The Siren Music Festival (a.k.a. Sirenfest) was an annual summertime outdoors concert held in Brooklyn's Coney Island from 2001-2010. It was run by the free arts/politics/current-events newspaper The Village Voice , and was completely free-of-charge. The event drew fans of the indie and experimental rock that comprised the bulk of Sirenfest's performers, as the concert itself was held in high esteem for its high-quality sound and performances and for being free of charge. Self-titled the "premier outdoor indie rock festival," the 2005 event drew upwards of 100,000 fans.
The layout usually involved the Main Stage and the Stillwell Stage, placed two blocks apart, upon which performances could go on simultaneously. Performance times were often staggered to allow the audience to move from one set to the next. The event could be considered a showcase for up-and-coming artists, but there were usually at least a handful of "big names" and seasoned musicians that performed as well. Sirenfest had traditionally always been on a Saturday and usually began in the early afternoon or late morning and continued well into the evening. The event was sponsored by many large corporations and publications who in return sought exposure with giveaways, handouts and literature at the festival. After a 10-year run, the event was discontinued and replaced by the 4knots Music Festival at South Street Seaport. [1]
Bands listed in order of performance. [2]
Date: Saturday, July 21
Main Stage: Enon, Peaches, Rainer Maria, Quasi, Man or Astro-Man?, Superchunk, Guided By Voices, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion
Puzzles Bar: Sxip Shirey, Jazz Beard Jr., The Tim Heidecker Masterpiece, The Lounge-O-Leers, The Incredible Moses Leroy
Sideshows by the Seashore: Carol Lipnik and Spookarama, The Black Heart Procession
Date: Saturday, July 20
Main Stage: Bob Log III, The Von Bondies, Les Savy Fav, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, The Shins, Modest Mouse, The Donnas, Sleater-Kinney
Stillwell Stage: Rye Coalition, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Shannon Wright, Cirque De Siren, Liars, Mooney Suzuki
Date: Saturday, July 19
Main Stage: The Pattern, The Kills, !!!, Sahara Hotnights, Hot Hot Heat, The Datsuns, Modest Mouse
Stillwell Stage: The Witnesses, Oneida, The Dirtbombs, Northern State, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Radio 4, Idlewild
Date: Saturday, July 17
Main Stage: The Ponys, The Fiery Furnaces, Vue, TV on the Radio, Har Mar Superstar, Blonde Redhead, Death Cab for Cutie
Stillwell Stage: Your Enemies Friends, The Thermals, Constantines, The Fever, Electric Six, Mission of Burma, ...And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead
Date: Saturday, July 16
Main Stage: Detachment Kit, Ambulance LTD, The Dears, Q And Not U, Dungen, Brendan Benson, Spoon
Stillwell Stage: Nine Black Alps, Be Your Own Pet, Morningwood, Diamond Nights, Saul Williams, VHS Or Beta, Mates of State
Date: Saturday, July 15
Main Stage: Deadboy and the Elephantmen, The Rogers Sisters, Celebration, Tapes 'n Tapes, The Stills, She Wants Revenge, Scissor Sisters
Stillwell Stage: Priestess, Man Man, Dirty on Purpose, Serena Maneesh, The Cribs, Art Brut, Stars
Date: Saturday, July 21
Main Stage: The Twilight Sad, Dr. Dog, Noisettes, The Black Lips, We Are Scientists, M.I.A., New York Dolls
Stillwell Stage: White Rabbits, Elvis Perkins in Dearland, The Detroit Cobras, Lavender Diamond, Matt & Kim, Voxtrot, Cursive
Date: Saturday, July 19
Main Stage: Dragons of Zynth, Parts & Labor, The Dodos, Times New Viking, Ra Ra Riot, Islands, Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks
Stillwell Stage: These Are Powers, Film School, Annuals, Jaguar Love, Beach House, The Helio Sequence, Broken Social Scene
Date: Saturday, July 18
Main Stage: Tiny Masters of Today, Micachu and the Shapes, Japandroids, Frightened Rabbit, Grand Duchy, The Raveonettes, Built to Spill
Stillwell Stage: The Blue Van, Bear Hands, Thee Oh Sees, Future of the Left, A Place to Bury Strangers, Monotonix, Spank Rock
Date: Saturday, July 17
Main Stage: Dom, Screaming Females, Surfer Blood, The Night Marchers, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists, Matt & Kim
Stillwell Stage: Apache Beat, Wye Oak, Ponytail, Earl Greyhound, Harlem, Cymbals Eat Guitars, Holy Fuck
Matador Records is an independent record label, with a roster of mainly indie rock, but also punk rock, experimental rock, alternative rock, and electronic acts.
Modest Mouse is an American rock band formed in 1993 in Issaquah, Washington, and currently based in Portland, Oregon. The founding members were lead singer/guitarist Isaac Brock, drummer Jeremiah Green and bassist Eric Judy. Strongly influenced by Pavement, Pixies, XTC, and Talking Heads, they rehearsed, rearranged, and recorded demos for almost two years before finally signing with small-town indie label K Records and releasing numerous singles. The band achieved mainstream success with their fourth album, Good News for People Who Love Bad News (2004), and its singles "Float On" and "Ocean Breathes Salty".
The Moon & Antarctica is the third studio album by American rock band Modest Mouse, released on June 13, 2000, by Epic Records. The album's title is taken from the opening scene of the 1982 film Blade Runner, where the main character reads a newspaper headlined "Farming the Oceans, the Moon and Antarctica".
Ted Leo and the Pharmacists are an American rock band formed in 1999 in Washington, D.C. They have released six full-length studio albums and have toured internationally. Though the group's lineup has fluctuated throughout their career, singer/guitarist Ted Leo has remained the band's main songwriter, creative force, and only constant member. The group's music combines elements of punk rock, indie rock, art punk, traditional rock, and occasionally folk music and dub reggae. Their most recent album, The Brutalist Bricks, was released on March 9, 2010.
Fuji Rock Festival is an annual rock festival held in Naeba Ski Resort, in Niigata Prefecture, Japan. The three-day event, organized by Smash Japan, features more than 200 Japanese and international musicians, making it the largest outdoor music event in Japan. In 2005, more than 100,000 people attended the festival.
All Tomorrow's Parties was a UK organisation based in London that promoted music festivals, concerts and records throughout the world for over ten years. It was founded by Barry Hogan in 2001 in preparation for the first All Tomorrow's Parties Festival, the line-up of which was picked by Mogwai and took place at Pontins, Camber Sands, England. Named after the song "All Tomorrow's Parties" by the Velvet Underground, the festival exhibited a tendency towards post-rock, indie rock, avant-garde music, and underground hip hop, along with more traditional rock fare presented in smaller venues than typical stadium performances. It was at first a sponsorship-free festival where the organisers and artists stay in the same accommodation as the fans. It claimed to set itself apart from festivals like Reading or Glastonbury by staying intimate, non-corporate and fan-friendly. Another difference was the line-ups being chosen by significant bands or artists, resulting in unorthodox events which often combined acts of all sizes, eras, and genres.
The Cribs are a British indie rock band originally from Wakefield, West Yorkshire, that formed in 2001. The band consists of twins Gary and Ryan Jarman and their younger brother Ross Jarman. They were subsequently joined by ex-The Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr who was an official member of the group from 2008 until 2011.
The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds, England. The events both happen on the bank holiday weekend in August, and share the same bill. The festival's origins date to the Beaulieu Jazz Festival (1956–1961) which became the National Jazz Festival in 1961 and settled in Reading in 1971. In 1999 a second leg was added at Leeds.
Street Scene was a music festival that was held each summer in San Diego, California from 1984 to 2009. Street Scene was one of America's largest annual music festivals, growing to include over 70 musical acts covering different musical genres and styles on multiple stages.
Sasquatch! Music Festival was an annual music festival held at The Gorge Amphitheatre in George, Washington, United States. It took place on Memorial Day weekend, running for three to four days.
New York Noise is a one-hour indie-rock music video television program which aired from 2003–2009 on NYC Media in New York and parts of New Jersey and Connecticut. It was created, produced, and edited by Shirley Braha and funded by New York City under the Bloomberg administration. The show was "devoted to music videos, live footage, and high jinx from bands that ride the L train." According to The New York Times, it is "a groundbreaking show that has attracted a loyal following among musicians It is no longer in production since the station's rebranding in 2010, despite a petition and campaign which attempted to save it.
Man Man is an American experimental rock band from Philadelphia currently based in Los Angeles. Lead singer, songwriter, and lyricist Honus Honus is accompanied by a group of multi-instrumentalist musicians and vocalists.
MidPoint Music Festival (MPMF) was an annual three-day independent music festival and music industry conference held in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States, from 2001 to 2017. The event took place every September in the city's downtown and historic Over-the-Rhine entertainment district. It was founded by Cincinnati musicians Bill Donabedian and Sean Rhiney. The festival was acquired in 2008 by Cincinnati CityBeat, a weekly alternative newspaper. In 2016, it was acquired by Music and Event Management Inc. (MEMI).
Fun Fun Fun Fest was an annual music and comedy festival held in Austin, Texas, United States. The festival was the only genre based festival in the United States, featuring stages that focused specifically on hip-hop / electronica, indie rock, punk / metal, and comedy.
The Maha Festival is an independent music festival held in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. The festival is owned and operated by YFC, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Rock the Garden was an annual summer music festival organized by the Walker Art Center and Minnesota Public Radio held in Minneapolis, Minnesota, that ran from 1998 - 2022. Launched by the Walker in 1998, the event was cosponsored by 89.3 The Current and Minnesota Public Radio after 2008, becoming more of an indie rock festival. Since its founding, Rock the Garden has highlighted national artists such as Wilco, Sonic Youth, David Byrne, MGMT, De La Soul, My Morning Jacket, Spoon, Bon Iver, and The Decemberists, and featured a diverse range of local bands like Low, Doomtree, Fog, Iffy, Cloud Cult, Howler, and Trampled By Turtles.
The Growlers is an American band from Southern California. They began their career in the Orange County city of Dana Point, California in 2006. They are currently based in Costa Mesa. The band is currently composed of singer Brooks Nielsen and keyboard player/guitarist Kyle Straka. They have released seven albums, several EPs and a number of singles. The band's sound has been described as "a trademark style of music that somehow combines surf, pop, rock and beat" which has been labeled "Beach Goth".
Firefly Music Festival is a music festival produced by AEG Presents that was first held on July 20–22, 2012, in Dover, Delaware. Firefly takes place in The Woodlands of Dover Motor Speedway, a 105-acre (42 ha) festival ground, over the span of three days. Many nationally known musical acts have performed at the festival, with over 100 performances held over the course of the festival in 2016. The festival producers had worked together to establish the event at the current venue with the hopes of having "an open-air festival on the East Coast with plenty of outdoor camping". In past years, the festival has included up to seven stages: The Porch Stage, The Lawn Stage, The Backyard Stage, the Treehouse, The Coffee House, The Pavilion and The Firefly Stage. In 2019, the festival had six main stages, two sponsor stages, and one stage in each camping hub. Firefly offers three different pass options; general admission, VIP, and Super VIP.
Hippo Campus is an American indie rock band from Saint Paul, Minnesota. Their musical inclinations appear to be firmly rooted in the UK, drawing inspiration from notable artists such as Little Comets and King Krule. They are signed to Grand Jury Records in the United States and Transgressive Records in the United Kingdom. The band has performed at South by Southwest, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo, Summerfest and Reading and Leeds Festivals, as well as on Conan. Hippo Campus were named one of NPR Music's favorite new artists of 2017.
Shaky Knees Music Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Atlanta, Georgia. The festival was founded in 2013 by Tim Sweetwood in order to bring a proper indie music festival to the city of Atlanta, which already hosts festivals such as Sweetwater 420 Fest and Music Midtown. The festival is currently held in Central Park (Atlanta) in Old Fourth Ward.