An indie rock mini-fest for the books went down Wednesday night at Webster Hall. Celebrating the 15th Anniversary of booking agency Ground Control Touring, the building-wide affair presented by Noisey and Jukely had a 19-act line-up that included the likes of Kurt Vile, Superchunk, Deer Tick, Screaming Females, Parquet Courts and many more. The evening also featured a number of cross-band collaborations. Groups on the bill were confined to short sets, which some used to perform a mix of covers rather than play their usual material.

Unfortunately, we weren’t able to see every band that played as the event spanned three stages – Studio, Marlin Room, and Ballroom – and some acts ran late due to problems during set-up. Of what we did see, highlights included Kim Gordon, Steve Gunn and Jarvis Taveniere (Woods) joining Kurt Vile for a cover of The Velvet Underground’s “Sister Ray,” Kurt Vile joining Woods to cover “Knockin on Heavens Door,” Lee Ranaldo playing with Parquet Courts, and Screaming Females, who we only caught briefly amid the up-and-down stair-ing of the night.

When we arrived, Katie Crutchfield’s Waxahatchee was already on in the Ballroom. For the act’s last song they announced that Superchunk’s Mac McCaughan and Hamish Kilgour of The Clean were going to join them for a cover of The Clean’s “Getting Older.” There was some chaos as Kilgour wasn’t completely ready to perform, but they muddled their way through. We then headed downstairs to the Marlin Room for Steve Gunn’s brief but dazzling set. From there, we went even further downstairs and found a very crowded Studio preparing for Porches. We opted to go back up and camp out in the Ballroom. The Felice Brothers impressed with their impassioned performance. Then it was time for Kurt Vile, but due to what seemed like a missing or change in guitars, things got off course. All was made right, however, when the Philly rocker invited a few of his friends, namely Gordon, Gunn, and Taveniere, to join him for a rousing cover.

After feeling like we had just be doused with some groovy fairy dust, we decided to give the tightly packed Studio another go for Rainer Maria before catching a short bit of Superchunk and then hitting the Marlin Room for Woods. After some technical issues, Woods started off their set with Parquet Courts’ Andrew Savage singing lead on a cover of Neil Young’s “Powderfinger.” We then made our way downstairs to catch Marissa Paternoster of Screaming Females shredding her heart out. Some additional running around yielded us catching Kurt Vile playing with Woods, and Deer Tick performing to a less than full crowd in the Ballroom.

The night ended on a stellar note with Lee Ranaldo pretty much moving in with Parquet Courts for their all-too-brief set. The new configuration played two Sonic Youth covers “Mote” and “Eric’s Trip.” We then ran downstairs to the Studio to find Perfect Pussy ending their set.

All in all, it was a seriously amazing musical event with the bands gushing about their agents at Ground Control Touring. Sadly, we missed Frankie Cosmos, Torres and Speedy Ortiz, as well as Meredith Graves of Perfect Pussy performing with Rainer Maria. You can’t see them all. Check out our photos and a couple of short videos, as well as, the full line-up from the night below. We hope Ground Control Touring plans on celebrating their sweet sixteen in a similar manner.

Waxahatchee

Waxahatchee with Mac McCaughan & Hamish Kilgour

Steve Gunn

The Felice Brothers

Kurt Vile with Kim Gordon, Steve Gunn and Jarvis Taveniere

Rainer Maria

Superchunk

Screaming Females

Deer Tick

Woods with Kurt Vile

Parquet Courts with Lee Ranaldo

Perfect Pussy