NYC O1: Rok N Roll Amusement Park

Siren Music Festival. Coney Island. 7/16/06.


©2006 Rash Photo
I spent the day at Coney Island feeling ever so out of touch with contemporary indie music. The fact that I had only heard of two of the bands playing the Siren Festival should have been a clue that I' have become so jaded and indifferent that winning me over as a new fan was a hopeless challenge for the day's performers. I should have just spent my time and money riding the Cyclone, but that's a story and series of photos for another day. I was hoping that the weather wouldn't break into the sweltering temperatures that have plagued North Carolina for the past few weeks. Luckily it was a very mild day with periodic rain, which kept everyone from getting too sweaty, smelly, and grumpy. My friend Ann Lee now plays keyboard and sings with Serena Maneesh, a noisey art-rock band from Norway, who were flown to America by the Village Voice soley to play the day's festival. The photos above are a combination of Coney Island regular attractions and the Serena Maneesh performance. Enjoy!

John Rash

John Rash is a filmmaker, photographer, and visual artist based in Oxford, Mississippi. John earned his M.F.A. in Documentary and Experimental Art from Duke University and B.F.A. in Art Education from UNC-Greensboro, and now works as Assistant Professor of Film Production and Southern Studies at the University of Mississippi. His documentary films and photographs often focus on topics of identity, counter-culture communities, social justice, and environment and have been shown in festivals and museums around the world. John has received multiple awards for his documentary works including the Soul of Southern Film Award from Indie Memphis Film Festival for Negro Terror, History+ Best Documentary Award from the North Carolina Museum of History for Our Movement Starts Here, and an Emmy nomination for his film about South Carolina-based photographer Sam Wang. John is also the founder of the Southern Punk Archive which aims to preserve the stories of DIY punk communities in the American South. In 2025, John was an Artist in Residence at the Swatch Art Peace Hotel in Shanghai and a resident artist at Crosstown Arts in Memphis, TN in 2022.

https://www.johnrash.com
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