For three years hipsters and music fans have flocked to Williamburg for the free Pool Parties hosted by JellyNYC at McCarren Park Pool. It was a great place to spend a Sunday afternoon listening to tunes, bathing in the sun, slip n' sliding, or playing some dodgeball, but all good things must come to an end and the politicians decided to turn the pool back into an actual swimming pool for the first time after decades of neglect. You make something popular and they take it from you. That left the fans of these free Sunday shows to worry all winter long about where we would get our free show fix in the summer of 2009. Luckily Jelly has returned as more global brand (note the lack of NYC) and brought the shows to the Williamsburg Waterfront, a State Park that borders on police state with all their rules and state troopers making everything safe. It's a far cry from the rock n' roll environment of McCarren Park Pool but it's a hell of a lot better then no Pool Parties.Yesterday kicked off an awesome slate of shows for the summer of '09, a lineup that more then makes up for all the new rules and fenced off beer areas and lack of a slip n' slide. Jemina Pearl (formerly of Be Your Own Pet fame), Ponytail, Fucked Up, and Mission of Burma were all on tap yesterday and all of them brought a few surprises, tricks and excitement to their performances.
Jemina Pearl kicked off things bringing her new backing band to a stage for the first time ever. It's quite the stage to kick things off with when you're playing in front of the earl comers of an audience that would be more then 6,000 people strong and though there were moments where the band seemed really rough they were better then anyone could have hoped for. Jemina seems to have learned to mix in a little melody with all her punk attitudes and the spunk of the music definitely still comes across. It probably won't win them any Grammy's or any top spots on year end lists, but it'll definitely get their fans moving and excited.
Ponytail followed Jemina's energetic set with even more energy and enthusiasm, obviously led by their enigmatic front woman Molly. Molly makes all the vocal noises that make Ponytail so divisive but damn are they a fun band to watch and listen to. Most of the music was drawn from their last album, Ice Cream Spiritual, and the kids up front definitely ate it up!
The single best set of the day belonged to Fucked Up. It's a little weird to say that considering I'm a huge Mission of Burma fan, but the band's energy just could not be matched. With Pink Eye stripping and jumping down into the photo pit for most of the set he just connected with the people at the show, literally and figuratively. His sweaty hands and man boobs were rubbed on practically every face that pushed forward during their set and the band absolutely rocked even if they stayed on stage the whole time. Kids were stage diving and crowd surfing, pushing the barriers up front to their limits, but it was all in good fun as the music compelled them to do so!
Mission of Burma kicked off their set with a brand new tune, "1,2,3 Party!" (which has been made available for download today!) and then spent the rest of the set straight rocking out with their older tunes. And those tunes are fucking great! I will never get sick of seeing Mission of Burma play live, they simply perfected the rock n' roll comeback and continue to make really good music that you need to listen to!
All in all the first Pool Party of the season was a smashing success. Yeah, the new rules suck but how can you fight it when you just wanna rock out to all these bands. That alone is worth conforming to so if it means not wearing cargo shorts I won't wear cargo shorts (lots of people wore cargo shorts). Next week sees the Dirty Projectors, Magnolia Electric Co., and Crystal Antlers playing the Pool Party so slather on the sunscreen and get your asses to the Waterfront! I'll see you there!
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