What's going on Saturday? (Modern Sky Fest, Lykke Li, Atlas Sound, Afghan Whigs, Screaming Females, FREEMAN, more)
Lykke Li at The Apollo in May (more by Gretchen Robinette)
You can browse our full NYC show calendar for all of tonight’s shows, but here are some highlights…
Modern Sky Festival @ Central Park
It’s day 1 of the two-day Modern Sky Festival in Central Park with a good lineup that includes the reunited Blood Brothers, art rock/electronic/etc greats Liars, a William Onyeabor tribute (featuring Peaking Lights, Dead Prez, Pharoah Sanders, Hot Chip’s Alexis Taylor and more), among others. Blood Brothers hang around NYC for a BV-presented Warsaw show tomorrow too.
Lykke Li @ Radio City Music Hall
With her new album, Lykke Li has fully transformed from light entertainment to Serious Artist, and with it has come bigger and bigger audiences. (If she played “Little Bit” and “Breaking Up” we wouldn’t think less of her, though.) Radio City’s tony vibe should fit with her sound nicely.
The Afghan Whigs, Charles Bradley @ Beacon Theater
The Afghan Whigs made a fine return with Do To The Beast . Tonight they play in perhaps the nicest room in Manhattan, well paired with Charles Bradley’s vintage soul.
Screaming Females, Pujol, Mal Blum @ Knitting Factory
Screaming Females always put on a roaring show that’s dissonant but catchy, full of guitar solos, and must be seen. Garage rockers Pujol are always a treat too.
Downtown Fest w/ Avey Tare’s Slasher Flicks, Atlas Sound, Tobacco, Mas Ysa, Vacationer, Computer Magic & more @ Webster Hall
It’s Downtown Fest’s second of two days taking over all three rooms of Webster Hall with Animal Collective member Avey Tare’s band Slasher Flicks, Deerhunter singer Bradford Cox’s solo project Atlas Sound, Black Moth Super Rainbow-related Tobacco and more.
Mr. Twin Sister, Moon King, Zula @ Baby’s All Right
While adding a title to their name is questionable (SEO), there’s no denying the lushly orchestrated dance music on Mr. Twin Sister’s new album that evokes mid-’90s Bjork and Everything But the Girl. We’re hoping there will be live strings at tonight’s show, we shall see. If you’re going to this sold out show, do get there for Toronto’s Moon King who make exciting, shoegazy pop.
Big Freedia, La Chev (DJ Set), Friendly Ghost @ Glasslands
Stop watching Nicki Minaj’s “Anaconda” video or Miley Cyrus with Robin Thicke and go to Glasslands where Big Freedia will show you how twerking’s really done.
La Roux, Midnight Magic @ Terminal 5
In the five years since La Roux made her acclaimed debut, Elly Jackson split from her songwriting partner, lost her voice — both creatively and literally — and spent the time since getting it back. Those issues, hinted at with the title of her new album, Trouble in Paradise, seem to have been worked out as singles “Uptight Downtown” and “Tropical Chancer” have a buoyant quality to them that recalls the charming pop of Bananarama. That’s a good thing, by the way.
Tokimonsta, Made In Heights @ Le Poisson Rouge
Tokimonsta’s ready for bigger stages than LPR at this point, which of course explains why this is sold out and it’s sure to be nuts.
FREEMAN, Arc Iris @ Bowery Ballroom
FREEMAN, the new band from former Ween singer Aaron “Gene” Freeman, released their debut album earlier this summer which is perhaps a little less cheese (and chocolate) than his old band but still with all the tasty noodles.
Sick of It All, H2O, Wisdom In Chains, White Collar Crime @ Irving Plaza
Sick of It All and H2O team up for a night of classic New York hardcore at Irving tonight.
JG Thirlwell & Sarah Lipstate, The Soft Pink Truth @ Saint Vitus
Foetus’ JG Thirlwell and Noveller’s Sarah Lipstate team for a duo set tonight which should be super interesting to see, especially if you’re into this kind of stuff. The Soft Pink Truth is the genre-tweaking sideproject of Matmos’ Drew Daniel who just released a deconstructionist take on black metal, Why Do the Heathens Rage?, and that should be interesting to see as well.
Las Rosas, Sam Coffee & The Iron Lung, A Rex & J Rex, Blonde Elvis @ Death By Audio
If you dig late-’60s paisley psych/surf/garage, Las Rosas are probably Brooklyn’s finest exporters of that sound. (They’re kinda the East coast Allah-Las.) They headline this show that features other garagey bands, plus Toronto’s glammy Blonde Elvis who are worth getting there early for.
Happiness (members of Deer Tick), Wicked Kind (members of Titus Andronicus), Ron Gallo @ Glasslands
There’s some current and former members of some pretty cool bands on this bill, including Happiness which has three Deer Tick members including former Titus Andronicus member Ian O’Neil. And other Titus members are in the band Wicked Kind who play right before them.
Langhorne Slim, Osei Essed @ City Winery
Folk rocker Langhorne Slim last played NYC two months ago opening for Old Crow Medicine Show in Central Park, and here’s a chance to see him headline in a much more intimate environment.
Radical Dads, The Suzan, Red Sneakers, Quiet Down @ Muchmore’s
Celebrate the release of Radical Dads’ new cassette at tonight’s show and dig into their classic indie rock sound which they do better than most. Japanese expats The Suzan are a lot of fun too. Dance at your own peril, however.
Jeffrey Lewis & The Jrams, Shilpa Ray, Palberta @ Palisades
Jeffrey Lewis and Shilpa Ray have both been two consistently great names on the NYC scene for a while now, and tonight’s a cool chance to see them together.
Talib Kweli Band of Skulls, ASTR @ Sonos Studio
The shows at Sonos Studio (that you had to RSVP for, now closed) continue tonight with the very active and always entertaining hip hop veteran Talib Kweli. UPDATE: Talib dropped off but Band of Skulls and ASTR are playing instead.
mewithoutYou, The Appleseed Cast, Hop Along @ Starland Ballroom
Literate/spiritual Philly art rockers mewithoutYou are currently on the road celebrating the tenth anniversary of their genre-defying Catch For Us The Foxes. Support is equally excellent, coming from emo-turned-post-rock vets The Appleseed Cast and a great newer Philly band, Hop Along. The tour hits NYC later this month, but is nearby for tonight’s NJ show.
Doug E Fresh, Rakim, Slick Rick, Big Daddy Kane, Biz Markie @ NYCB Theatre at Westbury
Head to Long Island for this show tonight which has no shortage of undeniable hip hop legends.
Bassnectar, Big Gigantic, Rusko, Paper Diamond @ Madison Square Garden
You may just want to steer clear of this one all together, but if EDM is your thing it’s not like you’ll find a better lineup somewhere else in NYC tonight.
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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