Cake Shop during NYC Popfest (more by Chris La Putt)

Cake Shop has been a key part of the vibrant New York music scene. Bands both local and from all over the world respect Cake Shop as a launching pad to success. Acts like Surfer Blood, Jeff The Brotherhood, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, MGMT, Vampire Weekend, Dirty Projectors and many more played some of their first gigs here. In addition to being a venue, we also try to foster a sense of community with our cafe, coffee, teas and, of course, cakes! We even have a hand picked bin of vinyl records from our favorite bands. We set a place up that we wanted to hang out in and luckily, many artists and fans have responded by continually coming in to hang out and support the scene.

Some financial hurdles that all compounded over the past 3 months (including new Real Estate Tax to landlord, added security costs and changes to the forms of ID we are allowed to accept) have caused serious potential of losing our space plus the one time fines and legal fees have caused us to reach out to the fans of live bands to help us keep the music going. We want to remain open and continue to bring you phenomenal emerging talent. That's where you come in. You can pledge to keep Cake Shop going.

We've listed some pretty sweet and unique exclusives that you can pledge for. A number of our longtime friends have graciously offered some truly special things. Everyone will receive a digital download of a compilation tape featuring handpicked songs by us (Cake Shop owners Andy and Nick Bodor and Greg Curley). Included will be some rare and unreleased live gems from the vault.

Once you pledge, you get instant access to a pledger-only part of the site. Here, we'll dig even further into the vault and give you streams of unseen live performances, live downloads and unreleased music from some of our favorite acts. We may even give away the recipe of one of our world-famous woopie pies!

Best of all, a portion of what's raised above our target will go to Musicians on Call, which is an amazing charity that provides live music in hospitals. They're a great organization, so help us help them.

Come be a part of music history as we keep live music vibrant in New York.

In the meantime, Cake Shop's doors stay open. Tonight (5/25) it's Male the Horse and Miniboone and Saturday (5/26) it's Michigan's Bad Indians and the Beets' Juan Wauters solo, and upcoming shows include Iceland's Muck (6/8) and Royal Headache (6/13). You can watch Cake Shop's Pledge Music video below.

Continue reading "Cake Shop still needs help, started PledgeMusic campaign"

photos by Joe McCabe

Ben Gibbard @ Beacon Theater - 4/29/12

NYC showed Ben Gibbard and his band Death Cab For Cutie much love during a recent three night run at Beacon Theater. Ben did not return that love in a recent article about baseball stadiums in Rolling Stone. Ben said:

PNC Park is by far the most beautiful park in all of baseball. The place feels so intimate and old-fashioned in all the best ways. I love the design of their out-of-town scoreboard. The views of downtown Pittsburgh and the bridges across the Allegheny River at night are spectacular. You can also buy a gigantic bucket of hot wings there that will stop your heart. The new Yankee stadium is by far the worst I've been to. It might look like the old one from the outside, but inside it's more like a gaudy, Long Island shopping mall than a ballpark. A classic example of what happens when people have too much money and very little taste. Plus, it tends to be full of Yankees fans.

We already posted timely pictures of nights one and two of Death Cab's three-night run (along with news of their continued tour that hits NJ next time). Here is a set of pictures we've been saving, from the third and final night at Beacon with Youth Lagoon. More of them below...

Continue reading "Ben Gibbard disses Yankee Stadium, played 3 nights @ Beacon Theater with Youth Lagoon (here's the last set of pics)"

Jay-Z, who also just announced a festival in Philadelphia, has set a date for one of his promised shows at his new stadium in Brooklyn. The rapper mogul will christen the new Barclays Centter on 9/28/2012, a few days before the Islanders play the Devils there, and a few weeks before Brooklyn's own Barbara Streisand plays there. Will Jay announce even more shows like he said he would? Time will tell. Meanwhile check out the full list of events confirmed at the new venue so far, Rush and Leonard Cohen included, below...

Continue reading "JAY Z sets date of show at Barclays Center (where Barbara Streisand is also playing) "

Located in the always-growing Gowanus/Park Slope area, about a .4 mile walk from Union Hall, Shapeshifter Lab (18 Whitwell Place) is a new 4200 square foot performance space....

"this newly renovated performance space hosts the world's most innovative artists who are looking for a flexible platform to present their work. Bass player Matthew Garrison, son of Jimmy Garrison (bass player for John Coltrane), is the co-owner and creative director with his business partner, Fortuna Sung. With many years as a successful touring musician under his belt, Matt and his team have designed the space with versatility in sound, lighting and layout, each of which can be tailored to each artist. With state-of-the-art equipment and raw space, Matt and his team are creating something truly unique and desperately needed in today's venue scene in New York City."

"Matthew has also been busy recording a new project of his at ShapeShifter Lab, to be released online as an interactive website in June 2012, and has successfully video and audio captured performances by Meshell Ndegeocello, Arto Tuncboyaciyan, Gene Lake, Terri Lyne Carrington, David Binney, Adam Rogers, Mark Guiliana, Jojo Mayer, Marko Djordjevic, Hadrien Feraud, Tobias Ralph. Many more incredible artists are scheduled to come participate on this ground breaking project throughout May 2012."

Continue reading "Shapeshifter Lab is a new Brooklyn venue & studio (upcoming schedule & videos) (Nels Cline, Tim Berne & Jim Black tonight)"

by Andrew Sacher

Buke and Gase at Prospect Park in 2011 (more by Toby Tenebaum)

Buke and Gase will be curating The Stone from tonight (5/1) to May 15. The curation kicks off tonight with Father Murphy at 8 PM and Les Bonhommes at 10 PM.

After tonight's show, Father Murphy, who are here from Italy, head out on tour with Xiu Xiu and Dirty Beaches (which hits Bowery Ballroom this Friday 5/4). Their album was mixed by Deerhoof's Greg Saunier who is one third of, but not the drummer of, Les Bonhommes (that also features William Kuehn from Rainer Maria).

Other performances throughout the week include former Parts & Labor noisemaker Dan Friel and Bunnybrains on 5/4; a Tonic reunion featuring Mephista with John Zorn, Steve Bernstein's MTO and more; Extra Life's Charlie Looker, Greg Fox, & Jamie Saft and Glass Ghost on 5/11, gonzo drummer Greg Fox and Hubble on 5/12, a powerhouse grouping of Ryan Sawyer, Colin Stetson, Nate Wooley, C. Spencer Yeh Quartet on 5/13, and Matana Roberts and Ches Smith on 5/15, among others.

Buke & Gase don't actually play any of the shows they curated but they do play the Dessner-curated Crossing Brooklyn Ferry fest on May 4 at BAM.

The second half of May at the Stone is curated by Gyan Riley.

Check out the full schedule below...

Continue reading "Buke & Gase curating The Stone's first two week's in May"

"Surely somebody has noticed that the old 9:30 Club building in Washington, D.C., is soon to be a J. Crew store. Surely someone will claim this is somehow ''ironic,'' that the club that fostered the all-ages hardcore scene of Minor Threat, Government Issue and Fugazi will soon sell pairs of $140 Café Capri pants in geranium lace. I don't see the big deal. But I worry about the smell." [NY Times]

Upcoming shows there include Miike Snow (who just played three nights in NYC), Willie Nelson (who recently got a statue in Austin), Andrew Bird, who just played Coachella and has two shows coming up at Beacon Theater & ASAP Rocky (who just played Coachella and whose upcoming Chicago opener L.E.P. Bogus Boys was reportedly kicked off the bill by the police).

We had heard that Cake Shop owner Andy Bodes was semi-privately looking for a bit of help, but now it seems things have come urgent. Someone just forwarded us this snippet of an email...

"calling all millionaires: cake shop needs a month-long returnable bridge loan, due to possibly bogus fines from last year, at their deadline this monday, or we face eviction. the amount we're looking for is 10k, to pay off these fines once and for all. we'd need it in the next 72 hours. & reminder this is a short term loan. full explanation provided, with intere$t and perks, if this appeals to you, and you'd like to help us out & continue & grow. thanks. xo."

NYMD reports:

"Lakeside Lounge has been sold and will be closing at the end of April. After just over fifteen years in business, the bar that defined oldschool East Village cool will be replaced by a gentrifier whiskey joint, no doubt with $19 artisanal cocktails and hedge fund nebbishes trying to pick up on sorostitutes when their boyfriends are puking in the bathroom - or out of it."

Meanwhile, stop by Lakeside Lounge, not to be confused with Parkside one more time. Check out their final two-week schedule below...

Continue reading "Lakeside Lounge closing"

photos by Andrew St. Clair, words by Andrew Sacher

Tim Harrington @ Death by Audio 3/31/2012

All ages Williamsburg venue Death by Audio celebrated its fifth anniversary last month with sets by Tim Harrington (of Les Savy Fav, playing solo), Free Paint (Deerhoof's Greg Saunier and Flying's Sara Magenheimer), Grooms, and Neckbeard Telecaster. Check out more pictures from the anniversary party below. Meanwhile, they have a number of solid upcoming shows this month and next, which are highlighted in this post.

This Wedneday (4/18), Brooklyn's Hunters will play the venue. We profiled them when they toured with The Kills and Jeff the Brotherhood, after releasing a James Iha-produced, Nick Zinner-mixed EP, which you can stream/purchase at bandcamp. The bill also includes Oakland bands Sister Fucker and Generation, and Brooklyn-via Oakland band Buddy Bag.

Parts & Labor (who are on hiatus) member Dan Friel plays the venue on April 25 and again on May 2. The 5/2 show is with ex-Parts & Labor member Sarah Lipstate aka Noveller, who can also be found at Glasslands on Thursday (4/19) with Lotus Plaza and Disappears (tickets). Dan Friel also plays The Stone on May 4 at 8 PM before Bunnybrains plays at 10 PM. All Dan Friel dates are listed below.

Mr. Dream, who recently returned home after touring with Cloud Nothings, play Death by Audio on May 9 with Yvette, Pile, and Grass is Green.

Guardian Alien, who played DBA this past Friday (4/13), and plays The Stone on Tuesday (4/17), will play Death by Audio on May 11 with DJ Dog Dick and 2 Ton Bug.

The next night, May 12, pg.99 offshoot Pygmy Lush, who opens for Young Widows at Saint Vitus on 4/23, plays with PC Worship, Horse Lords, and Spa Castles. You can catch PC Worship at DBA again on May 25 with Psychic Ills and Ex Cops.

Toronto garage punks Teenanger, who will be in the Northeast US to open for Ty Segall and White Fence in Philly (5/18), will stick around to play Death by Audio in Brooklyn one day later (5/19) with Family Curse.

More pics and dates below...

Continue reading "Death By Audio celebrated 5 years w/ Tim Harrington & friends (pics), have more good shows coming up (as usual)"

THIS:

Rough Trade Retail Group (RTRG) proudly announces the forthcoming opening of Rough Trade NYC, Williamsburg, New York, USA.

Due to open in Autumn this year, Rough Trade NYC will offer a large saturnalia for music lovers of all ages (even larger than multi-award winning Rough Trade East, London, UK).

In addition to being a place to discover, browse, debate and purchase the finest recorded music, Rough Trade NYC will partner with The Bowery Presents to feature a live performance area for in-store gigs, as well as operating at night as an intimate live music venue. The Bowery Presents has a strong history of operating first class concert venues including the Music Hall of Williamsburg located in the same neighborhood as Rough Trade NYC.

Rough Trade NYC will pay particular attention to its transatlantic dynamic by linking-up with Rough Trade's London stores, encouraging customers (and artists) in each country to interact across the ocean.

"At long last, we can finally confirm the next bold step in our evolution" says Rough Trade's co-owner, Stephen Godfroy. "We're extremely excited at the prospect of handing over the 'blank canvas', that is a Rough Trade store, to the music lovers of New York, allowing them make it their own culture agora, just as the people of London have so successfully achieved, with downturn-defying results."

"The Bowery Presents has always maintained a commitment to developing artists at the inception of their career, with Rough Trade NYC we have that opportunity in an exciting neighborhood and we are excited about the retail store and venue combination concept" says John Moore, partner, The Bowery Presents.

Rough Trade NYC also heralds the forthcoming arrival of a US version of the new, soon to launch, roughtrade.com online store, which will offer MP3 downloads alongside CD and vinyl, complete with subscription services.

Further exciting details will be announced in the months to come.