2016 4Knots Music Festival

Organizers of the 4Knots Music Festival brought it back to Manhattan’s South Street Seaport this year (lowering the ticket price to free once again) and booked the legendary indie-rock Guided by Voices to headline the day. The nearly-60-year-old Robert Pollard high-kicked his way through classic and new Guided by Voices material as well as an offering of highlights from his solo and side project career. He joked that he has the record of writing the most songs without scoring a hit, and that very well could be true. During his prolific career, Pollard registered nearly 2,000 songs to his name with BMI (according to Wikipedia). Damn, son. So going into the night, there was no telling which way the setlist was going to go, but they played plenty of crowd pleasers (Cut-Out Witch, Glad Girls, I Am A Scientist just to name a few, see below for a Spotify Setlist Playlist link to hear all the goodness).

Other standouts of the day were Car Seat Headrest (think Pavement under the influence of stoner rock) and ProtoMartyr (moody post-punk-garage rock from Detroit, the mopey sound of beer and cigarettes forming a band). Oh, and Diane Coffee. Total “kick you in the teeth” glam rock.

GUIDED BY VOICES
Spotify Setlist Playlist
minus Waved Out off of Robert Pollard’s second solo album Waved Out, which came after My Zodiac Companion
Band’s Website

THE STRUMBELLAS
Band’s Website

PROTOMARTYR
Spotify Setlist Playlist
minus a new song they played after Blues Festival, and Feral Cats off of their debut No Passion All Technique
Band’s Website