ema-5

What's going on Friday? (EMA, Baths, Andrew WK, Caveman, The Feelies, Bo Ningen, Kevin Morby, Timber Timbre, more)

EMA at SXSW 2014 (more by Amanda Hatfield)
EMA

You can browse our full NYC show calendar for all of tonight’s shows, but here are some highlights…

Baths, Young Fathers, P. Morris @ Bowery Ballroom
Baths took an unexpected turn towards emotional songwriting on last year’s Obsidian, while still keeping his electronic pop style intact. He’s continuing to support the album on his current tour, which hits NYC tonight for a sold-out show.

Andrew W.K. (Grand Piano Party) @ SubCulture
Andrew WK’s got more Grand Piano Parties coming up this weekend, including one tonight and another tomorrow. While we don’t always associate Andrew WK with grand pianos, we’re sure he’ll deliver on making it a party.

Caveman, Total Slacker, Reputante, Amanda X @ Brooklyn Night Bazaar
Brooklyn Night Bazaar offers weekends of local artisan shopping, gourmet eats, beer and wine, ping pong, black light minigolf and music all under one Greenpoint roof. Tonight’s a diverse bill, with guitar pop (Caveman, Reputante) separated by blasts of noise (Total Slacker, Amanda X). Free.

The Feelies @ The Bell House
Legendary New Jersey band The Feelies have proved influential on generations of post-punk, jangle pop and alternative rock bands, and their 30+ year old material still sounds timeless today. They’re no slackers in the live show department either — they play a few shows in the area every year these days and are always worth catching.

EMA, Downtown Boys @ Mercury Lounge
EMA’s new album, The Future’s Void, is just as and sometimes more devastating than its predecessor, with a killer variety of tunes that pull from industrial, alternative rock, folk and more. She’s on tour with the saxophone-driven, politically-fueled Providence punk band Downtown Boys, who are worth showing up on time for. Sold out.

Bo Ningen, These People, Ken South Rock @ Knitting Factory
One of the most talked-about bands at SXSW this year was Japanese band Bo Ningen, due in no small part to their wild, guitar-swinging, in-your-face shows. Experience them for yourself — this is the first of two NYC shows for the band.

The Bad Plus @ Jazz Standard (early set and late set)
Going for nearly 25 years, The Bad Plus continue to straddle the line between jazz and modern rock. Their new record is an album-length recording of Stravinsky’s “THe Rites of Spring.” Tonight’s the second evening of a four-night run at Jazz Standard, with an early and late show.

The Split Squad featuring the Figgs, Los Dudes @ The Bowery Electric
Featuring Blondie drummer Clem Burke, Fleshtones guitarist Keith Streng, The Plimsouls Eddie Munoz, and others, The Spit Squad make crunchy, rockin’ power pop. Their debut album was produced by Scott McCaughey of Young Fresh Fellows. Tonight they’ll be aided and abetted by upstate NY’s legendary The Figgs. Special guests could happen.

Timber Timbre, Fiver @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
Timber Timbre’s great and often-underrated dark balladry sounds as good as ever on this year’s Hot Dreams, and maybe it’s actually not that underrated ’cause tonight’s show is sold out.

Heaven’s Gate, Lost Boy?, The Veda Rays, Heeney, Sunflower Bean @ Death by Audio
Out of the ashes of Sweet Bulbs, Heaven’s Gate took some of their old band’s dreamy noise, but took it in a significantly different direction, playing to singer strengths and became more of punky rock band…while still using a lot of effects pedals.

Steve Gunn, Kevin Morby, Prince Rupert’s Drops @ Rough Trade
A onetime member of Kurt Vile’s backing band, The Violators, Gunn released his most recent solo album, Time Off, last year. Kevin Morby, meanwhile, used to be in Woods, now co-fronts The Babies, and released a very good solo album last year. He also now lives in California so your chances to see him play aren’t as frequent.

Toadies, Supersuckers @ Stone Pony (NJ)
It’s a double bill of ’90s-era Southwest alt-rock with hitmakers the Toadies (remember “Possum Kingdom”?) and self-proclaimed “Greatest Rock ‘n’ Roll Band in the World,” The Supersuckers.

Com Truise, Alex English, rekLES @ Webster Hall
Com Truise brings the beats to tonight’s Girls & Boys party at Webster Hall and is sure to keep the place moving.

Culture Shock @ SUNY Purchase
It’s the first day of Purchase’s annual two-day Culture Shock festival and features a variety of great stuff, including NYC rap trio Flatbush Zombies, R&B singer Kelela, production wizard Traxman, comedian Neil Hamburger, jazz trio Dawn of Midi, pop shoegazers FIeld Mouse and more. Kaytranada plays the afterparty. The festival is technically only open to students, alumni, and their guests.

For all of tonight’s shows, and tomorrow’s, check out our NYC concert calendar.

For laughs, check out the NYC Comedy calendar too.

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