On a summer night back in August, we were treated with the first of three free summertime shows at the House of Vans in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. All three shows were very much New York City centric in that all three shows featured headlining act’s that all reign from NYC itself. First up was no stranger to the NYC music scene – it was The Strokes’ very own Julian Casablancas with his other band, The Voidz. Along for the ride and opening the show up was LA’s Cherry Glazerr.
One of the cool things about the three free summertime shows at HOV this year was the overall look & feel. These shows had a carnival theme, and the entire venue (inside and out) was decorated to breathe some fresh life into the venue with the carnival like atmosphere. Outside, there were string lights, carnival games, cotton candy, free prizes and even a bouncy house (yes… a bouncy house). The carnival theme was also transfixed on the inside of the venue with big bold installations on the celling and even up on stage as well with some funhouse style mirrors positioned right behind the bands.
After a good walk around the venue to check everything out, we were treated to opener Cherry Glazerr’s set. Cherry Glazerr were a long way from their Los Angeles home, but were as comfortable as ever in Brooklyn on the House of Vans stage. As soon as they kicked into the first note of the first song, the nerves were gone and they played through their opening set with total ease. They played songs off their last full length, Haxel Princess that was released back in 2014, as well as some older material. We’re excited and are looking forward to hearing more from Cherry Glazerr in the future, and we have a feeling they’ll be back very soon with new material sometime in 2016.
Promptly after Cherry Glazer finished their set, the roadies came out and the crowd drew closer and closer to the barricades as they knew Julian would be there soon. Not too long after, The Voidz took to the stage with a certain someone missing. The Voidz kicked into ‘Nintendo Blood,’ and the cheers and demand from the crowd got louder. After a few seconds, Julian finally emerged from behind the stage and the entire place went absolutely nuts. Julian was in good spirits getting all up in the photographers faces the first few songs, and really feeding off the energy from the crowd. The Voidz effortlessly powered through their 10 song set (even though they attempted to squeeze one more song in).
For more photos, see below:
House of Vans (carnival theme):
Cherry Glazer:
Julian Casablancas & The Voidz:
Join the conversation