new york weekend: 4knots music festival

sooo my boltbus didn't explode, actually had working AC AND wi-fi, and was pretty darn close to on time, which is always half the battle of a weekend in NYC, amiright? also, my seatmate on the trip from boston was an infectious disease doctor, and i couldn't help but chuckle at one point at the juxtaposition of my reading material (a cosmo article about...well, cosmo thangs) and his (the journal of infectious diseases). i stopped myself just short of making an STD joke.

but anyways! i ventured down this time around to attend the 4knots music festival at hudson river park in manhattan. the event used to be called sirenfest and was held at coney island, for you music festival junkies. i had been to sirenfest, but not the revamped 4knots, so i was pretty excited. it ended up being a great day, and the pre-and post-festival activities were fun, too!

BOOZE

the library

once i got into town on friday night, i joined gleni and her friend for some food and dranks before we went to see mates of state at the bowery ballroom. after the show, we headed to this nearby dive bar which was uncrowded and awesome at first but went rapidly downhill as the night went on. first, there was the slurring, lonely creep next to us who was trying unsuccessfully to discuss thin lizzy. then, there was the bro who squeezed in between us and tried to pay for shots with gift cards at 1am. the last straw was a group of bridge-and-tunnel douchebags who took my seat and then acted like complete dicks when i alerted them to their indiscretion. GET OFF MY LAWN!

reunion surf bar

everyone, i've found my spirit bar. we stopped in for a nightcap after the festival, and from the moment i walked into the softly-lit room to the sounds of chris brown's "loyal," i knew this was special. they had "graffiti" on the walls:

(there was also one that said "no music requests #noscrubs" and "save a board, ride a surfer." omg.)

i got some drink with grapefruit vodka and grapefruit juice and some sugar rim that was completely light pink and adorable. they also had outlets, which takes a good bar to GREAT in my opinion. always be charging.

BOATS

we paid a teensy bit extra and got the "VIP" tickets for 4knots, which i understood would involve a boat of some sort. but it was so baller, guys. basically like a dinner cruise charter that had a little bar with cute cocktails and AC and comfy seats and some lame-ass snacks, but still. no port-a-pottys and no heatstroke? i was a happy girl. and i was even happier when i spied some rock 'n rollers milling about the boat with us, including bass drum of death. the boat ruled, basically.

AND THERE WERE SO MANY FREE SAMPLES. not on the boat, but at the festival in general. iced coffee, turkey jerky, polar seltzer, ugh i love free stuff so much.

BANDS

we saw this awkward british trio called happyness, and witnessed the brilliance of mikal cronin:

we also swayed along with '90s indie legend steve malkmus of pavement -- who was looking disturbingly tan and had a strange middle school haircut that wasn't really working for me. sounded great, though:

but, i just really want to talk about twin peaks, because they stole the show (and my heart).

i discovered these dudes last year through my favorite internet radio station, The THING!, so i was stoked to finally get to see them live. their video for the total jam "flavor" will give you a great idea of what these guys are about. and it's sooo summery:



the bassist jack (aka rock 'n roll harry styles, as gleni dubbed him) was channeling his inner julian casablancas, saying stuff like "THIS IS MY FIRST TIME ON A BOAT! IT WAS SCARY! I GOT SEASICK! IT WAS GOING WAY TOO FAAAAST!" and "it's not toooo hot out there anymoooore." meanwhile, guitarist clay was my favorite type of musician to watch because of his ridiculous facial expressions, which ranged from blank stare and o-face to goofy grin.

"i'm into this one," i said aloud at one point, pointing at lead singer cadien lake james (what a damn name btw).

"you mean the white trash one?" gleni replied. pretty much! let's also forget about the fact that they're all of 19 and 20 years old. it's fine. best performance of the day, and even steve malkmus gave 'em a shout out during his set. now that's high praise. 

TL;DR: go to reunion surf bar and listen to twin peaks. i'm out!