The inaugural Frantic City fest happened on Saturday, September 24th at the Orange Loop Amphitheater in Atlantic City, NJ. Presented by Todd-o-phonic Todd Abramson (of Maxwell’s and WFMU fame) and Asbury Park-based Holdfast Records, performances were split between 2 stages with their namesakes. While less than half of the acts have roots in Jersey (or the tri-state area), the inclusion of Titus Andronicus, The Bouncing Souls, and Yo La Tengo made this a who’s who of the NJ indie/punk music scene.
With the last time I stepped foot in AC being well over a decade ago, I had no clue what to expect coming to this fest. The Orange Loop? Never heard of it. However, I had heard some great things about the Anchor Rock Club which calls the Orange Loop its home. It was an ideal setting perfectly fitting for the non-boujee-identifying Frantic City crowd. Even the VIP area just consisted of an area where the weary could sit, grab a bottle of water, and use a low-traffic porta potty – you know, the essentials.
Kicking off the day’s festivities was Control Top, after a brief intro by Todd Abramson and Fred Armisen. While they were first in the lineup, they did not f*ck around getting the crowd warmed up. Titus Andronicus followed – they performed songs from their latest release The Will to Live including “(I’m) Screwed”, as well as their NJ anthems “Fear and Loathing in Mahwah, NJ” and “A More Perfect Union”. As they played “A More Perfect Union”, I marveled at the Jersey crowd and felt a true spirit of kinship – it was in that same instant that the High Noon inflatable imploded. It was a beautiful moment. In case you needed more Jersey, they closed out their set with a cover of Springsteen’s “Glory Days”.
Following were sets by Protomartyr (joined by Kelley Deal), Samiam, Superchunk, The Murder City Devils, Shannon and The Clams, The Bouncing Souls, and Rocket from the Crypt (pfew). By the time Snail Mail took the stage, the sun had finally completely set. While plagued with early sound difficulties, Lindsey Jordan took it in stride and feistily joked about getting carried away after each song (an inside joke, perhaps). They performed a cover of Pavement’s “In the Mouth a Desert”, a song the band had just recently learned for a super top secret reason apparently. The hardest working guitar tech in the business handed Jordan a different guitar after each song – a feat that spares Jordan (and the audience) prolonged tuning time. They finished their hour-long set with crowd-favorite “Pristine”.
Yo La Tengo headlined and was joined by Fred Armisen on a second drum set. We had a chance to catch Yo La Tengo this past summer in Philly with Japanese Breakfast – check out our coverage of that show here. They finished off the night with a 3-song encore and brought Todd-o-phonic on stage to perform a cover of T. Lance & The Coctails classic “Aba-Daba Do Dance”. What a way to end a spectacular full day of music – can’t wait for the next one! Keep scrolling below to see more photos from throughout the day.
