Titus Andronicus, by Rebekah Bassen. See more photos from The Yard party>>

On Saturday I spent my first Saturday in Brooklyn in nearly a month, not in Bushwick, but along the Gowanus Canal, at misleadingly named venue The Yard, for the mid-summer outdoor party put on by Todd P, Derek Impose, and Lio Kanine. "Blasphemy!" you say. Why write about something not in Bushwick? Well, Todd P shows are a pretty regular Bushwick fixture, be they at Market Hotel or Silent Barn, as are a number of the bands who played. And since, more importantly, good times know nothing of neighborhood boundaries, it was onto the G (for Gowanus!).

I love a good outdoor summer show, and The Yard is an amazing setting for one. You could tell this was a little bigger than your normal Todd P show as soon as you got to the entrance by the burly security at the door, the drink tickets and the line at the delicious smelling taco stand (sadly, there didn’t appear to be any veggie tacos). I was running a bit late (surprise, surprise) because I had been meeting my new landlord. So, unfortunately, I missed the last performance of Soiled Mattress and the Springs, but caught the very end of Soft Circle’s set, the solo project of Hisham Bharoocha of New York noise band Black Dice. Very loop heavy, tribal feeling stuff that I’ve been listening to ever since, but it’s always hard to put on an engaging one-man show.

Knyfe Hyts were up soon after on stage left. I love these guys. Made up of members of Ex-Models, Pterodactyl, and Oneida they bring some seriously out-there, cocky trash metal. I was also big into the next band, Crystal Antlers, a dynamic, aggressive, almost (dare I say it?) proggy rock band from Long Beach. Apparently, they have an EP out produced by Ikey Owens of the Mars Volta, which I think I’ll have to pick up. It was good to see Abe Vigoda and Vivian Girls again, and I’ve become a bigtime fan of Vivian Girls especially. Telepathe put a new twist on agonizingly tense trance bass lines, dosing them with simple hi-hat heavy electronic beats, and indie vocals à la Architecture In Helsinki. Another keeper.

Ponytail came up next, and with frontwoman Molly Siegal bouncing around like a crazy little sprite, the Baltimore natives got the crowd moving a bit; enough to even kick up some dust, and bringing back childhood memories of running around like a little snot at whatever crappy suburban parking lot was hosting Warped Tour near me. A part of me really wanted to hate Chinese Stars for some reason, but after a while I couldn’t help liking them. A little bit like a more straight-forward rock version of the Blood Brothers. New York’s Shy Child kept the party going strong with their keytar and drum based dance-rock.

Titus Andronicus switched things up to a brand of punk and folk that reminds me at times of Bright Eyes, Okkervil River, or On Avery Island-era Neutral Milk Hotel. With a decidedly Us vs. Them mentality, frontman Patrick Stickles’ rants on social alienation would fit well in the CrimethInc. catalogue. This band is damn captivating, and certainly makes you want to be on the Us team. After a brief, belated set of sex and party rap by Ninja Sonik, High Places played a set on the loading dock of some sort of old warehouse, surrounded by nascent trees. I’ve been really into their compilation lately and it was a pretty f’ing cool spot to see the tripped out, lo-fi duo for the first time. Brooklyn-stalwarts Oneida finished out the night as the sun dropped out of sight and Todd and his crew I’m sure had to get moving on to their next event at Market Hotel that night.

The scale and consistency with which Todd P puts on great local events like this is truly amazing. Stickles made a statement at the beginning of TA’s set that I think is pretty accurate that Todd, (and sleepwhendead, Entertainment4Every1 and everyone else who puts on these shows) do a lot for the community. Putting on a local show is not easy, but they go out and do it a bunch of times every week; getting people together to dance, make some noise, and have some fun.