Noah Lennox knows how to do viral advertising. As I approached Pier 11, I got to see the famous musician dressed in a Panda costume dispensing pesticide-free Soy Milk (in chocolate and vanilla form). Perhaps due to the lateness of his album, he has been forced to sell stuff on the side. Most of the people who approached him were small children who found the Panda suit cute, hipsters who found the Panda suit cute, and, of course, furries.
Why they chose Pier 11 to depart from is anyone's guess, but seeing the inside of a Water Taxi made me feel classy. Upholstered seating adorned the luxurious cabin which oozed of wealth and people well-off enough to use it on a frequent basis.
Of course, the event took place at the Beach, one of the few places on the island that's well protected. But its bigger reason is the joy of seeing the Manhattan skyline. That view is one reason why hobos used to swim across the river to Governors Island. In the early 90s they had a veritable hobo paradise on the island, living in decrepit old homes, getting asbestos in their lungs. Things were easier then, that was before the city came up with the policy of hitting hobos with flip-flops, and far before freegans started eating all their food.
But I digress. There were a few acts I got the joy of witnessing. Our first one had to be some random DJ who played boring dub reggae. All of his transitions were terrible. My only guess as to why he was allowed was the other DJs he beat used the age-old transitions of loud belching into the microphone. So that was terrible.
After that, literally anything sounded better. Teengirl Fantasy brought a little bit of fun. Reading about them, it sounds like they've come a long way. They were fun but nothing really stuck out at me. Some of their choices in varying the music were sort of strange (like bass drum rushes? Who does that?) But it felt like good, mindless fun before the more intense stuff came on.
Gala Drop came from Panda Bear's adopted city Lisbon. Actually, I enjoyed them. Each song they picked contributed directly to the atmosphere, like a form of aural architecture. Often they'd reference kosmic German music from the 70s or minimal dub. Neither one of those things is bad in my book, so I'm happy to wish them the best. Personally I felt like they did the minimal stuff the best, but that's just a personal preference.
If you're reading this, most likely you're hoping I get to Panda Bear. But, to help you with the frustrating experience live music can be, I'll tell you about Avery Tare's set. Unlike the opening DJ, who was terrible, Avery had almost too much taste. The set began bizarrely with I think something from the Godfather, I could be wrong. Basically he kept the event very specific to the crowd being played too. Hell, he even threw in Steely Dan, so he's alright in my book.
"Drone" started Panda Bear's set, sounding off like an alarm. Immediately I ran as quickly as I could towards the station, away from learning how to play Blackjack (I know how to play now, that's an important life skill). Someone next to me asked if it was going to be this abstract the whole night, and I answered correctly "No".
From there, we got exclusively new tracks, some of which sounded absolutely fantastic. Like, if you thought Person Pitch was good, this would be great. The mantra of "What I want" melted into one of the best songs I've ever heard from Panda Bear. A juicy bass, thumping percussion, and a melody to kill for merged into something so delightful I got chills. Right now his live show works as a test for the new material. Most of it sounds great, but I understand he is under a lot of pressure. Multiple live shows then allow him to determine how to edit, what to keep, what to remove, etc. But honestly, I was happy with all the material and hopefully it'll be out by the end of October (that's the new date, we'll see if he keeps to it).
Part of me wanted to see Panda Bear do some old stuff. A few people near me wanted "Bros" which would have been so sweet. Instead, we got massive, sky-filling music. I'd avoid calling it arena rock since the music is specifically designed to make sure you don't sing along that you mumble. Plus, it just sounded like it was being transmitted from somewhere far away. My brain smiled at the set and he even did an encore, which was a nice bonus since otherwise it would've been a short set.
Getting back I saw something that made me wonder if maybe multiple universes exist, or if I live in a different one. The taxi ferries had a person limit, but some jerk tried jumping the fence to meet his stupid, useless friends. Looking at him, it would be hard to take him at his word. With complete douche behavior, he felt he might win an argument against a cop. He didn't.
Meanwhile, on the other side of me, someone peed not once, but twice on the wall, surrounded only by an entire crowd of people struck by disbelief by the sheer stupidity of him.
"I told you once before, please hold it until you board the ferry" - Cop
"I wasn't peeing, some water just happened to run down my leg" was this idiot's response.
When these two people met in the front of the line, they must have realized that miracles do happen. That chance works out for the most boneheaded and douche. A douche bag parallel universe exists as well, for when they got together; they took it to the next level.
The guy peeing on the wall wet himself. A giant pee stain adorned his crotch. Rather than show normal emotions like embarrassment, he tried picking up women with his lack of bladder control, even helping to point out his pee stain to potential mates as he thought in his mind, but in reality were just normal disgusted human beings.
His jumping friend tried and failed to make himself look better by comparison. Think of two douche bags doing the worst job of being each other's wingman and you've got it. While his friend peed himself, he stated, he merely came in his pants. Perhaps this was a Saturday Night Live reference, but unsurprisingly no one was impressed. In their universe woman are turned on by men wetting themselves and talking about ejaculating in public.
Great concert, but I have shown I don't understand how some of the audience even got there.
Why they chose Pier 11 to depart from is anyone's guess, but seeing the inside of a Water Taxi made me feel classy. Upholstered seating adorned the luxurious cabin which oozed of wealth and people well-off enough to use it on a frequent basis.
Of course, the event took place at the Beach, one of the few places on the island that's well protected. But its bigger reason is the joy of seeing the Manhattan skyline. That view is one reason why hobos used to swim across the river to Governors Island. In the early 90s they had a veritable hobo paradise on the island, living in decrepit old homes, getting asbestos in their lungs. Things were easier then, that was before the city came up with the policy of hitting hobos with flip-flops, and far before freegans started eating all their food.
But I digress. There were a few acts I got the joy of witnessing. Our first one had to be some random DJ who played boring dub reggae. All of his transitions were terrible. My only guess as to why he was allowed was the other DJs he beat used the age-old transitions of loud belching into the microphone. So that was terrible.
After that, literally anything sounded better. Teengirl Fantasy brought a little bit of fun. Reading about them, it sounds like they've come a long way. They were fun but nothing really stuck out at me. Some of their choices in varying the music were sort of strange (like bass drum rushes? Who does that?) But it felt like good, mindless fun before the more intense stuff came on.
Gala Drop came from Panda Bear's adopted city Lisbon. Actually, I enjoyed them. Each song they picked contributed directly to the atmosphere, like a form of aural architecture. Often they'd reference kosmic German music from the 70s or minimal dub. Neither one of those things is bad in my book, so I'm happy to wish them the best. Personally I felt like they did the minimal stuff the best, but that's just a personal preference.
If you're reading this, most likely you're hoping I get to Panda Bear. But, to help you with the frustrating experience live music can be, I'll tell you about Avery Tare's set. Unlike the opening DJ, who was terrible, Avery had almost too much taste. The set began bizarrely with I think something from the Godfather, I could be wrong. Basically he kept the event very specific to the crowd being played too. Hell, he even threw in Steely Dan, so he's alright in my book.
"Drone" started Panda Bear's set, sounding off like an alarm. Immediately I ran as quickly as I could towards the station, away from learning how to play Blackjack (I know how to play now, that's an important life skill). Someone next to me asked if it was going to be this abstract the whole night, and I answered correctly "No".
From there, we got exclusively new tracks, some of which sounded absolutely fantastic. Like, if you thought Person Pitch was good, this would be great. The mantra of "What I want" melted into one of the best songs I've ever heard from Panda Bear. A juicy bass, thumping percussion, and a melody to kill for merged into something so delightful I got chills. Right now his live show works as a test for the new material. Most of it sounds great, but I understand he is under a lot of pressure. Multiple live shows then allow him to determine how to edit, what to keep, what to remove, etc. But honestly, I was happy with all the material and hopefully it'll be out by the end of October (that's the new date, we'll see if he keeps to it).
Part of me wanted to see Panda Bear do some old stuff. A few people near me wanted "Bros" which would have been so sweet. Instead, we got massive, sky-filling music. I'd avoid calling it arena rock since the music is specifically designed to make sure you don't sing along that you mumble. Plus, it just sounded like it was being transmitted from somewhere far away. My brain smiled at the set and he even did an encore, which was a nice bonus since otherwise it would've been a short set.
Getting back I saw something that made me wonder if maybe multiple universes exist, or if I live in a different one. The taxi ferries had a person limit, but some jerk tried jumping the fence to meet his stupid, useless friends. Looking at him, it would be hard to take him at his word. With complete douche behavior, he felt he might win an argument against a cop. He didn't.
Meanwhile, on the other side of me, someone peed not once, but twice on the wall, surrounded only by an entire crowd of people struck by disbelief by the sheer stupidity of him.
"I told you once before, please hold it until you board the ferry" - Cop
"I wasn't peeing, some water just happened to run down my leg" was this idiot's response.
When these two people met in the front of the line, they must have realized that miracles do happen. That chance works out for the most boneheaded and douche. A douche bag parallel universe exists as well, for when they got together; they took it to the next level.
The guy peeing on the wall wet himself. A giant pee stain adorned his crotch. Rather than show normal emotions like embarrassment, he tried picking up women with his lack of bladder control, even helping to point out his pee stain to potential mates as he thought in his mind, but in reality were just normal disgusted human beings.
His jumping friend tried and failed to make himself look better by comparison. Think of two douche bags doing the worst job of being each other's wingman and you've got it. While his friend peed himself, he stated, he merely came in his pants. Perhaps this was a Saturday Night Live reference, but unsurprisingly no one was impressed. In their universe woman are turned on by men wetting themselves and talking about ejaculating in public.
Great concert, but I have shown I don't understand how some of the audience even got there.