Despite the threats of Tropical Storm Danny making the weekend a complete washout, the skies cleared by early afternoon as hundreds converged on the Williamsburg Waterfront, Sunday August 30^th, for the final free show of this summer’s Jelly NYC Pool Parties. It had been a long, hot (and rainy!) summer and this line up of bands seemed to be the best way to finish off the successful free concert series.

First up was Austin band, Vega, who didn’t waste any time in getting right down to the goods with lots of on-stage grooving. Lead singer, Alan Palomo, a force on the synthesizer, had the crowd rushing towards the stage to dance to his eclectic set of 80’s style synthpop. While this was my first time seeing Vega, they put on quite an energetic show and the crowd’s enthusiasm was contagious. I was surrounded by people who knew all the lyrics to such songs as “No Reasons” and “All Too Vivid,” as they danced wildly and clapped along to the electronic selections…much to the delight of Palomo and the rest of the band.

After dancing quite a bit, it was time to take things down a notch with Baltimore band, Beach House. The crowd retreated to the grassy knolls around the stage or stretched out on the pavement to enjoy the ambient sounds. Listening to Beach House is like drowning blissfully in an ocean of melody. Victoria Legrand’s dreamy voice brings me back to my college day obsession with divinely moody shoegazer bands like Slowdive and Windy & Carl – Beach House is like the slightly poppier kid sister of these quintessential 90’s indie bands. Victoria has a voice that would give even the coldest of hearts a fuzzy, warm feeling and goosebumps, to boot. Playing songs from both their 2006 self-titled debut and their 2008 release Devotion, Beach House had the crowd completely hypnotized, and it was a great opener for the headliners, Grizzly Bear.

The Brooklyn-based band took the stage just as the sun started to set over the New York City skyline. The crowd was both tipsy and sunburned by this point and swooning over the intoxicating melodies of lead vocalists, Daniel Rossen and Ed Droste …it was an ideal ending to the summer. Donning perfect Williamsburg gear, as if they were one of the crowd, Grizzly Bear played songs from 2004’s Horn of Plenty, their 2006 release Yellow House, and their most recent album, 2009’s Veckatimest. I’m always surprised when a band can sound just as great live at an outdoor venue, as they do on the album, and Grizzly Bear managed to pull this off flawlessly. I stepped away from the crowd just as they started to play “Two Weeks,” and found myself leaning up against their gear simply labeled “Grizzly;” I closed my eyes and let myself be overcome by their hauntingly, beautiful vocals, one great song after another.

Before Grizzly Bear took the stage, Senator Charles Schumer spoke to the audience and as he exited the stage he kept saying something about Jay-Z and Beyoncé making an appearance. Sure enough, on our way out, we ran into Jay-Z and Beyoncé (who were beyond friendly and shaking everyone’s hands!)…turns out the two are fans of Grizzly Bear, and how could they not be? The Brooklyn boys are pretty damn talented and put on a spectacular live set.

Grizzly Bear will continue their tour with Beach House through September and October, and I definitely recommend seeing these two bands play live back to back…they complement each other perfectly. I’ll say it again: swoon…

Filed Under:
New York

One Response to “Grizzly Bear, Beach House, Vega @ Williamsburg Waterfront, Brooklyn: August 30, 2009”

1. Tina Liao says:

   September 2, 2009 at 2:11 pm

   so bummed i missed it! yay brooklyn. these parties were rad.