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There were some great sets at the Pool Parties free show at East River State Park yesterday, but blistering HEALTH and raucous Black Lips sets aside, the weather’s what dominated the day. As in, everybody toasting life in the sun to the Latin funk of Austin’s Grupo Fantsma early, and a few hours later a blur of tattoos running for cover as a rainstorm erupted and lightning bolts tore through the city skyline, forcing the show to be canceled and the park rangers to sweep everyone out before …And You Will Know Us By The Trail Of Dead could hit the stage. TOD fans: the band will be at All Points West this weekend. Not quite as free of a show there, though.

Anyway HEALTH ruled, as they tend to do. The band dipped into songs from the self-titled debut, but kindly went deep into material from their fantastic forthcoming LP Get Colour, an album that’s found a way to work their nuclear-reactor meltdown noise and animalistic shrieks into epic and emotional dance (as on “Die Slow“), blissful and tribal pseudo-shoegazer ballads (“Before Tigers”), but still plenty of thrashed tantrums for those in love with the last one. The band’s onstage spasms were transfixing as ever, but it was Black Lips who whipped the crowd out of their crossed arms, encouraging all sorts of crowd surfing/stage crashing shenanigans via typically ramshackle takes on Good Bad Not Evil stuffs like “O Katrina!” and plenty from this year’s 200 Million Thousand. Natasha Ryan delivers these pics.

Next Sunday: the Dan Deacon/Deerhunter/No Age round robin show. Cheaper than seeing Coldplay at APW (i.e. free).