Ramblings of a Redhead Music Snob

7/20-7/22

So – are you tired just reading it? I am! No, seriously I’m dead tired. But probably because Im the one who did all of this. So lets go back to Friday.

On Friday at work, I get an email from Mark. Mark is the drummer of Low Lustre, a very likeable band from East Williamsburg/Bushwick. Low Lustre has that rock feeling of early U2, which is not a bad band to get comparisons too. Well Mark tells me his band is playing over at Pianos with West Indian Girl and I realize I MUST go see them. So, I figure out a way to see some of South Street Seaport and the bands playing there, and then making a trip to the LES to Pianos.

South Street Seaport is just a great place to hang out. Im telling you, if theres water nearby, you can find me there. Its as simple as that. You can take the girl out of California, but you cant take California out of the girl. So I meet up with someone from a meetup group and we hang out watching Rock Plaza Central, hailing from Toronto. They’re a bit out there, and very quirky playing loads of instruments. I wouldn’t even know how to describe them. As I’m standing around, I see the drummer of We Are Scientists hanging out with his girlfriend. Naturally Im in the right place, Bishop Allen is headlining the night.

Before, Bishop Allen goes on, I must take off to see Low Lustre. I bring some friends with me to the show and we all came out of it saying ‘oh yeah, lots of talent’.  Definitely a great rock band with that early U2 vibe. Yay! I also should add, Mark is a great guy. Very friendly and SO very nice! Trust me – he’s not paying me a cent to say this. And since he’s so nice, I feel compelled to put out his band name as much as possible. I’m sad to say I didnt stay for West Indian Girl as it was a busy night of shows.

Saturday is Siren Festival. I head over there around 11am so I can see the first band – Twilight Sad. Twilight Sad is a bit heavier sounding than I realized, and I saw them later described as a wall of sound. This is a very great description of how they come across. Lots of very loud guitars.

The awesome thing about the festival is that I arrived there plenty early, and managed to get right in front. I met the nicest guy next to me, a school teacher from Vegas named Wil, and chatted him up for a bit.

After Twilight Sad, Dr Dog came on, and it was an enjoyable set. Great music. I did come to realize that I get entirely distracted at festivals. Its like I have 0 attention span and just cant focus on the bands. I noticed the lead singer of The Noisettes in front of me, and everyone was more interested in her than the band. She was so cool, signing shoes for people, taking pics, shaking hands. She was the epitome of the friendly, cool rockstar. At that moment I so wanted to be a Noisettes fan. I think I was converted just by her presence.

After seeing the two bands, I took off to find some friends of mine there. We hung out and talked for a bit. Then we all went our separate ways. I caught a few more bands, but not complete sets. Walked around Coney Island which was pretty cool, before I headed over to the Cyclone‘s game. The Cyclone’s are the minor league team of the Mets. It was an enjoyable game, but I found myself staring into the ocean vs concentrating on the game. But we all had a great time. Cyclone’s kicked some major a$$ and the pitcher (2nd of the game) was on fire.

Nearing the 8th inning, I get a call from a number I dont recognize. I take the call anyway, and cant hear a word, so send a quick text, to let them know its way loud, but text me whats needed. Not 2 seconds later I have a text saying “youve won White Stripes tickets”. At that moment, I get up from my chair, excuse myself and go running through the streets of Coney Island back to the festival. Can I just say IM GOING TO THE WHITE STRIPES FOR FREE!!! This was exciting news. It still is exciting news. I called some friends, like an insane girl yelling how excited I was.

Sunday was a great day too – minus the fact I am still sunburned. Went down to Central Park to meet some friends for Summerstage to see The Cat Empire. Luckily for me, we had all decided we’d be sitting in the stage. So we head to the bleachers and find a spot towards the back where a guy is sitting there by himself. We go up there and I ask him if he is saving the spot. He says no, and nicely moves down the bleacher. So friends and I start talking a bit, and the guy next to me randomly asks me if im from NYC? So one thing leads to another, and we start talking and talking and talking. Great guy, and his brother went to UCSB and now lives in DC. Even better. Turns out Jacob is Jewish no less. So as my luck would have it, hes from Utah (well living there). Man – all the guys I’m meeting as of late are from the West coast. I must say I do wonder if this means something.

The Cat Empire take the stage and they are incredible live. It just makes me so mad each time that I missed them at Bowery Ballroom. They bring in influences from all sorts of music and its just a fun band. It can be described as a fusion of middle eastern influences, Latin (think salsa or tango), along with jazz, ska, funk and rock. And when you put it all together, you get this amazing sound with about 7-12 guys (it ranges with tours) playing all sorts of instruments, bringing the crowd to a dancing frenzy.

It can only be said that its a band you surely wont want to miss. I’m already figuring out how I can go see them again 🙂

Sadly, Jacob caught a plane on Sunday night and Wil I’ve not heard from. Im sure if they ever found this, they’d either be completely freaked out, or think how cool. I did invite Wil to see the White Stripes. I figured why not, he was nice and friendly and hanging out and chatting with me during the Siren Festival, so I could do something nice. I dont think that will happen, but its ok. Music somehow brings us altogether, and one of these days I’ll probably run into either of them again 🙂 Just maybe at a Cat Empire show.