Photo Highlights of Luna at Northside Festival, McCarren Park, 6/11/15

Luna in Brooklyn's McCarren Park

Happy Birthday, Britta

I wasn't sure I'd make it to Brooklyn in time to catch the 7:30pm set from Luna, but the stars aligned for me. I walked into McCarren Park, and picked up my badge with plenty of time to get a cold drink and to get myself situated before the show.

Several other members of the press appeared to be making their way into the photo pit, so I went over to the event staff and managed to talk my way in there as well. Right on schedule, Dean Wareham, Britta Phillips, Sean Eden, and Lee Wall came out as Luna began their first set on a New York stage in 10 years. The large number of photographers with me in the pit began jockeying for position as the band lit into "Slide" from Luna's 1992 debut Lunapark.

The band seemed comfortable and relaxed, even during their longest jams. Wareham and Eden kept pointing out people they recognized in the front rows and noting the T-shirts that folks were wearing from various eras of the band. At one point, after "Tiger Lily," they even did a short rendition of "Happy Birthday" for Phillips.

As per custom, photographers were sent back into the crowd at the end of the third song. From there, I got to watch the rest of the band's 90-minute set, including epic versions of "Moon Palace," "23 Minutes in Brussels," and their cover of Beat Happening's "Indian Summer." The richness of Eden's guitar tones captivated me all evening, and I barely noticed that I was dying of heat exhaustion. I can only imagine how it felt onstage. I did manage to get off a few more pics from the smokier, more interestingly-lit later parts of the set.

Here are highlights of Luna's set. There are more in the Flickr galleries. Also, check back here later for recaps and pictures of the other stuff I caught on Thursday night.