The show took place at Randall’s
The weather wasn’t bad until the end.
It was cloudy all day, and the rain came down for around an hour
The place was set up really well for a big show.
Lots of Porta-Potty’s and a mucho space so that we could actually sit on
the grass occasionally and regroup from the rather overpowering onslaught of
images. There were a couple of beer
tents that I visited a few times :)
Only $5.00 for a 16 ounce beer in a plastic bottle…a NYC bargain!!!
Lots of vendors and even a VERY COOL freak show!!!
The Coney Island
Sideshow provided the freaks.
Check out their site here.
The stage itself was incredible.
The entire stage rotated so that could set up another band as one was
playing. There were two levels, one
for the band, and an upper level for the bevy of go-go dancers that were all
over the place!
In the center of
the stage was a giant screen showing the bands as they played interspersed with
cool 50’s & 60’s trash movie footage.
Unfortunately, the stage broke down a couple of hours into the show, and
caused some delays, but between the MC’s & some hard working roadies, all the
bands still got to play (albeit shortened sets).
Well, the rotating stage was a wonderful idea when it worked…a truly
spectacular thing to behold!
In
some ways the stage problems weren’t so bad because the pauses gave me to
regroup. Kim Fowley was the main
MC, and although it was cool seeing such a legend, I don’t think he had a lot of
material prepared for the amount of pauses between shows that there were.
(Other presenters were Bruce Springsteen, Chuck Barris…introduced as “the
most dangerous man in the place”…”Big Pussy” & “Paulie Walnuts” from the
Sopranos…James Gandolfini was supposed to appear but I didn’t see him, Kid Leo,
and Ed “Kookie” Byrnes (who just wanted to be loved again).
I was entertained!
The show itself started right in with “
Then came the garage!
The
first band to knock me out were out of
Another stand out from early in the day was
Although the show was amazing, I had to take short breathers now & then.
As we were walking around we got to see an actual freak show/sideshow as
it started with the “Coney Island Sideshow”!
Holy shit!!! There was the “Lobster Man” who was embedded between two
boards full of nails.
The “Geek”
ate a light bulb (?!), and then pulled a bunch of razor blades from down his
throat (yuck!).
“The Blockhead”
nailed a long nail right into his nose.
The “Snake Lady” had a large yellow python and she seemed to enjoy
sucking on it’s head.
The “Worm
Lady” happily munched on live worms (double yuck!) and was the official fire
eater of the day.
And finally, the
“Elastic Man” was an amazing contortionist…he rotated his hand around MORE than
360 degrees, and ended up folding himself into a box.
Amazing and a real treat!
Yes, I was EXTREMELY entertained.
The morning sets were mostly bands that I hadn’t heard of (being out of
the garage scene for the past couple).
I liked EVERYBODY though…especially “The Paybacks”, “The Caesars”, “The
High Dials” & “The Singles” stood out with strong sets.
They also had the advantage of the stage working properly, so they could
all stretch out (the stage finally went down around “The Paybacks” set).
Unfortunately, once the stage rotation broke down, the bands really
didn’t have a lot of time to play.
Instead of the three songs they were doing originally, they could only play two
(and a couple only played one).
It
really sucked for a lot of the bands who you could tell really wanted to play.
Peter Zaremba of “The Fleshtones” was visibly irritated (especially as
they only played one song), but most bands seemed to take it in stride (i.e.
they STILL played their hearts out).
With the heavy schedule, the only way to get all the bands on was to
shorten the sets, and I think the bands overall understood that.
Back to the music
J.
The “Electric Prunes” were certainly one of the highlights of the day.
They started by saying “This is the shortest set we’ve ever played”, and
yes, they only played two songs, but they were amazing.
They started with “I Had Too Much to Dream Last Night” and also played
“Get Me to the World on Time”, two of my all time favorites.
They really had the Vox Wah Wah pedals floored…the reverb was too
freaking much!!!
A truly beautiful
thing to hear two true classics played so well…thanks Prunes!!!
One of the bands I was most
looking forward to seeing was the original “Chocolate Watchband”.
I’ve been a major fan for years (ever since seeing them in “Riot on
Sunset Strip”).
They certainly
didn’t disappoint…they were HOT!
They did three songs, “Don’t Need Your Lovin’” from the Riot soundtrack, “No Way
Out” from their first album, and their semi-hit “Let’s Talk About Girls”.
They still had the snarl too…a very intensely played set that I LOVED!!!
Other highlights of the
afternoon: “Jarvis Humby” who played a neat blues oriented garage set…an
EXCELLENT British band.
The
“Cocktail Slippers” from
An unexpectedly high point
of the day for me was seeing “Richard & the Young Lions”.
This was the original 60’s band, but unfortunately, the lead singer
Richard Tepp passed away a couple of months back due to leukemia.
The band still played though, and the singer’s 15 year old son took over
vocal duties for Richard.
What an
AMAZING set! The band was as hot as
they ever were, and the kid on vocals was singing his heart out…a heart rending
beautiful set.
Thanks guys!!!
Two of my favorite 80’s
garage bands played back to back, the “Cynics” & the “Lyres”.
I had seen both bands MANY MANY times way back when and I was looking
forward to seeing both again.
They
certainly didn’t disappoint!
Both
sets were short, but very high energy.
The “Cynics” played “Baby What’s Wrong” & one I didn’t recognize.
It was great to hear Michael’s vocals again live…on record, his vocals
never had the ‘tearing’ effect that they do live.
And the “Lyres” totally kicked ass, doing two of the 80’s best…”Help You
Ann” & “Don’t Give It Up Now”.
Great hot sets by two of my all time faves!!!
As the afternoon was moving
along the headliners started popping out.
From
Then another classic
British rock band “The Pretty Things” played.
They were rocking, starting off with one of my favorites “Come See Me”.
Then, they actually launched into my very favorite song by them “LSD”.
Woo hoo!
I was bouncing
pretty good…an excellent long version of a song originally only on a B-Side…I
was thrilled!
A Strong set from one
of
It was time now for some
classic NYC music, and “The Dictators” didn’t disappoint!
A COMPLETELY over the top show with (I think) all the original members
playing HARD!
New York Rock & Roll
at its absolute finest…a GREAT set.
At this point, I think they were everybody’s highlight of the festival (helped
that they could play for 20 minutes & stretch out a bit).
One of rock’s greatest originators was next, Mr. Bo Diddley! He played his classics (Bo Diddley, I’m a Man, & Hey! Bo Diddley) and had a great set that was only marred by his attempt at a rap song at the end (sorry Bo, wrong crowd!). At 70+, he still can rock it, and the audience enjoyed his set immensely.
Next were Alex Chilton &
“Big Star”. They played an
enjoyable set, but it didn’t help that they were surrounded by heavy rock &
roll, and I think the audience never got the enthusiasm up that would have
perhaps pushed them on.
A nice pop
set, but a bit out of place in the middle of a rock & roll festival.
I then had to take a
breather (had to regenerate before the last few bands), so I went out to relax
on the grass.
Luckily, the big
screen was right in front of me, so I really didn’t miss anything!.
The three bands I saw from the grass were the “45’s”, the “Raveonettes”
and the “Romantics”.
The “45’s” put
on a strong rocking set that was highly enjoyable.
The “Raveonettes” were okay, but didn’t blow me away.
I was REALLY surprised by the “Romantics”, who played a punky high energy
set that was GREAT!
Clem Burke from
“Blondie” was the new drummer, and propelled the group along to a fine rock &
roll set. The crowd went wild!
Time for me to get up close
again…just in time for one of my favorite surprises of the festival, Ms. Nancy
Sinatra! She had a great band
featuring the horns from the Conan O’Brien show, and Clem Burke guesting on
drums. She started with a cool standard song, but next did a Morrissey cover!
(And did it damned well…much better than Morrissey’s unbearable whining).
Then to bring surrealism to a whole new level, she introduced the next
song as a “Thurston Moore” song!
I
about fell over!
I didn’t recognize
the song, but it was quite discordant.
The guy next to me & myself couldn’t stop laughing from the incredible
strangeness of it all.
Finally (of
course!) “These Boots Are Made for Walking”!!!
The crowd was
It was beginning to
sprinkle, and it was now time for the freaking “NEW YORK DOLLS”!!!
Yes, Nolan, Thunders & now Kane have all passed on, but the spirit still
lives on with Syl Sylvain & David Johanson & their great new sloppy recruits.
They played their hearts out!!!
An INCREDIBLE set with all the classics, Personality Crisis, Pills &
Looking for a Kiss to name a few.
The NY crowd loved them, and welcomed them back HARD.
A great, trashy rock & roll set by one of the all time greatest groups.
It was a REAL HONOR to catch their magnificent set!!!
Then came the current
daddies (along with the “Hives”) of the current garage scene “The Strokes”.
I had heard their album & thought it was okay, and live was about what I
expected. The lead singer was a bit
pompous, and they seemed unwilling to shorten their set (like everyone else so
that the rain wouldn’t drench too bad), but they went over pretty well.
Most of the crowd seemed to enjoy themselves, although I heard a lot of
shouting for the “Stooges” during their set.
And speaking of “The
Stooges”, my number one reason for coming to this festival all the way from
Well, all good things must come to an end, and after the stooges…it was
done! It was pouring rain pretty
hard by this point (amazingly I didn’t notice ‘til after the “Stooges” played).
Little Steven came out to say bye, and we headed on our way.
A rainy ferry ride, a LONG wait for a taxi, and the evening was
officially done with some yummy NY pizza.
Thanks to all the bands and
to Little Steven who is doing his damndest to keep rock & roll alive during
these hellish Bush years.
I hope he
was happy, between the stage problems, the rain & the crowd not being as large
as it could have been, I hope he wasn’t disappointed.
I LOVED the show, and the problems in no way took away from the audience
seeing the rock & roll show of their lives.
At the beginning of the show, Little Steven said he’d like to make this
an annual event.
I HOPE SO!
This one was also filmed for a movie (there’s a DVD & movie I’ll be
waiting for).
I like the idea of a
yearly pilgrimage to NYC!
As
exhausted and hungover as I still am, it was worth it.
Long live Rock & Roll!!!
Originally Published 8/17/2004