Siren Festival 2006
On Saturday the hipsters made their annual pilgrimage to Coney Island. We know the comments section is gonna turn into a big bitchfest -- terrible sound! lame bands! it rained! where was Haunted Pussy?! -- so we'll concentrate on the positive ... even though, yes, we left early.
Don't know Deadboy or Priestess well enough to give you song titles (but who cares, really). We've heard Priestess described with reference to Wolfmother (by fans and publicists alike), but that's just lazy. Both bands are bringing heavy rock to the bloggers, but where Wolfmother is Sabbath and Zep, Priestess is Sabbath and Metallica (except for the masturbatory, stick-to-the-heavens drum solo; Bonhamesque in length and puffery, not in quality!). Their riffing was a pleasant surprise, though we left before the fear of (gasp) repetitiveness set in. Gotta love the Cliff Burton look alike, though.
Faves on the day were Serena-Maneesh and Man Man (of course). Both acts were among the best suited to come across well despite the bad sound, but for different reasons.
Man Man are just so much fun to look at, with tons of toys for improv antics, animated faces, beards, glasses and their Tom Waits-meets-Zappa-meets-a-ship-of-drunken-pirates carnival of sounds. Their set kicked off with "Engrish Bwudd" and included "Black Mission Goggles," "Hot Bat" and "Young Einstein On the Beach." If you knew their material, you could forgive the heaps of bass just by watching Honus Honus and Pow Pow lock eyes and crack each other up. If memory serves, PFork once called them the best live act in America (can't find that link).
Serena cuts an arresting image as well, what with a neo-Nico on bass and Steve Tyler scarves on the mic stands. They were able to combat the poor mix through sheer showmanship; that their sound is bombastic -- with shoegaze elements yielding to passages born of direct melody -- could only help. Still, this is definitely a band you want to see indoors (and in the dark). And they dutifully destroyed their equipment after the encore. Our favorite pic is of guitarist Sondre's feedback explosion with three dudes in the back plugging their ears...
DEADBOY & THE ELEPHANTMEN
PRIESTESS
MAN MAN
DJ PRINCESS COLDSTARE
TAPES 'N TAPES
SERENA-MANEESH
How were Scissor Sisters? We heard there were -- surprise -- sound problems. I guess you get what you pay for!
Posted at 2:56 PM in Concert
Tags: Serena-Maneesh | Siren Festival | Tapes 'N Tapes
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"DJ PRINCESS COLDSTARE"
lol
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black mission goggles should be coney island's theme song. I got of the train right as it was in full roar, and damn was it perfect.
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I LOVE Deadboy and the Elephantmen. (They're what I used to wish the White Stripes were.) Daxx Riggs has one of the best voices in rock. How's it hold up live? I've never seen him.
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Priestess sound a lot like Cathedral
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Finally, Susan, someone who appreciates Deadboy. They sound even better live. I have a little crush on Tessie... she could give Meg some lessons.
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Good to know. I'm dying to see them live. And so disappointed that I totally missed out on Agents of Oblivion (his earlier band).
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haha that picture of coldstare is perfect. it looks like she's in mid robocop walk.
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art brut, top of the pops, and i still think amy milan is a fatty
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Wish I was there to see Deadboy, they're amazing..
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there's a little too much post-siren fake - pr posting hype about elephantmandeadboy . we get it. you work for the label, mgr or whatnot. enough already.
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yeah seriously. deadboy is so boring. blanket comments are not cool.
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Don't know about the others -- though Riggs has a following from his earlier band, guys -- but I'm not from a label. This was the third time I've seen them, live, and they were more than fine. Better to see them in a small dark room around midnight, though.
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Was anyone else thoroughly dissapointed by tapes n tapes? Excluding the whole rain thing, they really didn't interact with the crowd at all (although, to their credit, they mostly perform at small-ish venues)
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We got there late in the middle of Tapes--the sound was so bad and everyone was too busy acting like they couldn't care less who was on stage so we left. They looked like they were trying, from where I could see them. Next act I caught was Cribs, (missed out on Serena--damn!) and for the second time I confirm that they suck. They've got the devil-may-care Brit thing going, lots of energy, but somehow the songs just never get there for me. First time I got to see Art Brut and I loved it, sound could have been better but the crowd was--gasp--interested and even dancing. The best moment for me was turning to see a little old lady next to me rocking out to 18000 lire--truly, you're never too old. I just caught the tail end of Sisters as they bravely waited in dead silence for the sound guys to get their heads out of their butts. Dancing around the stage in naught but a Speedo and socks seemed a great way to end the night, tho!
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man man equals AWFUL
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man man equals AWESOME
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Just saw Deadboy somewhat recently, totally awesome. Great album as well.
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Yeah- I've followed Riggs since Agents of Oblivion and think Deadboy is a great creative direction for him. I work for a small publishing firm, Mister Smelt.
But I will try to put post more indie approved topics about Tapes n Tapes, clove cigarettes etc... (Talk about boring!)
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Oh god, I specifically took a photo of DJ Princess Coldstare for the same reasons. Ridiculous. I need to post those soon.
I was happy to discover that Tapes N' Tapes was incredibly boring. I'd held off on a listen for a while now, and Siren Fest was going to be their big chance to impress the pants off of me.
I walked away after three or four songs, fully-clothed.
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Wow. Love a band and somehow I'm a marketing tool? I do work for an advertising agency, as a web developer. No where close to the music industry, sorry.
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you left before Scissor Sisters? are you mad??? and no Art Brut?
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Both great bands indeed. But we saw Scissor Sisters both nights at Bowery, and Art Brut about seven times in fewer months. I know both still rocked, but there were more shows to see in Manhattan!
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Double LOL on "dj princess coldstare" ...brilliant
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