Review: Capital Cities, Solidisco and Brenmar Board Bounce Boat

This past Friday, New York’s waters were taken over once again by the floating dance music party The Bounce Boat. For this edition, Captial Cities, Solidisco and Brenmar were in control. With recent guests including Just Blaze, Mike Hawkins and Designer Drugs, the party is building its reputation for being a go-to spot in the summer for good music with an unrivaled Friday night vibe. The boat has taken over the Hudson River since 2011 and if this week’s 1,100 person yacht proved anything, it looks like the boat should be sailing off into the sunset for many nights to come.

Here’s what stood out most on the boat…

The mix of people on the boat made the night especially fun. In just a few steps, you were running into drunk late thirty-year-olds, hipsters, bros and the wide-eyed New York first timers. The best part was that everyone got along. The night brought lots of good characters your way, if you wanted. Who knew being on a boat was the key to dance floor harmony?

The headliner stepped a little bit out of his usual element. The electro-based Capital Cities rep of Sebu stripped the band and went full-on electro. Not only was Sebu a good guy, he put down a pretty solid set. The only gripe that came from some on the boat was the tempo drop-off. His set was fine, but after a funky Solidisco set followed up by a genre-spanning set from Brenmar, the headliner came a little more relaxed than some were in the mood for. Still a good set.

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Solidisco and Brenmar both put in top notch sets. Solidisco brought their usual updated disco bangers that got a lot of the crowd dancing like their future middle-aged selves at weddings. Everyone was having a blast. The duo from Buffalo have a bright future with their sound. Brenmar’s Soundcloud has him listed under three genres, but his set felt like 10. It was solid, balanced and fun as hell to dance to. New York talent represented on the boat.

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Well, um, not much to report. My ex-girlfriend was there, but you don’t care about that. Crowd control was good. The speakers were awesome. Bathroom lines were kind of long, but that’s to be expected. Drinks were the typical New York prices (rough). Special shout out to the security and staff on the boat. At one point, the speakers outside were cut off and it was getting hot inside. It took a while, but they finally opened the doors. Good looking out there.

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The boat was rumored to be leaving at 8 p.m., but was delayed until around 10 p.m. Rumor has it, Capital Cities got booked to play Barclays for Katy Perry and wouldn’t board until late. Some people on board were getting antsy, but most didn’t seem to care. The open air on the decks was enough to keep most of the crowd subdued.

When the boat finally took off, the incredible views on the Hudson made up for almost everyone’s impatience. One special moment came when Solidisco dropped “Top Of The World” as the boat was right under the Freedom Tower. This led to the single largest photo op of the night. Tons of bros, drunks and fresh faces to New York could be heard saying on deck, “We made it” while others could be heard making plans to move here. It was the perfect blend of sentimental and hokey to create the PLURfect moment of the night.

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