photos by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

The Hives @ Emo's - 2/20/2013

Decked out in top-hats and tails, Sweden's The Hives played Emo's East on Wednesday, 2/20. Going on after the Act Rights and Flesh Lights (who I missed while over at Mohawk for Unknown Mortal Orchestra), Howlin' Pelle Almqvist spent plenty of time airborne while rolling through a healthy 19 song (at least) set list.

From Austin they continued on tour (supporting Pink). All dates along with more pictures from the Austin (the setlist included), below...

Continue reading "The Hives on tour, played Emo's East (pics, setlist, dates)"

Jack "Skippy" McFadden (photo by Mary Crosse)

Jack McFadden, a onetime Brooklynite who moved to Austin and currently works as a talent buyer at Emo's, gave us a list of his favorite music from 2012 including top 10 albums and a Spotify playlist of his favorite songs. Check it out below.

For those counting at home, that is three talent buyers (the people who book bands into clubs) that have revealed their hand to us, including NYC's Johnny Beach and Chaos in Tejas honcho Timmy Hefner.

The Faint and Trust also gave us their lists. The pair recently toured through Texas and played a Skippy-booked show at Emo's.

McFadden's greatest hits of 2012, below.

Continue reading "Jack "Skippy" McFadden of Emo's gives his top albums and songs of 2012"

by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

Guided By Voices @ Emo's on 9/25/2012

On Tuesday (9/25) Guided By Voices brought their vices and second album of 2012, Class Clown Spots A UFO, to Emo's East. Fresh off recent a recent performance at the Deluna Festival, they were in fighting shape and ready to go. In addition to music, there was enough smoking and drinking onstage to kill a large elephant / keep things running smoothly throughout the 2-hour show.

The boys from Ohio made the most of those hours too, fitting in anywhere from 40-60 songs, and clearly had a great time. The audience did too. I wasn't able to get a copy of the full setlist, but am including one from their New Orleans show a few days earlier to give an idea (see below).

In addition to their "Tour of the South" which wraps up tonight (9/29) in ST. Louis, MO, frontman Robert Pollard has been busy releasing a new solo album last week and has an art show in NY next week. And they'll release a third LP before 2012 is through. They do keep quite busy.

Check out more pictures and the New Orleans setlist below.

Continue reading "Guided By Voices played Emo's (pics)"

photos by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

Amanda Palmer @ Stubb's - 9/19/2012

It's been a great and interesting year for Amanda Palmer, of course not without its share of recent controversy, real or perceived based on differing viewpoints.

Everything seems to be resolved now, which is good news. Outcome: all previously-volunteer musicians are now getting paid and Amanda's new album just debuted at 10 on Billboard.

Amanda Palmer and the Grand Theft Orchestra, Jherek Bischoff, The Simple Pleasure, Ronald Regan, and presumably a group of local, paid (see above), volunteer musicians, came to Stubb's on Wednesday night (9/19), and played to a welcoming audience. I had to leave about 30 minutes in to go see Adam Ant at Emo's, and the Austinist's review show's me I missed a lot:

There were several highlights of this particular performance, including the new song "Bottomfeeder", where Palmer donned a jacket with a parachute train and jumped into the audience. As she was passed singing all the while towards the back of the venue, so was the muti-colored fabric, fanning out to almost completely cover the audience. It was orchestrated so well that she returned to the stage not a beat too soon, completely enveloping the crowd and tying them all to the song both physically and emotionally.

Continue reading "Amanda Palmer brought 'Theatre Is Evil' and more to Stubb's (pics, setlist, more dates)"

photos by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

Adam Ant @ Emo's East - 9/19/2012

On Tuesday, which coincidentally was "Talk Like A Pirate Day", the love pirate himself Adam Ant played Emo's East with his band The Good, The Mad and The Lovely Posse. Some pictures from the show, and the full setlist, are in this post.

While it has been quite a few years since he'd toured though Austin, he made up for it with a whopping 28 song set, much to the great pleasure of old and new fans alike. Much singing and dancing, including quite a few swooning sounds from the ladies in the audience, was the order of the day. Post-show, there was an 80's themed afterparty upstairs at Beauty Ballroom next door.

Adam is now out with his posse continuing the tour and putting the final touches on his next studio album 'Adam Ant Is the Blueblack Hussar in Marrying the Gunner's Daughter', due in early 2013 (via Wikipedia):

Adam Ant started working on the album in late 2009, originally recording with writing partner Marco Pirroni. However they separated and scrapped all work around March 2010 coinciding with Ant's return to live performance. The majority of the double album was recorded with Boz Boorer on a laptop, additionally Chris McCormack co-wrote 6 of the album's tracks. Ant has explained that the idea behind the album's title is that the Blueblack Hussar is his classic Kings of the Wild Frontier-era persona, back from the dead, while the phrase 'marrying the gunner's daughter' (an old naval term for a form of corporal punishment in which sailors were tied to a ship's cannon and flogged) is intended by Ant to serve as a metaphor for how he believes artists are treated by the music industry.[8] The album first started to receive attention after NME confirmed Ant was back in the studio in March 2010. It was initially announced "Gun In My Pocket" would be the first single, backed with "Who's A Goofy Bunny" as the B-side, a tribute to the recently deceased Malcolm McLaren.[6][9][10]
Ant also worked with Beady Eye member Andy Bell on a track called "Cool Zombie" however Liam Gallagher attempted to block its inclusion on the album.[11]

More pictures, the setlist and his full list of 2012 tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Stand & Deliver: Adam Ant was 'Wonderful' @ Emos East (pics, setlist, more dates)"

SAILOR JERRY'S PIRATES, PIN-UPS, AND POLO! - 9/16/2012

Sailor Jerry is coming to Emo's East on Sunday 9/16 to present PIRATES, PIN-UPS, AND POLO! The venue will be converted into an indoor arena featuring Bike Polo with The Austin Texas Bike Polo Social Club, Pirate Movies, a kissing booth, and... erm... KNIFE FIGHTS?! All to be followed by a dance party with DJ John Gomi (of Libertine Social Club).

Oh yeah - the wearing of sailor/pirate costumes is encouraged, and will nab the wearer $2 Sailor Jerry's all day long. Full details for the event are below.

Continue reading "Emo's East Transforms Into Indoor Arena For Bike Polo, Pirate Movies and Dancing "

Lightning Bolt @ Summerstage in NYC on 7/13 (more by David Andrako)

Lightning Bolt, who are releasing their album Oblivion Hunter on September 25, will be playing Emo's East this Wednesday, 8/29, with Zorch and Kokomo. You can check out the opening track, 'King Candy', from Lightning Bolt's upcoming release below.

Tickets are still available, or if you like to rely on luck and chance - we will be giving away a pair on the day of the show. Details on how to enter and win below.

Continue reading "Win tickets to see Lighting Bolt at Emo's w/ Zorch and Kokomo "

20 Years of Emo's - Flyer for 9/15-9/30

Emo's is having a birthday. Celebrating its 20th Anniversary, the Austin institution, which moved locations this year, has scheduled five shows to bookend their festivities. We mentioned when tickets went on sale for Neon Indian, as well as Guided by Voices and Atmosphere too, but here's the full list:

9/15 Neon Indian & Tiger Waves
9/22 Hot Water Music
9/25 Guided By Voices
9/26 Atmosphere
9/30 Kreator & Accept

Happy birthday, Emo's! Here's to 20 more.

photos by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

David Longstreth of Dirty Projectors stares into your soul @ Emo's East - 8/2/2012

On tour together since a big Brooklyn show in Prospect Park, Dirty Projectors came to Emo's with Wye Oak on 8/2. Our friends at Austin Town Hall summed up the show nicely:

Wye Oak kicked things off, with Jenn Wasner happy to be back in town. I've said enough about their tunes in the past (super solid tunes), but I have only gotten to see them a handful of times. Their music seems to require a lot of intricacy and well-rehearsed timing, and each time it came off successfully-every time save one brief moment-Jenn smiled enormously. Her guitar ran loudly and much credit needs to be given to partner Andy Stack. At one moment, he was playing the regular drum kit, a synthesized kit and a keyboard...switching it all up fluidly. The only time he didn't have his hands on more than one instrument was when the group played new track, "Survival," where he took to the bass guitar. They closed their set with an emphatic rendition of "Civilian," leaving everyone satisfied and prepared for the night's entrée.

People have been raving about Swing Lo Magellan, so it was only fitting that The Dirty Projectors dedicated a fair amount of their early set to the new record, opening with the album's title track. Interestingly, the songs had a lot more life to them than I expected in the live setting, which is mostly owed to David's energy on the stage; he stalked about, bouncing and smiling all the while. Personally, I still dig the tracks they offered from Bitte Orca; I think it's the best work they've done, and those songs sounded great last night.

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors visited Emo's with Wye Oak (pics, setlist)"

Neon Indian @ Fun Fun Fun Fest (more by Tim Griffin)

Neon Indian is bringing his vintage (and not-so-vintage) synthesizers to Emo's on September 15. Tickets for that show go on sale at noon today (8/3). Flyer for the show is at the bottom of this post.

Opener for this show is local band Tiger Waves who are making some, er, waves around town. You can stream their Don't Be Yourself EP below.

Continue reading "Neon Indian playing Emo's (tickets on sale today) with openers Tiger Waves (stream their EP)"

words & photos by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

Lil' Kim @ Emo's East - 6/19/2012

Lil' Kim is back. Queen Bee brought her "Return of the Queen" tour to Emo's East last night, 6/19 (with Phranchyze and Kid Slyce). I missed out on the openers as I was across the river at The Parish until 11:15 for another show. I left that show early to make sure I was in place and ready for the K.I.M., though it turned out, I had time to spare...

Things got off to a late start (by more than a month if you count the fact that this show had been postponed from the original May 11th date) with Lil Kim arriving at the venue a little less than an hour after the 11pm scheduled set time. That said, she took the stage within 15 minutes (which is pretty amazing from what I've seen elsewhere) and never looked back.

She opened strong, and sounded really great (especially while covering Biggie's 'Mo Money, Mo Problems'). Between songs she was gracious, poised, and seemed truly happy - even looking out at the ladies in the audience and exclaiming, "I wanna go shopping with some of you girls out there..." She was sweet even, but no worries - during the songs things also got dirty real quick.

The set seemed a little condensed (about 45 minutes), which may have been a result of the late start and the fact that time needed to be left for the meet & greet after the show for many of the special-wrist-banded fans.

More pictures from the 6/19 show below. She's back.

Continue reading "Lil' Kim finally made it to Emos and pretty much killed it (pics)"

photos by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

Spiritualized's Jason Pierce @ Emo's - 5/16/2012

Spiritualized released a new album and went on a tour in May that brought them around the country, to DC, NYC, Chicago, Sasquatch Fest and even to Emo's East here in Austin with tour-mate Nikki Lane. Here are the belated pictures from the Austin show. More of them, with the setlist and a bit of video from DC, below....

Continue reading "Spiritualized @ Emo's East w/ Nikki Lane (pics, setlist, video)"

photos by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

Bethany Cosentino of Best Coast @ Emos on 6/3

Emo's East hosted the best smelling show of Chaos in Tejas; crust punks were traded in for hipsters and preteen dates. Best Coast headlined, but main support Lemuria stole the show. Although they only had the stage for a half-hour, the New York trio packed short, fast, and fantastic songs with serious passion...Lemuria gave its heart, while Best Coast seemed bored. No love lost for the latter, but the former bears adoration. [Austin Chronicle]

Continue reading "Best Coast finished off Chaos In Tejas @ Emo's East w/ Lemuria & Laura Stevenson on 6/3 (pics)"

Yann Tiersen @ Irving Plaza (more by Joe McCabe)

Earlier this month Yann Tiersen played MHOW and Irving Plaza in NYC, and he will be bringing his show to Austin at Emo's East on Friday (5/18) with Piano Chat. Tickets are still available and we're also giving away 2 pairs. Details on how to enter to win are below, along with all dates and some videos.

Continue reading "Yann Tiersen on tour, performs at Emo's East this Friday (win tix!) "

photos by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

Anton Newcombe of BJM @ Emo's East - 4/29/2012

Brian Jonestown Massacre, who played a secret, acoustic set at one of the pre-parties at Red 7 earlier in the week, closed out Austin Psych Fest 2012 at Emo's on 4/29. More pictures from Anton Newcombe and the gang's set, below...

Continue reading "Brian Jonestown Massacre closed Psych Fest 2012 @ Emo's (pics)"

photos by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

Bill Doss of Olivia Tremor Control shows his approval @ Psych Fest - 4/28/2012

Like on Friday and Sunday (pics on the way), I didn't catch everyone at Austin Psych Fest on Saturday, though like Jeff Mangum (he was in the audience) who played the Moody Theater on Sunday, I did catch Olivia Tremor Control in addition to The Black Lips. I also saw all the other bands you see pictured below...

Continue reading "Psychfest Day 2 pics - Olivia Tremor Control, Woods, Feathers, Pure X & more"

photos by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

The Black Lips @ Emo's for Psych Fest - 4/28/2012

"so i snuck in and talked to the Black Lips about skateboarding and got drunk for free. then watched them on stage rad night!!! thank you Matthew Williams of helping stay and party and Renate Winters.
Dustin dolling call me. lets get a beer! ski an dpunk out bra!!!!!!!!!!
and thank you Jason McNeely!
skateboard acid fest" - John Wesley Coleman III

Continue reading "The Black Lips ended Psych Fest night two (pics, setlist) "

by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

Alex Maas of The Black Angels @ Psych Fest 2012 (4/27/2012)

Austin Psych Fest continues today, Saturday, 4/28, at Emo's East and Beauty Ballroom where it started yesterday. Check the full schedule HERE.

I arrived on Friday in time to catch Lockett Pundt of Deerhunter's project Lotus Plaza, missed Psychic Ills, but then caught everyone else until the end which meant I saw Lotus Plaza tour-mates (featuring Steve Shelly from Sonic Youth on Drums) Disappears, locals Sleep Over and Ringo Deathstarr and fest co-founders The Black Angels, as well as Dead Meadow, Sun Araw and Peaking Lights. Pictures from all of that, below...

Continue reading "Austin Psych Fest Day 1 pics - Black Angels, Lotus Plaza, Peaking Lights, Dead Meadow, Disappears, Sun Araw & more"

Black Lips at Coachella (more by David Andrako)

Austin Psych Fest is finally here and like any festival with a large number of bands, it's not without its casualties:

Unfortunately the Intelligence had to cancel their tour, and will no longer be playing the festival. They will have a new album out in 2012, look out for it!

Due to a situation out of the band and festival's control, ... And You Will Know Us By The Trail of The Dead will no longer be able to perform their set at Austin Psych Fest. Our best wishes to the Trail of The Dead and hopefully we'll have them back for 2013, stay tuned...

Austin Psych Fest officially kicks off on Friday (4/27) but had its first event, a screening, on Monday (4/23) and meanwhile has been hosting some pre-parties which continue tonight (4/26) with Indian Jewelry, Christian Bland and The Revelators, The Wolf, Slow Motion Rider, Cerise, Chief Nowhere, and Rishi at Red 7. Entry is free with your ASF week pass or $15 at the door.

Full schedule of Austin Psych Fest events is below.

Continue reading "Austin Psych Fest is here, check out the schedule"

by @griffinshot - Tim Griffin

Matt Vasquez of Delta Spirit @ Emo's East on 4/13/2012

After playing many shows during SXSW last month, Delta Spirit returned to Austin to play a full Emo's East on Friday night. Much like at their recent sold out show at NYC's Webster Hall, over 1500 attended (including Matt Vasquez's Mom) at what was likely one of DS' largest headlining show to date. Here are some pics.

WATERS opened for Delta Spirit (though unfortunately I missed them while shooting School of Seven Bells and Exitmusic at Mohawk earlier the same night).

Pictures of Delta Spirit and their Emo's setlist, below...

Continue reading "Delta Spirit packed Emo's on 4/13 (pics, setlist)"

Devin the Dude @ Mohawk in 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

In this week's Hip-Hop news, Devin the Dude is set to perform at Beauty Ballroom tonight (4/12), with classic LA crew The Pharcyde following him at the same venue this Saturday ( while Tyga perfoms next door at Emo's East (4/14)). Unlike the now sold-out Tyga show, tickets are still available to both Beauty Ballroom shows, AND we have a pair of tickets for each BB concert you can win. Details below.

For the Dude, the Austin show is one date of a month+ long tour that ends back in Texas. On May 11th he plays Dallas one day before a hometown show in Houston (where the Pharcyde play this Sunday). All tour dates with contest details, below...

Continue reading "Devin The Dude on tour, playing tonight at Beauty Ballroom (where Pharcyde play Saturday) -- WIN TIX"

Wye Oak (more by Chris La Putt)

Dirty Projectors just announced a BV-dream tour, with alternating openers Wye Oak & Purity Ring, that passes through Texas at the beginning of August:

Tue 31st Jul 2012 The Crowley Theater Marfa, TX
Thu 2nd Aug 2012 Emo's East Austin, TX
Fri 3rd Aug 2012 The Kessler Theater Dallas, TX

Purity Ring, who are NOT playing the Texas shows unfortunately, recently announced their signing to 4AD and Last Gang and played a show in Brooklyn the next day to celebrate. They were last in Austin for SXSW. Check out a video from a March 16th show below...

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors & Wye Oak playing Emo's East on tour (presale now)"

This garage rock show, previously announced without the full lineup, is the only show that the still-reunited Gories and garage punk powerhouse The Spits are playing during SXSW, though it's not part of SXSW so badges won't get you in, though RSVPing will.

LA Record is a co-presenter of this show, and OC Weekly asked LA Record head honcho Chris Ziegler why:

OC Weekly: Why did you partner with In The Red Records?

Chris Ziegler: In The Red is one of my favorite labels and I have dedicated a considerable part of my record-collecting life to working backwards to find and secure all the amazing records they put out when I was a little kid in Arizona and didn't know where records came from. Larry Hardy--who runs In The Red--has some kind of innate animal sense for rock & roll, and like six of my favorite 20 "contemporary" records are on In The Red: Wounded Lion, Andre Williams, Reigning Sound, Spits, Davila 666, Dirtbombs, Strange Boys, Clone Defects and Human Eye, Deadly Snakes ... Larry Hardy can pretty much fire when ready as far as I'm concerned.

The Spits are currently on tour with TV Ghost. Check out pictures from the show they played at Cake Shop in NYC the other night.

Thee Oh Sees are also playing a bunch of other shows including the Carson Daly official showcase.

Spike (right) on stage with D.R.I. at Emo's (more by Tim Griffin)

As reported on BrooklynVegan, Spike Cassidy of D.R.I. is recovering from surgery and some complications that arose from it. No word on how it will affect their appearance at Emo's East on March 7th, but we'll hope that it doesnt. Tickets are still available.

Overkill don't play the same show with D.R.I. like they do in NYC, but Overkill will hit Emo's East soon as well, on May 5th with Belphegor, Aborted, Blackguard, and Diamond Plate. Tickets are on sale.

In other 80s metal-at-Emo's news, look for Deicide to play the venue on March 27th with Jungle Rot, Abigail Williams, Lecherous Nocturne, and Flesh Hoarder. Tickets are on sale. So far no word from Vegas regarding the odds that Glen Benton will cancel his appearance with the band, but I am guessing it's pretty close to even.

Megadeth and Motorhead play ACL Live on March 3rd.

As just announced over at BrooklynVegan, Spiritualized will head out on a tour in support of a NEW album this year. That tour hits Emo's East on May 16th, one day after visiting Dallas's Granada Theatre. Austin tickets go on sale Friday, 2/3, at 10am!