Siren Fest 2009 at Coney Island Recap

The Siren Festival this year was a ton of fun, despite not knowing most of the bands. I noticed a lot of the food stands at the new flea market are coming from places from Brooklyn. The pupusa truck from Red Hook –it was delicious. Freshly pattied pupusas on the grill. I had mine filled with Loroco Flower and Cheese. I’m not sure what Loroco Flower is, but it added a green veggie like mild chives.

I walked along Surf Ave to check out that Dice’s Grab and Go that I was curious about last week and it turned out to be a souvenir T-shirt stand. However there was a couple selling soul food right next door. I got a small jerk chicken with rice & beans and cabbage for $5. I wasn’t expecting much, but they freakin piled it on. The jerk chicken came right off the grill and it was so awesome. I couldn’t believe how much I got. Spicy & flavorful!

I ran into my friends who just came from the Doña Zita Mexican stand in the midway. They thought the tacos were awesome. Rusty says a little nine-year old girl took their order. I investigated and saw them making these huge stacked Tortas (Mexican sandwiches) on the grill. Amazing.

I walked around the Flea Market food stands. Came across this latino stand where I got a small fried pocket of beef and potato for $4. I expected it to be like $2 for its size. It was alright. The filling was pretty decent, reminded me of monfongo. The outer crust was tough. Later, I ran into other friends where we got $1 Chicken Drumsticks. Pretty sweet deal. Jasper picked up an empanada and his own platter of pupusas. I walked along the backside and saw a few hidden stands with low foot traffic. Felt bad. One was a family with trays of Caribbean food that looked really good, but I couldn’t eat another huge platter. I went with a $2 pork taco from the Prospect Park taco stand. The pork chunks were so tender. They piled it on for me, probably because they were just happy for the business.

As far as the music, I’m glad I got to see Frank Black in his new band, Grand Duchy. I didn’t know he was even playing until a few days ago. Monotonix, the band I was most excited to check out again, were playing in the crowd. At least one point, the crowd was holding up the drummer and his drums so he can play above the sea of people. It was crazy. I had a ton of fun this year, although let’s forget about the crazy drunk girl rubbing her boobs on me. Thanks Shonali, Diane & Village Voice!