Jelly NYC  hosted it's last pool party Sunday, with Ebony Bones, Titus Andronicus, and Yo La Tengo potentially becoming the last groups to grace the stage for free Sunday shows in Brooklyn.  Additionally, the show was billed as a fundraiser for Barack Obama's presidential campaign, complete with places to donate money, booths to learn more about his platform, and lots of men and women adorned with stickers, buttons, and handmade shirts showing support for the democratic candidate.

Ebony Bones was up first, and this woman is strange in a completely compelling and infectious way.  Her blend of punk attitude, dance beats, and an extremely strange and colorful fashion sense puts her in the league of Santogold as one of the most talked about new artists to worm their way into hipster iPods.  I can't really say that I enjoyed her set, although, at points, it reminded me of a particularly strange acid experience that I had in college, but many in the crowd loved it.

Next was Titus Andronicus, one of our favorite new bands.  These guys are simply insane, and for those in attendance that had yet to witness them, the experience was jaw dropping.  Their energy is incredible, their songs are catchy, and it is no mystery that they are beginning to get the attention that they deserve.  Between jumping around the stage like toddlers on a sugar high, and popping beach balls given away to the crowd with drumsticks, the band got everyone moving to some guitar rock 'n roll without a hint of dance beats.

Yo La Tengo are one of those bands that I have loved for years, yet am still surprised when I see them how many other people feel the same way.  They have an ability to retain that small band accessibility while still drawing thousands of people to their shows.  In my opinion, they should be as revered and respected for their role in the development of indie rock as Sonic Youth or the Pixies, but the unassuming trio doesn't demand it.  Instead, they keep chugging along year after year, putting out consistently great albums and playing consistently great shows, with this show being no exception.

Between originals from their fifteen full lengths and covers like "S-W-I-M"  by Bobby Freeman, Yo La Tengo played with a stamina usually reserved for much younger bands.  Singer/guitarist Ira Kaplan created walls of feedback and noise, sweating as he thrashed around the stage while drummer Georgia Hubley bashed out beats and bass player James McNew kept a steady bassline, even when playing with his teeth or bashing his instrument into his amplifier.  The band also switched instruments frequently, all getting a chance to play drums and guitar, and filled out their sound on certain songs with a four piece horn section.

After their intial set, the absolutely gigantic crowd called for two encores, which included a Misfits cover performed with Titus Andronicus, in which Ira proclaimed the end of Brooklyn as a result of the discontinuation of pool parties, as well as a ceremonial refilling of the pool with giant jugs of water.  The crowd called for a third encore, which was quelled by the house music and the security guards telling people to head for the exits.  Ten minutes later, where the crowd had danced and sang along was home to a few stragglers and a mess of empty bottles and destroyed beach balls.  And, simply as that, the last summer of free pool parties at McCarren Park ended.