[In case you missed it] … Every summer for ten years straight, The Village Voice has tossed New York a golden indie-rock bone with its popular (not a dirty word in this case) Siren Music Festival showcasing a well-curated roster of artists. This year they decided to pull a switch-a-roo, doing away with Coney Island’s Siren to debut Manhattan’s 4Knots Music Festival – a showcase with basically the same vibe as before, only written in a different font and held at a better location. Land ahead…
Ahoy! Earlier this month on Saturday, July 16, we did 4Knots Fest at the South Street Seaport. Many of the recognizable signs of The Village Voice’s summer music festival tradition were there: ninety-plus degree weather, swarms of sweaty indie kids, crazy outfits, cheap beer, and bands galore. Except this year there were way more tourists, only one stage, and sadly no funnel cake. 
We’ve been long time fans of the festival and have been to our share of Siren shows, but when we heard that things were changing we have to admit – we were caught off guard, though pleasantly surprised …
The folks at The Village Voice definitely made significant changes from Siren, most of which are good (the totally upgraded V.I.P. area being one). One disappointment was that there was only one stage, therefore not as many headliner acts as we’ve seen at Siren fests. But since this also meant zero time spent elbowing our way through the crowd between stages in the hot, hot heat to catch as many performances as we can, we let that one go. It was so hot that we weren’t even upset at first when some kid spilled his beer all over us, but somehow it wasn’t nearly as nasty as it can get at Coney Island.
The seaport shops and bar/restaurants surrounding the festival’s edge are of course geared (and priced) for tourists – not the usual cheap, fattening but oh-so satisfying varieties of food you’d get back in Brooklyn at Siren. Still, despite the absence of corn dogs, gyro, fried chicken and cotton candy, the true staple of any festival – the beer – prevailed. That’s all one really needs anyway.
And of course, there is the music.
The lineup was actually pretty tasty, if we do say so. Headliners included The Black Angels and Titus Andronicus, featuring performances by Mr. Dream, Eleanor Friedberger, Oberhofer, Davila 666, Titus Andronicus, and DJ sets by Brahms, Punches, Finger on the Pulse, Dan Deacon, and Yeasayer.
Beer-soaked though we were, some of the performances were incredible – hello Oberhofer and Davilla 666, two of our favorites from the day. Not our favorite thing of the day: the mosh pit that Davilla 666 stirred to life which Titus Andronicus took to ridiculous heights when frontman Patrick Stickles jumped in. Hence, the beer dump. Thanks, Stickles.
And if you’re not a fan of beer that turns warm within minutes, you could take a little jaunt aboard the ship docked next to the stage for a cocktail and some shade.
The Black Angels closed out the evening – probably our very favorite of the day – as the sun went down and the mosh pit transformed into a sleepily swaying river of exhausted little punks.
All in all, we had fun. We like the changes The Village Voice made, and we like boats. So. We’ll definitely go back – maybe with a captain’s hat. See you next year mates!
Hipstamatic photos courtesy of Kendra Jones. For more, better photos, check out the 4knots photo album on Facebook.
