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Siren Music Festival 2008 at Coney Island
By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 20, 2008
Modified Jul 28, 2010
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By
John Del Signore
Published Jul 20, 2008
Modified Jul 28, 2010
Share
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Yesterday was an appropriately blistering day for this year's eighth annual Village Voice Siren Music Festival at Coney Island, which, with the right frame of mind, can be a total blast. Yesterday had everything we've come to expect from the annual indie rock extravaganza: massive crowds of dehydrating hipsters, fresh clams on the mobbed boardwalk, and a bulging, unmanageable lineup of 14 bands on two stages.
Those who stuck through until the evening were rewarded with headlining sets from one of indie rock’s deans, Stephen Malkmus (joined by his Jicks) and Canada’s anthemic Broken Social Scene. Malkmus ended the festival on the mainstage with an absurd cover of Eddie Money's "Two Tickets to Paradise," which capped a varied set that included his requisite lyrical forgetfulness as well as a show-stopping rendition of "Real Emotional Trash," the title track off his last album.
Though there was talk last year that the Siren Festival’s days were numbered, it's still uncertain how the controversial development plans for the amusement district will effect the event. But nobody seemed too concerned about it yesterday, when the main priority was avoiding sunstroke. Our priority was getting total photo coverage of every single band that played yesterday, including the house band at Cha Cha's, whose cover of "Honkey Tonk Woman" while we were waiting for the bathroom edged out "Two Tickets" for best cover song of the day.
Tagged
beach house
Broken Social Scene
concert
Dodos
dragons of zynth
islands
malkmus
Music
parts and labor
photos
ra ra riot
review
rock
siren
times new viking
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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