Northside Festival (Day 1) - Recapping a day of disaster!

Northside Festival | Day 1 | June 11, 2009



Let me just start out by saying that I appreciate the Northside Festival and everything it's trying to accomplish. That being said, it seems to be off to a shaky start. I decided to get my badge as early as possible to avoid a post-work rush. Things hadn't quite been fully set up at around 3:15 when I got to the pick-up location, but the staff and volunteers were friendly enough and helped out fairly quickly. Plus, there was no line. So far, so good. I opted out of the free Heineken Light at Studio B available to badgeholders from 5-8 (I figured I could always grab some one of the other days), and instead went to the first scheduled show: Aldenbarton at Bar Matchless at 7:30PM. Actually, I had wanted to see Crime Novels (who was supposed to play at 8:30), but I figured it would be worth it to check out the band beforehand. The room was actually empty, so I did end up swinging by Studio B for a free Heineken, and then jetted back over to Bar Matchless.



Aldenbarton was on the stage! Woo! They originally hail from my homestate of New Hampshire and are also Jason Anderson's backing band (when he requires one). The songs were catchy; the band was friendly--heck, things were actually starting off pretty well. Then as they finish their set, the soundman reveals that Crime Novels had not yet shown up. Uh-oh. I waited around to talk to the band, who mentioned that their show had only been scheduled two days prior (I guess that's why it's on the website, but not in the printed booklet). At around 8:35, it seemed like Crime Novels was a total no-show, so I moved on.



Uncensored Interview were putting on an event at Union Pool. I have done some writing for UI in the past, so it was great to see folks again. Perhaps even better was seeing an acoustic set from Ivana XL. She fumbled a few times, but was otherwise great.

I didn't stick around too long, because I wanted to get to the new DIY space, Shea Stadium (an awful yet brilliant name), for Dynasty Handbag, Marnie Stern, and Magic Markers. Strike one: Marnie Stern canceled. Strike two: Shea Stadium wasn't accepting badges. Not that they reached badge capacity or anything...just flat out not accepting them.



I ended up at Public Assembly, but actually went into the wrong room. I don't know what band was playing, but apparently, it wasn't actually part of the Northside Festival.



I finally found myself on the correct side of Public Assembly to catch a few songs from Free Energy. Here's hoping tomorrow goes a little smoother!