photos by PSquared Photography

Tom Jones @ Bowery Ballroom, 5/18/2013

Jones's voice is so gigantic that it can seem like a put-on, and he's always known it; part of his charm is the way he'll play it up, often with a hoarse cackle at the end of a line, or between songs. But this is a good time for adult-leaning vocal interpreters from the rock generation, especially with atmospheric backing - see Robert Plant and Alison Krauss's Raising Sand, for starters. Jones's new Spirit in the Room (Rounder), produced by Ethan Johns, isn't the first time Jones has put together something of this nature - Johns also produced 2010's gospel-leaning Praise & Blame - but it's clearly a departure from his Vegas-identified norm. - [Rolling Stone]

Tom Jones, who doesn't normally play small rooms like Bowery Ballroom, did just that this past weekend (5/18), one of a few club shows plugging his rootsy new album, Spirit in the Room. Those hoping for a glitzy, hit-packed set may have been disappointed -- only his 1966 #1 cover of "Green Green Grass of Home" was played (no "It's Not Unusual" or "Delilah") -- but they did get the Welsh legend's mighty pipes in an intimate setting without the sound of slot machines in the background.

Opening the night with a cover of Leonard Cohen's "Tower of Song," he also gave the audience earthy renditions of The First Edition's "Just Dropped In (To See What Condition My Condition Was In)," John Lee Hooker's "Burning Hell" and others, plus a tribute to the recently-departed George Jones with "He Stopped Loving Her Today." Setlist is below.

More pictures from Bowery, plus video of him performing "Green Green Grass," below...

Continue reading "Tom Jones played Bowery Ballroom (pics, setlist)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers @ Beacon Theatre, 5/20/2013

Petty doesn't play a supercharged oldies revue like the Rolling Stones. Nor does he distort his catalogue into willfully eccentric renditions that separate "true" fans from mere pretenders, a la Bob Dylan. (Don't get me wrong: I love this about Dylan.) Petty doesn't perform for three and a half hours, like Bruce Springsteen, and he doesn't rely on expensive bells and whistles, like pretty much everyone else.

Monday night, at least, Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers satisfied themselves with a tight, confident, two-hour set that featured a handful of hits, a few well-chosen covers and lots of deep album cuts. (You can check out the complete set list at the bottom of this post.) His band has been playing together for more than 30 years -- he was only half-kidding when he introduced drummer Steve Ferrone, who joined in 1994, as "the new guy" -- and they couldn't be more in sync. Lead guitarist Mike Campbell shreds aplenty, and keyboardist Benmont Tench unleashed a solo during "Melinda" (a staple of the band's live set that has never made its way onto an album) that ranged from Jerry Lee Lewis to Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. But that was the extent of the fireworks. - [Huffington Post]

Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers kicked off their five-night run at NYC's Beacon Theatre last night (5/20) and pictures from that are in this post, as is the setlist which included songs from throughout his nearly 40-year, hit-filled career. Did you go last night? Anyone going to all five nights?

Tom Petty plays Beacon Theatre again tonight which, like the rest of his run, is sold out. More pictures from last night are below.

Continue reading "Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers began their five-night Beacon Theatre run (pics, setlist)"

photos by PSquared Photography

Iron & Wine at the Capitol Theatre - 5/19/13

Iron & Wine is currently on a tour with the Secret Sisters in support of his new album, Ghost on Ghost, which hit NYC last week (5/14) at Beacon Theater and then circled back to the area for a Port Chester show at the Capitol Theater this past Sunday (5/19). Pictures of the latter are in this post.

For the tour, Sam Beam is being backed by a 13-piece band, and also takes some time out of his sets to do some solo acoustic material. Both NYC-area shows saw him playing the bulk of Ghost on Ghost in addition to a good amount of earlier material, but he had some surprises thrown in there too, including his cover of The Postal Service's "Such Great Heights" at the Cap show.

More pictures from the Cap and setlists/videos from both shows below...

Continue reading "Iron & Wine played the Capitol Theatre & Beacon Theatre (pics, videos, setlists)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Father John Misty / Lee Fields / Sharon Van Etten

Saturday (5/18) at Great GoogaMooga in Prospect Park was Misty both onstage and off. J. Tillman (aka Father John Misty) played mid-afternoon set as light, atomizer-like rain frizzed hair and kept everything just a little moist. (Sunday the rain got worse and producers pulled the plug on the event.) Unlike Friday's paid-ticket kickoff event with Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Flaming Lips and The Darkness, Saturday's admission was free (though you had to order tickets) and also featured sets from headliners Matt & Kim, plus Lee Fields & the Expressions, Sharon Van Etten, Jovanotti and more. Pictures from Saturday are in this post. Did you brave the not-too-bad-weather for some music, beer and grub?

You can check out Friday pics of YYYs, The Flaming Lips and The Darkness. More pictures from Saturday below...

Continue reading "GoogaMooga day 2 in pics (Father John Misty, Lee Fields, Sharon Van Etten, Matt & Kim ++ more)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

YYYs @ GoogaMooga 2013

We've already posted photos from the first two bands (The Darkness and The Flaming Lips) to play the Great GoogaMooga kickoff concert on Friday (5/17). Here are a set from headliners Yeah Yeah Yeahs who were the only band to actually get to play after sunset. A few shots of Chairlift, who played two different DJ sets that day and who will perform in the same location of the park this summer, are also in this post.

Did you go on Friday? How was your GoogaMooga experience?

Right after playing GoogaMooga, YYYs hopped down to Gulf Shores, Alabama to play the 2013 Hangout Fest on Sunday (5/19).

"About halfway through the Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Hangout Music Festival set, frontwoman Karen O took a moment to make a special announcement before playing the band's 2004 breakout single "Maps." "This is dedicated to Stevie Wonder," she called out to the thousands of fans who showed up to catch the Yeah's set. The iconic R&B star was slated to follow the Yeah Yeah Yeahs on the Hangout Stage as the weekend's headliner." [MTV]

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Despite not having the most successful event either this year (rain) or last year (lines), a Channel 12 report claims GoogaMooga will be back in 2014. Meanwhile, BV Chicago reports that GoogaMooga might be coming to Chicago in August.

More Yeah Yeah Yeahs photos are below.

Continue reading "Yeah Yeah Yeahs played Hangout Fest & GoogaMooga (pics); GoogaMooga coming to Chicago next?"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Liars @ The Met's Temple of Dendur, 5/17/2013

As mentioned, Liars were in town over the weekend for two shows. We already posted pictures from their Le Poisson Rouge show, but the main event this weekend was their performance on Saturday at the Temple of Dendur exhibit in The Met. Having the band play amongst Egyptian ruins as the windows darkened into dusk with projections behind them was, in the words of our photographer Amanda Hatfield, "nearly an hour of weird creepy awesomeness." Some might claim that sound was not ideal, but getting to see them in such a genuinely epic setting is certainly a fine tradeoff. Pictures from their performance are in this post.

The next show happening at Temple of Dendur is on July 19 when Om will play their track "At Giza," which is now sold out. More pictures from the Met below...

Continue reading "Liars @ the Temple of Dendur at The Met (pics)"

words & photos by Keith Marlowe

Turbonegro @ Irving Plaza, 5/18

Turbonegro played Irving Plaza Saturday night (5/18), their only East Coast gig before a short West Coast tour (with Torche opening,) that ends with them headlining Punk Rock Bowling with Bad Religion on May 26. The ever-present Turbojugend jackets illustrated how far people had come -- up and down the East Coast -- to make this show, repping from Boston down to Atlanta.

Turbo opened with "Just Flesh," playing a solid set of classics and songs off the new record, Sensual Harassment. People were streaming over the barricade all night, not letting up until the end of the last song, a furious cover of "Final Solution," by Cleveland punk greats Rocket from the Tombs.

Turbo's Volcom labelmates, NYC's Dirty Fences, opened the show, playing a lot of songs off their new album Too High to Kross. They also closed with a cover that has become a staple of their set, "Can't Tame Me" by the Benders.

More pictures from Irving Plaza are below.

Continue reading "Turbonegro played Irving Plaza with Dirty Fences (pics)"

Kvelertak @ The Studio at Webster Hall, 5/17/2013 (more by Keith Marlowe)

Kvelertak brought the temperature up a few degrees in the basement of Webster Hall, when the band joined Cancer Bats and Black Tusk as part of a sold-out show at The Studio on May 17. More sweaty, stage-divey, rafter-hang-y pictures are at InvisibleOranges. The show was part of a tour for the Norwegian party-metal crew in celebration of their new LP, Meir, out now.

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Banana split: The Darkness @ GoogaMooga 2013

While Brooklyn's music-food-beer fest Great GoogaMooga 2013 came to a soggy, earlier-than-expected end, Friday's kickoff show (5/17) couldn't have been more perfect, weather-wise. The day got off to an early start and a bang with Lowestoft, UK's finest cheeky rockers, The Darkness. An expert at crowd participation, frontman Justin Hawkins (who was hopefully wearing sunscreen with that catsuit) had the crowd showing him their thumbs as the band cranked out tunes that tread the fine line between clever and stupid.

Chairlift and N.A.S.A's Sam Speigel had DJ sets on either side of the Darkness' performance that was followed by The Flaming Lips and Yeah Yeah Yeahs. The Darkness play Philly on Tuesday (5/21) before heading back to England. All dates are listed, along with more GoogaMooga pictures and video, below...

Continue reading "The Darkness played GoogaMooga (pics, video)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Will the woman who lost a small baby please come to the stage...

Two days after their appearance on Fallon and one day after they headlined Wellmont Theater in Montclair, the Flaming Lips played a 6:15pm set in Prospect Park as part of the first day of the second year of GoogaMooga (which ended up not having a third day). They want on in the light after the Darkness and before Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Here are some pictures, the setlist and video from their set. It all continues below...

Continue reading "The Flaming Lips played GoogaMooga (pics, video, setlist)"