The Siren Calls – Make Your Way South to Coney this Weekend

Fans at Siren Festival in 2008/Photo by Ryan Muir via Flickr

Folks looking to save money and take in quality entertainment will be making a beeline for Coney Island this Saturday for the ninth annual Siren Music Festival, a free all day show featuring 14 bands and two DJs on two sun-soaked stages.

The festival strikes a balance between local acts and those from a more global market, including an array of bands from six different countries. Best-represented, however, is Brooklyn itself, which boasts three bands and a DJ on this year’s set list.

Justine D., the New York City-raised DJ and promoter will be spinning at the Main Stage on West 10th Street all day, while A Place to Bury Strangers will play the Stillwell Avenue Stage at 5:30PM. The latter is led by Oliver Ackermann, who designs and custom-makes his own hand-wired pedals used by bands like TV on the Radio and Spoon, who played at the Siren Festival as well, in 2004 and 2005, respectively.

Bear Hands, a Brooklyn band that remains unsigned, formed in 2006 under unusual circumstances. Guitarist and lead singer Dylan Rau convinced two members of his favorite band In Pieces, future drummer TJ Orscher and bassist Val Loper to record a demo with him, according to Spin Magazine. Their “jangly indie rock sound” will start things off on the Stillwell Stage at 1:30PM.

Another Brooklyn-based group, Tiny Masters of Today, is made up of siblings Ivan, 15 and Ada, 13, whose second album, Skeletons, came out in June. The youngsters have teamed up with Karen O and Nick Zinner of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs in the past, as well as Kimya Dawson. With Ada on bass and Ivan on lead guitar (along with a guest drummer—on Skeletons it’s 18-year-old Jackson Pollis, a member of model Agyness Deyn’s band), the Tiny Masters will open the festival 1PM on the Main Stage.

Headlining the festival are indie rock darlings Built to Spill, whose seventh album—the first in three years—There Is No Enemy, is due out in October. Their rambling riffs offer a contrast to Spank Rock’s electro-rap. The two bands will play at the end of the night on the Main and Stillwell stages, respectively.

Generating a good amount of buzz is Grand Duchy, the latest effort from the Pixies’ Frank Black. This times he’s joined forces with wife Violet Clark, and their debut album Petits Four, which came out in April, is described by Magnet Magazine as “playful and slightly Euro-affected.” According to Black, he and Clark have had to compromise their often-conflicting aesthetics. “I have a problem with something that’s too slick or too pretty, and Violet might embrace that,” he tells Magnet. The husband-wife collaboration will go on at 5:00 p.m. on the Main Stage.

Representing Denmark are two bands that channel the sound of the 60s, the Raveonettes and The Blue Van.  From Tel Aviv comes Monotonix, a band that attracts concert-goers as much for their music as for the experience of seeing them live. From crowd-surfing to flaming cymbals, this is going to be a wild one.

The festival runs from noon until 9pm, and in case nine hours in the sun with your favorite acts isn’t enough, grab a Nathan’s hot dog, hop on an air-conditioned F train and transfer north – the after-party begins at 9PM at The Music Hall of Williamsburg, featuring Francis and the Lights and Gordon Voidwell.

tags: A Place to Bury Strangers, Bear Hands, Built to Spill, Coney Island, Grand Duchy, Justine D., Monotonix, Music Hall of Williamsburg, Nathan’s Hot Dogs, Raveonettes, Siren Festival, Tiny Masters of Today