PLANET CHOCKO – art/music/movies/beyond

Northside Festival 2012

June 29th, 2012 by chocko

The Northside Festival is a Brooklyn celebration of music, art, film and entrepreneurship. On the first 2 days of the festival there was a trade show at the warehouse on Kent Ave. and N. 5th Street featuring young start-ups and new innovative companies. I always like to pick up freebies at those type of events. I scored some hand sanitizer, candy and some pens. I went back to Brooklyn on Saturday night for some music…

Ape School were playing their dreamy, indie pop at Brooklyn Bowl while weekend party people bowled the night away. Michael Johnson is the lead singer of this band of gorillas and he kind of sounded like James Mercer of The Shins. Hipster-chick-with-glasses-on-keyboards alert! Wowzers.

Next, I went over to Public Assembly to check out some bands at the Academy Records show. First up was Golden Clouds, a band I’ve never heard of but they sounded great. They played some of that dirty, drunken bluesy rock and roll. They were like the NY Dolls, but without all that glam shit going on. I recognized members from the band Stupid Party in the mix. Yo, what happened to Stupid Party? Anybody know?

Nude Beach…I saw these guys play at Generation Records last year and they blew me away with their real deal blue-collar rock infused with just enough punk to make you want to pump your fist and break something. Their “II” album is getting re-released on Other Music Recording Co and are slated for an in-store performance at Other Music on August 13.

Next up was Laura Stevenson & The Cans at the nearby Music Hall of Williamsburg. Laura is a witty, young and talented lady and has surrounded herself with an equally talented band. Laura always seems to have a great sense of humor and tonight was proud to have her parents in the audience and her name on the marquee. Laura will be taking a little break from shows after some surgery, but we’re sure to see her again later in the summer playing more shows and festivals. Get well soon!

My night ended with the furious punk sounds of The Black Black at The Charleston. I’ve never been to a show at The Charleston. The show took place in the dingy basement of the bar. The basement might hold about 20 people and I watched the show while standing in a puddle of an unknown substance. I kept telling myself that it was only water or beer. After the band played I stumbled outta the basement while the DJ upstairs blasted “Mother” by Danzig. Back in the day, that would have been enough to get me pumped up and jump into the basement for some more punk action, but Chocko was pooped and needed to get back to the Mothership. More Northside Fest coverage at a later date!