Ximena Sarinana at the Parish on 11/21 (more by Tim Griffin)

Dawes and Hacienda played the free Rolling Stone show today (12/6) in Openhouse Gallery's pop-up park (201 Mulberry Street ). Dawes went on at 1 PM. Check out a video of them warming up below.

RS will continue their fest during the day on Monday (12/12) with performances by Freelance Whales (1 pm), Ximena Sarinana (2:30 pm), Deer Tick (4 pm), and MNDR (5:30 pm). RSVP is free but not does not guarantee admission. Details below.

Monday's show falls in the middle of Ximena Sarinana's tour which hit The Parish in Austin last month, and hits Rockwood Music Hall the next night (12/13) for an early and a late show, both with Graffiti6. Tickets for the early show and the late show are available. All dates below.

Tickets are also still on sale for Deer Tick's New Year's Eve show at Brooklyn Bowl with Virgin Forest, who plays Glasslands on Wednesday (12/7) with Deer Tick's Ian O'Neil and Cat Martino. Tickets are still on sale for that show too.

All dates, video, and RSVP details below...

Continue reading "Ximena Sarinana on tour, playing free Rolling Stone show w/ Deer Tick, MNDR & Freelance Whales"

photos by Chris La Putt

The Grates @ Cake Shop

The Grates played one of their many CMJ shows at Cake Shop last night. Cuckoo Chaos were at Pianos. Pictures from both those shows and more, below...

Continue reading "The Grates, Cuckoo Chaos & other random stuff Chris saw on CMJ night 1 (pics)"

DOWNLOAD: Pepper Rabbit - "Rose Mary Stretch" (Freelance Whales remix) (MP3)

Pepper Rabbit @ Sasquatch 2011 (more by Josh Darr)

Pepper Rabbit are about to adjust to life on the road. Beginning on September 7 in Philly, they'll be on the road with BRAIDS and the Secretly Canadian-signed Painted Palms for over six weeks. But first, they play their own show at Mercury Lounge in NYC on August 31 with We Barbarians and ANR. Tickets are still on sale, and we have a pair you can win. Details below with all tour dates. The Polaris-nominated BRAIDS play Mercury Lounge without Pepper Rabbit (but with Painted Palms, Blue Hawaii and Noveller) on September 6.

Pepper Rabbit's new album Red Velvet Snow Ball was released earlier this month and if you order it on their website...

... You can get it in two different packages below. The totes and pins were made special for this offer. You can't get them anywhere else. Every order also comes with an immediate download of a ton of MP3s. You get our whole first record, Beauregard. You get the Rose Mary Stretch EP we've been giving out (with the rad Miniature Tigers cover!). And you get the whole new album....

Continue reading "Pepper Rabbit remixed by Freelance Whales (MP3 premiere), kicking of tour (updated dates & a ticket contest)"

photos by Jim Brueckner

Mavis Staples

Newport Folk Festival took place in Rhode Island this past weekend (7/30-31). Day one featured performances by The Felice Brothers, Delta Spirit, Gogol Bordello, Tegan and Sara, Gillian Welch, Mavis Staples (who was joined by Colin Meloy), The Decemberistsand others. Pictures from that day are in this post. If you missed the fest, you can listen to archives of the sets at NPR.

The Felice Brothers, who are no longer playing Truck America, added Nicole Atkins as an opener to their 9/29 Webster Hall show. Tickets are still on sale. You can also catch Nicole tonight (8/3) at Bowery Ballroom when she opens for Fountains of Wayne.

The PS22 Chorus also played day one. Pictures and videos of their set are HERE. Sallie Ford pics & video HERE. More pics from the rest of day one below...

Continue reading "Newport Folk Fest 2011 - Day 1 in pics (Decemberists, Mavis Staples, Gogol Bordello, Tegan & Sara, Gillian Welch, more)"

photos by Jim Brueckner

You've seen the uplifting YouTube videos of the school children from Staten Island, but to witness their contagious innocent joy in-person is even more of a must. It's almost as if each popular number that they cover, they are canonizing by allowing the listeners to hear the songs through the ears of a child. Their version of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep" was a true goosebump moment. [Metro]

Pictures and videos from their set at Newport below...

Continue reading "The PS 22 Chorus covered Austra, Lykke Li, Adele, MGMT, Ariel Pink & more @ Newpot Folk Fest (pics & videos)"

photos by Kurt Christensen

Foals @ Terminal 5

"Foals are the epitome of organized chaos. I was fortunate enough to catch them at their sold-out show at Terminal 5 (NY) with great up-and-coming kiwi band The Naked & Famous and Brooklyn's own Freelance Whales, and they blew my high expectations away. Incredible how a band can possess so much talent. Props to lead singer/guitarist Yannis Philippakis for sounding pitch-perfect, killing it on the guitar, and fueling the moshpit with his insane antics." -[Still Sound Music]

Pictures and some video from the NYC show (and Pianos) are in this post, and there's more of them below...

Continue reading "Foals, Freelance Whales and The Naked & the Famous played Terminal 5 (pics & video)"

"An exciting mix of folk music's founding voices and modern favorites highlights the 52nd edition of the Newport Folk Festival® when it returns to Newport's Fort Adams State Park July 30-31, it was announced today by the Newport Festivals Foundation, the recently-formed 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization which produces the event.

Tickets go on sale worldwide on Thursday, March 31, at 10:00 am at www.newportfolkfest.net.

Continue reading "Newport Folk Festival 2011 lineup announced, tickets too"

Bonnaroo (June 9-12 in Manchester Tennessee) has announced the 2011 lineup (slightly early), and like the rumored Lollapalooza lineup, Eminem is among the headliners. Bonnaroo also has Grammy winners Arcade Fire and the Black Keys, in addition to Lil Wayne, Mumford & Sons, the Strokes, The Decemberists, Florence & the Machine, Girl Talk, Beirut (haven't seen them in a while), and many more. Full list below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2011 lineup is here"

"The PS22 Chorus is an elementary school chorus from Public School 22 in Graniteville, Staten Island (New York). It is composed of 60-70 fifth-graders, and is directed by Gregg Breinberg. Students are assigned to the chorus after an annual auditioning process at the beginning of each school year. PS22 is the largest elementary school in Staten Island which draws students from a wide cross section of ethnic groups and socio-economic levels. The chorus meets twice a week during school hours to practice, and performs throughout the year at school functions, local events, and on special requests. It has been featured on several major national news and music networks after its videos had gained international attention within the popular video-sharing site YouTube. As of January, 2011 the chorus's videos have been watched more than 27,000,000 times." [Wikipedia]

Their first appearance on this site came when they appeared on stage with Crowded House at Wellmont Theater. You might also know them as the children's chorus you hear on Passion Pit's "The Reeling."

Check out some brand new videos below, shot by filmmaker Jonathan Kalafer, of the group during some improv sessions and one of them doing an acoustic version of MGMT's "Kids" (a song they were already famous for covering). A recent one of the chorus covering Freelance Whales and some other ones are down there too...

Continue reading "PS22 going to Academy Awards, covered MGMT (new videos) "

by Bill Pearis

Foals at MHoW (more by Leia Jospe)

I think anyone who saw Foals at one of their NYC shows last fall (especially the nutso one Music Hall of Williamsburg) could've predicted, as I did, that next time through town they'd be at Terminal 5. And lo, it's happening: Foals will play Terminal 5 on May 4. Tickets go on sale Friday (1/21) at noon.

What you might not have guessed is that this upcoming tour, which the Terminal 5 show is part of, Foals would be playing with those purveyors of winsome folk pop, Freelance Whales. What?! Sure, Foals -- who made my #1 album of 2010 -- have a more mainstream audience now, and there are probably people out there who really like both bands...but this is one of the odder tour pairings to come along in some time. Will Freelance Whales fans stick around for the stage-diving and crowd-surfing that comes with Foals shows these days? Will Foals fans behave during the Freelance Whales set? Is this the state of touring in 2011?

These and other questions will be answered in April when the tour starts. Also along for the ride for most of the North American dates are Australian dance-pop group The Naked and Famous.

The "Deluxe Version" of 2010's Total Life Forever which dropped in the tail end of last year features a whopping 44 tracks and 5 videos via iTunes UK (only) and not only includes the album tracks, but also demos, remixes, b-sides, and videos from the record. No word on when/if the Deluxe Version will hit our shores, but until then you can checkout the tracklisting and all dates below.

Continue reading "Foals touring w/ Freelance Whales, playing Terminal 5 (dates)"

Freelance Whales @ Webster Hall - 12/15/10 (photo by Emily O'Brien)

Freelance Whales headlined a tour-ending show at the rather large Webster Hall in NYC on Wednesday night, 12/15. Freelance Whales will play the rather small In Vino Wine Bar on January 9th. Tickets go on sale at 10am today (12/17).

Miniature Tigers opened the Webster Hall show and will play Webster Hall again, and Music Hall of Williamsburg, when they open for the Get Up Kids in March. Tickets for both shows are on sale now.

Freelance Whales break into song
while waiting for that confounded L-train (more by Ryan Barkan)

Freelance Whales are hitting the road two weeks from today for a string of dates with Minature Tigers. The tour which kicks off on 11/5 at Maxwell's (a show that was recently added) and concludes with a homecoming show at Webster Hall on 12/15, will take them coast to coast in celebration of Weathervanes, their new album out now on Frenchkiss Records. Tickets are still available for both the Maxwell's and the Webster Hall show.

If you were hoping to see them sooner, you're in luck. But you're also out of luck. Freelance Whales will also be playing an invite-only show Friday (10/22) as part of the Green Label Sound series with Theophilus London, Neon Indian, and a DJ set from Flosstradamus at Backstage Bar.

Green Label Sound is the Mountain Dew "label". Freelance Whales are their latest "signing". Download new track "Enzymes" at the site.

Neon Indian play a public CMJ show at Bowery Ballroom Saturday night.

All Freelance Whales tour dates and some video are below...

Continue reading "Freelance Whales touring w/ Miniature Tigers (dates), playing private show w/ Neon Indian +new song on Green Label Sound"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

Wild Nothing opened the night with a blistering set of tunes that had me groovin'....

Freelance Whales were up next, and I had high hopes for their set....The band was good, but not great...

The Morning Benders played an incredible set the last time I saw them at The Music Hall Of Williamsburg. I didn't think they would be able to top it, but the did. With the devastatingly beautiful backdrop of NYC accompanying them, there was nothing but good vibes floating all round their performances...

...the band played a great cover of the Fleetwood Mac classic "Dreams". The guys nailed it down so well that one wouldn't be at fault for mistaking the song as a morning benders original.

That wasn't the only cover that they did. The band also covered Joy Division's "Ceremony", which Chris said was one of his favorite songs....The set ended with the always incredible "Excuses" which brought a huge singalong from the crowd... [We All Want Someone]

The next show in the Gone to Governors series happens on July 3rd with Portugal. The Man and Alberta Cross (that's a day before She & Him play a July 4th free show on the island with Oakley Hall).

For the Dr. Dog show now happening on Sunday, August 15th (note the date change), atmospheric indie-folk-rock Chief have been added to one of the opening slots.

More pictures from Saturday with the setlists and some videos are below...

Continue reading "the Morning Benders, Freelance Whales & Wild Nothing played Governors Island - pics, video & setlists"

photos by Chris Graham & Rae Holtsbaum

Caribou @ Sasquatch

Seattle Weekly: Where did the name Caribou come from?

Daniel Snaith: It came from an acid trip actually. We were touring Canada at the time, and I knew I had to change the name. We had a day off and we were just hanging out in the prairies. We sat in a field and took acid, and that name appeared to me during that.

Caribou, Local Natives & Freelance Whales all play shows on Governors island this summer, as do Wild Nothing (added as opener on the Morning Benders / Freelance Whales date) and Alberta Cross (added as opener for Portugal. The Man). The first free Governors Island show is THIS Saturday (Yeasayer). More pictures, and some videos (including a Caribou dance party) from Sasquatch Day Two, below...

Continue reading "Caribou, Local Natives & Freelance Whales played Sasquatch (pics), Wild Nothing & Alberta Cross playing Governors Island"

DOWNLOAD: The Morning Benders - Cold War (Wallpaper. Winter Remix) (MP3)

Caribou @ Bowery Ballroom (more by Benjamin Lozovsky)

What is now being considered the full lineup for the ten-show, Converse-sponsored "Gone to Governors" series at Governors Island is almost complete (openers still TBA). There are ten shows total - seven of which are on Saturdays. One is on a Friday. Two are on Sundays (one of which is July 4th). All except Local Natives on August 7th are free.

The lineup's latest additions include co-headliners Caribou & Phantogram with The Chain Gang of 1974 (July 16th), and Josh Ritter with openers Justin Townes Earle and Dawn Landes (August 8th).

Here's the whole thing:

1. June 05 - Yeasayer, Keepaway, Delicate Steve
2. June 19 - The Morning Benders, Freelance Whales & TBA
3. July 03 - Portugal. The Man & TBA
4. July 04 (Sunday) - She & Him
5. July 10 - Lucero & TBA
6. July 16 (Friday) - Caribou, Phantogram, The Chain Gang of 1974
7. July 17 - Dr. Dog & TBA
8. Aug. 07 - Local Natives & TBA ($10 ticket)
9. Aug. 08 (Sunday) - Josh Ritter & The Royal City Band, Justin Townes Earle, Dawn Landes & the Hounds
10. Aug. 14 - Neon Indian & TBA
11. Aug 15 - Dr. Dog

The shows will be held at the Beach at Governors Island, one of three venues on the Island. The others are Colonel Row (where Passion Pit will be playing, for instance) and South Island Field (which'll host M.I.A./HARD NYC). Michael Franti & Spearhead w/ Trombone Shorty kicks off the season of pay-shows at the Island with a Thursday, June 3rd performance there.

The Morning Benders will headline the second show in the series on June 19th, and they just released new song "Go Grab A Stranger," a Big Echo b-side currently available as a limited tour 7", streaming below. A remix of their song "Cold War" by Oakland act Wallpaper is available above.

"Go Grab A Stranger" and more info on the Gov. Island shows are below...

Continue reading "Gone to Governors - full 10 mostly-free show lineup (Caribou, Phantogram, Josh Ritter, She & Him & Local Natives included)"

The Morning Benders @ MHOW in April (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

The free Yeasayer "Gone to Governors" show at Governors Island is soon! June 5th to be exact. Keepaway and Delicate Steve have been added as openers by the band. It will be the first of many free shows at "The Beach" this summer, only a few of which have been announced yet.

There will probably be a free show on June 12th (save the date), and there will definitely be a free one on Saturday, June 19th which will include sets by The Morning Benders and Freelance Whales (and one more band TBA).

Other announced shows in the free series are Neon Indian on August 14th, and She & Him on the 4th of July (a Sunday). Local Natives on August 7th (a Saturday) will be lumped in with the series, but it costs $10. More coming.

When I first posted about the "Gone to Governors" series, I compared it to Sunday's Jelly Pool Parties. In a way that's true, but not when it comes to show times. The Yeasayer and Neon Indian shows are 6pm doors, 8pm show (Pool Parties were always over by 7pm if I remember correctly). She & Him (on Independence Day) is a 4pm show.

Matinee NYC party for Pride 2010 is happening at the Beach on Governors Island Governors Island on June 26th ("The World's Hottest Party Comes to NYC for the First Time!"). That's a Saturday and it's a pay show, so no "Gone to Governors" on that day (Tickets go on sale at noon).

Rock the Bells NYC, set for August 28th, is another of the recently announced Governors Island shows, but that will be in a larger "venue" on the island (there are three main areas where shows can happen on the island - "The Beach" is where the free shows are).

Grizzly Bear, The Walkmen and Gang Gang Dance play a pay show at the Beach on Thursday, August 12th.

The Morning Benders are currently on tour with Broken Bells. Both bands come to NYC for a sold-out June 5th show at Irving Plaza. Their shows after that include Europe and a pair of SummerStage shows with the Black Keys in July.

by Dominick Mastrangelo

Two months after their record release show (as well as a couple of secret shows) the Swedish band Shout Out Louds returned to New York and Webster Hall on Wednesday, 5/5 (one night after Yeasayer played the same venue and one night before Beach House played there ). The band were only a few days into a three-week tour of the US in support of their third full-length, Work, and minus bass player, Ted Malmros, who stayed in Sweden awaiting the birth of his child. Opening were Freelance Whales who are supporting the band the entire tour and opened for their show at the Music Hall back in March. More pictures and the SOL setlist below...

Continue reading "Shout Out Louds & Freelance Whales played Webster Hall - pics & setlist"

Freelance Whales @ Other Music - Apr 12, 2010 (Joe Madonna)

Freelance Whales follow up their two NYC performances earlier this week with another in-store this Saturday, April 17th at Vintage Vinyl in NJ (not to be confused with Vintage Vinyl in MO) in honor of Record Store Day. Joining them at the store will be Peter Bradley Adams, Care Bears on Fire, and lots of limited vinyl.

Freelance Whales' last in-store was at Other Music where you'll find live shows and exclusive vinyl this Saturday too. Video from that show, and Vintage Vinyl's RSD schedule, below...

Continue reading "Freelance Whales played Other Music (and Bowery Ballroom), playing Vintage Vinyl (with others) on Record Store Day"

Freelance Whales @ SXSW (more by Dominick Mastrangelo)

Freelance Whales, who are one of the many artists on the recently-announced Lollapalooza lineup (and who were just at SXSW) (and who recently played on a subway platform), will celebrate the Mom+Pop/Frenchkiss Records physical re-release of their debut album Weathervanes by playing a set of music at Other Music in NYC on Monday, 4/12, at 8pm. The free show comes one day before their sold out headlining show at Bowery Ballroom which I have a free pair of tickets to give one lucky winner. Details below with more tour dates...

Continue reading "Freelance Whales playing free instore before Bowery (win tix)"

"The 2010 Lollapalooza line-up is official: Soundgarden, Green Day, Lady Gaga, Arcade Fire, The Strokes, and Phoenix will headline, joined by Social Distortion, MGMT, Jimmy Cliff, Hot Chip, and The Black Keys. With 130 bands on this year's bill, its sure to be a weekend long feast for the ears.

It's a monumental year for Lollapalooza, filled with homecomings, reunions, and first-times. Soundgarden, 1992 and 1996 Lollapalooza alumni, return to the Lollapalooza stage for their first performance since 1997. Green Day will rock Grant Park sixteen years after their first Lollapalooza appearance. While Lady Gaga will headline the festival only three short years after playing the BMI stage at Lollapalooza 2007.

Arcade Fire returns to Grant Park, having played the reincarnated Lollapalooza in 2005. This is the first Lollapalooza for The Strokes - and also their first show in four years. And making their Lollapalooza debut: Phoenix." - Lollapalooza

Continue reading "Lollapalooza actually announces 2010 lineup "

by Dominick Mastrangelo

"Hello, and welcome to Portland, Oregon," quipped James Mercer, as he and Danger Mouse greeted the freezing crowd at Mog Day Party on the final day of SXSW. A 40-degree drop in temperature from Friday caused flip-flops and t-shirts to be replaced by hoodies, coats and gloves. Broken Bells were just one of several excellent bands that filled the indoor and outdoor venues of the Mohawk.

I finally made it downtown before 2pm by taking the rather efficient Metro Capitol bus. Traffic along I-35 into downtown took almost an hour the day before from just 10 minutes north. Arriving a little after noon Shilpa Ray and Her Happy Hookers were already on inside. Ray was squeezing the hell out of that squeezbox and her raspy, scowling voice was alarming so early in the day. It certainly set a tone. And Free Energy complete with free cassettes started things outside with their unabashed good times garage rock.

Back inside The Dum Dum Girls were up next with more of the same hazy lo-fi pop that drummer Frankie Rose was laying down the night before on the same stage with her band. I skipped back outside for Demolished Thoughts though Andrew WK (an advertised member along with Thurston Moore and J Mascis) was absent and the bassist for Fucked Up was filling in. It was thrashing punk stuff with silly songs like the 45-second "I Hate Kids" (those were the lyrics) followed by the 45-second "I Hate Sports" (some videos below).

Then it was back inside for a little dance - hip hop with Rye Rye and then back outside for Broken Bells - who kept busy at the festival. For a band only a couple months old they were tight and the songs sounded great. Inside again for Freelance Whales and then back outside for The Antlers, back inside for Real Estate and finally back outside for the Black Keys who straight up killed. Mercer and Danger Mouse (who produced the Keys' Attack & Release) and members of the Antlers were sidestage rocking out. The crowd was hanging over rails and pushing in toward the stage. Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney had everyone riveted and rocking. Certainly the most polished performance of the day, perhaps the festival.

Unexpectedly, as I ventured back to the convention center, I stumbled upon Fanfarlo about to perform in Brush Square with free drinks (Shiner Bock!) and heaters to keep the tent warm. Fantastic live show. "If we knew there were going to be so many photographers, we'd have done better," quipped multi-instrumentalist Cathy Lucas about the the band's appearance.

For the evening it was all about finishing strong. I made my way to the Victorian Room at the Driskill for Miss Li who was great and her band was stellar, over to St. David's Bethel Hall to see some Texas bands as part of the Western Vinyl Showcase, including an unimpressive Matthew and the Arrogant Sea. I decided to go all out and dashed over to Barbarella for the excellent Best Coast who also played a couple of new songs that sounded really good. Back to St. David's for the ambient Sleep Whale (formerly MOM) from Denton, TX down to Paradise for crazy afro-beat inflected dance music courtesy of New York's Tanlines (it was a full-on dance party.) Finally, it was back over to St. David's for the beautiful, classical-leaning experimental band Balmorhea.

Day One HERE. Day two HERE. Day Three HERE. Day Four pictures and videos continued below...

Continue reading "SXSW 2010 day 4 pics & review (Black Keys, Dum Dum Girls, Broken Bells, Demolished Thoughts, Antlers, Fanfarlo, more)"

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

The Shout Out Louds were fantastic on Monday night (3/1). Their first show in New York in almost two years, the Swedish quintet were already in top form as they set out for an extensive tour in support of their new record Work. A 17-song set that flowed well, mixed perfectly between new and old material. Older songs like "Please, Please, Please" (from Howl Howl Gaff Gaff) led easily into "Fall Hard", arguably the best song off the new record. Adam Olenius sang with conviction and intensity and the whole band produced a swagger and confidence that they maintained throughout the show. The sold out Music Hall crowd sang along on several songs, especially "Very Loud" and later on set closer, the epic "Hard Rain", was every bit as moving as it is on record. For the encore the band played Our Ill Wills' other lengthy track. "Impossible", then finished off the show with a raucous version of "Walls", the single from the new record.

Freelance Whales opened the show which was one night before they played on the Bedford L subway platform.

Shout Out Louds also played a Tuesday night show, but theirs was in a regular club (at Pianos in Manhattan). And they play again TONIGHT (3/3). It's a secret show. Both NYC setlists and more pictures from the Brooklyn show, below...

Continue reading "Shout Out Louds played MHOW w/ Freelance Whales & then Pianos - pics & setlists"

photos by Ryan Barkan

They reportedly played 2 and 1/2 songs before being shut down by cops around 6:30pm on Tuesday. UPDATE: The cops actually just made them move near to the Driggs entrance where they played 4 or 5 more songs.

More pictures from the Williamsburg show below...

Continue reading "Freelance Whales played the Bedford L Platform (pics)"

Freelance Whales @ Bowery Ballroom - Feb. 18th (more by Sarahana)

Freelance Whales played last night at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Shout Out Louds. Pictures from that are on the way. Tonight (3/2) you can catch the Whales busking on the Bedford Avenue L train platform, where they plan to go on at 6pm.

Freelance Whales also have plenty of tour dates coming up, including SXSW, where one of their shows will be the Mom+Pop/Frenchkiss Records showcase (with Local Natives, Antlers and others) at Galaxy Room on Friday, March 19th.

They come back from the road for an April 13th show at Bowery Ballroom. Tickets to that are still on sale.

A bit of their busking at Bedford Ave, recorded in 2009, is posted below...

Continue reading "Freelance Whales playing the Bedford stop (like they've done before) during rush hour today (and other tour dates) "

words & photos by Sarahana

Mumford & Sons is further proof that when it comes to popular taste, being good enough will get you far. Despite a rating system that makes little sense whichever way you look at it, Pitchfork was correct in stating, "Mumford & Sons are in the costume business. They're playing dress-up in threadbare clothes."

But guess what? Tons of people love the costume business, and there is "good" in "good enough". Lending to that "good-enough-ness" is, primarily, singer Marcus Mumford's distraught voice, which, on a purely aesthetic level, can remind you of Michael Stipe's inherent agony. Except, Marcus sounds like he was specifically engineered for songs that take after Biblical parables, teeming with betrayal, disasters and lessons. The songs aren't half-bad (though vaguely unsatisfying), and the band members are all proficient musicians (Marcus' voice didn't flinch when he was pounding on drums), but ultimately the frustration comes to this: in every work of art you hope to detect the artist's moment of inspiration, and in Mumford & Sons, there is no such revelation.

However, when it comes to pop music, the fitting principle is: to hell with art. Whatever makes people feel like the music is speaking to their lives and emotions is good enough! And given that their songs are a series of allusions to strong emotions, it's no surprise that Mumford & Sons is listed in several major festival line-ups and has already sold out most of its upcoming shows.

--

Freelance Whales opened the sold out show at Bowery Ballroom in NYC last night (2/18). Note that the above review was from Sarahana who shot the show. We have a 2nd viewpoint coming soon. More pictures from that show below...

Continue reading "Mumford & Sons, Freelance Whales @ Bowery Ballroom -pics"