Murder City Devils @ Williamsburg Pool Party

Williamsburg has given us a reason to loosen the grip of our madlove embrace from around our A/Cs, and to venture out into bake-oven temperatures of the waterfront. While Sundays are mostly reserved for the day to recoup after a messy weekend, so as to start the week afresh, the Pool Parties can be the place to listen to live music, drink beer and mostly just hang out, none discouraged by the sweat dripping from our brows. Many people like myself, I suspect, do not know the music they are about to listen to but simply go, just for the fun of it.

Sunday’s turnout attracted a smaller crowd than last week. This could be due to the varying styles of music, which had a more punk-rock theme to it, and in Williamsburg it’s mostly about the Indie scene, or it could be due to the fact that Saturday there were a bunch of other free festivals, including Siren Fest at Coney Island (the music festival sponsored by the Village Voice), so people could have been lacking in continuation. But it was very “chill.” Many were enjoying beverages further away from the stage and sitting by a sprinkler, some hung out down by the river facing the Manhattan skyline, others were playing dodge ball (something I had until then only seen on TV), and then there was the crowd in front of the stage, which only filled out for the final act.

I was one of those hiding away in the shade, away from the music—you could find me drinking wine and eating pizza, which was thin, crispy and had fresh toppings, tasting superior to that which you would ever find at a free festival in England. It was a great place to just be. Rockers were there in numbers, people you would be likely to find in London’s Camden Town, and people I had barely witnessed in my time spent in Williamsburg. Black clothing made a comeback; lots of bandanas and even leather could be spotted behind blurred vision. I can only assume, by the way they decided to act when Murder City Devils began to perform, that they were either fans of that band or people who love to mosh.

We decided to follow the music, moving into the crowd when the band began its performance. Standing a little further back, we were still able to keep to the atmosphere of the rest of the day. It was not until one rattled-up fan came “moshing,” and by moshing I mean barging into me, that I realised nearer to the stage the atmosphere changed. It was down there, just below the stage, that people were really going crazy for the music. I had a great day out, and the fact that it is a day event, ending at around half seven, allowed me to get my head back into action and ready for the week. All in all, it was another ridiculously brilliant, cleverly thought-out, event by the music makers of Williamsburg.