Washington Square Park remembers 9/11 with indie rock explosions…
Washington Square Park has (like most public spaces in New York City) its fair share of distractions, especially on a sunny Monday afternoon. This, of course, was a Monday that New York will Never Forget, but that didn’t stop the swarms of NYU kids from lounging around the central fountain, skating and buying hot dogs and taking photos of each other with their cameras (so they, too, will Never Forget). It did, though, mean that Washington Square Park’s annual, free, 9/11 indie rock showcase was in full swing. From 11am to 4pm, the park’s department packs in 8 different groups that perform in the park’s south east corner, sell CDs, t-shirts, and other junk to passers-by.
Not that anyone notices. Or that anyone can blame them. When I arrived, the guy on the mic was lazily strumming his guitar and repeating “Consciousness stew… consciousness stew… I cook it every morning and eat it at night…” which has to be one of the stupidest hooks I’ve heard this week. The next was some weird synth/sitar-type group, which, while thankfully did not have any vocals, didn’t get much attention either. The problem was that New Yorkers are just too busy to notice quiet mediocrity, and if you’re going to perform outside, you’d better yelp.
That is exactly what Don Van Conrad, the lead singer of headlining group, The Medics, did when he got up on stage. Not that you could understand him, but I think it was something about animals, and possibly losing an eye, before bashfully asking if anyone in the crowd had a bottle opener for his soda. The one homeless guy in front of the stage was happy to oblige. Last year, when The Medics played an early set at this very same show, they were still working on their first CD (called “Shangri-La,” released in January 2006). Heck, they were still in high school. But by now they’ve been through their fair share of record contracts, venues, and broken guitars, and have honed their poppy, Beach-Boys-playing-punk-music-in-their-Dad’s-garage-style music down to a science. Don Van took a gulp of his soda, and they dived right into a new track, “The Bomb,” slated for their new full-length LP.
I know for a fact that you could hear them in the surrounding NYU classrooms. One of my friends was in English class at the time, and she told me later that the professor eventually gave up, because people were having such a hard time hearing each other. By the time they were on their third song of the set, half the park had picked themselves up and wandered over to the stage to see what was going on. Cameron Wisch, only 17, plays the drums so fast you can barely see his hands, along with Adir Cohen, who keeps the whole thing together with his bass (and as a spokesperson between sets, when Don Van’s rants become particularly unintelligible). The two guitarists (Will Vunderink and Don Van Conrad) both live together in a recording studio in upstate New York and their time together shows as they burn through the 45 minute set. By the time they’re finished, half the crowd has come to the front to get their hands on one of their CDs, or shiny white analog records.
The Medics are playing an all ages show at Don Hills (not far from PACE… where the elitist hipster dance party MisShapes takes place) on Thursday, September 21st. It’s a dingy little space, but it’s their dingy space, and seeing them at home is worth crossing Canal St. for.