Xiu Xiu is taking Tune-Yards out on tour this year. The full set of dates hasn't been announced is now announced, but they will hit Bowery Ballroom in NYC on April 9th with Zola Jesus. Tickets go on American Express pre-sale at noon.

photos by Tim Griffin

Shot over 11 years by renowned fashion photographer Steven Sebring, Patti Smith: Dream of Life is an intimate portrait of the legendary rocker, poet and artist. Following Smith's personal reflections over a decade, the film explores her many art forms and the friends and poets who inspired her -- William Burroughs, Allen Ginsberg, Bob Dylan, Robert Mapplethorpe and Michael Stipe. She emerges as a crucial, contemporary link between the Beats, punks and today's music. Shot in lush, dark tones, featuring rare performance clips and narrated by the artist herself, Patti Smith: Dream of Life is an impressionistic journal of a multi-faceted artist that underscores her unique place in American culture. Winner of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival Excellence in Cinematography Award: Documentary. A production of Clean Socks and THIRTEEN. Produced by Steven Sebring, Margaret Smilow and Scott Vogel. [PBS]

More pictures from her first of three Bowery shows (12/29 aka last night), below...

Continue reading "Patti Smith played Bowery Ballroom (night one pics), catch her new documentary on PBS on her birthday (TODAY!) "

photos by Lori Baily

Happy Holidays! I take on more than I can handle. That results in a lot of unposted content. In the name of catching up, while also taking it easy during this final week of the year, here's some of that lost material

A set of pictures from Melt Banana and Liturgy at Bowery Ballroom on November 23rd, continued below...

Continue reading "Melt Banana & Liturgy @ Bowery Ballroom in NYC - pics "

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

"In an enthralling concert at the Bowery Ballroom on Tuesday night, playing the songs from "Hospice" to a rapt audience, the Antlers (from Brooklyn) made clear that the music was not just a vehicle for the story. It was its own molten element, moving at its own pace. Songs emerged from, and sometimes dissolved back into, stretches of abstract sound: Mr. Silberman's guitar feedback darkening like storm clouds, Darby Cicci's hissing or whooshing keyboard sounds, Michael Lerner's atmospheric cymbals, the band's loops and layers of static and effects that only gradually led into chords and rhythms. Eventually they were topped by the words." [NY Times]

Continue reading "The Antlers, Sharon Van Etten & Uninhabitable Mansions @ Bowery Ballroom in NYC - pics "

Dirty Projectors completed their tour and four-night NYC run in style on Sunday (11/22). The evening started with a beautiful set of music by Julianna Barwick who was followed by the mind-blowing Tune-Yards. It's been said before, I'll say it again. Merrill Garbus is an extremely talented girl and the crowd went nuts for her as she looped and strummed and drummed and sang. Backed by a bassist, her performance was even more special because her parents were in the crowd. She mentioned them a few times and even thanked them at the end for having her.

I'd been hearing rumors about special guests possibly joining the Dirty Projectors at some point this week, but nothing happened at the first three shows (1 at Bowery and 2 at Music Hall of Williamsburg). Then Sunday the rumors started getting louder, especially the one about The Roots showing up.

The Roots and Dirty Projectors first met when DP were the musical guests at Fallon. Questlove was in love. Some thought that DP were going to join the Roots at a show in Brooklyn a few days after that TV appearance, but it never happened. It did this time though. Three members of the Roots, Questlove included, joined the band on stage for two songs ("Stillness" and "No Intention" I think?). The show was already great before that, but everyone went so wild and was dancing like crazy when the Roots came out. The energy in the room was off the charts, and stayed in the air even after the guests left the stage. The band was supercharged too as they finished their pre-encore set in one of the strongest ways I've ever seen them play.

During the short encore break another microphone was brought to the stage. At that point I knew there was no question that David Byrne would be joining Dirty Projectors once again (it previously happened at least two times - at the Dark Was the Night charity concert and then again at Bonnaroo). Sure enough, Mr. Byrne helped them end the two song encore with a slightly-unrehearsed version of Knotty Pine (the song he and the band wrote together for the Dark Was the Night album).

Amazing night. More pictures of the headliner and guests and the setlist below..

Continue reading "David Byrne & The Roots joined Dirty Projectors @ Bowery Ballroom Sunday night - pics & setlist"

words & photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Dirty Projectors kicked off the first of four sold-out New York shows at the Bowery Ballroom Wednesday night (11/18). Those arriving early were treated to a nice, but slightly underwhelming set, by Glass Ghost. The real treat was the second opener (or as one audience member shouted out, 'The best opening act ever"), tUne-YaRds, the project of one Merrill Garbus. The Dirty Projectors followed and leaned heavily on their critically-hailed release, Bitte Orca. Their set was tight and intense ("Temecula Sunrise" being a notable highlight among many) with Angel Deradoorian nailing the quietest moment of the night singing "Two Doves" with frontman David Longstreth accompanying on acoustic guitar.

The run continues tonight (11/19) at Music Hall of Williamsburg (where it stays for two nights before returning to Bowery Ballroom for one more show). Dirty Projectors also have a show coming up at Lincoln Center's Allen Room. More pictures, including one of the setlist, from last night, below...

Continue reading "Dirty Projectors kicked off their 4-night run w/ tUne-YaRds @ Bowery Ballroom (pics & setlist)"

photos by Vincent Cornelli, words by Bill Pearis

The Cribs @ Bowery Ballroom

The Cribs played two sold out nights at Bowery Ballroom last Thursday (11/12) and Friday (11/13) -- their first NYC shows with new band-member Johnny Marr. The Von Bondies opened both nights. Thursday the Cribs also played The Late Show with David Letterman, performing "We are the Same Skies" from their new album, Ignore the Ignorant. Video of that, along with the brand new official video for the same song with more pictures from the first night at Bowery Ballroom, below.

I was at the first of the two shows, and the Jarman brothers were in fine form. Maybe not as rowdy but there's been no signs of change with their increased popularity. I think Ryan Jarman was wearing the same clothes as the last time I saw them a year and a half ago. They are a down-to-Earth, no bullshit kind of group.

As for for their new addition, the Jarmans and Marr acted like it was no big deal that one of the greatest guitarists of the last 25 years was now in the group, but there was extra oomph on older tracks like "Hey Scenesters" and "Mirror Kissers," and you could definitely feel Marr's influence on the Smith-y current single "We Share the Same Skies" and Ignore the Ignorant's title track. Likewise, the crowd didn't seem to pay Marr's presence any mind -- maybe some of them didn't know who he was? -- as they were too busy going mental, at least near the stage. I'm a Cribs fan, but I do think this was the best I've seen them since they made the leap from smaller-sized clubs.

Meanwhile, The Cribs just announced dates for a North American tour in early 2010, including a January 16 stop at Irving Plaza. Adam Green & The Dead Trees open that show and most of the dates on the tour. Jemima Pearl then replaces him as opener for the last six dates. Tickets for the NYC show go on sale Wednesdday at noon. All announced tour dates, plus those videos and pictures, below...

Continue reading "The Cribs played Bowery Ballroom (pics) & Letterman (video) - announced tour w/ Adam Green (dates) ++ new video "

When I got to the xx show at Bowery Ballroom last night (11/11), I was told by someone reliable that Gil Scott-Heron was planning on joining the headlining UK band on stage for some songs - both with them and on his own for a few. At first I thought that was completely random. Then I realized that the xx's label XL Recordings recently announced that they signed Gil. They'll be releasing "I'm New Here", his first album since 1994's "Spirits", on Jan. 11, 2010. And according to jamespenycate, "The XX are remixing the entire Gil Scott Heron album". You can listen to four song clips, and watch video of Gil in the studio, at imnewhere.net.

Ends up Gil didn't join The xx on stage, though I saw him there after the show and apparently he did sound check with them (it's unclear why the change of plan). Ends up Baria Quresh didn't join The xx on stage either. The band performed as a trio and XL confirms that Baria's hiatus is permanent.

Fellow UK musician Jon Hopkins opened the show with a set of solo electro that had him pushing all kinds of buttons on stage to the delight of those that bothered to check him out. "Hopkins's third album, Insides, was released by Just Music in conjunction with Domino Records on May 5, 2009."

I'm in love the xx album, so seeing them live can't be that bad, which it wasn't, but it's nowhere near as good as the album. The young band will hopefully improve their show over time. The annoying crowd (people were talking through the performance on every side of me... and there was at least one person who answered her cell phone) generally appreciated it though - there was lots of clapping especially for favorites like "Basic Space". The band said it was good to be back in NYC which they said was like their second home. It's true. They played a bunch of shows here before CMJ and then a bunch more during CMJ, and they'll be back again in December with Friendly Fires. Tickets are still on sale for that Webster Hall show.

The video for "Basic Space" and some Gil Scott-Heron clips, below...

Continue reading "Gil Scott-Heron now on XL (2010 album), was @ Bowery Ballroom to see labelmates/remixers? The xx (now a trio)"

photos by Vincent Cornelli, words by Andrew Frisicano

"Smith westerns just pissed all over our backstage floor." - Girls

The second NYC-area stop on the Girls/Real Estate tour, after the Nov. 2nd kick off at Maxwell's, happened Friday, November 6th at Bowery Ballroom. Girls frontman Christopher Owens and bassist/album producer JR White took to the Bowery Ballroom stage with their new guitarist and drummer (after their former axeman quit during their recent European tour) for Girls' biggest NYC show so far. The show was sold out.

And so what began as a coronation became an exercise in the lowering of expectations, in a performance that was, for the most part, frustratingly inert. Mr. Owens, his hair matted with sweat or some other adhesive, meandered through most of "Album," along with some new songs and a blissful cover of Daniel Johnston's "True Love Will Find You in the End." He sings in a mottled, nasal quaver that demands a sort of reverence to ingest fully, but the quiet in the room wasn't of the good kind. Regardless, Mr. Owens, Mr. White and the two members of the touring band, Ryan Lynch on guitar and Garrett Godard on drums, plowed on with the ease of a campfire singalong. (Mr. Godard sang harmony on many songs, a welcome jolt of energy.) [NY Times]

Continue reading "Girls & Real Estate played Bowery Ballroom (pics)"

words & photos by Jake Forney

Monday's show was a display of the full spectrum of showmanship, from milking the crowd to ignoring it. Openers These Are Powers found all three members nearly equal in enthusiasm, vocalist/noise-maker Anna Barie only barely distinguishing herself as the front-person of the group. Bassist Pat Noecker (formerly of Liars) marched along to his riffing on his modified bass, often in the upper register, leaving much of the low-end to drummer/sampler Bill Salas. Of the three bands, they were the most pop-oriented, playing the only set that was not non-stop from start to finish, but had distinct beginnings and ends of songs. Their forward-driving beats have an undeniable dance-ability, getting even a half-full room to move a bit. Their next NYC show is this Friday with three bands from China.

Growing, also of New York, presented a complete about-face. The trio took the stage, each behind a table with their respective pedals. Aside from guitarists Joe Denardo and Kevin Doria rocking back and forth to their delay-drenched loops, the band remained relatively stagnant. The crowd however, did not. The beats blasting out of the Ampeg onstage rivaled the PA for anyone within the first ten rows. In response to the music, the crowd sometimes limply nodded heads or draped limbs, though other times the Ballroom could have been mistaken for a nightclub, hands in the air, and yes, even some grinding was witnessed. As the last loop faded and the lights went up, newest member Sadie Laska simply looked at the crowd and raised one eyebrow with a small grin and then exited the stage.

Headliners Fuck Buttons presented a high-energy mixture of the two openers in demeanor. The set, primarily their new album Tarot Sport, didn't take long to get the now packed room moving again with the heavy club beat of album-opener "Surf Solar." Each track was surprisingly spot-on to the recording, the only variations were nuanced changes - sometimes sooner, but more often later in a song than on the album. Standing at opposite ends of a folding picnic table, the British duo, Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power, kept an eye towards the crowd. They read the room for the right time to push the scale of things from grand to epic, or to take it away, fading the beat into a static of chords, produced from a collection of small keyboards and pedals housed in suitcases. Their teamwork was evident too, simple nods led to the next transition, most evident during the encore of "Sweet Love for Planet Earth" off last year's Street Horrrsing.

It's hard to deny the grandeur of Tarot Sport. And even harder when you can feel the floor shake when they unleash the gnarliest synth drones from small, modified kids' toys. The effect is akin to the visual of the movie 300, except Fuck Buttons has nuance and adrenaline-laced buildups where the movie has cheese and abdominals.

Fuck Buttons and Growing are now on tour and will in fact be back in NYC to play Market Hotel on November 27th. More pictures from Bowery Ballroom below...

Continue reading "Fuck Buttons & Growing played Bowery Ballroom w/ These are Powers (pics), WILL be back to play Market Hotel"

Patti Smith @ The Met (more by Daniel Solomon)

Patti Smith has announced her annual end-of-year run of shows at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets for the three shows, December 29-31, will go on sale Friday at noon. All dates below...

Continue reading "Patti Smith returning to Bowery Ballroom for New Years run"

photos by Paul Birman

Holly Miranda & Matthew Caws / Florence & the Machine

"Dressed in flowing white, Florence spilled to the stage with her black-clad band, The Machine. Opening with "Two Lungs," Welch exploded into to chorus. She didn't need all of the considerable orchestra, including the harp, to vibrate the floor of a completely packed Bowery Ballroom. With the Island Records crew stuffed into the balcony, Welch flitted around the stage, pushing her elbows back and popping her chest out like some mechanical and delicate bird. She repeatedly pointed at us, directly, to emphasize elements of her story, only to cover a smile with her hand. She is emphatic and wilting, if these two things are possible at once." [32Ft/Second]

Opening the show, coming off a couple of more public CMJ appearances and a recent XL Records signing announcement, was Holly Miranda who was backed by none other than Nada Surf. Nada Surf plays an acoustic show at Music Hall of Williamsburg tonight (10/28).

More pictures, including a show of Florcence's setlist, and the above-mentioned video, below...

Continue reading "Florence & the Machine played Letterman (video) & Bowery Ballroom w/ Holly Miranda (and Nada Surf) - pics & setlist"

words and photos by Jake Forney

The line-up was Dave Godowsky, Say Hi, followed by David Bazan.

The bassist of Say Hi played keys and guitar in Bazan's band. Say Hi's lead vocalist and guitarist played guitar with Bazan. Bazan played bass. When asked why he was playing bass this tour, he said he just felt like playing bass. They had a practice where he only played tambourine and sang, which he said was fun, but he ultimately decided to play bass on the tour.

The set was heavy with songs from the new album, Curse Your Branches. However, he played old favorites like "Magazine", "I Do", and a Headphones song "I Never Wanted You". He played an encore, which he said is something he normally doesn't do, but he "felt like playing some more fucking music." The encore consisted of him on guitar, alone except for Say Hi's bassist, who was onstage just to harmonize. He played "Priests and Paramedics", a cover of Dylan's "The Man In Me", and closed with "Harmless Sparks". The rest of the band returned to the stage at the end of this song to provide harmonies.

--

David Bazan & Say Hi are still on tour. The NYC show was last Sunday (10/18). Opener Dave Godowsky has since played a set at the BrooklynVegan / Bowery Prsents show upstairs at Pianos on Saturday (10/24). More pictures from Bowery below...

Continue reading "David Bazan, Say Hi & Dave Godowsky @ Bowery Ballroom in NYC - pics "

Hope Sandoval & The Warm Inventions kicked off their second NYC show in three days much like they did the first, with the song "Blanchard" and with not enough vocals in the speakers. By song three, an early highlight ("Courtin Blues"), the sound was better. Hope's vocals were coming through loud and clear. I wasn't as close to the stage as I was at Music Hall, so maybe my perspective was different, but the Manhattan crowd seemed way happier to be there than the Brooklyn crowd. The cheers seemed louder and more in line with the return of someone who we haven't seen in seven years. Song four was "Willow" and all signs pointed towards a great show. The projections, though exactly the same at Music Hall, were maybe even better because Bowery Ballroom seemed to have a bigger screen.

Then, 3.5 songs in, all of a sudden the music stopped. Hope couldn't hear herself in the monitors. Some audience members, possibly misunderstanding the problem, started screaming that it sounded great. They weren't lying and it didn't help. Hope continued to stand there. She was growing increasingly frustrated as she expected someone to make it work again. She said she was sorry for embarrassing everyone, and mentioned that they had spent three hours soundchecking earlier in the day.

"It's OK Hope, we love you," someone screamed. "I'm on the verge of throwing a tantrum," Hope replied. Killing time, someone asked if she loved NY. Unexpectedly, Hope answered, "I absolutely fucking hate NY... but I love everyone who is here. I'm a country girl". She may have lost a few people there, and then she spoke again. It was definitely the most I've ever heard her talk on stage. "There's gonna be some heads chopped off... Sorry about this you guys," she said. Someone else yelled, "We love you Hope". Then next thing you know, faster than you can say Fiona Apple, Hope made one final frustrated gesture forward, and then stormed off the stage. Her confused band followed soon after.

continued below...

Continue reading "Hope Sandoval stormed off stage at Bowery Ballroom... but then returned to finish the show"

photos by Oren Loloi

"Last, but in no way least, was Rural Alberta Advantage, who played their last NYC show of 2009. If you can believe it, the trio's percussive elements are highlighted even more live than on their smash album, Hometowns. In addition to the strong beats, Nils Edenloff's warbly croon wowed the audience throughout the mostly-originals set. A highlight was RAA's cover of Abba's "SOS" (of course, it's only fitting that a band that was formed at an open mic night would nail a re-interpreted Abba song!) Should, for some odd reason, you not care for RAA's music, it's worth going to a concert just for the history lesson. At the show, for instance, we learned that petrified wood is the provincial stone of Alberta, which is why it makes its way into "Drain The Blood" and that the best thing to do if you ever find yourself in Edmonton is to go to the Legislative Grounds and look directly at the lights. [CMJ]

Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the show Rural Alberta are playing with Passion Pit at Terminal 5 on January 8th. More pictures from Bowery Ballroom, and all Lovely Feathers dates, below...

Continue reading "The Rural Alberta Advantage played Bowery w/ The Lovely Feathers (pics) -- tix on sale for Terminal 5 w/ Passion Pit "

words & photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Tuesday night's Twilight Sad show was just like Friday night, there was just more if it. There was more space for the sound to fill, more shaved heads, more singing along. All three bands had put the bar relatively high coming off their show at Southpaw, and all three cleared it and then some.

Prior to the tour The Twilight Sad's James Graham and Andy MacFarlane had shaved their heads. Somewhere between Brooklyn and the Bowery Jetpacks lead singer Adam Thompson and bassist Sean Smith shaved their heads, Twilight Sad bassist Craig Orzel was sporting a mohawk and even their roadie, Esteban, got into the act.

With more room to maneuver and no band going on after them, the three bands seemed more inspired with only Brakesbrakesbrakes toughing out a rough set with a broken string and busted high hat.

The Twilight Sad made only two changes from their setlist Friday night adding "The Room" off Forget The Night Ahead and swapping the new record's one breakneck track, "The Neighbour's Can't Breathe", for its other ("That Birthday Present").

The moment of the night arrived when Graham hopped down into the crowd for "Cold Days From The Birdhouse". Where the audience at Southpaw gave him plenty of space a few nights earlier, the crowd at the Bowery crowded in close, enveloping Graham. And the crowd singing along as he belted the lyrics, "And your red sky at night won't follow me" and "So you make it your own/but this is where your arm can't go" was chill bump-inducing. It lead to Graham remarking, after he returned to the stage, "I don't think we'll ever forget this."

Anonymous wrote:

The Twilight Sad was incredibly loud and pretty much the definition of epic. The floor was shaking! The way those guitars swirl and those crescendos... it was a mesmerizing showcase of powerful, and noisy as heck, music that very few bands can even pull off. Great mix of new and old songs in the set list. When they played Cold Days From The Birdhouse, with the singer in the middle of the crowd, it felt special. The only thing missing from them is more stage presence from someone other than the lead singer.

Continue reading "We Were Promised Jetpacks, The Twilight Sad & BrakesBrakesBrakes @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - pics, setlist "

photos by Chris La Putt

ClickMusic: You've received a lot of critical acclaim with your debut album. But with the advent of the internet, it seems that any artist is never far away from criticism. How important is that criticism to you?

Little Boots: There's not many people that I trust for criticism, so... You know, most people on the internet, there's, like, ten year old kids and, like, middle America, who'll log onto YouTube and say that you're fat and ugly and can't sing for shit. And it's just, you know... I mean, I take criticism from my colleagues and friends and, you know, people who are close to me... and people who are talented. It's stupid to let that affect...

Continue reading "Little Boots, Plastiscines & Yes Giantess @ Bowery Ballroom in NYC - pics "

The Grates' last NYC show was at Mercury Lounge on September 4th. In October they're going on tour with Those Darlins. On November 14th they'll play Bowery Ballroom with Longwave. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wedneday at noon followed by general sale Friday at the same time.

Continue reading "The Grates add NYC show at Bowery Ballroom w/ Longwave"

"fanfarlo was amazing last night. the experience left me inspired to be happy!" - Christy Gurga

Fanfarlo @ Bowery Ballroom in NYC - Sept 21, 2009 (awakinglim)

"Given the mere nine or so songs they played [at Chop Suey in Seattle on September 14th], jet-lagged or no, an encore was definitely in the offing. Nobody was leaving and everyone was clapping and expecting something. Promptly arriving back on stage, plastic tubes were handed out to the crowd to twirl above their heads, an opportunity for the audience to whimsically provide the high-pitched background hum for "Ghosts." It worked out better than I could have imagined (though the taller members of the crowd were probably not all that endeared by a constant threat to their head from all sides). After some mulling over requests, "Fire Escape" was decided as the second song of the encore.

Even after the house music came up, earnest chants of "One More Song! One More Song!" rung out until the band came back for a second encore. I honestly can't remember the last time I saw something like that with a new band like this."
[Sound on the Sound]

If you miss both, or even if you saw both, it won't be long before there's another chance to catch the London-based band in NYC. Fanfarlo are coming back for CMJ, and you'll have at least two chances to see them then. On October 21st they'll be at Bowery Ballroom again. That time it's with Midnight Juggernauts, The Postelles, TigerCity, Findlay Brown, and Freelance Whales (tickets). On Tuesday, October 20th (one night before Bowery), you can catch them at the official BrooklynVegan CMJ show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Full lineup for that one to be announced shortly (and tickets will be on sale soon).

A video from the above-reviewed Seattle show, below...

Continue reading "Fanfarlo played Bowery Ballroom - Bell House tonight then CMJ (BrooklynVegan official show @ MHOW + Bowery again) "

photos by Fresh Bread

"You might hear a song and think it's from the second album, it just sounds like it." - Erlend Oye @ Bowery Ballroom

Kings of Convenience were really good [at Bowery Ballroom] last night (9/10). they went on about 940ish. First half the show was spent debut new material, which sounds really good. Not much of departure from their previous stuff, but being that KOC has kind of signature sound, I really wasn't surprised. Then, they started busting out a bunch of tunes from their previous two records, much to the delight of the crowd. All the while, the band was very talkative and incredibly charming and funny. They ended their with a cover of "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to".

But the real suprise was the encore. The boys walked out in sang with no mics and did an unplugged version of "The Build-Up". Half way through the song, a voice started singing from the balcony unplugged. They put a spotlight on her and it was non other then Leslie Feist! The place went crazy as she belted this tune out. After a huge ovation, she came to the main stage and did a little dance and back up singing for the boys final song.

All and All, a fantastic ending to a wonderful show! [Anonymous]

"No shit - I was talking with two girls before the show started who were from Australia, they had walked by and bought tickets at the door. They HONESTLY thought they were there to see Kings Of Leon. You should have seen the look on their faces when I said "you know you are getting ready to see Kings of Convenience, right?"" - Fresh Bread

Continue reading "Kings of Convenience w/ FEIST @ Bowery Ballroom - pics"

photos by Tim Griffin

"One of my favorite artists who seems to embody brilliance, the quintessential musician, is the one and only Sondre Lerche. His music, his style, his words are combined to create the most unique sound I've ever heard. You may have heard his songs if you watched "Dan in Real Life." He wrote the soundtrack and performed the last number in the "Wedding" scene. This is where I first fell in love with Sondre's sensational sound and from there, I've compiled a growing list of favorite tracks.

His new album, entitled "Heart Beat Radio" debuted today; and Molly and I went to the Bowery Ballroom to see him for his first show of the tour. You can't beat live music and Sondre's performance was nothing short of impeccable. He really has a way of pumping up the crowd considering he didn't have a band, back-up vocalists, special lighting, anything. It was just Sondre and his guitar: raw, pure, real." [In the City]

Continue reading "Sondre Lerche & JBM @ Bowery Ballroom in NYC - pics "

photos by Tim Griffin

"I went to Pettyfest 2009 at Bowery Ballroom [Thursday] night, which was sick. Lots of drunk and stoned people shouting along to the hits and some great performers-- Nicole Atkins, Adam Green, Steve Schiltz, Antony Ellis, members of The Strokes and The Killers.

One of my favorite performances-- and this took me by surprise -- was the dude from Augustana singing "You Got Lucky." They're not a band I generally have a strong opinion about one way or another, but his voice was sick and he had a commanding presence-- like a subdued Mick Jagger with the wrist at the hips with a dash of Joe Cocker in the vocal tone." [EYTAN]

Continue reading "PettyFest @ Bowery Ballroom - setlist & pics (Adam Green, Strokes & Killers members, Nicole Atkins, Kid Rock, more)"

DOWNLOAD: Shudder to Think - Hit Liquor (live) (MP3)

Shudder to Think @ Webster Hall in 2008 (more by Tim Griffin)

As previously mentioned, Shudder to Think are playing a show at Bowery Ballroom in NYC TONIGHT (9/2) with Pattern Is Movement and Blame The Patient. Tickets are still available, and I have a pair to giveaway (details below). Why should you go to this show? Two good reasons are:

1. Bowery Ballroom is smaller than Webster Hall
2. This will be the last Shudder to Think show.... for now anyway, or for the foreseeable future, or possibly forever (they won't commit to that last part, but they say they have no plans at the moment to keep it going.) (I obviously feel insecure about repeating the claim, but the email was titled "Shudder To Think Play Final Show in NYC on Sept 2")

Continue reading "Shudder To Think tonight - their FINAL show? ++ live videos"

The xx @ South Street Seaport in August (more by Chris La Putt)

"Strongly influenced by modern R&B-- the [xx] made hay with an early cover of Womack & Womack's "Teardrops", while UK copies of xx come packed with their version of Aaliyah's "Hot Like Fire"-- the xx use a drum machine to complement their copiously tidy compositions. Unlike contemporary R&B fetishists Hot Chip or Discovery, who have clearly spent long hours internalizing Timbaland, the Neptunes, and other radio cognoscenti, the xx incorporate more abstract elements of the genre: a liberal use of bass tones and an unwavering focus on sex and interpersonal relationships." [P4k - Best New Music]

The xx play a show on November 11th at Bowery Ballroom - the new date and location for their previously-scheduled November 12th show at Mecury Lounge ("All tickets will be honored."). Tickets are currently listed on Ticketmaster (for "November 12"), but not actually back on sale yet.

And before that, they'll be in NYC for a CMJ show with School of Seven Bells (who they opened for at the Seaport this August) on Friday, October 23rd. Also on this Webster Hall bill are First Aid Kit and Magic Wands. Tickets are still on sale (and we assume some CMJ badgeholders will be let in). More SOSB dates HERE.

Clips from an August 20th in-store in Brighton, UK, with updates tour dates (including a few more new November shows) are below...

Continue reading "The xx - Mercury show moved to Bowery (Best New Music), 2nd Webster Hall date added (CMJ w/ School of Seven Bells) "

via nin.ro

Vancouver weather woman Tamara Taggart to co-host Regis and Kelly

"And, as far as first-time trips to New York go, this one was going in style. [Kelly Ripa's LIVE! With Regis fill in, Tamara] Taggart, will vacation [in NYC] for a few days with her husband, musician Dave Genn.

"We saw Lady Liberty, Rockefeller Plaza and, we're both sushi lovers, so Nobu Tribeca is on the list as well as Il Mulino, which has been voted the best Italian restaurant in New York for the last 20 years. And Dave got us tickets to see the Nine Inch Nails farewell show at the Bowery, too. It holds around 500 people, which should be pretty incredible."

As to whether she is ready to pack up and take over the Big Apple, Taggart says it was a thrill but just another day on the job, too."
[The Vacouver Province]

Continue reading "NIN @ Bowery Ballroom, NYC - (cell) pics, video & the setlist"