... I've never heard of him.

Arriving at the festival around 2, I already experienced problems. See Fat Tony or White Lung, who were both on separate stages. I eventually chose White Lung, considering Fat Tony's inconsistent solo career. With a half hour to spare, I spent some time in my favorite mall (Pier 17) at my favorite store (Christmastime New York).

To explain White Lung's (killer) set, I've broken it up into a convenient chart:
Print of Mish Way's Pants: Leapord
How Many Songs They Played From Sorry: All but "Dead Beat" and "The Bad Way"
How Many Songs They Played From It's the Evil: A couple
A Mosh Pit Occurred: About halfway through the set
"Take the Mirror" Sounded: Amazing
How Many Times Mish Way Addressed the Audience: Once to introduce themselves, twice to say thank you, once to say "we're not a daytime band... this is weird".
What Mish Way Did During "Glue": Pointed her fingers at the audience in such a way that it looked like she was casting a spell upon us.
"Bag" Sounded: Amazing

White Lung's set only lasted about 25 minutes, giving Parquet Courts a half hour before they were supposed to begin. Only into the first White Lung song, I was sweating and my legs were tired, but I maintained and waited for Parquet Courts to start. This is when I started to feel like I was going to pass out.

Parquet Courts walked on all with straight faces, apart from bassist Sean Yeaton, who was grinning. He then began to introduce the band ("hi! We're from the other side of the river"). They began with a new song, led by Austin Brown, segueing into Andrew Savage's "You've Got Me Wondering Now". The band played at a breakneck pace only pausing once.
"Guys", says Sean Yeaton. "It's fucking hot".
"I'll tell you what," mutters Austin Brown. "I've got 20 euros in my pocket for who ever can sneak on the boat and bring me a bottle of chilled red wine". Then, "Master of My Craft" started.
Just like the record, "Borrowed Time" starts right after "Master of My Craft". "Borrowed Time" is so fun to watch, because of how the band stands still as the audience awkwardly yells during the false endings. They ended with "Stoned and Starving" and one of Savages sung/yelled rants, as Brown played his guitar with a microphone stand.

When Parquet Courts' set finished, I felt like I was going to pass out... again. I ran to a nearby bench and ate a melted granola bar to gain some much needed sustenance. I then ran back to the front row to watch The Men.

The Men's set began with Nick Chiericozzi playing his guitar with a pair of closed scissors, before he played the opening riff of "Country Song". Kevin Faulkner was on lap steel, Mark Perro on guitar/piano and Ben Greenberg on bass (their roles for playing live constantly change). Ben Greenberg was the life of the group, constantly addressing the audience ("it's friggin' hot... I don't know why I censored myself. It's fucking hot") and jumping around on stage with his bass. He's also a lot taller in person. Like, a lot taller.

Unfortunately, The Men's mix suffered at times, causing their best song, "Open Your Heart", to be barely heard over the feedback. They stuck to mostly material from Open Your Heart and only one song from New Moon ("I Saw Her Face", the best Men song, despite what anyone says). Making up for all the problems The Men had, they invited up a sleigh bells and saxophone player for a high octane cover of The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog". It was amazing, and in the end, Rich Ramis flipped his drum set, Keith Moon style.

With no interest in seeing Reigning Sound, I walked up to Gold and Fulton to Lisa's Pizzeria. I got a plain slice, and man, did it taste great.

I thought I had left enough enough time to get a good spot for Kurt Vile, but he was the obvious star of the festival. It was the most crowded it had been all day, but I managed to push myself to the third row.

Kurt Vile walked onstage in all white, his voluminous hair blowing in the wind, walked up to the microphone and said: "Hi, I'm Kurt Vile. Thanks for coming. You're beautiful." He then proceeded to play a great version of "Wakin On a Pretty Day". The audience was great, because they went crazy not just for songs from Wakin On a Pretty Daze but also songs like "Jesus Fever" and "Ghost Town".

There was some variation on Vile's songs, like on "Was All Talk" which ended with guitars similar to My Bloody Valentine's "You Made Me Realise". "Girl Called Alex" ended in a shroud of noise. At one point, all of the Violators left the stage and it was just Kurt with just an acoustic guitar. He played a beautiful rendition of "Peeping Tomboy". If there was one downside to Kurt Vile's set, it was that he didn't play "Goldtone".

After a day of moshing, punk bands, melted granola bars, and Hot Hot Heat, Kurt Vile's mellow set was a welcome respite.

So, yeah... that was the most fun I've ever had while feeling like I was going to pass out.