It was hotter outside in the back than inside in the middle, but outside in the front had a semi warm (as opposed to sweltering) breeze, so even though it was almost elbow to elbow out there on Broadway with the crowds from both Goodbye Blue Monday and newly opened DIY venue Bodega, that is where I kept running to for relief. The Bushwick Open Studios Music Festival took place over 2 days, at 3 venues, with over 30 Bushwick-based acts. We saw a handful of the 25 that played this Saturday at GBM, but as we were all barely functioning as humans due to the heat, the most we can muster up in retrospect are the following memories:

Jessica: “The most fitting song of the evening was Hot Potato,‘ Pass Kontrol’s new dance track which hails from Eastern Europe. I had to remove both gold bamboo hoop earrings just to be able to dance hard enough for this kind freak show.”

Oliver: “Love Like Deloreans was a dude and a chick playing cool electronic music. The girl banged away on her synthesizer like she was low-riding in Atlanta. It kind of reminded me a little of Lali Puna too.”

Jeremy: When we turned the corner onto Broadway and saw the hundreds of people thronging the sidewalk and curb outside GBM on Broadway, we initially went “oh fuck no” and were prepared to turn back and go home. Only when we got inside and saw that it wasn’t quite as death-trappy inside (despite the numerous bits of junk for sale threatening to crash down with decapitating consequences) did we decide to stay. Waiting our turn at the bar for our Red Stripes, we immediately saw Anna, and the obligatory hugs were in order. Jamaican brews in hand, we inched our way through the crowds to the back yard area to meet the rest of the crew, where a second band was playing — all the people smoking and drinking and chatting and laughing and dancing and being generally fabulous for me evoked an image of 1920s Berlin (think Cabaret). Socializing with so many people in such an anarchic setting really brought it home for me — Bushwick is not next, Bushwick is now.

Luis: Well… either I was having heat flashbacks or it seemed like all of the BOS artists were out at play. The beer was warm and the music was fantastic… well… except that one band (you know who I am talking about). I really enjoyed meeting my neighbors while in line for the bathroom. Its a great way to meet people it turns out… that is until they revert to more base forms of relief (I won’t go into details).

To see and hear more from the night of a thousand degrees, check out the GBM YouTube channel’s latest uploads.

If you were slightly more “there” than we were, and saw, heard, or experienced something you feel compelled to write about at the BOS Music Festival, please do so below: