Welcome to
Shark Bites, an LICNotes blog penned exclusively by a local writer and concert-goer dubbed The Silver Shark. The
Vernon Rock Festival was a recent multi-band concert staged in a Long Island City garage on Vernon Blvd. Read on for the skinny, and check his previous posts for flashbacks from last Summer's LIC music.
Maybe what we like best about summer is nothing external – not the weather or the comfortable, discomforting clothing or the flowers and greenery – but the change in our attitude. I don’t mean some general positive approach to life. I mean a rock ‘n’ roll attitude, energetic, edgy, aggressive.
In New York, this yearly change layers joyfulness on top of the necessary energy it takes to deal with the overhead (i.e. bullshit) of living in a crowded, jangly hypertropolis. We feel delight that the early spring of grey and rain has yielded, finally, to sunshine and long evenings. (Which is one reason I’m always a touch shocked that great bands can come out of LA, with its ten- to twelve-month-long summer.)
In 2010, in Long Island City, summer signaled its arrival via the Vernon Rockfest. No, X wasn’t on the bill, no LA bands were. But what we saw and heard were an array of local groups, in a slick, almost Hollywood setup that contrasted with the grit we expect from and love about the place. An actual stage! Theatrical lighting, with swivel spots! A fog machine – how much more r’n’r can you get than a fog machine! Video projection! A sound board AND a lighting/video board! Banks of PA’s! The entire rig was set up in less than a day in the showroom of a restoration shop for ultimately high-end autos (think Lamborghini roadsters), many of which were pushed to the edges of the room (with more outside the doors), providing an addition ooh-and-ahh factor. Whattaya tryina do, make us look professional?!
As the early acts played – I’d arrived fashionably rather than unconscionably late only because I hitched a ride with my roommate, the bass player in a later group – I took in the implications of the scene. First, I’d gotten there by car instead of taking the 7 train a few stops – how LA. Then I noticed and indulged in the $3 drafts, charmingly served by an actual, professional bartender (Debba Villa) and an actual, professional artist (Kristy Schopper). That’s very LIC, but the price – that screams sponsors. Heavyset dudes in sports coats – visible but not obtrusive security for the priceless autos (surely no one was expecting brawling drunken rockers?) Finally, and this is the delight of evenings like this, seeing people from different sets of friends and different social circles mixing. I had a couple of “where the hell have you been the last coupla months” moments, which may have had more to do with the opening up of the weather than the mix of bands, but at that point I wasn’t asking hard questions.
Having missed Crisis Center, listed as the opening act (and now I’ll have to track them down, listen, and give them their due), I finally turned to the stage as Imposter Syndrome picked up momentum. Stylistically tough to pin down, they have the virtues of great vocals, and rhythmic energy. They veered around the edges of loungy, trippy rock while maintaining that energy, and explored BST-like straight-ahead grooves, all well-matched with the video clips they’d chosen, reinforcing the party atmosphere.
Ironically, as Crisis Center left, we experienced the evening’s crisis. The downside of a complex tech rig is that stuff goes wrong, crashes happen, chaos ensues. Murmurs of ‘system crash’ and ‘hard drive wiped out’ fluttered around; the responsible folks were too busy being responsible for me to wring out an explanation. Which wouldn’t have mattered anyway. They restored order soon, and the rest of us just had a chance to gab and slurp more beer. No damage done, and in fact quite the opposite.
Next up was the Big Daddy Project. Considering that Drew DiCamillo, their bass player, had plenty on his mind, having organized the Rockfest and having had to deal with the tech outage along with a myriad of other issues, they showed their r’n’r attitude and immediately launched into a set that showcased the value of the ‘fest, playing two (two!) two sets in one: the first comprised their blues-based rock, which they play precisely and powerfully. The second amplified these virtues, as they brought on the Rocket Science horn section to augment their sound. Now, I loves me my swingin’ horns – gotta have ‘em, whether you’re Rueben Gonzalez or Ani Difranco. These cats swung it out, and moved the groove into funk territory, particularly in the BDP’s multiple covers of Sly (and the Family Stone). Mark me down somewhere between enamored and enthralled.
The evening ended, as if often does, with the Queens Denim Rockers. If this were journalism, I’d have to disclose that these three are drinking buddies from a local watering hoel. (In LIC, though, I’d have to write a disclosure about just about every show I see.) Which is to say, I may be a wee bit biased. I’m assuming I don’t have to cover the basics: slashing punkish hard-core rock, unpretentious and unpretty; great songwriting, and enough energy to run the neighborhood’s air conditioners through a long hot summer. And then it happened: one perhaps slightly inebriated local guitarist started to mosh; three distractingly lovely Irish lasses began to pogo – and people were dancing! Yes, it’s not Williamsburg, we’re not hipsters, and we actually react to the music. So, despite some technical problems, the Rockfest ended as a celebration of rock; summer is here, and the time is right. Welcome to Queens!
The Silver Shark is always moving, just under the surface of the LIC scene. He comes up suddenly to snap up some wine and music, and perhaps bare his teeth at nearby lovely mermaids – though he generally doesn't bite. You can catch an occasional glimpse of him at your favorite LIC venue, and regularly here at his blog.
