From ATP:

Our initial estimate for going on-sale with I'll Be Your Mirror New Jersey was early-mid January, and we'd like to thank you for your patience during the slightly longer than expected waiting period.

We can now confirm tickets will go on sale and the start of the line-up will be announced next week.

Greg Dulli of The Afghan Whigs (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

On Sunday 27th May 2012 Alexandra Palace will host the first show in 13 years from Cincinnati's rock legends THE AFGHAN WHIGS. Formed in 1986, the bands career from then until 2001 saw them release six acclaimed albums highlighted by the classic Gentlemen LP in 1993. Fusing classic rock with grunge-era distortion and a heavy soul influence, Afghan Whigs were one of the most renowned live bands of their time and this long awaited reformation will no doubt be a very special event.

ATP are also pleased to confirm their return to Asbury Park, New Jersey USA where they will follow last year's debut in that city with a 2012 I'll Be Your Mirror event, the Saturday night of which will be headlined by The Afghan Whigs and curated by the Whigs' frontman Greg Dulli.

As you can see in the poster, tickets will go on sale in January. More of the lineup will also be announced at that time.

All Tomorrow's Parties' I'll Be Your Mirror UK, which just lost Guided By Voices, will host The Afghan Whigs and has moved further into the "unreal" category with additions of Wolves In The Throne Room, Yob, Dirty Three, Floor, Chavez, Balam Acab, The Oh Sees, Yuck, Archers of Loaf, Demdike Stare, and Siskiyou to appearances from Sleep, Melvins, Mogwai, Codeine and Mudhoney.

Full ATP I'll Be Your Mirror UK lineup is below.

Continue reading "Afghan Whigs reuniting, ATP returning to Asbury Park in 2012"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Public Enemy

STEREOGUM: What appealed to you about getting involved with All Tomorrow's Parties?

GEOFF BARROW: I just like that, for the most part, you wouldn't want to be there if you aren't actually into the music. It's not like Coachella where there are loads of girls walking around in bikinis and stuff like that. It's basically people enjoying what is often some really indulgent music. For us, it's like a Charlie in the Chocolate Factory moment. You win the golden ticket and you get to see how the candy is made. You get to choose the bands that play with you, which is just ... amazing. It's like, wow, yes, please.

STEREOGUM: Who in particular are you most excited about seeing?

GEOFF BARROW: We've been really lucky over the years. We've done three of these ATP festivals and it's always such a good experience. I'm always, always, always very into watching Public Enemy. Also, Ultramagnetic MCs because they are just mental and so important to hip hop. I'll also be watching Swans ... with earplugs. I want to watch everything. I want to watch as much as I possibly can.

Jeff Mangum played his second of three Asbury Park sets on Sunday (10/2), though like his Friday show, we don't have pictures of his set (he doesn't like pictures). We do have pictures of a lot of other sets from Sunday though, and they continue, along with shots of the general Asbury Park scenery (the conclusion of our ATP NJ 2011 coverage), below...

Continue reading "I'll Be Your Mirror 2011 -- pics from ATP Sunday (Public Enemy, Company Flow, Thee Silver Mt. Zion, Deerhoof, Earth & more)"

words by Bill Pearis, photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Anika in Asbury Park

"Anika, not one for small talk, has a cold stare that's really not cold at all. It creates a distance between singer and audience that works to lift the show into something distinct and not at all casual. She takes it all in while on stage, never breaking the slick veneer of the performance to let any mundane moment of realism slip through. It makes for an iconic and captivating show, comforting yet somber, since I guess some have come to expect a singer to say hello or introduce a song here and there during the night. Unnecessary chit chat isn't all it's cracked up to be, however. The dubby, meandering nature of some of the songs and her spoken-word style of singing adds to the off-kilter, experimental mood." [Sentimentalist]

More pictures from her set at ATP I'll Be Your Mirror in Asbury Park on Sunday, all dates and a video from LPR, below...

Continue reading "Anika pics from ATP, Glasslands show tonight"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Bonnie 'Prince' Billy

For those who experienced and loved ATP America's festivals in Monticello, NY, it may have been difficult to imagine how a change of location, from upstate New York to the New Jersey shore, could possibly improve and enhance the unique and uncanny event that it was known to be. Well, it has.

Friday afternoon the fans, followers and leaders of All Tomorrow's Parties arrived in Asbury Park, NY, a town that only five or so years ago was known for its high crime rate and abandoned boardwalk. It's likely that this decadence, however, is precisely what draws the festival and its goers to a new spot on the map, a mere hour south of New York City. Although the rain dampened the ground here at Asbury Park, it did not extinguish the ATP fire that was sparked on stage by Chavez, Reggie Watts with his knee-slapping musical spoofs (ironically fit for a music festival), event regulars Shellac, Hannibal Buress and Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, The Album Leaf and the absorbing Jeff Mangum (of Neutral Milk Hotel). -[Dossier]

Edan

Here is a full set of pictures I'll Be Your Mirror Friday. They continue below...

Continue reading "I'll Be Your Mirror 2011 -- pics from Asbury Park ATP Friday (Bonnie 'Prince' Billy, Shellac, Cults, Chavez, Edan & more)"

Jeff Mangum isn't on the list, but one could argue that the elusive frontman of Neutral Milk Hotel might be classifiable as an "outsider musician", much like Daniel Johnston (who he covered on Friday again) and Roky Erickson (who he covered on Sunday again). Those covers aside, Jeff's three ATP Asbury Park setlists, religous experiences for many, stuck 100% to songs he wrote.

At last night's show (Monday, 10/3), Jeff was also joined on stage for two songs by show opener A Hawk and a Hacksaw, his Neutral Milk Hotel band-mate Jeremy Barnes included. To quote one anonymous attendee, "I loved him just solo but when they came out it sounded like neutral milk hotel." It looks like we're one step closer to the full on reunion. The Neutral Milk Hotel box set is out 11/22.

Last night's setlist also included "Little Birds" which he didn't play the other two nights. Two quote wiki, it's "the only song by Neutral Milk Hotel written after the release of In the Aeroplane over the Sea of which a recorded version exists.

"It's the beginning of a story where a boy is in a not-so-nice situation. One day, little birds start to form around him in his room. They start coming into his body and he was very happy about this. But unfortunately he tries to share it with other people and they get very upset because this is something that he finds to be very beautiful but they don't find very beautiful and they want to destroy it." -Jeff Mangum

Above photo by missdubs. All three Asbury Park setlists below...

Continue reading "Jeff Mangum played 3 shows @ Paramount Theatre, was joined by Jermey Barnes, covered other outsider musicians (setlists)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

After leaving us hanging for over 14 years, Portishead finally returned to the east coast of the United States to play one of my personal favorite shows of all time at Asbury Park's Convention Hall as part of ATP's "I'll Be Your Mirror" on Saturday night (10/1). Unfortunately I couldn't stick around to see them do it again on Sunday (with special guest Chuck D of Public Enemy who played before them that day), but I do plan on being at one or both of the Hammerstein Ballroom shows this week to relive it again. I'll definitely watch Fallon too.

Much like Radiohead recently, Portishead's live lineup included two bald men. Like Radiohead, one of those bald men was Clive Deamer on drums (at least I think it was). The guy is keeping busy.

Jeff Mangum, who played the night before, and the two days after (including tonight) was in the audience to check out the NJ fests's co-headliner. From my seat I could see him talking to the drummer of Shellac (who also played the night before and who also plays tonight). Beth Gibbons crowdsurfed on top of that audience at the end of the amazing set.

More ATP coverage coming. For now, here are the Portishead pics from Saturday (with setlist), and a video of Chuck D joining them on "Machine Gun" on Sunday (like he did in 2008 at Primavera). It all continues below...

Continue reading "Portishead played ATP NJ -- night 1 pics & setlist, night 2 video w/ special guest Chuck D"

Jonny Corndawg at Brooklyn Bowl in April (more by Chris La Putt)

As mentioned, Jonny Corndawg is planning to release his new album Down on the Bikini Line on August 30 and play a record release show the same day at Union Pool. That show is being supported by Icerod and The Extraordinaires. Tickets are still available. The new album is also streaming now on Paste.

Jonny was also supposed to play a Rocks Off Cruise on August 27, aka Saturday night (boat was going to leave at midnight!) with Icerod and Mike Farris. That show is now cancelled as is Jonny's show at The Saint with Jessica Lea Mayfield in Asbury Park, NJ that was supposed to happen tonight (8/26).

All weekend shows including tonight are also cancelled/postponed at the Stone Pony.

All current Corndawg dates below...

Continue reading "Jonny Corndawg's NYC boat & Asbury Park shows cancelled, new dates annnounced"

Paramount Theater and Convention Hall

Bob Dylan has added even more dates to his previously announced summer tour. The new dates include Asbury Park Convention Hall on August 14 in NJ. Leon Russell opens the show like he does on many other dates of the tour. Tickets go on sale Friday (7/8) at 10 AM and currently available for bobdylan.com pre-sale with the password "clarence."

Other upcoming shows at Asbury Park Convention Hall include ATP NJ on Sep 30-Oct 2 and Pixies playing 'Doolittle' on October 28 with Surfer Blood. We're giving away tickets to that Pixies show which you can win by following the directions below. Pixies play Wellmont Theater in Montclair on the same tour.

Updated Bob Dylan dates and the Pixies contest below...

Continue reading "Bob Dylan adds Asbury Park show (on presale), Pixies playing NJ too (win tix)"

Updated ATP flyer

"Can we assume they'll be added to ATP, which starts a few days after the Bklyn date?," asked a commenter in the comments of our post announcing the Swans show at Music Hall of Williamsburg, and that commenter was dead on.

ATP NJ (aka "Ill Be Your Mirror") has updated its previously announced lineup to include Swans, Peanut Butter Wolf (who will be DJing), Battles, Deerhoof, Jim Thirwell's Manorexia, and Oneida (who will again perform in Ocropolis formation, like in 2009) "ONEIDA PRESENTS THE OCROPOLIS III which will take place at the Asbury Lanes Bowling Alley - the band will perform continuously throughout the day, sometimes with guests from the rich array of musicians also performing in the festival, sometimes alone and mostly improvised."

Though 3-day passes for the Asbury Park Fest, which include your only shot at seeing Jeff Mangum, are sold out (now called the Jeff Mangum Three Day Pass), tickets are still available in multiple incarnations for the three day celebration, including a new "Portishead Three Day Pass" which allows "passholders to see everything else from Friday-Sunday as well as giving priority access with the day pass holders to BOTH Portishead shows on Saturday and Sunday" (the pass doesn't include entry into Jeff Mangum). The "Portishead Three Day Pass" will go on sale at 10AM EST Thursday (4/21) and individual day passes are currently on sale. The versions of the 3-day pass that are sold out only guarantee you one night of Portishead. "Existing Day ticketholders or Jeff Mangum Three Day pass holders who wish to switch to a Portishead Three Day Pass should contact ATP via feedback@atpfestival.com before May 30th."

The current lineup is below.

Continue reading "ATP NJ adds 'Portishead 3 Day Pass', expands lineup (Swans, Oneida, Battles, Deerhoof, more)"

Shepard Fairey is also DJing the event on Sunday

ATP Asbury Park ("I'll Be Your Mirror") has released the second wave of artist announcements including many of Portishead's choices for the bill! We already knew about Jeff Mangum, Bonnie Prince Billy, Shellac, Chavez and more. New additions include, not surprisingly, Portishead-related acts Anika and Beak> (and this time Anika will be performing live and not just DJing). There's also now a rare reunion of The Pop Group, an Ultramagnetic MC's reunion (WITH Kool Keith), Silver Qluster (Simeon of Silver Apples and Hans-Joachim Roedelius of Cluster/Harmonia), Thee Siliver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, Mogwai, Earth, The Horrors and more. The full list is below.

Jeff Mangum also just announced a slew of other shows aside from ATP Asbury Park, including a UK ATP.

More details, a bigger Shepard Fairey-designed poster, and the full schedule below...

Continue reading "ATP NJ lineup expands (Pop Group & Ultramagnetic MCs reunions, Mogwai, Horrors & more Portishead-picked bands)"

This was actually posted by ATP on Friday, but probably still all true:

The Jeff Mangum show at the Paramount Theatre is now sold out.

Three Day passes and Day passes are selling fast and the ticket sites are going slow due to the number of visitors so if it doesn't work first time please be patient and try again, or try phoning! Thanks for your understanding. On Seetickets you will know your order was successful when you get email confirmation.

Here are the correct ticket links to use for today's on-sale at 9am EST. Tickets will be limited to 4 per order per ticket type so please bear this in mind and if you need more than that try to get a friend to do a separate order.

Please note 3 day passes are only on Seetickets...

Three Day Passes - SEETICKETS

Friday / Saturday / Sunday Day Passes - SEETICKETS or TICKETMASTER

Please be advised that each site has a different allocation of tickets, so if tickets say they are sold out on one ticket agent, check out the other!

If you want to try phoning for tickets the numbers are:

Ticketmaster - 0844 844 0444
Seetickets - +44 (0)1159 129000 (thats a UK number)

OR if you're in Asbury Park, Day tickets will be available at The Stone Pony Box Office, located at 2nd and Ocean Avenues in Asbury Park, and at the Experience Asbury Store, located in The Grand Arcade off of the 5th Ave Boardwalk.

Updated I'll Be Your Mirror USA lineup (they added a couple names since the initial announcement) below....

Continue reading "I'll Be Your Mirror USA lineup & ticket update"

For those of you who were wondering if ATP New York was returning to the kitschy resort that is Kutschers, the bad news is that it won't. The good news? All Tomorrow's Parties is instead headed to one of the kitschiest towns in New Jersey this fall, and "American I'll Be Your Mirror" will begin its inaugural year with a BANG!

All Tomorrow's Parties returns to the USA this September in the new location of Asbury Park, N.J. bringing an I'll Be Your Mirror event to the iconic Asbury Park waterfront. For the inaugural American I'll Be Your Mirror, Portishead will curate and headline their first East Coast shows since 1998 on the Saturday and Sunday!

ATP, who are curating on the Friday are also very excited to be able to present Jeff Mangum who on the Friday night will perform his first large public show of Neutral Milk Hotel songs in over a decade.... Please note, as Jeff has chosen to play in the stunning, but smaller Paramount theatre only people who buy 3 day festival passes get access to this show on Friday night.

Also playing on the Friday are Chavez, Shellac, Cults and The Album Leaf, with a headliner and some comedians to be confirmed. The rest of the line-ups for the Saturday and Sunday will be announced in the near future.

I'll Be Your Mirror is a new series of artist curated music, film and art events. Acting as sister events to the ATP Festivals, which take place in holiday resorts, I'll Be Your Mirror retains the curatorial and multiple band and film concept, but will take place in cities worldwide. The events are named after the b-side to The Velvet Underground's original All Tomorrow's Parties 7" single, released in 1966.

Everyone who came to our three events at Kutshers knows how special the place was and how lucky they were to have been a part of our events there and while we are sad to not be returning, we are excited to be moving to the iconic Asbury Park. The Convention Hall has seen the likes of Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, The Doors, The Beach Boys and The Rolling Stones grace its stage and the Paramount Theatre has welcomed stars such as Tony Bennett who often insists on playing a song with all the electrics turned off to demonstrate the amazing acoustics of the room.

We will be transporting the whole ATP experience over to this new location on the beach at Asbury Park, with the main shows taking place at the Convention Hall and Paramount Theatre, as well as the nearby Asbury Lanes and the Berkeley hotel, which the man in black, Johnny Cash himself once lived at. We think it will make a stunning successor to Kutshers.

As well as the live music line-up of over 30 acts across the weekend, Friday will feature a Comedy stage, and we're very pleased to announce that our friends at Criterion will return again to run the Cinema across the weekend. All three days will also feature DJs and other activities to be confirmed in the months ahead - we'll also be bringing back some of our popular food vendors including the much loved Asia Dogs, and much, much more. Performances all take place indoors, so you have no need to fear about the weather!

Most exciting news ever?

BBG, an ATP NY veteran, in a moment of excitement adds:

This announcement is one big "holy shit" on many levels.
1) Hello Asbury Park, NJ!
2) One of the best things about ATP New York was the "music camp" atmosphere at Kutshers. How will Berkeley Hotel fare?
3) Neutral Milk Hotel!!!
4) Portishead!!!
5) Neutral Milk Hotel again!
6) Portishead again, but maybe not?

Continue reading "Portishead curating, Jeff Mangum-playing 'I'll Be Your Mirror' ATP in Asbury Park, NJ!!!"

photo from 'Home for the Holidays' 2009 (more by Bryan Bruchman)

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS RESCHEDULED!
(12.28.10 - 3:00PM EST)

***saddest update ever from the Brokenhearted Blizzard Wizard***
(aka least popular girl in Asbury)

It is highly unlikely that any roads in Asbury Park will be cleared any time soon and therefore unlikely that we will be able to have a show at The Stone Pony even by tomorrow or Thursday. In anticipation of this likelihood that we will have to continue to cancel or postpone all shows, we have decided to move the entire Home For The Holidays to FEBRUARY 9-12, 2011. We know so many of you have made special arrangements and plans to be here and we wish things could be different. Tickets from the first night (Dec 26) will be honored on Wednesday February 9th, tickets from the 2nd night (Dec 27) will be honored on February 10, the 3rd night (Dec 28) on February 11th, and the 4th night (Dec 29) on February 12. So confusing!!! We are working on the revised schedule (not all the bands will be able to come back :( mope mope) and will announce those on Tuesday, January 11th. Refunds will be available at the point of purchase, but we really hope you can join us in February...

Drowning in tears and waist-deep in snow, with great love from Asbury Park HQ

p.s. For those of you stuck in town, we are working on a consolation party for later... Stay tuned... But please please please, other people, you cannot even drive to town, let alone park, so don't try to come unless you are walking!!!

Asbury Park, NJ (catherwood65)

Tonight/Tuesday's Bouncing Souls "Home for the Holidays" show at The Stone Pony is officially cancelled. As of 1:30pm the band says, "STAY TUNED FOR CONTINGENCY PLANS!". Monday's show was also cancelled, and Sunday's was postponed (with new openers) until Thursday.

UPDATE: All Bouncing Souls shows have been postponed.

As previously mentioned, Lauryn Hill ended up postponing Monday night's Highline Ballroom show until February 1st, but Bowery Presents assures me that the show scheduled to take place tonight (12/28) at Music Hall of Williamsburg is still happening. All Lauryn dates, including the Wellmont Theater one that is still on sale, HERE.

As also previously mentioned, Estelle's show at Best Buy Theater is cancelled, but I think it was cancelled before it snowed, and tonight's Jaguar Stone show at SOB's has been postponed.

Lady Lamb the Beekeeper has cancelled her show at Rockwood Music Hall tonight due to illness.

A list of shows that are happening tonight/Tuesday, HERE.

Please list any other snow-related cancellations or postponements in the comments.

photos by Katie Hovland

Bouncing Souls @ Riot Fest 2010

The Bouncing Souls have announced their 2010 iteration of Home for the Holidays, now in its fourth year and featuring as many nights of shows at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, NJ. Tickets are on sale for all four shows: 12/26, 12/27, 12/28, 12/29. Each night will have a different set of support, as 12/26 will get Strike Anywhere, Adrenaline OD, & The Great Explainer, 12/27 gets Fake Problems, Lemuria, & The Swellers, 12/28 gets Leftover Crack, The Menzingers, & Top Soil, and the final night (12/29) gets H20, Yuppicide and Dirty Tactics.

H20, on board for the 12/29 date at The Stone Pony, will also hit Highline Ballroom the next night (12/30) with Trapped Under Ice and Wisdom In Chains. The show is part of a short stint of confirmed dates for H20 (12/27 - 12/30) with more to be announced (12/2 - 12/5). Tickets are on sale to the all-ages, no barricade NYC show. Plus, the band is giving the audience the opportunity to pick the songs for the set from over 60+ choices including covers by Minor Threat, Dead Kennedys and others.

Leftover Crack has a headlining show in NYC too, as the band will play Music Hall of Wiliiamsburg on 12/26. Tickets are on sale. Leftover Crack related project Star Fucking Hipsters will play NYC a month prior, hitting Knitting Factory on 11/28. Tickets for that are also on sale.

The Bouncing Souls played Riot Fest in Chicago (October 6th - 10th) alongside bands like Bad Religion, Cap'n Jazz, Circle Jerks, Off With Their Heads, and Propagandhi. Belated pictures from that show, as well as Bouncing Souls and H20 dates, are below.

Continue reading "Bouncing Souls Holiday Shows & other Leftover Crack & H2O dates ++ pics from Riot Fest "

D.O.A. @ Fun Fun Fun Fest 2008 (more)

Legendary hardcore punk band D.O.A., whose new album Talk Minus Action Equals Zero was released on May, are on tour with hardcore legends Negative Approach. Both bands can be found at Asbury Lanes in NJ tonight (6/18) (flyer below), in Boston on Saturday night, and then at the free Punk Island fest happening on Governors Island on Sunday (June 20). As previously mentioned...

Punk Island returns for a third year in 2010, with more than 130 of the country's loudest bands transforming the ordinarily quiet Governors Island into a daylong punk/hardcore paradise.

Bands will perform on 18 stages scattered around the island, as free ferries transport revelers from Lower Manhattan and DUMBO to Governors Island every half hour, beginning at 10am.

Because Governors Island is closed on the day of Make Music New York, Punk Island will take place the day before, on Sunday, June 20th. Just like the rest of MMNY, all performances are outdoors and completely free.

After Punk Island, D.O.A. continues on tour without Negative Approach who will be back in NYC in August. All DOA dates below...

Continue reading "D.O.A. & Negative Approach touring! - play Punk Island & other dates (including Asbury Park tonight!) "

by BBG

The Bouncing Souls @ Webster Hall (more by Tim Griffin)

We're well on our way to making HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYS the Jersey Shore's rockinest holiday tradition! This is our third year which marks the distinction between 'maybe we can pull this off' and 'a lifetime commitment'. We're happy to assemble a wild cast of our friends and comrades to entertain you and wish you well for the coming year. What's better than getting together with a couple hundred of your closest friends for the holidays and toasting each others' health? [The Bouncing Souls via press release]

• 12/26 getting Black Train Jack, Blacklisted, and Detournement
• 27th getting The Pietasters, a reunion of Worthless United, and Dave Hause
• 28th with their current tourmates Bayside, as well as P.O.S. & Static Radio NJ
• and on 12/30 with Chuck Ragan, Screaming Females, and The Night Brigade.

Screaming Females continue to make NJ proud as they've also just announced a tour with the Arctic Monkeys.

Chuck Ragan was just in town over the weekend, bringing his Revival Tour to Gramercy Theatre on Saturday night.

Blacklisted are scheduled to play the Deathwish day party at Santos during CMJ.

The Bouncing Souls are currently on tour with Bayside and Broadway Calls, a tour which ends in early November. Full tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Bouncing Souls announce 2009 holiday shows @ The Stone Pony (openers include Pietasters, Black Train Jack, Blacklisted, Screaming Females...)"

Islands @ Bell House in August (more by Anna Scialli)

Tonight (9/22) Islands are playing a special all-ages record release show for their new album, Vapours (out today on Anti-), at Asbury Park, NJ's Asbury Lanes. Other bands on the bill inlcude Birthwater, Montagna & the Mouth to Mouth and DJ meatnmore.

The band's upcoming tour dates, of which there are many, include two NYC stops. The first is October 9th at Roseland Ballroom on their tour with Happy Mondays and Psychedelic Furs. The second is November 5th at Bowery Ballroom on their tour with Jemina Pearl. Tickets for both Roseland and Bowery are still available.

Diamonds & Co. paid a visit to Brooklyn's Bell House on August 19th...

People apparently love these guys, and why not: Diamonds has a swooning, falsetto-prone voice well suited to the music's hokey surrealism, which gains force the louder the drums get, the faster the tempo gets -- the less they sound like Squeeze, and the more they sound like Franz Ferdinand, the better. Most of the set is given over to debuting tunes from Vapours, out next month, featuring Nick's reunion with once-departed cofounder Jamie Thompson: "Everything Is Under Control" is a very pretty closing falsetto jam, precisely because you don't know whether to take Nick at his word or not. We appreciate the confusion. [Rob Harvilla, Village Voice]

Continue reading "Islands playing tonight at Asbury Lanes (to celebrate the release of their new album)"

Cold War Kids @ Rothbury Festival in July (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

The Beach Rescue Concert featuring artists Joss Stone, Gavin DeGraw, Cold War Kids, and Mason Jennings is happening on Saturday, August 29th at The Stone Pony in Asbury Park, New Jersey from 6 to 10 p.m.

The concert is a celebration of Barefoot Wine & Surfrider Foundation's Beach Rescue Project, the 25th anniversary of Surfrider Foundation, and the 25 beach cleanups that took place across the country this summer.

RSVP is required for attendance. Tickets are limited and on a first come, first serve basis...

Continue reading "free Beach Rescue Concert in Asbury Park (RSVP)"

by Black Bubblegum

Rorschach-a-rockin'

According to the great folks at Prank Records, you now have the ability to mark a date on the calendar with respect to the impending Rorschach reunion.

"All original lineup, all original roadies, Jon Hiltz of Born Against on the sound board." September 23rd to the 27th. Details are Still being worked out, but so far it looks like this:

Continue reading "Rorschach reunion dates - 5 shows - Santos in NYC included"

by Andrew Frisicano

DOWNLOAD: Paper - Out of It Into It (MP3)

Zazen Boys @ Mercury Lounge on 10/5/08 (by Jeff Winterberg)

"Zazen Boys were formed in 2003 by Mukai Shutoku, former leader of Japanese rock band Number Girl. In a word, Zazen Boys aspire to be `Led Zeppelin in kimono."

A Baltimore City Paper review of the band's visit to that city (in support of their September 2008 release IV) captures the band's dueling improv-art-rock and dance groove tendencies, with plentiful name dropping:

After a brief introduction in delightfully accented English--"From Matsuri Studio, Tokyo, we are Zazen Boys!"--the quartet first pounded away with some mathy hardcore and obnoxiously endearing noise. In a far-fetched conception, this portion of the band's set was like California's Health, but with dramatically fewer loops and noise explosions; the drummer was adequately primal but keen to all the subtle transitions of art-rock composition.

But as the Boys softened a few of the hard edges and brought out funk fit for dancing shoes, it was possible to view them more accurately as disciples of the Dismemberment Plan, or even George Clinton. The hit "Weekend," with its juicy slap bass, pornographic guitar noise, and bilingual (nearly spiritual) party lyrics, made the show definitely feel like the "buzzworthy" arrival of foreign rock stars. "I Don't Wanna Be With You" was a delicious club number with hip-swerving runway synthesizers and pitch-altered Dan Deacon-esque vocals. It was unexpectedly mind-blowing, a show more than worth the in-box clutter.

Videos from Zazen Boys's 2008 release IV, and those dates in list & flyer format (their only scheduled shows at the moment), below...

Continue reading "Japan's ZAZEN BOYS - 3 NY-area shows, Cake Shop w/ Paper"

New Brunswick's own The Gaslight Anthem announced a big tour for 2009 that includes a trip through Europe, a stop at Langerado, and a headlining show at Webster Hall in NYC (tix on sale Jan 7), BUT FIRST you can also catch them this Sunday, December 28th, when they open for The Bouncing Souls at Convention Hall in Asbury Park (tix on sale now). All dates, and video from their recent appearance on Conan, below...

Continue reading "The Gaslight Anthem - 2008/09 Tour Dates, Conan video"

Yes, it is something of a bummer.

Three or four decades of stops and starts -- mostly stops -- in this legendarily faded and ill-starred stretch of the Jersey Shore and finally, finally, things seem to reach a critical mass. Revived music halls of all shapes and sizes. Cool bars, a Mexican taqueria, a surfer shop, glass blowers and a potter on the Boardwalk. The renovated Convention Hall and Paramount Theater with its "Greetings From Asbury Park" sign out front. And the famous Thursday evening "doggy yappy hour" for pets at the Wonder Bar...

...Lance Larson, a veteran musician who helps run the Wonder Bar, figures that Asbury Park has a heritage of music, art and eccentricity that will attract people, tough times or no.

"We have one thing that no one else does, and that's entertainment," he said, picking at a cheeseburger on Thursday afternoon. "It's not just because of Bruce [Springsteen]. It's always been that way. I've toured every place, and there's no place like playing here. It's like Parris Island, the boot camp of music. If you can play here, you can play anywhere." [NY Times]

"It feels really great, it's exciting," said manager Debbie DeLisa of Deal. "There's a lot going on down here right now, with (concert promoter) Live Nation coming in to do the shows at Convention Hall. They're going to do some shows here also."

DeLisa's upbeat, optimistic tone is a far cry from last year, when the Ocean Avenue club was set to close to make way for a redevelopment project by developers Asbury Partners, which had purchased the property.

"Asbury Partners were going to tear it down, and I'm not sure what they were going to do, build condos," DeLisa said.

The venue was spared when developers Madison Marquette came into town and took over some of Asbury Partners' holdings, including the Wonder Bar.

DeLisa said the club is now waiting for approval from the city to construct a large outdoor deck facing the nearby Stone Pony; other plans include building a Tiki bar and adding a volleyball court to the facilities. [Metromix]

Watch a short documentary on Asbury Park's Palace Amusements below...

Continue reading "Asbury Park's boardwalk & Wonder Bar (a Live Nation venue)"

I was admittedly a little bummed that my Bowery show was the same night as the Lifetime & The Bouncing Souls show....

Bouncing Souls @ Webster Hall, NY - Oct 16, 2007 (CRED)

"Though both New Jersey bands had to deal with sub-par sound, it didn’t stop an anxious crowd from greeting the bands to open-arms and sing-alongs. It seemed like yesterday that Lifetime reunited, but the influential melodic hardcore band pounded the walls with plenty of fan favorites and a few surprises, too. The cavernous Webster Hall was a strange setting to see band that was obviously more at home in a living room." [CMJ]

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