M. Ward @ Castle Clinton

Took about 150 pictures tonight and this is the only one you can kind of see Ward's face.

M. Ward played what could be called 3 mini sets with a couple of encores, all for free in the pleasant Castle Clinton venue. All for free.

Ward is a husky throated 20-something with a vintage quality that sings like he's gone through 65 years of 2 pack a day smoking. An extended version of 2005's Transistor Radio instrumental opener "You Still Believe in Me" commences the showcasing Ward's trademark ringing guitar riffs along with his back up guitarist, a few minutes later the bassist and drummer landed on stage to flesh out the sound. Ward kept with the Transistor theme with the slowed down, "Swethearts on Parade," "Paul's Song," and "Fuel For Fire."

Ward then shifted to piano taking on everybody's favorite simplistic yet rousing "Big Boat" and a beautiful rendition of "Vincent O' Brien" from Ward's outstanding 2004 release Transfiguration of Vincent.

The rest of band left the stage, and left Ward to return to his extraordinary arm extension (some might call it a guitar) alone on stage serenading new ears daily with a sound unlike any other they have ever really heard, the way he has been most of his career. He showed off the stripped down with a few tracks including "I'll be Yr Bird."

The backing band returned for a few more tracks including Transistor's haunting gem, the insomnia tale "Four Hours in Washington." "Four" commences with slow ringing guitars that build into the patented M. Ward aggressive strumming, which is eerily reminiscent of an the saddest omission in the setlist "Sad, Sad Song." Still, the crowd was excited to hear it.

Two encores included a segway into a cover of Creedence's "Jeremiah Was a Bullfrog" or whatever that song is called. Yo know what I'm talking about

This crowd including Mr. Conor Oberst who I happened to snag a picture with in my unkempt condition. At least, the lady whose gray hair ruined all of my pictures wasn't in the way. Free shows bring out a lot of useless people.

Conor looked real happy to bothered but he was cordial in small conversation. He did smile in a pic with my pal businessman Dave though.


M. Ward will be at Maxwell's in Hoboken tomorrow. I suggest checking it out. Castle Clinton was pleasant venue perfect for the acoustic singer/songwriter breed that populate it's upcoming shows. Too bad Calexico was up against Dino Jr. and Broken Social Scene last week.

Siren Fest - Coney Island

It was quite a day at Coney Island on Saturday. Unlike the past few years it was not deathly not but the humidity was disgusting. Still, it was a perfect day for some rock as the rain stayed away and this amazing free fest came to play as they say.

Be Your Own Pet's Lead Cutie Explodes with Youthful Yea Yea Yeas Style

Be Your Own Pet - As we arrived a little young blond girl and a bunch of middle teens were hopping around on stage like a mini version of the Yea Yea Yeas. Only saw 2 or 3 songs but people were begging for more. Their response... "We don't have anymore songs." no band should ever say that. There is always something and what the crowd wants, within reason, they usually get.

Dungen's Lead Man Does his best Jimmy Page

Dungen - Swiss psych rock throwback, pronounced Doon-Yon with style panache and virtuoso musical skill and a classic lead singer to boot. Look for their double disc release in August. Quite a show, think a rocking, more personal Sigur Ros with Darkness-style. Very sweet. Only one member could speak English and he was pretty humrous in his Broken English telling the crowd, "It was nice playing for you. There are more people in this crowd then live in our country."

Q and Not U

I wasn't much a fan of Q and Not U but this show was impressive. This energetic DC trio put in quite a performance. Too bad they are breaking up after a few more shows.

Spoon's Lead Singer Britt Daniels

Spoon - Siren didn't have the major names this year. They lost a lot to Pitchfork's Intonation but the bands they got were quality for the most part. The crowd was all waiting for spoon, you could tell. Britt Daniels just conquered the crowd and rock them all the way through highlighting tracks off their latest critical darling release Gimme Fiction, a superb disc with Kill The Moonlight favs like "Jonathan Fisk" and "The Way We Get By."


Now to the negative. Brendan Benson was the second to last performer on the main stage. He, his band, and his songs were stagnant. I remember hearing his old album Lapalco before it was re-recorded it was coy and fun like Ben Kweller. Now he's trying to hand. Alternative to Love is like a Maroon 5 copycat album. No one should be copying that crapfest.

Also saw about 5 minutes of Morningwood. Boring. They had a lot of energy but they should put it into their songwriting.

Related Links
Siren Festival
BrooklynVegan - Siren Fest Review and pics