mekons-20151

What's going on Thursday? (Iron & Wine & Ben Bridwell, U2, Mekons, A$AP Rocky, WWPJ, Tommy Stinson & more)

Mekons
Mekons
A$AP Rocky

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

A$AP Rocky, Vic Mensa, Bodega Bamz, Remy Banks @ Best Buy Theater
It’s weird to think A$AP Rocky was once part of the small “cloud rap” movement, as he’s now one of our most exciting major label rappers. This year’s At.Long.last.A$AP is a departure from the party jams of his last album and dives deeper into psychedelic territory.

The Mekons @ Jalopy Theatre
Much like The Fall, long-running band The Mekons have dabbled in just about every musical genre you can think of in their nearly 40-year existence but they always mainly just sound like themselves. Mekons shows tend to be long and boozy with a very, very devoted fanbase. They’re one of the greats.

Iron and Wine & Ben Bridwell @ Webster Hall
Iron & Wine (aka Sam Beam) and Band of Horses frontman Ben Bridwell put out a covers album earlier this year that tackles a lot of diverse stuff — Pete Seeger, Spiritualized, Sade, Talking Heads and more. Now they’re on the road together playing those covers, and some of their own stuff too.

Dee Dee (of The Dum Dum Girls) @ Moscot LES
Dum Dum Girls’ frontperson Dee Dee Penny will perform solo at this free show at MOSCOT’s store on Orchard St. Complimentary beer and wine for folks over 21, too. You gotta RSVP.

U2 @ Madison Square Garden
Rock and pop superstars U2’s eight-show run at Madison Square Garden continues. As you may have heard, Bono, The Edge and crew have managed to reinvent the stadium spectacle for this tour — which is just what you’d expect from them (and these ticket prices).

Bostich + Fussible, Wolfgang Flür/MusikSoldat (ex-Kraftwerk) @ Lincoln Center
Part of the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival, the “two founders of Tijuana’s audio-visual collective mesh brassy live instrumentation, norteño sounds, and catchy techno dance beats with mesmerizing live-action and projected images in a show the Los Angeles Times calls ‘visually stunning, rhythmically dense.'” Free!

EZTV, Nude Beach, Mercury Girls @ Union Pool
EZTV owe a lot to the late-’70s powerpop scene that was equally enthralled by punk’s energy and Big Star’s beauty; Nude Beach make heartland punk like you might have heard in Minneapolis in 1984; and Montreal band Mercury Girls (featuring Fucked Up drummer Jonah Falco) make dark-hued postpunk.

Tommy Stinson, Simon Doom, Diane Gentile @ Bowery Electric
Bassist in The Replacements and Guns n’ Roses (and frontman of Bash n’ Pop), Tommy Stinson is in the spotlight tonight.

Little Boots, Prinze George @ Brooklyn Bowl
Master of the Tenori-on, dancepop artist Little Boots just released her third album, Working Girl, and celebrates tonight.

Jill Scott, BJ the Chicago Kid @ Kings Theatre
Neo-soul great Jill Scott has a new album titled Woman coming out this week, and from the singles she’s put out it sounds like more of her quality work. This is her second of two NYC shows with solid opener BJ the Chicago Kid.

We Were Promised Jetpacks, Krill @ Pier 84
Melancholic Scottish indie rockers We Were Promised Jetpacks return to NYC in continued support of their third album, last year’s Unraveling. Boston’s quirky Krill are worth catching too. Part of Hudson River Rocks, this is a free show.

Son Lux, Landlady, Olga Bell @ Rough Trade
Son Lux are continuing to tour in support of this year’s art-poppy Bones, and making tonight’s show an even better bill is Dirty Projector and solo artist Olga Bell.

Stitches, Main Attrakionz, Buckwheat Groats @ The Studio at Webster Hall
Speaking of the cloud rap movement A$AP Rocky came from, Main Attrakionz came from it too. They never became big stars like him, but they’re still making good music like this year’s 808s & Dark Grapes III. Tonight’s their first of two NYC shows in support of it, and this one’s with the “Brick In Yo Face” dude Stiches.

Joell Ortiz, !llmind, Emilio Rojas, Billionaire Buck, Sons of 84 @ The Wick
NYC staple Joell Ortiz returned last week with the new album Human, produced entirely by !llmind. The two of them team up tonight in celebration of that.

Primitive Man, Opium Lord, Opening Bell, The Communion, Mountain God @ Saint Vitus
Denver’s Primitive Man pull from sludge, metal, punk and more, defying any individual genre. They’ve got an EP, a split LP, and a standalone single out this year, so needless to say there’s plenty of new music to hear tonight.

Steeleye Span @ BB King’s
Steeleye Span hailed from the same British folk scene as Fairport Convention, and they put out at least a few classic albums in the ’70s. The only original member is Maddy Prior, though her voice alone is a good enough reason to check out this show.

Def Leppard, Styx, Tesla @ Jones Beach
If you dig hair metal at all, few bands had more hits than Def Leppard (Hysteria had seven singles alone). Weirdly enough, this tour is also with Styx.

Alt-J @ iHeartRadio Theater
Alt-J rose to fame very quickly, and this is a small show for the band who have already headlined MSG. To get in you had to win tickets from iHeartRadio.

CHVRCHES, BAIO @ Music Hall of Williamsburg
CHVRCHES showed their pop dreams from the beginning, but their new single especially sounds made for the radio. Vampire Weekend’s Baio has a new album on the way too.

Volahn, Hand of Glory, T.O.M.B., wulfkrieg @ Acheron
This show doubles as the first night of the ‘Dissociative Visions’ festival, and it’s headlined by black metal master Volahn.

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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