Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks at Coney Island Siren Fest
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Artist:
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Album:and the Jicks
Having hung out on consecutive nights (Thursday and Friday) till 4 and 5 in the morning watching the UK band The Indelicates play shows and then acquiesce to my interviews, respectively - what was one to do on the following afteroon/evening? Why, attend the Village Voice Siren Festival at Coney Island!
The plan was hatched when the Indelicates bassist Kate and I discovered we both wanted to really see Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks, who were headling the show.
So, armed with the knowledge that we were both fans (she having been into Mr. Malkmus since his time with seminal indie band Pavement, and I became intrigued when I heard he enjoyed taking extended guitar solos and improvisational jams) we headed off to Coney Island on Saturday the 19th of July, 2008.
Kate and I taking in the sites under the massive presence of The Cyclone
Coney Island is one big carnival and amusement park, with rides, arcade games, and large dose of "seediness" which, as another English friend of my who had just visited said "nobody does seedy better than Americans - and I mean that in a good way". Which all contributed to a near-perfect festival setting. However, with the expected razing of Astroland, the area where Siren is held, next year, the day's mood wasn't so much whether Malkmus would play any Pavement tunes, but rather, if this year would be Siren's last there.
Still, Kate and I were primed for maximum "rawk n' roll" entertainment.
All during the drive to the show, we began to credit all things "cool" to Malkmus. In fact, we stopped calling him by his full name and just referred to him as simply "Malk". We were saying this is going to be sooooo Malk", and "the Malkman is sure to deliver". The "Malk" references got sillier and sillier, but it simply added to our anticipation and excitment.
Showing up as the prior band was finishing, we proceeded to do that slow worm-your-way-through-the-crowd thing to get prime viewing. Now, there is a right way and a wrong way to do this. We never stepped on anyone toes and were always respectful of peoples space. However, as individuals would trikle out for whatever reason, we would slowing take thier spot.
Suddenly the man was on stage - with his band.
Kate swooned and I was ready for maximum guitar-noodling and improvisational explorations.
Here is their opening song, "Baby, C'mon"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcdSxR8F9pw
Oh, yeah - it was on! Smiling faces all around.
Immediately on my radar was pretty Jicks bassist Joanna Bolme.
Joanna sang backup and acted as an overall counterpart for "Malk".
She has Kim Gordon cool and a similar ability to go wherever the jams might take her.
Joanna and Stephen engage in some 4 string-to-6-string sonic exploration.
Baseball-style brimmed caps, shades and jaunty scarves were the the appropriate necessary items on this steamy, hot July afternoon-into-evening.
The Jicks are anchored by legendary former Sleater-Kinney (and sometimes Quasi) drummer Janet Weiss.
Bassist Joanna knows the importance of having a musical rapport with drummer Janet.
For her part, Janet is a rock solid drummer who fits this band quite well.
Wherever "Malk" took the improvisation, Janet was right there with him. Driving the rhythm on and encouraging the further musical explorations.
Janet, among other things, grew up in Southern California and has a degree in photography from San Francisco State University. She brings a unique tension and dynamic to the music.
Check out this additional clip, taken from our unique vantage point at the show:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SH8LMTnOK2U
We sooo "Malked" this night!
After that, we wandered through Coney Island a bit.
Took a stroll on the beach . . .
The view of the Wonderwheel from the beach.
The perfect ending to a totally "Malk-ed out" day!
Comments (22)
Nice one, thanks for sorta taking us there with you :)
Very colourful pictures, me likey :)
Awww - look at Anna commenting right away. I don't care what the others say, you really are nice, aren't you? ;-)
Only when I'm sober ;)
Well - then I guess I did catch you on a rare occasion - loltz
Sounds like a great show, thanks for sharing. I'll need to see Stephen Malkmus sometime.
Dave Next best thing to being there. Thanks for taking the time to post
Jack Rabid did a nice Malkmus peice in the lastest The Next Big Thing worth checking out
check out www.isound.com/avandguard
the first song on the player you can download there is called N.Y. x's loosly based on Malkmus' early New York Pavement years
I wrote it after reading a bio on the band
Dale - cool, man. I'm still grooving from that New Order video you posted up last week.
avand - where have you been. I wrote a review of you album and "MOG mailed" it to you weeks ago. You never checked it out. Look at your Mail here, dude. Let me know.
I'm going to go check out the links you posted here right now.
Once again Dave, you are a wonder!
I suppose any Day at Coney Island that one is not swept out to sea on a Rip Tide is a good one.
Keep truck'n man!
t
Thanks, ted. You are the Beatles maestro here. I'm gonna miss the "freak shows" at Coney Island when the evil developers "clean it up"
Oh, yeah - and avandguard's music rules!
wow.....Jack Rabid. haven't heard his name in a while and i should probably look for where he's writing these days. that guy's got great ears! worked with him even before Springhouse days when he was a regular in CB's, but i forget the previous band name.
nice "bonus feature" for this post. thanks.
Hey Dave...
GREAT post. Love the rapport the band has with one another. Its great to see such "togetherness". Makes its a joy to watch and listen to bands.
the cheesy "Malk" jokes cracked me up, the "malkman" haha. glad it was a good time for you both. so "the Jicks" are chicks? i didn't know!
Dave
Haven't there been rumors of “evil developers" and Coney Island for eons?
And what will they develop? Beach-front condos?
BTW, I’m sure evil developers had something to do with the birth to Coney Island in the first place:)
Well - that's the world on the street, ted. You know how it goes - everyone fears change.
But - what if they never declared buildings "landmark" - all of NYC would look like a shiny, reflective futurerama!
Agreed
Musically (at least the second song) reminds me of late 80's early 90's britpop.
I remember hearing of Pavement, I don't believe I've ever heard them. Are the similarities great or little to said past band?
nice review and pix. i heard ra ra riot also played the festival! Did you see 'em, too? love them.
Doomsy - I wasn't a big Pavement guy, so I can't say for sure. Like I said - my interest in "the Malk" started when I heard he liked to engage in improvisational jams.
CR - the only other band I heard was Islands - because we got there late in the afternoon (being up till 5 am the night before, you see) ;-)
I was hoping to get there in time to see Beach House (who I have been hearing about for a while and wanted to check out) but no such luck. Then I discovered afterwards that a guitarists named Sarah who is a desciple of Rhys Chatham and Lee Ranaldo played with a band called Parts & Labor that I would have liked to check out - but - whaddya gonna do?
The day was all about "Malk" anyway!
I just checked this out...great pix and post! I expected the clips to sound at least a little like Pavement, but was more surprised to find out they sound nothing like them! Was never a fan, but saw them at Lollapalooza back in '95 and they were good live. I just watched some thing on PBS about Coney recently, and it's the same old BS about they can't stay afloat, the crowds aren't there etc. Obviously the Cyclone and Wonder Wheel will be saved and moved if the area is redeveloped, but is there really that much sentiment for the rest? The freaks will find a new home too, so all will be well in the long run, IMO.
"nobody does seedy better than Americans - and I mean that in a good way" lol...I love it!
Yes, there is sentiment for Coney Island..sez this Brooklynite. Does all of NYC's history need to be confined in museums? Do we need to eradicate some of the only beachfront public property in the city for more condos? Does NYC need to look like every other city? Plenty of Boardwalk beach towns in Jersey have made a go of it. Excellent reportage on the Siren,Dave.
Thanks, Cody.
And I agree with you.
There are already too many homogenized same-looking public spaces in this country. Lets keep the things that are unique.
I mean, I'm not against fixing things up..but removing of character sucks. The Cyclone and Wonder Wheel need to be there. Sure its cool that London Bridge was saved..but having it in Arizona kinda misses the point.
That said, New York City is pretty ruthless about destroying its history, so it wouldn't be a shock to see Coney changed around.