Northside Festival, Brooklyn's answer to SXSW, brings hundreds of artists, filmmakers and tech companies to Williamsburg for one week in June. As part of the festival, there are performances every day and night, including Saturday afternoon's free concert featuring Against Me! along with openers, Cayetana and Mitski.
After waiting around on the hot asphalt for a few hours, circling the vendors offering free ice cream, sodas, and wine, the first band Cayetana took to the stage shortly after 3:30pm for some indie pop punk out of Philadelphia. Formed in 2011, Cayetana is a three piece all-female group, featuring Kelly Olsen, Allegra Anka, and lead vocalist, Augusta Koch. Their debut album, Nervous Like Me is out now on Tiny Engines.
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| Cayetana photo creditMD |
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| Mitski photo credit MD |
Against Me! took to the stage as the sun was beginning bend behind the boxy condos lining the Williamsburg waterfront. Wearing a shirt reading "Gender is Over", lead singer Laura Jane Grace and her band mates did not disappoint, with a rowdy, 90 minute set of old songs and new songs off their latest album, Transgender Dysphoria Blues, which was written around the time that Grace came out as a transgender woman.
Songs included:
- "Pints of Guinness Make You Strong" from Reinventing Axl Rose
- "Don't Lose Touch" and "Miami" from Searching for Clarity
- "Thrash Unreal" and "The Ocean" from New Wave
- "I Was a Teenage Anarchist" from White Crosses
- "Unconditional Love" and "Black Me Out" from Transgender Dysphoria Blues
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| Against Me! photo credit MD |
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| Against Me! photo credit MD |
Born in Nashville, bred in Seattle and now living in Brooklyn, I'm a writer with a passion for live music and discovering new artists. I am the founder and Editor-in-Chief of 2scene4thescene.com.