Screaming Females storm the Bowery Ballroom
"It was really hot at Siren Fest, but I didn't really wanna have my boobs out. People might think it was sexual." photo by Rebecca SmeyneWilly Siegel at Siren Fest 2010 When Baltimore art-rock group Ponytail played the Voice's Siren Festival last summer, people noticed two things: That Ponytail is ... More >>
The year in music, circa 2010, started at the Cake Shop, with a shred-down to the New Year courtesy of Siren Festival MVP-to-be Marissa Paternoster and her band Screaming Females. After a tour through the NYE fetes of the Lower East Side and Williamsburg, that night ended amidst a marathon sh ... More >>
A pair of late bloomers, guitarist/vocalist Brian King and drummer/vocalist David Prowse had never been in a band before they graduated from the University of Victoria and started chaffing against responsible adulthood and career jobs. Which meant that when the Canadian duo formed Japandroids--pr ... More >>
Love this guy. Pic by Rebecca Smeyne.Fresh off a triumphant coronation at our very own Siren Festival a few weeks back, the indefatigable Ted Leo is doing yet another free show, this very Sunday at Brooklyn Bowl, with Darlings and ArpLine, at the behest of the Jelly Pool Parties cabal, whose ... More >>
So much for dressing for the weather. Photos by Rebecca SmeyneAs you may have derived from weather reports, or common sense, or Twitter, or me, it was tremendously fuckin' hot Saturday afternoon in Coney Island, home of the nonetheless raucous and lively tenth-annual Siren Festival, wh ... More >>
Not again! Photo by Rebecca Smeyne.In the week we mostly spent anticipating tomorrow's Siren Festival, we talked at length with headliner Ted Leo, celebrated at a pre-party with Monotonix, and looked back at nine years worth of past triumphs. See you there, hopefully?
Yup, that's an Amebix t-shirt. Photo by Mark HewkoThis weekend, Ted Leo returns to the Voice's annual Siren Music Festival for the record-setting third time, after performing in 2003 and DJing back in 2008. In anticipation, we called him up to talk about the rumors of his impending retirement ... More >>
Every summer, Coney Island gets taken over for a Saturday by a mass of incredible music, and the mass of fans who hop on the F or the Q to get to one of the furthest edges of Brooklyn to hear them. The best part? It's free, and it's ours: The Siren Fest is here again. This year's headliner? Mod-r ... More >>
BV's got the first available track from Castle Talk, the latest from agreeably scuzzy New Brunswick scuzz-rockers Screaming Females, one of the finest acts to grace the stage at this weekend's Siren Festival. Record's due in September, though iron-lunged singer/guitar-thrasher Marissa Paterno ... More >>
Rebecca SmeyneMonotonix at Europa Big week around these parts. Not only does this Saturday, July 17 mark the tenth anniversary edition of Siren Festival, but in the lead-up to the big day, we're just announcing a fairly amazing free pre-party that will take place this Thursday, July 15. Details are ... More >>
The tenth-anniversary line-up of the our Siren Festival is already stacked. Matt & Kim, Ted Leo, Surfer Blood, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, the Night Marchers, Screaming Females, Earl Greyhound, Wye Oak, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Harlem. But as of this morning, there're four new names to add to that l ... More >>
Fantastic New Brunswick basement-rockers Screaming Females were recently on tour in the Southwest. They aren't any more. This is why. It is incredibly long, incredibly funny, incredibly heartbreaking. Photos of four people mashed into a three-seater U-Haul. References to huevos rancheros, Bur ... More >>
photo by Dan Monick Continuing along with Siren Fest's tenth-anniversary theme of rehosting past performers, Brooklyn-based We Are Scientists (Siren Festival, class of 2007) have been tapped to play the Music Hall of Williamsburg after-party on Saturday, July 17. Tickets go on sale tomorrow at noon ... More >>
In yr face. Photo by Rebecca SmeyneIn the week the world learned how dangerous a truffle-flavored french fry really can be, we watched in horror as the New York Times Magazine penned a brutal takedown of M.I.A.--who retaliated by going after the journalist who wrote it, of course. Were you pe ... More >>
If the ace, tenth-anniversary themed line-up of our very own Siren Festival--featuring Matt & Kim, Ted Leo, Surfer Blood, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Harlem--wasn't convincing you, how about some new additions? San Diego ex-Hot Snakes guitar slingers The Night Marchers, the tiny firebra ... More >>
Antibalas So swept up in announcing the first batch of performers for this year's Siren Festival, we neglected to mention that afrobeat collective Antibalas is playing the after-party for the Obies, the Voice's very own annual Off-Broadway Awards, on May 17 at Webster Hall. Their theater connectio ... More >>
Salute. Photo by Sam Horine.In the week we finally got to unleash the initial Siren Festival details on the world (July 17! 10th anniversary! Matt & Kim, Ted Leo, Surfer Blood, Pains of Being Pure at Heart, and Harlem! Totally free!), we celebrated Cinco De Mayo like Anna Wintour, Pharrell, a ... More >>
Paul Antonson This year, we proudly celebrate the tenth anniversary of the Siren Festival. In the history of the our free Coney Island corndog bonanza, no band has ever played Siren twice. This was a conscious decision on behalf of our fearless festival founder and organizer (who we've kindly rewar ... More >>
That's how you listen to Ghostface! Photo by Rebecca SmeyneIn the week M.I.A. broke the internet in a tidal wave of blood and guts and red hair, we did our best to put it back together.
Rain or shine, fools Since you already pick up the Voice every week in print, you already saw on page 54, beside Michael Hoinski's tale of watching Roky Erickson eat rocky road ice cream, that the 10th Annual Siren Festival is happening again this year. But it's worth repeating that official date f ... More >>
Governors Island July 24; tix on sale Friday here. Full lineup: M.I.A., Sleigh Bells, Theophilus London, Skream, Benga, Ninjasonik,12th Planet, Nguzunguzu, Borgore, Destruct, and the proverbial TBA. Here's an interview we did with Hard promoter Gary Richards back in October. You should totall ... More >>
Twitpic by tedsink. Last weekend's Siren Festival left many of us groggy, and a good thing too, as the week that followed was best seen in soft focus. President Obama and Henry Louis Gates were the comedy team of the week. Mayor Bloomberg, angry about the way mayoral school control ... More >>
Look, it's a member of Das Racist eating food. Photo by Sam Horine. In the week we spent the early hours of recovering from Siren Festival--highlights of which were many and varied and included a photo of Das Racist daring to eat a type of food the duo doesn't rap about--we were officially and ... More >>
Some sort of massively-attended concert thing sponsored by the Village Voice happened at Coney Island this weekend. "Heavy and loud... aggressive guitar tacticians," says Metromix. "All the beautiful eccentrics came out of the woodwork," says Short and Sweet NYC. "Do not go to Siren Fest hungover," ... More >>
You're going to the Siren Music Festival, and here's 10 reasons why: 1. Admission is free. 2. It's your last chance to catch Frightened Rabbit in New York this summer. Frontman Scott Hutchison, noted for slopping "filthy, twisted stuff on top of really quite polished bass," sings about dismembered ... More >>
"I don't mind rollercoasters, but some of those things that put you in a weird state of velocity are a bit upsetting" Frightened Rabbit started to gain a following after last year's sleeper hit Midnight Organ Fight. With a sound that's relatively reminiscent of the early days of Bright Eyes, the ... More >>
"I like games where you can throw things and break things." This is purposefully washed out, though we have no idea why. Violet Clark comprises half of the force behind Grand Duchy, a collaboration between her and her husband Frank Black. With Clark taking a majority of the vocals, you'd never kno ... More >>
Heed the Siren! Here comes the 9th Annual Siren Music Festival and related content: Gleefully hostile, says Rob Harvilla of Future of the Left. On new album: acoustic guitar. Problem? "It's irrelevant what old fans or old bands think," says Falco. "If anything, it makes it more exciting to push i ... More >>
Have some rock 'n' roll, on us
Rebecca Smeyne In the week one of us had to publicly defend himself against the crime of using the phrase "Fey Highwayman," we watched with amusement as close SOTC affiliate Christopher R. Weingarten became a viral video poster boy for the death of music criticism. Poetic choice of t-shirts, Chris! ... More >>
From last year's Siren Fest Hey! Siren Festival! Coney Island! Free concert! Thrown by this paper! All-ages! Nine hours long! Hot dogs! (Not free!) Bands! (Which are!) Beach! Sand! Skeeball! (Rain or) Shine! Naked people! Oysters! Rollercoaster! Motion sickness! Enthusiasm! Exclamation points! New ... More >>
Damon Albarn lends this "blind couple from Mali" a dash of Britpop
Hey, it was porn week! Zach live-blogged the Dim Mak porn video. Jadakiss vowed to wake up beside you naked. Peter Saville's Erotic House of Pop streamed online. Asher Roth debuted his sweet new Bukkake-inspired video. (Speaking of which, Asher Roth should probably lose that hypeman.) The police ... More >>
Breaking! Preliminary lineup for the Village Voice Siren Festival is announced: Built to Spill (You know them! "My stepfather looks just like David Bowie..." 'Member that time?), The Raveonettes (that guy and that girl), Frightened Rabbit, Grand Duchy, Monotonix, and Micachu and the Shapes. There ... More >>
Meet the first, and weirdest, and possibly best band on the bill
We only do this once a year
Creative beer receptacles and futile after-party searches after a long day at Coney Island
Visa issues resolved, M.I.A. can finally show us what she learned while in exile
It isnt summer without Coney Island and the Siren Fest
Reassured scenesters navigate two make-believe worlds
Find everything you're looking for in your city
Find the best happy hour deals in your city
Get today's exclusive deals at savings of anywhere from 50-90%
Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city
