Day three of Northside Music Festival was the fullest, and best. This is when I finally decided to take advantage of the Jameson Black Barrel lounge, where there was free Jameson whiskey, Brooklyn BBQ, lobster mac n’ cheese, “cold toddies” which were basically whiskey slushies, AND a demonstration from Jameson’s Master Cooper himself, Ger Buckley. Now, because of him, I know exactly how to “raise a barrel.” Thanks, Ger, you know your way around a whiskey barrel, have plenty of jokes and funny stories to tell, and gave one of the best toasts with a whiskey in hand that I’ve ever heard. Makes me proud as hell to be a quarter Irish.
I had to catch Tampa Bay post-punk band Merchandise, along with Destruction Unit and Milk Music at 285 Kent. I was actually surprised that a mosh pit didn’t break out at Destruction Unit’s set, who were just that since they came on like a rage of feedback-fueled fire. Three of the five guys were sporting dark sunglasses while walloping on their guitars/drum set, and I’m fairly certain they played so hard and loud something started burning. They wrecked a lot of what was on stage, including lead screamer’s mic stand and guitar, until towards the end he just grabbed the drum mic in front of the kick and started singing into that.
Milk Music was on next, who were way more melodic in comparison. Those guitar solos were definitely reminiscent of Dinosaur Jr., a reference the band has most assuredly heard before, but it’s meant as a compliment and only a reference point. The Olympia, Wash., band is treading their own path between genres, and seemingly comfortable in not caring to fit in anywhere. They had this sincerity about them, especially in vocalist.guitarist Alex Coxen’s style of singing. At times he sounded as if he was struggling to get it out, but he meant to choke and screech. He was performing but not trying to please. No flash photography, please. Doesn’t he know that’s the kind of thing people want to latch onto, and document before anyone else does? Stand out track “I’ve Got A Wild Feeling” sounds like a statement of how Milk Music does what they want and don’t care, but it’s also an incitement for others to explore their own.
Tour mates Merchandise were ending the night, in a fit of charisma and instigation.
Singer Carson Cox was looking so Florida in his camo shirt, and maybe on purpose so no one would mistake them for Northerners. They’re proud of where they’re from and the scene they’ve come from, which is cool because if more people did that instead of just moving to the cool places, then there would be a lot more widely recognized cool places. Maybe cool isn’t even the right word. Maybe it’s just unashamed, or confident. From the start Cox was asking the soundman to give he all he had in the monitor, and if that was it that’s what he’d work with and blow it out.
Blow it out they did. There was an instant mosh pit, which I (learning from mistakes this time) quickly slipped out of to the side of the stage, where I had more of the band’s perspective of the audience, which was fists in the air and legs flying up from the crowd surfers. Cox and guitarist Dave Vassalotti repeatedly turned toward each other, grinning widely at what was happening, and laughing at everything in their turn. Fort sport, exhilaration, and truth. They were having fun, the crowd was having fun, and it was a general hells yes set. At one point, Vassalotti just slammed done on his knees and went crazy on his guitar an defects pedals, freaking out possessed-style, while Cox continued to incite the audience and point with his own guitar head at them. Bottom line, they rocked out, and the room rocked with them. Whatever it is that the band’s goal is, whether they want to be labeled or liked or not, this show was proof that that are an electric band to see live, and an experience to talk about.
