As mentioned in a previous post, my father's day plan was to spend the day with my daughter enjoying Punk Island 2011. The event, which took place on Governors Island, brought together 8 stages of mostly local and regional punk bands. The day ended with a set by British anarcho-punk band Zounds whose only other U.S. show took place the night before.
Father's day started off with my daughter joining me in our room and snuggling me for about 1/2 hour before it was time to get moving. First, I had to find the present she created for me. I was informed it was hidden somewhere in our room so I searched until I found it.
It was then time to go downstairs where I was not to see what Caelyn and her mother were doing. A little bit later I was brought a very delicious egg sandwich which I happily ate.
After breakfast, it was time to get Caelyn ready for Punk Island. This began with a very clueless daddy breaking out the Manic Panic and dyeing a very excited little girl's hair vampire red. I can't claim it was a great dye job but she loved it and the overall results turned out pretty good once I got a little practice.
A Work in Progress
Around 9:45 a.m. Caelyn and I headed to Brooklyn to catch the ferry to Governors Island. We arrived with plenty of time to catch the first of that days boats.
While waiting for the boat to arrive, I noticed the women in front of us had guitar cases and a bass amp with them. I mentioned to Caelyn they were probably one of the bands playing the festival.
They introduced themselves and gave Caelyn a couple of buttons and some stickers with the name of their band, The Furiousity, written across them. We spent the next 15 minutes or so talking with them. When it came time to board the ferry, Caelyn asked if we could sit with them and they made sure she had a spot with them on the boat.
We spent the trip to the island talking music. During the conversation it came out the I had recently been to Governors Island and knew the layout so I became the navigator. As we walked with The Furiousity to their stage assignment, Caelyn was talking, smiling, and in charge of their mascot.
Once we reached the stage, Caelyn was reluctant to leave the band. They graciously told us we were welcome to hang out as long as we wanted but as they had a lot of work to do before they played, I convinced Caelyn we would see them later and should get out of their way.
We grabbed some lunch and roamed the stages until a band called In Circles caught our attention. Led by a powerful female guitarist/singer, Caelyn was taken in immediately and made her way to the front. After the set, she spoke to the singer for a little bit and left with a CD.
Up Front for In Circles
It was now ice cream time before heading over to see Born in a Cent followed by Titfit. While watching Born in a Cent, we ran into some members of The Furiousity once again. This would be a reoccurring theme throughout the day with us seeing them many times both before and after they played.
Ice Cream Time
When Titfit finished it was time to see The Furiousity perform. As we arrived at the stage, Ashley, their singer, waved Caelyn over to join her sitting under her umbrella away from the sun where Caelyn stayed until it was time for them to go on.
The Furiousity's set was tight. There were some technical problems with the stage but they put on a really good show. Caelyn was jumping up and down and dancing and she wasn't the only one. It's too bad they are from Boston and don't play around here a lot or I would be taking Caelyn to see them regularly.
Ashley singing to Caelyn
Caelyn Dancing
Hanging Out After the Set
Once the set was over, we hung out with the band for a while longer and then it was time to check out more music. We picked up a CD and while we would see them several times throughout the rest of the day, we didn't know that then so we said our good-byes.
Caelyn and I took a snack break with more ice cream before going to check out The Homewreckers. It was a good set. Caelyn, of course, had to be right in front. A pit broke out behind us but she was oblivious to it. If someone came close, I just knocked them back and she was none the wiser. After the set, Caelyn met with the band and picked up some more stickers and a CD.
With The Homewreckers
By this time, it was getting late in the afternoon and the little girl needed to just run around so we played tag and checked out a sculpture exhibition contained in one of the old houses on the island. Then, we just rested for a bit before ging to see Zounds, the last band of the day.
Zounds is an old British punk band that dates back to the late 70s. They are right in my wheelhouse and sad to say, I was not familiar with them even though I know a lot of their peers. I was excited to see them as was most of the crowd. Zounds had only played one show in the U.S. before Punk Island and that had been the night before.
They were good. Really good. Caelyn was up on my shoulders for this set and we made our way as close to the front as possible.
Shortly after Zounds started, much to Caelyn's joy, a pit broke out around us. I moved us over to the edge and keeping her balanced on my shoulders with my left arm, shoved people around with my right. When the pit closed, we moved toward the front again.
When the pit started a started a second time, I moved back once again. This time I was about two feet or so from it's edge. Caelyn started moving back and forth, kicking her heels at me like she was riding a horse until I moved over the pit's edge and could shove people once again.
When Zounds ended, I asked if she wanted to try and meet them. She did so we made our way over and met the singer/guitarist. After speaking with him for a few minutes Caelyn noticed a large, partially blue cymbal with bumps all over it on the drum kit. She asked me what it as for. I didn't know so I told her she should ask the drummer as he was still there breaking down his gear.
As he was telling Caelyn about the cymbal, he reached down and pulled out a clearly used drumstick and gave it to Caelyn. She was thrilled and in a rare occurrence, speechless. After leaving the drummer we ran into the bassist who commented he had a four year old and thought it was great to see Caelyn at the show.
Walking to catch the ferry back to Brooklyn, Caelyn held up her drumstick and proclaimed it the best music day ever. I just smiled, a lot.
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