We didn’t have enough pull to get our interns their own bunk-bed suite at Barclays Center, so we promised them the next-best New York experience: CMJ, with badges! While we’re holding it down at the FADER FORT Presented by Converse in Brooklyn, Patrick McDermott, Veronica Hoglund and Bri Sylvester will be hitting the streets, wiggling past doormen, bands and regular party drunks and reporting on the entire festival as it happens. Last night, Veronica and Patrick shared candy and talked to each other in hashtags. Check out their night out with Indians, TOPS and Blackbird Blackbird, below.
VERONICA HOGLUND: Getting in to the Stereogum x PopGun show at Glasslands was a bust. Hopefully we’ll have more luck at the Brooklyn Bowl Hype Machine party.
PATRICK MCDERMOTT: Kind of empty here. Indians sounding good. Seriously haunting vocals. Not sure why no one seems into it. Good call moving up to the front. Maybe if you literally press your ears up against the speakers you will be able to drown out the sound of people bowling.
VERONICA: He's definitely feeling it more than anyone in here. Maybe everyone is too preoccupied with the free tote bags and stickers. Found an outlet to charge my phone right next to some dude who keeps giving me the eye. Charged phone > weird vibes.
PATRICK: You can hardly tell he has a Danish accent while he’s singing. I dig his keyboard songs more than the acoustic guitar stuff, which feels a little too ‘Americana.’ Think I’m gonna see what the cheapest beer is.
VERONICA: Two people grinding on each other. Didn’t realize Indians’ grooves had the ability to produce such a response.
PATRICK: This filled up quick. Got a whiskey special for $5, more than I wanted to spend by, like, $5. There’s two light shows going on: the one on stage, and the lights of a hundred iPhones checking Instagram. It’s kind of beautiful.
VERONICA: The song Indians said he wrote about New York is actually my favorite so far. That being said, I think he needs to develop a love/hate relationship with the city to better display its multi-faced nature.
PATRICK: Everyone here seems kind of old. What else is going on?
VERONICA: Went back over to Glassland and a limo just pulled up out front. The people who got out of it are waiting in line. Just like everyone else! They’re not accepting any more badges. Was a good idea to stop for candy corn.
PATRICK: Just got to Shea Stadium for the Lavish Habits/Moon II showcase. Feels great to be back in sort-of-Bushwick. There’s something bizarrely comforting about a bar that only has plastic bottles. You were right about the candy corn. That shit is magic. I feel reborn.
VERONICA: Just finished the last of it. Signing myself into an addiction program first thing tomorrow morning.
PATRICK: TOPS just started and they sound incredibly smooth, like something you’d hear in a roller rink in outer space. I’m not sure which is more spellbinding, their music or the weird VHS projections behind them. They’re playing “Easy Friends” and a group of really young looking girls are going wild. I’m swaying like an idiot. Is this what pop music sounds like in Montreal? Might need to head north, if so. My friend just texted me, says Julian Casablancas is at Brooklyn Bowl watching Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
VERONICA: I hate us for leaving.
PATRICK: The between-sets DJ is playing a super slow-motion Grimes remix and I’m melting into a paisley upholstered couch. Someone just told me they liked my shirt. I took it from my dad’s closet the last time I was home, so I will have to pass the compliment along. Blackbird Blackbird is on now, and it’s all sun-drenched, glitchy beats and tons of reverb on the vocals. Reminds me of 2010 but I don’t hate it. I’m thinking about how dope that Cities Aviv track where he raps over Blackbird Blackbird’s cover of “Float On” is.
VERONICA: Ended up taking a cab home. Nelly’s “Ride Wit Me” is playing.
PATRICK: #CMJ12 #NoRegrets
