photos by Greg Cristman

[Gary Numan]'s stop in New York to promote "The Pleasure Principle Tour 2010" marks the 30th anniversary and re-issue of his groundbreaking album, which he is performing in its' entirety. Written when he was a mere 21 years old, The Pleasure Principle debuted in 1979 but only charted Stateside a year later. Propelled by the monumental single, "Cars", the album was a watershed as disco yielded to new wave and power pop...

Not content to stand idly in front of his instrument, Numan took every opportunity to move and thrash about; though for the duration of the performance of The Pleasure Principle he seemed content to let the music wash over the crowd. And they soaked it up, bouncing and singing along to songs like "Films" and "M.E.". As the album is only 41 minutes in length, it was a short time to the highly anticipated performance of the ubiquitous "Cars" and Numan did not disappoint. The Pleasure Principle concludes with "Engineers" and in spite of the poignant darkness of the lyrics ("All that we know/Is hate and machinery") the crowd cheered wildly as Numan gracefully expressed his gratitude with a beaming nod. -[Consequence of Sound]

Numan was supported by Rasputina and Boom Boom Satellites (who recently played Irving Plaza) at the sold-out Best Buy Theatre in Times Square Saturday night (10/23). The NYC show was part of an ongoing tour. Gary performs the full album each night.

More pictures from NYC, with Gary's setlist (nine songs after the album included), below...

Continue reading "Gary Numan played The Pleasure Principle @ Best Buy Theater w/ Rasputina & Boom Boom Satellites (pics, setlist)"

photos by Chris La Putt

"2 hours until puffy amiyumi plays. Am so excite. waited 10 YEARS for this. Just like #gorillaz. Good weekend 4 that." - Jenny

"At echostream and puffy amiyumi show.
Echo only played like 3 songs wtf." - Katie Lee Grosskopf

"Watching Puffy Amiyumi on stage.
Not a fan, but they are doing really great out there." - Manga Therapy

"If your wondering why I'm still up at midnight.... I just got home from the PUFFY AmiYumi concert" - Stephanie???????

Puffy AmiYumi @ Irving Plaza

"[Saturday], I attended the panel for Far East to East Showcase (FETES), a concert taking place Sunday night at Irving Plaza. Performing at the show are Zazen Boys (not in attendance at the panel), Echostream, Boom Boom Satellites, and Puffy AmiYumi. The panel was moderated by a representative of Superglorious (actually, he introduced himself as Superglorious), the producer of the event.

All of the band members were shy at first, but they warmed up as Superglorious asked them questions. They talked about writing music, touring, American audiences (described as being "more direct than Japanese fans" by Puffy). Then the floor was opened to mostly dumb questions from the crowd. I doubt these musicians flew all the way from Japan to guess what character a guy was cosplaying. I shouldn't be rude; as my friend Kim Kindya, a 20-year veteran of these kinds of conventions, put it, this is the only chance these fans have to see their heroes. I should be more forgiving. But I did think it was stupid when one guy asked if Puffy were single. I suppose that was the directness Puffy mentioned." [shrinecastle]

That's a summary of what went down at the Javits Center on Saturday. The panel was part of the Anime Convention which is part of Comic Con which you can see pictures from HERE and HERE. A set of pictures from last night's related concert at Irving Plaza, continues below...

Continue reading "Puffy AmiYumi, Echostream, Boom Boom Satellites & Zazan Boys did Anime Fest, played Irving Plaza (pics) "

Zazen Boys @ Cake Shop in March 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

Japanese post-punks Zazen Boys, who last visited NYC in March '09, will be in New York soon for a pair of shows. The band plays Irving Plaza on October 10th along with Puffy Amiyumi, Boom Boom Satellites and Echostream. That gig has been dubbed "Far East To East Showcase" (it's being put on by promoters Superglorious). Tickets are on sale.

The show is in conjunction with the New York Anime Fest which takes place in conjunction with New York Comic Con (October 8 - 10, 2010 at the Jacob Javits Center). All the bands on the Irving Plaza bill will also be at the convention.

Then on October 12th Zazen Boys play Pianos along with Wolf Gang, DZ and Zebra and Snake.

Videos of the group live are below...

Continue reading "Comic Con, Anime Fest, Puffy Amiyumi & the Zazen Boys are coming (dates) "