2009 JellyNYC Pool Parties Announced!

The 2009 Pool Party, which will not actually take place at McCarren Pool this year, lineups have been announced. I'm pretty excited about some of the talent this year - Black Lips, Mission Of Burma, Dark Meat, etc. Honestly I rarely ever even notice there are bands playing, too busy drinking and hanging out under the sun. This year the party moves to the Williamsburg water front, which means there should be a nice breeze coming off the river. Despite all the bands and the new location you know what I'm most excited about? BASKETBALL! Yup, there's going to be basketball courts this year and I'm going to fucking school you suckers.

JELLY Pool Parties 2009
In Partnership With:
Converse, Bud Light, SPIN, MySpace Music, Gibson, Caf Bustello, SESAC, KEXP, The Open Space Alliance, New York State Parks

July 12th
Mission of Burma
Fucked Up
Ponytail
Jemina Pearl of Be your Own Pet

July 19th
Dirty Projectors
Magnolia Electric Company
White Denim

July 26th
And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead
The Black Lips
Health
Grupo Fantasmo

August 2nd
Round Robin show w/ Deerhunter, No Age and Dan Deacon

August 9th
Simian Mobile Disco (DJ set)
Fiery Furnaces
Dark Meat
The Netherlands

August 16th
Del tha Funky Homosapien
Gravytrain!!!
DD/MM/YYYY
Kenan Bell

August 23rd
Girl Talk
Max Tundra
Wiz Khalifa

August 30th
Grizzly Bear
Beach House

Mission Of Burma @ Solar1

Yesterday I checked out the free Mission Of Burma show at the Solar1 space on the East River. This was my first trip to the Solar1 space and I was surprised by how small it was. At most it could hold maybe 400 people, which is small for an outdoor space.

They had some really good food there - Indian bread, vegan & regular pizza, hummus, etc. It was also nice that the police presence was pretty much non-existent, which made it easier to drink.

Despite the fact that it was warm throughout NYC along the river it wasn't quite as nice. I like to think that's why there was barely anyone there. The opening bands certainly didn't help with attendance. They were playing mostly hippie jam bullshit, which was pretty excruciating. We went across the street to Peter Cooper Village and kicked around the soccer ball to kill time during the opening bands.

When Burma took the stage everyone pushed towards the stage. Mind you that everyone only equaled about 150 people. When they burst into the first song I noticed that the amps on stage were much louder then the actual house speakers. Needless to say the mix was pretty bad and could have been much better if they just told the band to turn the amps down a bit.

Despite the sound MOB played a pretty killer set. The cold breeze coming off the river was pretty distracting though. I've seen MOB before and I have to say that performance wise this was an awesome show. MOB was clearly having a good time and that always makes for a better show. But with the cold and the sound considered it was far from perfect. That said I had fun. It's always awesome to hear some old school punk rock, especially when it's free.

Link:
BSC Photoset (25 Photos)

Mission Of Burma Free Show Today

There's a free show at the Solar1 space today at 2PM. The legendary Mission Of Burma will be headlining the outdoor show. Rumor has it that Grizzly Bear was the original headliner but had to pull out at the last minute (usually the best time). Personally I'll take MOB over Grizzly Bear any day of the week, especially a nice day like this. I'm not sure how anal security is so I don't know if you can bring in food and drink, might be a good time to bust out those flip-flop flasks!

Link:
Off The Grid 2008



MP3:
2wice - Mission Of Burma
Donna Sumerian - Mission Of Burma

Mission Of Burma At Bowery

Last night I was lucky enough to end up on the list for Mission Of Burma at The Bowery Ballroom. They were playing with the much hyped new band Battles (Dance MP3). Due to the Williamsburg Bridge being shut down for a few minutes I got there a wee bit late. I missed all but one song by Battles - although I heard a couple more from outside and downstairs. I won't comment on them since I didn't see enough but they have a very cool set, which you can see in the pics below.

After they left the stage I went downstairs and had a beer. About half an hour after Battles left the stage Mission Of Burma finally strolled out. I was a bit surprised by how old they look, they reminded me of high school science teachers - not the nerdy type, the former acid head type. The drummer kinda looks like the guy who plays Freddy Krueger. Anyway, they joked around a little and then jumped into some music.

The crowd started pogoing up and down on the first beat. The band started off a little slow in my opinion but about halfway through the first set they found there groove. They were just tearing through shit and absolutely killing it. It was just an amazing performance by the old school soldiers.

It made me think how punk is associated with youth, yet it's 30+ years old. Seeing old crusty science teachers up onstage playing jittery punk was a bit odd. Nonetheless, they were fucking awesome and could out punk any mohawked & tattoo'd twenty year old. The new stuff they were playing was pretty good, unlike most aging bands they stuck to their guns. I hate bands that think because they've been around for a minute that they need to experiment or mature. Fuck that bullshit - yes I'm looking at you Metallica.

Mission Of Burma played a full first set and then took a 15-minute break. I went upstairs and grabbed another overpriced beer. They came back out right on time and played another full set. Even after that set was over the crowd wanted more - so the band came back out for a two song encore. Goddamn these guys have endurance, they played for almost two hours.

I am so happy that I had a chance to see legends like Mission Of Burma. The show was so much better then I imagined it would be. Mission Of Burma have not slowed down with age. They are still an amazing band and you have to see them when they come around.

"That's When I Reach For My Revolver"

Battles