After all I've heard about them and from them via their past work, I found this edition of Mission of Burma a disappointment. Maybe that was what you were discreetly acknowledging. Are these the same personnel? What's missing?

According to a t-shirt I saw at the Mission of Burma show yesterday “broke is the new black”, debatable. What isn’t is that Williamsburg Waterfront is the new Mccaren Park and yesterday the displaced series of JellyNYC shows rebooted at their new locale featuring Fucked Up, Ponytail and Jemina Pearl as openers for Mission of Burma. It was a hot and sunny day as herds of shirtless twenty-somethings took to the asphalt expanse of the Wburg Waterfront to enjoy a festive musical affair in the shadowless venue.

When I arrived at the Waterfront, I was greeted by a long line of Brooklynites waiting to get inside the security gates. After clearing the checkpoint, festival goers were treated to a huge venue with dodge ball and basketball courts, burgers and a spread of beer vendors in a loosely guarded 21+ area. Jemina Pearl wearing denim cutoffs gave the inaugural performance as a crowd gradually built by the riverside stage. Next up was Ponytail who dished out noise pop to an appreciative mass of fans under the oppressive sun. Singer Molly Siegel gave an energetic, but eccentric effort punctuated by wordless squeals, as the band played diligent surf rock styled riffs behind her. I arrived slightly late for the set, and seeing Siegel's round boyish face and pixie haircut combined with a slack jaw, rolling eyes and non-lingual screams made me seriously wonder what was up with her. “You guys are awesome,” she told the crowd between songs making me realize her performance style was deliberate rather than chemically induced. The band definitely had some good ideas and an original sound which included drummer Jeremy Hyman’s collection of atypical drum tones.

Fucked Up, a hardcore band, turned the intensity up with a set of high volume thrash rock, catalyzed by an epic performance by front man Damian Abraham. The band started with an instrumental buildup as the burly, bearded Abraham swung his microphone by the cord before chugging a redbull and crushing the empty can on his head. Bursting out with demonic vocals, a frenzied Abraham jumped into the crowd singing from the fray. Between songs, Abraham read from a flyer plugging a friend’s show before eating part of the flyer and jumping into “Twice Born” at a kamikaze pace. The band tore it up on “Black Albino Bones” as Abraham ripped off his shirt to reveal an enormous beer belly. It seems strange to say that Abraham skillfully worked the crowd (he did), and I don’t know if virtuoso is the right word to describe him, but his work yesterday was crazily memorable and absolutely entertaining.

During Fucked Up’s set, front man Damian Abraham mentioned how lucky the audience was to see Mission of Burma live for free considering how much he had paid to see them in the past. Mission of Burma's set began with bassist Clint Conley counting off “1,2,3” before the band launched into a tune culminating in an abrasive, cerebral solo by Roger Miller. On “Red” Miller strummed his pick across the top of his fret board to create a distorted squeal as the band played. Mission of Burma delivered a seasoned performance, blowing through classics like “2Wice,” and they also provided a glimpse into Mission of Burma’s forthcoming album when the band debuted “Forget Yourself” offering a window into their future. While Mission of Burma’s seminal punk sound has influenced the music of countless performers, live shows are a young man’s game. For me the high octane thrillfest of Fucked Up stole the show from the veterans.You could see Manhattan in the distance and planes landing in the water behind the stage as I left the Wburg Waterfront with plans to be back.