Siren Music Festival: The Bands – 7.17.10
And we are back… We keep clicking on with Siren Music Fest. This time we have the bands! I got there around 4pm so I missed a lot of the earlier bands but I photographed in chronological order Night Marchers, Earl Greyhound, The Pains Of Being Pure At Heart, Harlem, Ted Leo & The Pharmacists, Cymbals Eat Guitars and Holy Fuck. One band is missing, but I will get to that in the next update.
Of the bands there I was pretty underwhelmed. That’s not to blame the bands, it’s pretty fucking hard to put on a great show during the day time especially when you are playing in 100 degree heat and 20 feet from the crowd. There was a press/vip pit between the band and the real fans making the band play over a bunch of cameras to the crowd. I managed a band for 5 years and one of the things I learned was that no matter what outdoor concerts were a mistake. They always were terrible shows and we turned them down unless they paid a ton or we got to play a museum in Virginia Beach, VA opening for Mudhoney. Seriously.
Anyway, the one band that stood out was Earl Greyhound. They were pretty fun. I also thought it was cool to finally see Ted Leo. Harlem seemed like a band I could have been into if I was at a house party at 2am instead of at the beach. So maybe it was the atmosphere or the heat or the fact that I was too tired, but I was overall unimpressed with the bands. I didn’t get great photos either, which is probably not a coincidence. I pretty much shot every band in less than two songs and then walked back over to the other stage. Back and forth all day. I think it probably just comes down to me being too old for this shit. But I don’t know what 30 year olds are supposed to do for fun, so I guess I will just keep doing it… at least until I get somebody pregnant.
Ps. For 10 bonus points, please vote on which one of these bands has the worst name. It’s a tough choice…
