Tickets to see Death From Above 1979 and Fucked Up play a Governors Ball After Party at Irving Plaza go on sale today at 10 AM.

Tickets for the The Allman Brothers Band, Grace Porter and the Nocturnals show at Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre go on sale today at 10 AM.

Tickets to see A$AP Rocky and Wiz Khalifa with Trinidad Jame$, Joey Bada$$ and others at PNC Bank Arts Center, Nikon at Jones Beach Theatre and Comcast Theatre go on LiveNation presale today at 10 AM. General on sale starts Saturday at 10 AM. And despite what was initially announced, Smoke DZA is now listed on the PNC Bank Arts Center and Jones Beach dates.

Tickets for the MGMT show at The Wellmont Theatre go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Disclosure and TNGHT at Central Park Summerstage go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see King Tuff at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Father John Misty and Wild Nothing show at Terminal 5 go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Polica and Solid Gold play a Governors Ball afterparty at Brooklyn Bowl go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Girls Against Boys at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Robert Plant & Sensational Space Shifters at a Celebrate Brooklyn! show in Prospect Park go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Julian Lynch and The Luyas at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon. Tickets to their 285 Kent show are on sale now.

Tickets to see Philip Glass and Van Dyke Parks at Music Hall of Williamsburg, as part of Big Sur Brooklyn Bridge, go on sale today at noon.

Herbie Hancock is playing The Capitol Theatre on October 4. Tickets for that show go on sale today at noon.

Cyndi Lauper and Hunter Valentine are playing Beacon Theatre on July 10. Tickets for that show go on sale today at 11 AM.

Tickets for both nights of Stones Fest 2013 at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Pure Bathing Culture and Monogold show at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the Syd Arthur and Celestial Shore show at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Tickets for the JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound show at Mercury Lounge go on sale today at noon.

Snowmine are playing Mercury Lounge on May 20. Tickets for that show go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see The Revivalists, Roadkill Ghost Choir and Swear & Shake play a Governors Ball afterparty at Bowery Ballroom go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Haim and Kate Boy play a Governors Ball afterparty at Brooklyn Bowl go on sale today at noon.

Tickets to see Griz and Cherub play a Governors Ball afterparty at Gramercy Theatre go on sale today at 10 AM.

Tickets to see Sister Sparrow & The Dirty Birds, Hollis Brown and Shakey Graves play a Governors Ball after party at Brooklyn Bowl go on sale today at noon.

Counting Crows and The Wallflowers are playing Hammerstein Ballroom on June 27. Tickets for that show go on LiveNation and Ticketmaster presale today at noon. General on-sale starts May 3 at 10 AM.

Mina Caputo (formerly known as Life of Agony frontman Keith Caputo) plays Joe's Pub on May 17. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets to see Bob Dylan, Wilco and My Morning Jacket at Susquehanna Bank Center go on sale Saturday at 10 AM. Tickets for the Jones Beach (MMJ not included) and Pier A Park shows go on sale the following Saturday, May 4.

photos by Ryan Muir

New Williamsburg outdoor concert venue Williamsburg Park opens for business with three shows this week. We stopped by this afternoon to check out the progress and take some pictures while they were busy getting ready for tonight's Counting Crows show (7/17). We won't be back tonight, but we are looking forward to Refused & Off! on Wednesday, and for the free comedy on Thursday. Check out more pictures of the giant space, pretty sky-painted ground included, below...

Continue reading "exclusive first look at Williamsburg Park (pics)"

The Beach Boys are still making their way around the world on their 50th Anniversary tour, which hit NYC for two Beacon Theater shows earlier this month and another NYC-area show at Westchester County Center this past Tuesday (5/15). They're in Atlantic City this Saturday (5/19) and we already know they'll return to the NYC area next month for shows at Jones Beach on June 24 (tickets) and PNC Bank Arts Center on June 27 (tickets).

Tickets for those shows are still available, but if you don't wanna fork up the cash (and don't mind waking up really early), you can catch The Beach Boys at a free show in Central Park on June 15 as part of Good Morning America's Summer Concert Series, which means they'll be performing close to 8 AM ("Viewers interested in joining "GMA" in Central Park are encouraged to arrive at Rumsey Playfield via the 72nd street entrance on Fifth Avenue at 6:00am when the park opens to the public. All concerts are free and open to the public and will take place live during "Good Morning America," Fridays from 7:00 - 9:00 a.m. ET."). Other announced 2012 Good Morning America bands include Counting Crows, and boy band The Wanted (full announced list below).

Should be a fun way to start your day if you're already in the show-going mood from Northside Festival, which starts one day earlier (6/14) and runs through 6/17.

This won't be the first time that The Beach Boys play in Central Park. Check out some videos when they played in 1971, which aired on ABC-TV as a production titled, Good Vibrations in Central Park, and a news station clip of their 1977 show in the park, along with a list of updated dates below...

Continue reading "Beach Boys playing 'Good Morning America' in Central Park (and other bands too)"

We Are Augustines @ Hotel Vegan 2012 (more by Tim Griffin)

A total of seven Williamsburg Park shows are on sale and that includes Jane's Addiction and Die Antwoord (which will take place on August 17).

It also includes "The Outlaw Roadshow Featuring Counting Crows with Special Guests" which takes place on July 17. Those special guests include We Are Augustines (ex-Pela) and Field Report (ex-bandmade of Justin Vernon), both of whom played Hotel Vegan at SXSW this year (Counting Crows also played SXSW this year). Kasey Anderson & the Honkies is one of the special guests too.

Now there are eight Williamsburg Park shows total announced, one of which is free, and one of which is part of the Northside Festival.

"WXPN, the nationally-recognized leader in Triple A (Adult Album Alternative) music and noncommercial radio service of the University of Pennsylvania today announced the lineup for the 2012 XPoNential Music Festival presented by Subaru. Wilco, Counting Crows, Avett Brothers, Dr. Dog, The Hold Steady, Kathleen Edwards, Diego Garcia, War On Drugs, John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders and many more acts will play the weekend festival at Camden County's Wiggins Park and the Susquehanna Bank Center located on the Camden waterfront from Friday, July 20th - Sunday, July 22nd.

This year, WXPN has extended the festival to include Susquehanna Bank Center performances on Saturday and Sunday nights. WILCO, THE AVETT BROTHERS and DR. DOG will perform on Saturday, July 21 and COUNTING CROWS will perform on Sunday, July 22. Lawn seat admission to both Susquehanna Bank Center shows is included with the purchase of a 3-Day Pass to the XPoNential Music Festival. "

XPoNential Music Festival tickets are on sale. Full lineup below...

Continue reading "XPoNential Music Festival 2012 lineup announced"

Vagrant Records and The Hold Steady announce an April 7 release date for A Positive Rage, a double disc package featuring a documentary on DVD and their first-ever live album. The set will be released on April 6 on Rough Trade Records in the UK and Europe.

A Positive Rage captures the excitement and high spirits of both the band and their fans in the days surrounding the release of their third full-length, Boys and Girls in America, (Vagrant) and ensuing world tour in 2006.

The 53-minute documentary begins with The Hold Steady's first ever London performances with never-before-seen live footage, back stage interviews with the band members, fan commentary and the original, raw audio. Cameras follow the band as they return to the US for a 24-date tour that culminates on screen with an especially poignant performance at First Avenue in Minneapolis.

The live album was recorded on October 31, 2007 and includes seventeen songs that Craig Finn, Tad Kubler, Galen Polivka, Franz Nicolay, and Bobby Drake performed on the second of their two-night sold-out stand at the Metro in Chicago. The enhanced album will also feature five bonus studio tracks: "Ask Her For Adderall," "Cheyenne Sunrise," "Two Handed Handshake," and the previously unreleased tracks "Spectres" and "40 Bucks."

The booklet features personal photos and the band's memories of the tour, including this excerpt from Craig Finn... "It ended up being a fantastic suburban blow out with band and audience on the floor, Frisbee and tailgating in the adjoining parking lot, and everyone singing along to every song.... It reminded me of the hardcore shows I loved as a kid, everyone sweating and screaming together in a rented hall. And drinking in the parking lot, of course. The next night worlds converged.... "

In related Vagrant news, they just announced that they signed the UK's Olivia Broadfield. "I have been blown away by how well things have been going for me over the past year and signing with Vagrant is quite simply the cherry on top," said Broadfield. "I am so excited to be working with Vagrant, they have shown such faith and belief in me as an artist and I know that my album will be in good hands. It's taken a lot of hard work to get this far and I can't wait to take things to the next level with Vagrant by my side."

In related Hold Steady news, the band covered Bruce Springsteen's "Atlantic City" for the new "War Child Heroes" charity comp. "A Postive Rage" tracklist, and all tour dates, below...

Continue reading "Hold Steady tour dates (Irving Plaza, SXSW) & a documentary"

by Bill Pearis

Currently celebrating their 25th anniversary, Camper Van Beethoven are playing Friday (1/9) (tickets) and Saturday (1/10) (tickets) at Bowery Ballroom in NYC - the band's first shows here since 2006 (thx anon). They also played some shows in 2004 when they released New Roman Times, their first album of original material in 15 years.

Camper Van Beethoven were one of the few bands of the '80s loved by both punks and hippies, taking the f-you attitude of the former and the laid-back vibe of the latter, mixing it with various forms of ethic music plus their own Santa Cruz style and humor. Whether punks and hippies ever acknowledged each other's presence at shows back then is a different story. (It took me till the late-90s to admit that "Good Guys and Bad Guys" sounds a lot like The Dead.) While best-known now for their their early single "Take the Skinheads Bowling," CVB were also capable of thoughtful, insightful, and moving songs as well. Time has been kind to them, actually, and records like their 1985 debut, Telephone Free Landslide Victory, 1986's eponymous third album, and the finale of CVB's initial run, 1989's Key Lime Pie have held up more than a lot of other records from the same era. And New Roman Times was a fine addition to their discography, almost like they never went away.

If you're a big CVB fan, you might want to consider hitting both shows. The band's 2-night stint in Chicago back in November saw sets of around 25 songs, with only 9-10 of them being duplicated both nights. I last saw them was at a 2-hour plus, sweltering show (literally) at Knitting Factory in July 2002. It's almost all of the original lineup and, if anything, the band have gotten better as musicians since.

Opening at the Friday show at Bowery (1/09) is McCabe & Mrs Miller, which is CVB bassist Victor Krummenacher's project with Alison Faith Levy (formerly of The Loud Family) and also features Camper members Jonathan Segel and Greg Lisher.

Additionally, Krummenacher and Segel are both doing solo sets at Pianos on Sunday (1/11) - a bill that also includes local fave Sharon Von Etten. I wouldn't be surprised if other members of Camper make appearances. Segel also plays in Noodle Shop at Le Poisson Rougue on Wednesday (1/14).

But wait there's more. Monks of Doom, which is basically Camper Van Beethoven minus frontman David Lowery plus David Immergluck (who has played in Counting Crows but spent the '80s in the bizarre theatrical band The Ophelias), are playing Europa in Greenpoint on March 12 and 13. Tickets are on sale. Lowery, meanwhile, continues to play in Cracker too. These guys stay busy.

A few classic CVB videos, and all dates, after the jump...

Continue reading "Camper Van Beethoven shows & a Monks of Doom reunion "

An hour before show time, a battalion of security officers was directing a convoy of concertgoers in S.U.V.'s, and traffic was flowing smoothly in an area known to wear down would-be diners and moviegoers seeking a coveted parking space.

Back in September, Joseph Hartnett, chief executive of the municipality, said, "Keeping all of these people moving is going to be a challenge in an already parking-challenged town." As it turned out, concertgoers said parking was less an issue than other factors, at least on a Tuesday evening when the theater was not filled to capacity.

"There's ample parking on the street -- I had no problem at all," said Chris Kunstadter, 53, of Bloomfield. Mr. Kunstadter received e-mail notification of the postponement in time to avoid heading out on Monday, but when he made it inside on Tuesday, he had a different concern.

"They should have seating on the lower level," he said, referring to the capacious open space near the main stage, where clumps of concertgoers convened. For this concert, seats were available only on the Wellmont's upper tier. [NY Times]

Counting Crows are playing the first three shows at the end of October at the new Wellmont Theater in NJ. Tickets for all three shows are on sale (@ 10am).

Tickets are on sale (@ 10am) for the upcoming Smashing Pumpkins shows at United Palace (single day and two day passes).

Tickets are on sale for the upcoming Oasis show at MSG.

Tickets for the show O'Death are playing at Bowery Ballroom in December are now on sale.

And those $5.00 Mission of Burma / King Khan / Jay Reatard tickets are also on sale.

Yeasayer @ Emo's in Austin, March 2008

* Happy 10th Living Room
* Goodbye Magnetic Field
* Telepathe is playing Hugs
* Wussy is playing Maxwell's
* Wildildlife is playing Death by Audio
* Oppenheimer is playing Union Hall
* The Budos Band are playing S.O.B.'s
* Cut's 3-year anniversary is at Studio B
* Counting Crows are playing the Apple Store
* Brother Ali & Abstract Rude @ Bowery Ballroom
* Mary J Blige & Jay-Z are playing Nassau Coliseum
* Caribou, Fuck Buttons, and Dan Friel are playing MHOW
* Riot in Belgium and The Glass Soundsystem at Hiro Ballroom
* The Heavenly States, Darla Farmer, and Peasant are playing Pianos
* Pwrffl Power, The Terrordactyls, and The Extraordinaires are at Sound Fix
* Sunset Rubdown, Ecstatic Sunshine & Blood on the Wall @ the Masonic Temple

Yeasayer has nothing to do with this post really, but I needed somewhere to put the photos Leia took of them at Emo's two weeks ago. More below....

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Thursday?"

For Counting Crows fans this this might be a big deal?

In case there is any confusion. Counting Crows are also playing CMJ, but they aren't the secret band listed on this flyer.