Spank Rock, July 18, Siren Festival, Coney Island NYC

The Web site for the award-winning alternative weekly, the Philadelphia City Paper.

options

Spank Rock, July 18, Siren Festival, Coney Island NYC

POSTED: Monday, July 20, 2009, 2:21 PM

Filed Under: Music | Philly Bands | Show concert photos

Photo | John Vettese

"One...more...song?"

So Spank Rock was dragged offstage at Siren Festival this weekend.

I'll get to that in a moment. But first, to explain - I've done a decent job of ignoring the Philly hiphop act since catching his/their opening set for Beck in 2006. For me, it seemed too silly, too sensationalistic to take seriously. Then again, I was in a brooding mopey bastardly frame of mind that fall, and I'm sure that shaped my reaction.

Whichever the case, Spank Rock closed the Village Voice's annual Siren Festival this year, and the time felt right for another shot at appreciation. And their act did make more sense this time. The crew - two DJs, a percussionist, a hype guy, and MCs Spank and Amanda Blank, flanked by a few dozen hangers-on and fans - didn't play a standard rock-show set as much as they turned the rock show into a huge party. Bits of recognizable songs peeped out here and there, but mostly what we saw was stuff like DJ battles, braggart chants, percussionist solos, and dance-offs between people in the wings that spread to bring the larger crowd on Stillwell Ave. into the fold.

Photo | John Vettese

Photo | John Vettese

Photo | John Vettese

To anyone with even a cursory knowledge of hiphop, it should be obvious that this is how things would go down. The scene reminded me of seeing Plastic Little at Sal's a while back; an eradicated boundary between spectator and performer, where they're all in it to have a crazy good time on equal terms. On a critical note, because of this, there was naturally more than a bit of shallowness to the rhymes. Then again, the aim here wasn't conveying a message any greater than "let's have fun." So what the fuck?

Maybe there's a disconnect from that fun when the party is taken out of a club and put on a large stage before a few thousand sweaty people, above them and largely distanced from them - another possible reason, perhaps, why the Tower show rubbed me the wrong way. But it wasn't then or now surprising, and shouldn't have been. Nonetheless, it did surprise the Coney Island security crew.

Photo | John Vettese

Here are my rough recollections of the order of events, a day and some after the fact: just over a half hour into the set, a woman from the wings sashayed to center stage, took off her tanktop and momentarily danced around. She still had a bikini top on, but it was enough to ruffle the feathers of a burly security guard, who promptly stepped in front of her to block what he apparently viewed as a ribald display of skin from the audience. He took her by the shoulders and ushered her offstage.

The set continued, and soon this repeated with a different woman. From here, it was fewer than five minutes before the show went from high energy to shutdown. Some dudes and ladies from the front of the crowd climbed onstage to join the dancing fray, and although their clothes stayed on, the security guard rushed to force them off. They protested, he barked at them. A third bikini-top dancer (maybe the same as the first, repeating her thing) had to be removed. The guard looked like he got in an argument with the percussionist, but I'm not sure. All this happened as the music played, mind you. Finally the engineer at the side of the stage rushed out front and motioned to the main soundboard operator to cut the PA. Everything whirred to a halt, lights went down and the stage was hastily vacated.

Photo | John Vettese

Bikini kill: The second of the dancing fans is removed (center).

Photo | John Vettese

Photo | John Vettese

The perplexed crowd first booed, then a chant of "One more song!" emerged. After a pause, Spank and a few others came out, holding microphones, thinking they'd be allowed to deliver. But when he tried to speak into the mic, he found it was still shut off. Turning around, the MC found the security guard was behind him. Words were exchanged, and the guard's arms soon gripped the performer's shoulder's, unceremoniously leading him offstage as well.

Now, it should be noted I know nothing of how entertainer and promoter contractually agreed the set would go. Considering Monotonix raised hell while set up in the epicenter of the crowd earlier that day, I imagine the Voice's people are relatively permissive as far as each performer's artistic freedom. Maybe Spank's crew was a bit overwhelming; perhaps they imbibed an excess of complimentary Jim Beam in the backstage hospitality tent. Maybe, in all fairness to the security guard, it was simply too much for one person to handle. Whatever snipes I might take at the guy's sour attitude, I absolutely recognize that the stage was seriously understaffed and this sole fellow, gruffness notwithstanding, should not have been the only person responsible for maintaining order. He was in over his head and became understandably flustered.

But from my vantage point up front, there was nothing really wrong with the scene onstage before the guard stepped in. As far as the dancing bikini women were concerned...come on, dude. The festival's on Coney Island; it's a beach. As far as the crowd climbing onstage is concerned...the security's job is to protect performer from spectator, but when performer invites spectator onstage, doesn't that mean all bets are off? Certainly it raises the possibility that all whatever-thousand people from the larger throngs of audience might join in the rush, but there was a big metal barrier those people had to climb across - a mass-riot might be plausible, but hardly seems probable.But I'm honestly not sure how that works; maybe my buddies who work security for EFC can clarify. In general, though, it seemed clear that the scene wasn't nearly as chaotic as it appeared, and the situation escelated unnecessarily, even if Spank Rock isn't your thing.

To be honest, I'm still not 100% sure Spank Rock is my thing. I don't know how much closer I am to taking him/them seriously as musicians or artists. As a performer, though, I am convinced. And it's a shame that what was otherwise such a high-energy, electrifying set had to be cut short.

Photo | John Vettese

Posted by john vettese @ 2:21 PM Permalink | Post a comment

Comments (0)

Q&A with SHARI SOLANIS: "The goal isn't pornography"
SEXY TIME Q&A: I've never had an orgasm during sex with a man — and I'm 30!
NOW SEE THIS: Transit cop arrests marijuana activist for alleged disorderly conduct.
CONCERT REVIEW: Primus (3D & quadraphonic sound) @ The Tower 10/17
Q&A with Tony Goldwyn: "Life is gray, and relationships are, too"
What we're trying to do this weekend
ICEPACK ILLUSTRATED: Indian fare rules, Dunder Mifflin lives on, Tom Jones is a god
Bradley Cooper promises he's not an asshole
Q&A with Goon’s Seann William Scott
CITY PAPER WRITING CONTEST 2013: Send stories! Send poetry!

About this blog

Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

Follow Critical Mass editors Patrick Rapa and Emily Guendelsberger on Twitter:

@mission2denmark | @emilygee

Search this blog:

Topics:

Blog archives:

May
April
March

February
January

Past Archives: