Written by Jessica Louise Dye
Images by Jono Bernstein
Ground Control Touring, known for sending some of the largest acts in the business on the road and to a venue near you, celebrated their 15th year of booking by throwing a rager at Webster Hall, NYC. The night of music promised collaborations, cover songs, weird sets, and special guests. Split between three stages, the Main Ballroom, the Studio, and the Marlin Room, it took dedication to catch every performance. This meant lots of stair climbing. Like, I didn’t need to hit the gym today, dear god my glutes level of stair climbing. I raced up and down in an attempt to catch all 19 acts. Which was nearly impossible, even for the most athletic concert go-er. There were too many awesome distractions, such as an open bar and basically everyone you’ve ever met in NYC. The event was properly sold out; the line wrapped around the block before doors even opened.
This was a wonderfully chaotic night in which rockstars walked amongst us like normal humans and almost every set had a guest appearance. Waxahatchee brought out Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan. Meredith Graves of Perfect Pussy, squealed to the audience, “Rainer Maria are my favorite band” when she joined the group to perform “Tinfoil”. Kurt Vile started his set alone but was quickly joined by Violators guitarist Rob Laasko, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon, Steve Gunn, and Woods’ Jarvis Taveniere for a cover of the Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray.” Andrew Savage of Parquet Courts joined Woods for a rendition of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger.” Titus Andronicus’ frontman, Patrick Stickles, performed solo, yet didn’t lose an ounce of his intensity. Superchunk was the most crowded act of the night; they played the hits the audience ached to hear. With tired feet and slightly damaged hearing, the night ended with Perfect Pussy. Meredith Graves was her normal rambunctious self, writhing on the floor and screaming into a double fisted microphone. Well down Ground Control, thanks for the hangover.
Beach Fossils
Frankie Cosmos
Hop Along
Parquet Courts with Lee Ranaldo
Perfect Pussy
Porches
Rainer Maria
Screaming Females
Superchunk
Andronicus
Torres
Waxahatchee
Noisey Presents: Ground Control Touring 15th Anniversary at Webster Hall
Images by @jonobernstein
Written by @hellolightfoot
