All Photos: Will Roane
Gerard Marcus
I, like most sane, completely unobsessive people, have a list of every single band I want to see live someday. I do a pretty good job of catching majority of them when they come through town, but there are always a few that seem to elude me for whatever reason. The band isn't touring that much, they aren't in New York, I have to work when they're playing, etc.
But I always like to keep an ear to the ground so that when the stars align, as they did a couple of weeks ago on September 6th at Palisades, I have the opportunity to knock out four bands from my list with one concert!
I couldn't imagine a better way to spend a Sunday evening. The night shifted from pensive to raucous to introspective to almost dreamlike with great performances from Soft Fangs, Bodega Bay, Lost Film, and Surf Rock is Dead. We even (surprise!) took some pics.
Soft Fangs
Let's start with the pensive: Soft Fangs first caught my attention at the end of last year with the release of their self-titled tape, and it was nice to see that the chill, emotional, yet understated style transferred so well to the Palisades stage. John Lutkevich's hypnotically engaging performance had an honesty that was almost palpable. It almost seems like a better venue for this guy would be a tent in the woods, or maybe someone's living room with hot chocolate and whiskey. Yeah, that sounds about right.
Bodega Bay
In a drastic departure from the mellow tunes of Soft Fangs, next up were NYC art-rockers Bodega Bay. These guys are a hell of a lot of fun. They hit the audience a heavy garage-punk sound that gradually transformed into an eclectic mix of spoken word, sound collaging, tight grooves, wild guitars, dancing, jumping, and screaming. Everything you would expect to find in a bodega.
Lost Film
I was probably most intrigued with seeing Lost Film that night, mainly because they aren't based in New York. Hailing from Northhampton, Mass, they recently released a new album (Imago) that I haven't been able to stop listening to. Seeing them live has only cemented that addiction—it was an amazing performance from Jimmy Hewitt, who's also just a really nice dude if you ever get the chance to chat with him.
Surf Rock Is Dead
Closing out the night was Brooklyn's Surf Rock is Dead. Super fun music. Super fun band. Their show took me back to happy memories of my high school years, driving at high speed through the Maryland countryside and doing dumb shit at house parties. There's something about the freedom and nonchalance of their lush alt rock that just makes you want to drunkenly float on a mattress in a pond, you know?
