by Robert Leeper 
For those of you keeping score at home, we are on day three of Northside. Certainly been a busy weekend, and doesn’t look to be letting up soon, so here’s a quick recap.
At McCarren Park, Irie Maffia were full of a joyous energy. Combining African and Caribbean influences with ska and rock’n’roll, and sounds of Central Europe, the Balkans, and their base of Budapest, Hungary. If you’re looking for a party that also broadens your musical scope a bit, look no further the next time they’re in town!
A quick walk brought me over to Baby’s All Right to catch the end of a set by dance-pop group Evvy before The Midnight Hollow. Hollow’s live show was hampered by sound problems and feedback that might easily have been solved by a sound check (such is the life of a band with only 10 minutes to set up after the previous act) but created moody rock enhanced by electronics and effects giving a bit of atmospheric fresh air from what could have been a more generic sound.
A brief stop back at McCarren saw the end of the up and coming duo The Very Best – London-based DJ/production duo Radioclit and Esau Mwamwaya, a singer from Lilongwe, Malawi – certainly a duo to keep an eye on
The evening ended at The Brooklyn Bowl for an incredible sold out set by Electron – a side project of the Disco Biscuit’s bassist Marc Brownstein, formed during a brief hiatus with the biscuits in the early 2000’s (though the group sounds is not a far departure from the Biscuits). If you’re in the mood for it (I was) there is nothing like a good jam band. Equal parts Pink Floyd and Allan Holdsworth – hard hitting beats sent the room dancing almost immediately and Tom Hamilton’s shredding of the guitar would occasionally send the room into near ecstasy. Electron, who has toured on and off since their founding 15 years ago really do just keep getting better.
