White Rabbits, We Are Scientists rock Coney Island

The Black Lips, New York Dolls and We Are Scientists all performed at what could be the last-ever Siren Festival at Coney Island on Saturday (July 21).

Fresh from their appearance on the David Letterman show, New York’s own White Rabbits launched proceedings on the smaller Stillwell Stage, situated just metres from the main stage on Surf Avenue.

Nestled in the Astroland amusement park on the boardwalk, Elvis Perkins in Dearland and Noisettes, all performed sunshine-filled sets at the day-long festival, possibly in the final year of its’ seven year run following the sale of Astroland to developers who plan to revamp the area.

Altanta’s The Black Lips made an impact on the main stage, producing live chicken named Popcorn, and proceeding to blast the moshing audience with thousands of (pillow) feathers, before an amorous onstage embrace, while over at the Stillwell StageDetroit Cobras and Lavender Diamond warmed-up the crowd for the highly anticipated Voxtrot from Austin whose stand out moment was ‘Kid Gloves’, from their recently released self-titled debut.

Despite technical difficulties including a muted mic for a spell, MIA pressed ahead with gut-punching bass-heavy set, while We Are Scientists treated the crowd to a couple of songs from their recently recorded second album, including ‘Impatient’ and ‘Spoken For’.

Recently reformed aging headliners New York Dolls competed with Stillwell’s last band Cursive for the dwindling crowd who flagged and faded following a day in the relentless sun and heat.

--By our New York staff.
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