It was a gigantic empty pool filled with half-drunken revelers, over-serious dodge ball games, oddly relaxed sunbathers, enthused slip n sliders, local fashion designers, ballpark-style food, and most importantly, indie rock bands old and new, blasting tunes on a massive stage, and it gave us the finest Sunday afternoons any Brooklynite could hope for.
Yes, the last of the infamous McCarren Pool Parties has finally taken place, and this one, packed to capacity with Titus Andronicus and Yo La Tengo supplying the parting graces, both epitomized and bode farewell to what the great outdoor celebrations were all about.
The line wrapped all the way around the colossal pool structure (about a decent-sized city block) and an air of both giddy anticipation and incredulous melancholy mingled with the dance-punk tunes being blasted by the early afternoon DJ. This was the spot, after all, that many of these folks waiting in line had returned to, summery Sunday after summery Sunday, for the last three years to see the likes of TV on the Radio, MIA, Blonde Redhead, Band of Horses, the Liars, MGMT, the Hold Steady all for free, and all in a casually twisted, state fair-meets indie rock show environment. Even the New York Times could not help but get a little glum about the series drawing to a close.
I must admit, I found myself getting a little nostalgic as YLT spewed their sonic chaos from the stage. The distortion wafted into an awed, sun-drenched, drunken, appreciative crowd, and maybe it was just because I myself was a little sun-drenched and drunken too, but I kept expecting the emcee to come out at any moment and say, "We are on for next summer!" like he did the year before.
No such luck. After Titus Andronicus joined Yo La Tengo onstage for a joyously charged cover of the Misfit's "Where Eagles Dare," the dazed crowd was left with the somber synth sounds of YLT's classic "Autumn Sweater" to wind down not just the day, but the best concert series ever to come to Brooklyn. -
Brian Merchant /
Photos by Aaron Cansler
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