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For five days last week, New York City became a playground of independent rock, when the CMJ Music Marathon 2010 reigned over Gotham.
By day, the tricks of the music trade were taught and industry representatives were schmoozed. By night, guitars wailed and feet moved. The boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn were lit up by artists as diverse as the city itself.
Musicians like Daft Punk, Ghostface Killah, Black Label Society and Yo La Tengo rocked main stages. Lesser known acts Dark Dark Dark, Cloud Nothings, Revolver and gimmicky Dale Earnhardt Jr. Jr. took on subterranean bars. The shows’ curators were just as varied, from YouTube to New York snob magazines Brooklyn Vegan and The FADER.
In the midst of all the posh and quirk, the rockstar cool and the wild raves came the first serious attendance of the Pine Tree State at the CMJ Marathon. Friday afternoon three Maine bands showed off against three New York counterparts in a “Maine vs. New York Day Party.” Saturday night, seven more Maine acts rocked Brooklyn at our humble state’s first-ever exclusive CMJ Marathon showcase. The entire enterprise was made possible by Portland-based arts blog hillytown.com and its successful fundraising campaign via the website kickstarter.com.
While there was no presence from The Maine Campus at Maine’s bout with the Empire State, we were there for the show on Saturday. Hillytown booked the Trash Bar for the night, a venue in the heart of the hipster haven of Williamsburg. Despite some of its stuck-up neighbors, owner Aaron Pierce accurately described his club in local publication AM New York as, “Just a place where people can come and it doesn’t really matter what kind of shoes you’re wearing” — perfect for the likes of us scrappy Mainers.
Trash’s main doors lead into a warm lounge area, its musical fruits hidden in the back behind heavy curtains where the stage, floor and auxiliary bar lie. The effect is like a passage from the homey to the punk rock, creating a clear sense that this is the room of the party where the fun kids are hanging out. The night certainly made good on that promise.
The show kicked off at 8 p.m. with The Lucid, a band reminiscent of longtime Portland staples As Fast As, minus Spencer Albee’s keys but plus a healthy dose of horns. Foam Castles took to the stage at 8:45 p.m., tearing through a dance-worthy set of shimmering, spacey pop. Castles brought serious energy to Trash’s backroom, driving even the audience’s more self-conscious members to move. Dead Man’s Clothes followed with a heartfelt set somewhat more somber and sobering — perhaps a good thing so early in the night.
Next up was a band from our neck of the Maine woods, Bangor’s Good Kids Sprouting Horns. GKSH brought to Brooklyn their explosive synth pop that was both soulful and party-starting all at once. After their 45 minutes of fun came Marie Stella, a band that recently opened for pub rock band the Hold Steady’s visit to Portland. Stella make gritty stoner rock, softened by lead singer Sydney Bourke’s whispy, schoolgirl vocals.
As midnight approached, Class Machine took the stage, the only other non-Portland band. Class Machine are classic rock enthusiasts who jam without getting too indulgent, sure to appeal to fans of Orono bands like Restless Groove.
The show closed with Holy Boys Danger Club, a dirty rock band with perhaps the most polished and mainstream-ready sound of the night’s lineup. By the end of the show the Trash Bar had been thoroughly rocked — New Yorkers and Mainers alike getting up on the floor and dancing along.
A week of the soon-to-be-big names in alternative rock and the seasoned vets of many more genres was punctuated with a night of some of the best music Maine has to offer. Hillytown’s showcase was a big push for Maine-made art, and above all, a lot of fun.
Bangor Daily News