Across the Narrows
(Coney Island)
October 1-2, 2005
Keyspan Park, Coney Island, NY
Day 1–Nine Black Alps, Mando Diao, DFA1979, Rilo Kiley, Built to Spill, Gang of Four, The Pixies
Day 2–Whirlwind Heat, Gang Gang Dance, Raveonettes, Polyphonic Spree, Belle & Sebastian, Beck

All day festival concerts. They're an intimidating force. You know that you will be on your feet all day, usually in severe heat, surrounded by sweaty people in the same situation as you. You'll have to pay a ton of money, and the food vendors will be crappy and incredibly overpriced, yet you see the list of bands performing and you cannot pass up the opportunity. You attempt to talk sense into yourself. "The bands never play as long of sets," "It's not nearly as good as seeing the at a small indoor venue," "By the end I'm not even going to be able to enjoy the band I came to see," "It's going to be too crowded." But of course your mind retaliates with "But the Pixies are playing, and Beck, and Belle and Sebastian, and Rilo Kiley, and..." And it's settled, you're going.

Unlike most outdoor festival concerts, Across the Narrows did not take place in the heart of the summer. This was a very intelligent planning decision, because the weather was actually perfect for both of the days, and did not lead to the heat exhaustion problems that many of these festivals create. Along with the perfect weather, it was not overcrowded, which was definitely positive in my eyes, but probably not in the eyes of the promoters. The music, as expected, was incredible.

Day 1's high-points came from Rilo Kiley's breathtaking performance, Built to Spill's incredible guitar craft and cover of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps, and Gang of Four's incredible energy after all these years (including singer Jon King taking out a baseball bat and using it as a violent percussion instrument, bashing it on a microwave?), as well as the Pixies just playing some of the greatest songs ever.

Day 2, I showed up late, but was able to catch the main acts. The Raveonettes performance was good, but not nearly as enjoyable as their performance at the South Paw earlier this year. The Polyphonic Spree really brought a refreshing, sunny performance including bubbles and new oufits, and a very large band. Belle and Sebastian then blew everyone away with classics and some great new songs. Beck, as expected, was the highlight of the entire festival. He played an ecclectic set of the best songs of his career, including his first hit, Loser. Aside from the young children breakdancing in the crowd, the best moment during Beck's occured when his backing band sat down to dinner in the middle of the set, as he began to play his more accoustic songs, mostly from Sea Change, and then all of a sudden, his band began playing percussion, using their silverware on glasses and plates. All of this was being projected onto a large back-drop, which Beck's video dj was mixing flawlessly.

Now I must get to the fun stuff...

DAY 1: Stupidly, I brought my very nice camera, with my very large lens, not knowing the camera policy of Keyspan Park/Across the Narrows. Suprisingly, I got in fine with no questions asked, so I figured that I would be ok. My friends and I walked to the stage to catch the start of DFA1979. As the band began to play, I naturally took my camera and began to shoot. After taking about 4 pictures, a member to the security staff grabbed my attention and took me off to the side and asked me for press credentials. I had not gotten any, and told him exactly that, so I was asked to walk all the way to the side, so that he could have a better look at my camera and so that I could speak with someone else. Apparently, I should not have been able to get such a large camera into the event, and they were now trying to figure out what to do with me. I eventually was able to speak with the head of the staff, who was very nice and although he had thought about kicking me out, he just simply asked me to put my camera in a bag and not use it, and of course if they were see it out again, I'd be kicked out immediately. I really wanted to see the bands, so I opted to put away my camera. But also, since I knew I'd be attending the 2nd day also, I inquired as to what made my camera a problem as opposed to the multitude of digital cameras out in the crowd. Apparently it was the size of my lens, and it seemed that my much much smaller 50 mm lens would be no problem for day 2. I did end up sneaking out my camera, at night, to take pictures of Gang of Four, from the bleachers.

DAY 2: I decided to take the chance and take my camera with the 50 mm lens. I figured it'd be no problem, as even small digital cameras have a much stronger zoom, and it seemed that my large lens was the problem the first day. Right away, at the gate, I had problems with security, which said my camera was too large. What did they know about cameras? Nothing. They let me in, as long as I would keep it in my bag. These guys just didn't want to get in trouble. I understood that, but I also knew that the camera set-up that I brought for Day 2 should be fine according to the head guy on the event staff, so I figured "no problem." The Raveonettes were the first band I was able to catch on day 2, and I decided that if I would just stay back about 10 rows, no one would bother me. Who was I kidding? Right away, I was approached by a woman who politely asked me to put away my camera or I'd be thrown out, after getting a close look at my camera. But why? "Because it's a professional camera."

Apparently, my camera broke their camera policy guidelines, because it was "professional."
I've been thinking about this a lot, since that day and I still don't really understand. What makes a camera a "professional camera?" Based on my experiences at Across the Narrows, it's the size that matters. My camera is big, therefore, professional. God forbid I just want to take amateur photos of the event with a large camera. The size of the camera will instantly turn these photos into profession photos, even if i'm 50 yards back with a 50 mm lens and a guy with a fat head in front of me. And, I guess professionals don't ever use small cameras? But how come I've seen people in photo pits with very small digital cameras? I'm sure if I gave Ansel Adams or Annie Liebowitz a small camera, they'd end up with awful amateur photos.

The point I'm trying to make is that it's not the camera that makes good pictures, it's the photographer, so this prejudice against my camera, based on size is completely rediculous and unfare. Either allow cameras or don't. At least I know how to handle my camera without flashing the band in the eyes 10,000 times, but I'm sure that isn't nearly as annoying to the band as the size of my camera. If the annoying girl who text messages through the band's entire set, can use her camera phone, then I should be able to use my fucking camera. Fucking stupid.