shadow monster, Desert Sharks, Nihiloceros, KBAA @ Rockaway Brewing Co.

by Kate Hoos | Jul 24, 2022 | Shows

shadow monster at Rockaway Brewing Co (photo by Kate Hoos)

Hot days with hot bands, good tunes with good friends—however you want to phrase it, it sounds like a win win to me! The greatest part of my life is that I made going to shows my job and that’s awesome, it’s the best job I’ve ever had. But it does come with a downside in that I’m not able to get out to see my friend’s bands as much as I’d like to since I’m very often at a big venue somewhere in the city working shows for other artists when my friends play. Bills ya know. So on the occasions that I am able to be off and head to a show for fun, I am always more than happy to be able to go out to see friends from the local music community play and I always cherish it.

This show was part of the Rock! Away! Music Fest which saw several Rockaway Beach venues and locations hosting shows over the second weekend in July. While many awesome bands graced the fest over the three days, this was the show I was most excited for. It featured some of my absolute favorites from the Brooklyn music community: the indie shoegaze jangle of Kissed by an Animal, the power trio extraordinaire Nihiloceros (featuring FTA’s very own man on the scene, Mike Borchardt), Desert Sharks bringing the gloomy grungey garage, and the moody grunge sadcore of shadow monster—this show was a 90s kid’s dream come true! (There were two other bands on the line up that I did unfortunately miss, Lil Goose and The Sex Rays, but I hope to see them another time.)

There was also a dancer, Teeny, who came out between bands to perform and put on quite the set, including a very impressive aerial portion which left many jaws on the floor (including mine). Add all this together, throw in a nice cold Inca Kola, and you’ve got a very happy music nerd on your hands! The dog days of summer can never get me down as long as rad bands, cold sodas and great friends are in my life. And that’s a fact.