How is it that I've never left a McCarren Park Pool show without getting soaked?  OK, I get that the place obviously served as a pool long ago and will soon again provide liquid relief during the hot summer months, but does that mean I need to get drenched every time I walk through those giant red gates?  Apparently, yes.

As anticipated, event sponsors made sure that half of the hipsters camped out before the show were armed to the teeth with water guns.  And, despite toting a camera, I was as likely a target as anyone trying to make my way to the stage.

Don't get me wrong, I love these shows, and am sorry to see them end, but these kids need to get off my lawn!  Wait, wrong rant.

Anyway, as unimpressed as I was with the water fights that continued throughout the day, I was even more disappointed with the dull performance of Panther who started out the show.  They were an odd choice to get the crowd revved up for Aesop Rock, and seemed as disias the audience as they awkwardly gyrated during their set.

While Panther lulled the crowd into unabashed apathy, Chin Chin did their best to snap them out of it.  After the seven man band took the stage (with adorable kids in tow), the crowd that had formed at the back of the pool quickly pushed their way through the water fight toward the stage.  Each of the band's commands went answered as the crowd slowly warmed to life.

Of course, though, the audience congregated to see Aesop Rock.  And, from the second he took the stage, the pool ignited with screeches from thousands of die hard fans. Aesop Rock, as animated as ever, spent a good portion of the show trading lines with Rob Sonic and belting out old favorites and newer hits. With the crowd screaming along, they dropped line after line off stage - and then to friends El-P and Yak Ballz who joined them on stage.

DJ Big Wiz tried to steal the show with his incredible turntable set (in stark contrast to many I've seen lately), and from the crowd reaction, he just might have. The McCarren Park Pool set haven't been this riled up since the MGMT show a couple of weeks back, and when the 2000 most rabid fans demanded an encore, they got it.