by Benjamin Lozovsky

Spoon has made a long and fruitful career out of simultaneously fulfilling and denying the expectations of fans, critics and record labels. On Friday night (3/26), the band greatly exceeded its own expectations by headlining a sold-out Radio City Music Hall.

It was a big deal for a band that's taken small but inquisitive steps over 16 years and 7 records. This show came in support of their latest effort, Transference, a moody yet powerful record of micro-experimentation that ultimately saw the band reinvigorating their inner scruffiness (they celebrated the release of that record by playing a much smaller NYC venue in January). But unlike some recent tour dates which saw Transference heavy setlists, on this night Spoon played a well curated sampling of many of their past gems; it felt like a therapeutic nod to history for a band eager to revisit the moments that brought them this far.

But it wasn't just looking back for the fuzzy feeling of nostalgia. Britt Daniel and co. breathed new sophisticated life into songs like "I Summon You" and "Someone Something." The latter was sung as a duet with Eleanor Friedberger of the Fiery Furnaces, one of several guests (Dan Boeckner of Wolf Parade and Stephen Patterson of White Rabbits) who appeared during the show. Dan and Eleanor performed one of their own songs with the group as well as assisting on Spoon numbers, as the headliner graciously and generously dolloped the trademark Spoon appliqué onto numbers like "Waiting To Know You" and "Modern World."

Radio City Music Hall is often a tough sell for rock fans, and Friday was no exception. It wasn't until midway through Spoon's first set, when the band was augmented by a seven piece horn section for numbers like "Don't You Evah" from their brass heavy 2007 album Ga Ga Ga Ga Ga, that the crowd finally took notice of the scorching effort brought forth by the band members and joined in on the revelry of this potential poster child for indie rock perseverance affixing its name to such an illustrious marquee.

Attempting to warm up the crowd were lively but somewhat underdeveloped The Strange Boys (sans new member Jenna Thornhill-DeWitt) and Deerhunter. Many attendants preferred to mingle in the gold-plated lobby of Radio City rather than check out the openers, but neither band did everything they could to completely win over the crowd either. Deerhunter didn't outright disappoint, but they didn't sound as impactful as normal. For the majority of their performance, the powerful streams of noise normally associated with the band were muted in the large hall. Instead the bare trappings of their songwriting were exposed, which might have been an interesting contrast for a frequent listener, but to the uninitiated came across as listless and at times sluggish. When Bradford Cox and his bandmates played to their more expansive and propulsive leanings though, things improved. They finally turned up the volume and intensity in the finale which was topped off with a long cacophonously exciting outro. Then they seemed to be having fun as eccentric noise makers in such a staid arena.

Still neither of the younger bands could match the passion of the older Spoon, who now might be considered elder statesmen of the genre they often like to eschew connections with. Daniel has an ageless croon, even if it faltered occasionally Friday. One couldn't help but feel Spoon could go on forever taking small steps at musical progression and growth. As a performance though, this was one giant leap.

More tour dates HERE. The full Radio City setlist with more pictures and some videos, below...

Continue reading "Spoon (and Dan Boeckner & Eleanor Friedberger), Deerhunter & the Strange Boys @ Radio City Music Hall - pics & video"

photos by Paul Birman

"Thanks to everyone who came to the BV Haiti benefit last night. You made it really special." - St. Vincent

"St. Vincent and Justin Vernon performing together was easily one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen/heard." - Steph Lo

Wyatt Cenac was funny. Then came Britt Daniel (of Spoon) with White Rabbits frontman Stephen Patterson. They had such a good time on stage together, you can tell they were buds. Janeane Garofalo came next - she has the smartest humor and is a strong rooted New Yorker. Made a ton of jokes about the L train and hipsters which the crowd took very warmly to. Gosh she's tiny. St Vincent went on and sounded like the lovely thing she is. Someone yelled while she was setting up 'show us your bush'????', In which she replied, 'that is the strangest thing someone has ever said to me...on or off stage'. Adorable. Following her was Zach Galifianakis who everyone was undeniably waiting for. It really looked like he just rolled out of bed, picked up some papers from a table and walked on stage totally winging his whole act...hilarious. Alas came Justin Vernon (aka Bon Iver). His voice sounded just as amazing it does on record. The room was at its most quiet during "Flume". Unreal. He was the last act but did say something about a special guest - I heard it was Megafaun/My Brightest Diamond (had to leave early), which I imagine rounded out the benefit nicely. Really awesome that these guys all came together"...
[Stadiums & Shrines]

The night opened with a great debut set by singer-songwriter John Shade (previously Dave Godowsky) who brought out Justin Vernon on drums for two songs. Before and after John, and between every set of the night, came comedy by our two able hosts: Bobby Tisdale and Leo Allen. St Vincent's set included a National and a Nico cover. Justin covered John Prine. Britt Daniel did three songs, which was one less than he played at Sound Fix a few hours earlier.

And yep, the special guest after/during Justin's set was in fact Shara Worden (My Brightest Diamond) who (after headlining Bowery Ballroom one night earlier) played two jaw dropping numbers - one with Colin Stetson on his most-insane giant saxophone, and a cover of Prince's "How Come U Don't Call Me Anymore".

But it didn't end there. A supergroup called Songer Singwriter featuring Annie, Justin, drummer, and Brad from Megafaun came back to close the night off right with a set of four more covers. Neil Young's "Harvest Moon", Tom Petty's "Face in the Crowd" (with Brad on lead), Dolly Parton's "Jolene", and Annie Lennox's "Why". Each of those final covers was better than the next. To quote one of my tweets, "To quote my friend, 'Sounds like sonic youth playing a dolly parton song. Sick!' and now Annie Lennox Why! Full room Bon Iver singalong".

We ran almost non-stop for 3.5 hours straight (8-11:30), and raised over $20,000. I'm still waiting for an exact number. More pictures (one of two sets we have) and some videos from the show, below....

Continue reading "Britt Daniel, Justin Vernon, St Vincent, Zach Galifianakis, Janeane Garofalo & others raised money for Haiti @ MHOW - pics & video "

White Rabbits at APW over the summer (more by Chris La Putt)

tonight in NYC
* MonkeyTown's final night
* Ben Sollee & Carrie Rodriguez @ Maxwell's
* John Zorn Benefit Improv Night @ The Stone
* Lycaon Pictus, SSPS, The Totallys @ Glasslands
* White Rabbits, Glass Ghost, Cavemen @ Bowery Ballroom
* Silverghost, Von Haze, Hallelujah, Kordan @ Cake Shop
* Desert Stars, Veelee, Gross Ghost, Miracles @ The Cameo
* Larkin Grimm, Martin Bisi, Susu, Snowbaby @ Mercury Lounge
* Lady GaGa, Jason Derulo, Semi Precious Weapons @ Radio City Music Hall
* AMOLVACY, Neel Murgai Ensemble, Maria Chavez & Shelley Burgon @ MonkeyTown
* Haiti Benefit w/ Rosanne Cash, Madeliene Peyroux, BETTY, Nada Surf, Tabou Combo @ City Winery
* I'm Turning Into, Lady Blanche, Elizabeth Devlin, The Pendulum Swings w/ Jason Trachtenburg @ Pete's Candy Store

Tonight is the final night of MonkeyTown.

Ben Sollee, who has an album coming out soon on Sub Pop with Daniel Martin Moore, plays at Maxwell's tonight with Carrie Rodriguez.

Gross Ghost plays the Cameo tonight. Glass Ghost opens for White Rabbits at Bowery Ballroom.

White Rabbits are one of the many bands playing Coachella this year.

The drummer (or one of them) of White Rabbits backed Britt Daniel at Music Hall of Williamsburg last night. Videos from that show, and the one Britt played earlier in the day at Sound Fix, below..

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Sunday?"

I am very happy to announce....

A Night of Comedy and Music to Benefit Haiti
Presented By Bowery Presents and BrooklynVegan
With short sets by:
Zach Galifianakis, Britt Daniel (of Spoon), Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), St. Vincent, Janeane Garofalo, Wyatt Cenac (of the Daily Show), the live debut of John Shade (ex Dave Godowsky) & possibly more TBA (stay tuned)

Venue: Music Hall of Williamsburg
Date: Sat 1/23 (AKA IN LESS THAN TWO DAYS)
Notes: 18+, Doors 6:30 PM / Show 8:00 PM

Tickets (on sale Friday at noon) are only going to be $35 in advance, and $40 at the door if there are any left. A more expensive VIP option will be available so we can raise as much money as possible. 100% of the proceeds will be split between an orphanage in Haiti (that Zach chose) and the Red Cross.

Note: this show is not to be confused North 6th for Haiti (1/27 @ MHOW) which will also be announced any second (and is already on Ticketmaster)

---

We were lucky to get Justin Vernon who was in town just long enough after tonight's appearance (1/21) for the NY Guitar Festival.

Spoon was also in town tonight for a show, and Britt Daniel will be playing a show at Sound Fix that same day at 7pm (1/23).

Zach Galifianakis speaks to Natalie Portman in the video below...

Continue reading "Haiti benefit SATURDAY NIGHT (Zach Galifianakis, Britt Daniel, Justin Vernon, St Vincent, Janeane Garofalo & more) "

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: The Octagon - Suicide Kings (MP3)

The Octagon

I wrote at length already about this week's Serena Maneesh shows. Now here are some other daily picks to take you through the weekend...

Continue reading "The Octagon, Free Energy & more in This Week in Indie "

Britt Daniel of Spoon will be delivering a solo acoustic performance at Sound Fix Records in Williamsburg on Saturday, January 23rd (time TBD). That's four days after Spoon's new album, Transference, is released by Merge who by the way are selling a limited edition pink vinyl 7" of first single "Written in Reverse" (cover above).

Sorry for the massive amount of Spoon posts, but I rushed the pre-sale post up and the full tour was announced after the Radio City show (and then I finally heard about Sound fix) (thx Hiro).

photos by Tim Griffin

"After spending the better part of two years on the road (including festival stops at Lollapallooza, Glastonbury (UK), Sasquatch, Monolith and tours with The Walkmen, Spoon, Richard Swift, The Cribs, White Denim and Tokyo Police Club) White Rabbits hunkered down in their Brooklyn practice space to set about re-envisioning the dark pop of their debut Fort Nightly, while adding new sounds and influences to achieve an original work. The result is It's Frightening, their second full-length album - out May 19th on tbd records.

White Rabbits signed to tbd records (US home to Radiohead/Other Lives/Hatcham Social) and erected a makeshift studio in their basement rehearsal space to demo new material. Band members popped in and out over the course of several months lending ideas and personality to a new batch of songs that defy instant categorization. After enlisting tourmate, friend and songwriter Britt Daniel (Spoon) as producer, the pair began the process of exchanging demos between Brooklyn and Portland. White Rabbits recorded It's Frightening over the course of four weeks, only taking a break to play the Transmusicales Festival in Rennes, France. The sessions were recorded by visionary engineer Nicholas Vernhes (Animal Collective, Deerhunter) at Rare Book Room in Brooklyn, NY."

White Rabbits played their first of two sold out shows in a row at Mercury Lounge in NYC last night (2/18). The second is tonight. More pictures, the setlist from last night, and the new album tracklist, below...

Continue reading "White Rabbits - Mercury Lounge pics & new album info"

The above drawing is a segment of the songsheet Oneida passed out at Sunday night's show at Maxwell's in Hoboken (12/21). It was the first of eight Yo La Tengo Hanukkah parties at the NJ venue this year, and, as promised, the Brooklyn band (Oneida) opened the night. As also promised, comedian Paul F. Tompkins opened with a set of comedy. AND, I'm feeling really good right now because two (sort of) of my guest guesses also came true last night. Both Britt Daniel and Janet Weiss (I guessed Britt and "Quasi") joined Yo La Tengo for some songs. To quote an email I got from Josh,

Oneida opened.
Then Paul F Tompkins.
Then YLT with Janet Weiss
For the encore - Paul F Tomkins joined the band and sang a Hannukah version of [Johnny Cash's] "Ring of Fire"
Then Britt Daniel joined and sang a few songs including "Mother and Child Reunion" [by Paul Simon]

The shows continue tonight (Monday, Hanukkah night two). We now know the openers for night eight, but who will open tonight? Will it be Titus Andronicus? Will it be Antietam? I'm not sure. Post your guesses and facts in the comments.

Download the whole Oneida songsheet (thx Josh) as a PDF HERE. Check out a Yo La Tengo video from last year's Hanukkah run, below...

Continue reading "It's Hanukkah Bitch! Britt Daniel & Janet Weiss joined Yo La Tengo, Oneida & Paul F Tompkins @ Maxwell's last night"

There's a presale for these dates going on now. (thx Eduardo)

The below video is kind of old, but I don't think I ever posted it......

Continue reading "a Spoon presale, Britt Daniel on Veronica Mars (video)"

Continue reading "Spoon, The Walkmen & White Rabbits - 2008 Tour Dates"

Pat Sansone, John Stirratt, Jon Brion, and Britt Daniel perform "I Feel Fine" at the Harris Theater in Chicago on New Year's Eve [ilamya]

8:40 PM doors, 9 PM show, $5
With Bobby Tisdale and Eugene Mirman
Featuring: Chris Jurek, Tig Notaro, Greg Johnson, Rob Cantrell, Nick Kroll, and special guests.

Britt Daniel & Spoon @ Virgin Fest 2007 (MORE)

The above three mentioned chaps will be participating in some capacity (supergroups possibly) in the upcoming show now too.

DOWNLOAD: Ben Kweller - BK Baby (live) (MP3)

I'm as happy as you are that Bright Eyes' seven-night stand at Town Hall in NYC is over, but for the sake of completeness, here's a picture of one the special guests that showed up on the last night...

Bright Eyes & Britt Daniel (Spoon) @ Town Hall, NYC - Friday Jun 1, 2007 (CRED)

The other guests that night were Maria Taylor and Ron Sexsmith, and as previously reported many times: Ben Kweller played some songs with Conor on night two.

And Ben Kweller has a few interesting shows of his own coming up. Like Sonic Youth is doing with Daydream Nation. Like Slint is doing with Spiderland. Like Gza is doing with Liquid Swords. Ben Kweller will be performing three of his albums from start to finish - three days in a row - in Brooklyn....

Ben Kweller @ Southpaw, Brooklyn, NY, 2007
Jul 30 - Sha Sha
Jul 31 - On My Way
Aug 01 - Ben Kweller

Tickets are on PRESALE and regular sale, for those shows, and the ones listed below....

Continue reading "BRITT DANIEL, BRIGHT EYES & BEN KWELLER's 2007 Tour Dates (Brooklyn residency)"