by Fred Pessaro

For an outsider, Tear it Up and Friends don't exactly seem like the best match for bandmates. Yet here's Pagan Rituals to prove them wrong. The gothic post-punk band, whose members have also been in Dead Nation, Kissing is a Crime, and Splitting Headache, have released a trio of tracks to the internet already, two of which will appear on on the new band's forthcoming debut 7". Look for the band to gig as well, playing their first NYC area dates on May 18th at Acheron with Altered Boys and Paranoias (tickets), and May 19 at Big Snow Buffalo Lodge with Spires, Shilpa Ray and Toons.

Streams of Pagan Rituals tracks are below...

Continue reading "Pagan Rituals (featuring members of Friends and Tear it Up) releasing debut 7" and playing shows (dates, streams)"

M83 @ Central Park Summerstage, 8/8/2012

Photographer Amanda Hatfield has taken a lot of pictures for BrooklynVegan in 2012, and though we realize the year isn't over yet, we asked her if she would list her favorite shots from the past year. This list may need to be updated in January, but meanwhile check out the rest of what she chose (with links to the full sets above each picture), below...

Continue reading "Amanda Hatfield's 11 favorite Live Music Photos of 2012 ---------(that she took) "

Royal Baths circa now

Royal Baths are opening for Moon Duo tomorrow night (10/5) at Knitting Factory and the show will be their first with a new line-up that includes Lesley Hann of Friends on bass (who seems to have left that group, along with Matthew Molnar, if their most recent 285 Kent show is any indication). Tickets are still available.

If you can't make it tomorrow night, Royal Baths have a bunch of other shows coming up, including Sunday (10/7) at Bowery Electric (whose booking seems to be getting more interesting now that Sam Mickens has been handling some of the shows there) with Larkin Grimm, Behavior & M. Lamar; Wednesday (10/10) at Glasslands with Grooms, Dum Dum Girls offshoot SISU and Punks on Mars (tickets); October 16 at 285 Kent with Forma and the Golden Awesome; and a CMJ show at Cheap Storage on October 19 with King Tuff, Habibi, Turnip King and Total Slacker (tickets). Royal Baths tour dates are listed below.

Meanwhile, Royal Baths' Jeremy Cox features on Blasted Canyons' version of "Venus in Furs" that will be on the upcoming Castle Face Velvet Underground tribute album we told you about. That album is out November 6. Royal Baths most recent album, Better Luck Next Life, came out back in February.

Speaking of Total Slacker, the band have had a sad week with the death of their drummer Terence Connor in a hit-and-run. The band will pay tribute to him this Saturday (10/6) at Cheap Storage with a dance party featuring DJ sets from Weird Rivers, Cool Serbia, DOM, and Prince Rama. Suggested donation is $5 and all procedes go to Connor's family. More info here.

Continue reading "Friends' Lesley Hann joins Royal Baths who have a bunch of upcoming shows (dates)"

by Andrew Sacher

What do you when you're the drummer of Real Estate but you leave the band just before they start getting way bigger? Form a disco band! At least that's what Etienne Pierre Duguay, who sat behind the band's kit until 2011 when he was replaced by Jackson Pollis, did. He's now in the Brooklyn band Splash who surfaced earlier this year and just wrapped up a tour with fellow Brooklyn backwards pop thinkers Friends. Their single, "Ever Before," which you can stream below, is filled with '80s pop radio cliches, but if you wait over two decades and make it lo-fi, even the cheesiest stuff becomes indie accepted, right?

If you missed the Splash/Friends tour, the two bands will team up again for a NYC show on August 3 at 285 Kent with Janka Nabay, Helado Negro, and Uumans. Maybe Friends will go topless again? Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Splash have other upcoming NYC shows too, including Summerscreen at McCarren Park on August 15 with Ducktails and The Babies, and Glasslands on August 24 with Puro Instinct, Outer Limitz, and a Dev Hynes DJ set. Tickets for the Glasslands show are still available.

A list of all dates and song stream below...

Continue reading "Friends & Janka Nabay playing 285 Kent w/ Splash (who have other upcoming shows too)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Friends at Bowery Ballroom - 7/7/12

Brooklyn's Friends are currently touring in support of their debut album, Manifest (out now on Fat Possum), and that tour brought them to NYC for a show at Bowery Ballroom last Saturday (7/7) with Splash. They didn't go topless this time, like in Austin earlier this month, and seemed a bit more subdued in general, though they did invite people on stage to dance during their cover of Usher's "My Boo." The people up front were pretty dancey and enthusiastic for most of the show too.

More pictures from the Bowery Ballroom show are below...

Continue reading "Friends and Splash played Bowery Ballroom (pics)"

photos by ulovei

Samantha Urbani of Friends crowdsurfs @ the Mohawk - 7/2/12

Brooklyn band Friends are currently on a tour that brings them back to NYC for a headlining show at Bowery Ballroom on Saturday (July 7). Tickets are still available. This past Monday, July 2, the band made a stop at the Mohawk in Austin where they played without their shirts, most of them anway, Samantha Urbani and Lesley Hann included. More pictures from the Austin show (NSFW), below...

Continue reading "Friends went topless at the Mohawk (NSFW pics)"

We try to keep tabs on various festivals around the world here on BrooklynVegan, many of which you'll eventually see pictures from. Today we focus on Belgium.

Pukkelpop goes down from August 16 - 18. That festival includes The Stone Roses, Bjork, Bloc Party, The Black Keys, Refused, Wilco, The Hives, The Shins, The Afghan Whigs, Lykke Li, Hot Chip, Feist, Flying Lotus, tUnE-yArDs, Chromatics, Cloud Nothings, The Tallest Man on Earth, Baroness, Ceremony, A-Trak, Rustie, Hudson Mohawke, and more. The full lineup is listed below. Tickets for the festival are on sale now.

Rock Werchter, which falls a bit more on the mainstream side, happens in Belgium even sooner, running from June 28 - July 1. That lineup includes The Cure, Jack White, X, Mastodon, Garbage, The xx, M83, Metric, Amon Tobin, Skrillex, Perfume Genius, Bat For Lashes, Michael Kiwanuka, Alabama Shakes, My Morning Jacket, Regina Spektor, Florence + the Machine, The Vaccines and more. Tickets for the festival are on sale now sold out.

The full lineups for both Pukkelpop and Rock Wercher are listed below.

Continue reading "full 2012 Pukkelpop & Rock Werchter lineups"

Bon Iver at Bonnaroo 2012 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

Bon Iver recorded an iTunes session at East West studios which is available exclusively from iTunes starting today. It includes six tracks off 2011's great Bon Iver, Bon Iver and a cover of Bjork's "Who Is It?," which the band has played live many times. You can stream the session's opening track, "Beth/Rest" below.

As mentioned, Bon Iver is touring internationally throughout the summer and fall and will come to NYC on September 19 and 20 at Radio City Music Hall. Both of those shows are now sold out. All Bon Iver dates, including a recently announced European leg, are listed below.

Speaking of Bjork, she's teaming up with the New York Public Library (NYPL) and the Children's Museum of Manhattan to create interactive educational programs for middle school-aged students based on her Biophilia app. Speaking about the program, Bjork said:

"It's not a bookish thing. You cannot learn to make music from a book." "I love books; they're like the best ever," she added. "There are things you can only learn from books, but it's also important to introduce the physical aspects. So for me, it was very important to make, somehow, music education that was physical." (via NY Daily News)

Way Out West (Aug 9-11) in Gothenberg, Sweden features many of the same bands as Oya like Bon Iver, Refused, Afghan Whigs, St. Vincent, Purity Ring, John Maus, and Bob Mould in addition to Blur, Wilco, I Break Horses, Hot Chip, The War On Drugs, Mark Lanegan Band, Adolescents, Swans, and more. Check out the spotify playlist. The full lineup is listed below.

As mentioned, the reunited Mazzy Star is set to play both of those European festivals. Full lineups and the Bon Iver dates and song, below...

Continue reading "Bon Iver's new iTunes session, Bjork's new program at the NYPL & the full Oya & Way Out West festival lineups"

Friends at MHOW in 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Brooklyn's Friends have been prepping their debut LP, Manifest, for a June 5 release via Fat Possum. The band are now streaming that album in full ahead of its release. The album was produced by the band and mixed by Paul Epworth, whose pop shine is definitely in tact, and the songs embody the sort of afro-beat influenced pop that's existed in NYC since Paul Simon and Talking Heads, and more recently Vampire Weekend. Check it out for yourself via 3voor12 below.

As mentioned, Friends will kick off a tour in support of the album next month, and that tour comes to NYC for a show at Bowery Ballroom on July 7. Tickets for that show are still available. Updated dates listed below...

Continue reading "Friends on tour; check out their 'Manifest' LP early (stream)"

Off! @ NXNE 2011 (more by Natasha Ryan)

The most memorable thing that happened the year I visited Toronto for NXNE was Iggy Pop & The Stooges playing their big, outdoor, free, no-ticket-or-badge-required show downtown at Yonge-Dundas Square. Last year the Descendents did it. This year they've landed the Flaming Lips which should be an amazing spectacle. And:

NXNE Music has confirmed that Bad Religion, Raekwon & Ghostface Killah and Matthew Good will headline free shows at Yonge-Dundas Square (YDS) throughout the seven-day festival. The NXNE Music line-up also includes performances at YDS and in the clubs by Of Montreal, No Use For A Name, Purity Ring, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, Death Grips, The Men, Bleached, Good Riddance, METZ, Ceremony, Plants & Animals, The Death Set, The Sadies & Andre Williams, Oberhofer, Reigning Sound, Action Bronson, 2:54, Yamantaka/ /Sonic Titan, The Hundred in The Hands, Rival Schools, Killer Mike, Young Magic, Hayes Carll, Friends, Hollerado, Bran Van 3000, The Black Belles, Doldrums, Odonis Odonis, Mac DeMarco, Bass Drum of Death, Porcelain Raft, Exitmusic, Violens, Grass Widow, Eight and a Half, DZ Deathrays, Jonathan Toubin, Art vs. Science, B L A C K I E, The Nils and Ivan Julian (ex-Richard Hell & The Voidoids).

This year's fest takes place at multiple venues across Toronto from June 11-17, 2012. Tickets are on sale.

Last year BrooklynVegan co-hosted a boat party with M For Montreal and Bruise Cruise.

Friends at MHOW in 2011 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

Brooklyn's Friends, already listed in the BBC 'Sound of 2012' are continuing to move up in the world. They've announced what will be their largest headlining NYC show yet: Bowery Ballroom on July 7. Tickets go on sale Friday (4/13) at noon. The show happens at the end of a North American tour. All dates are listed below.

The band also just revealed plans to release their debut LP, Manifest! on June 5 via Fat Possum in the US and a day earlier via Lucky Number worldwide. The album was produced by the band and mixed by Paul Epworth (Adele, Florence and the Machine, Azealia Banks). They just dropped a new dance-punky cut from the album, "Mind Control," which you can stream below.

Continue reading "Friends sign to Fat Possum, touring, headlining Bowery (dates)"

Friends just opened for Metronomy at Irving Plaza and are about to head out on a tour with Neon Indian starting in Philly on Tuesday (dates below), but first you can see them for free in Chinatown in NYC tonight/Monday (4/2). Details at the Le Baron event's Facebook page (which you need to "Join" to go).

Continue reading "Friends opened for Metronomy, playing free NYC show tonight before touring with Neon Indian"

by Bill Pearis

Metronomy are touring and in NYC this week for two shows at Irving Plaza with openers Friends. The Friday show (3/30) show is sold out but you can still buy tickets for Thursday (3/29).

If you'd like tickets for free, we're giving away a pair to Thursday's show. Contest details, with all Metronomy tour dates, plus videos from all five singles from The English Riviera , below.

Continue reading "Metronomy on tour; Win tickets to Thursday's NYC show"

Todd P is taking on Mexico again this weekend and in a mega way. San Pedro Garza García is the home of the annual Festival NRMAL 2012, a one-day (on 3/10, but with multiple-pre, after, and post parties) multi-stage festival that features a whopping 55 bands across thress stages from noon until 2AM. The festival will feature headlining appearances from Araabmuzik, Girls (who have just been announced as part of MWTX during SXSW) and White Ring (who play our day show on Wednesday during SXSW), in addition to performances from Liturgy, Gatekeeper, Friends, Davila 666, Grimes, Teengirl Fantasy and many, many more. Full lineup details are below.

Continue reading "Todd P takes on Mexico Saturday (FESTIVAL NRMAL 2012)"

by Bill Pearis

Metronomy have sold out their March 30 show at Irving Plaza and have added a second show at the venue the night before (3/29) with Friends opening for both shows. Tickets for the new show go on sale tomorrow (2/29) at 10am. The band's headline tour wraps up with a performance at Coachella, and immediately after they are going to open West Coast dates of Coldplay's North American tour. Say hi to Apple!

Meanwhile, Metronomy's The English Riviera - The Unreleased Remixes comes out next week on iTunes and there are some really great versions on there, like Clock Opera's radical reworking of "The Bay" which basically turns it into a new song. (Clock Opera play the BV-presented show at Santos on 3/12 with Django Django and Charli XCX, btw.) You can stream that remix and Two Inch Punch's "Shook Shook Refix" of "The Look" at the bottom of this post, which is also where all Metronomy tour dates can be found.

Continue reading "Metronomy add 2nd NY show w/ Friends, opening for Coldplay"

by Bill Pearis

Metronomy is no stranger to remixes. Until The English Riveria blew up, Jospeph Mount was more known as a remixer (Goldfrapp, Lykke Li,Charlotte Gainsbourg). But lately it's been Metronomy who's getting remixed. The English Riviera singles "The Look," "The Bay" and "Everything Goes My Way" all came in a handful of versions, reworked by the likes of Fred Falke, The 2 Bears, Eron Alkan, and Psychemagik. But the band comissioned many more -- including ones for album tracks -- that haven't seen the light of day. They will, though, when Metronomy releases The English Riviera Unreleased Remixes on March 3.

We've got the premiere of the compilations' lead track, a cover (not actually a remix) of "Corrine" by Benoit & Sergio that you can stream below. Some of the other folks messing with Metronmy cuts include Mario Basanov, Ewan Pearson, Clock Opera, Two Inch Punch and more.

The 13-track album is digital-only but will be out in time for Metronomy's upcoming North American tour which stops at Irving Plaza on March 30. Metronomy's show at Music Hall of Williamsburg during CMJ last year was my favorite live performance of 2011, so if you haven't seen them yet you should absolutely correct this as soon as possible. Friends open the Irving Plaza show and three other shows on the tour.

All Metronomy tour dates are below, along with stream of the Benoit & Sergio cover of "Corrine," and cover art for The English Riviera Unreleased Remixes...

Continue reading "Metronomy releasing remix album (track premiere); Friends opening shows on their spring tour (updated dates)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Cloud Nothings - "No Future/No Past" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Cloud Nothings - "Stay Useless" (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: My Best Fiend - "Higher Palms" (MP3)

Nada Surf

The column comes early as it's a busy week and there are lots of shows to talk about. First up, venerable NYC trio Nada Surf's new album, The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, is out today and the band play Bowery Ballroom this evening to celebrate. Tonight's show is sold out but Nada Surf will be streaming the show live via their YouTube channel starting at 10PM. The band then head out for a good two months of touring and all dates are at the bottom of this post.

The band's seventh album, The Stars Are Indifferent to Astronomy, is another fine record in Nada Surf's catalog of positive-vibe guitar pop, bolstered this time out by Doug Gillard who provides a lot of great lead work. This kind of music may not be in fashion right now, but it also never really goes out of style. And they do it really well You can stream or download the ebullient first single "Waiting for Something" at the bottom of this post and Spotify users can listen to the album here.

Cloud Nothings - 'Attack on Memory'

Also out today: Cloud Nothings' Attack on Memory which, as Andrew noted a couple weeks ago, is much more sophisticated and agressive than the tuneful pop-punk the band have released in the past. They're still writing catchy songs -- check out "Stay Useless at the top of this post -- but the shift is fairly radical, so much so that main man Dylan Baldi briefly considered changing the name of the band. (It's not that radical.) It's a very good album, and you can listen to it on Spotify and watch the brand-new video for "No Future/No Past" at the bottom of this post.

The album, you may have seen, got Best New Music on the 'Fork yesterday, and despite this there are still tickets to be had for Cloud Nothings' show this Thursday (1/26) at The Studio @ Webster Hall though I imagine not for long. Knowing how good the band are live (what a drummer!) I'm really anxious to hear these songs live. It's a one-off show, but the band will tour starting mid-February including, need I say it, time in Austin for SXSW. All dates are at the bottom of this post.

The Hundred in the Hands - Bowery Ballroom Feb. 2011 (more)
 

The Hundred in the Hands are playing their first show in a long time this Friday (1/27) at Glasslands, which will give us the first taste of the duo's second album which will be out on Warp at some point this year. While they haven't released any tracks from it yet, they are still updating the THITH Zine, the band's culture zine that most recently interview artist Zander Blom. There's a lot of interesting stuff in the archives that's worth checking out.

My Best Fiend

A lot of people will be at Glasslands on Friday just to check out THITH's Warp labelmates My Best Fiend whose album In Ghostlike Fading is out February 21. My Best Fiend are not your typical Warp act, closer to the space blues of Spiritualized or My Morning Jacket (or Neil Young) than the electronic music that fills most of the label's roster. The band have been plugging away in the Brooklyn scene for upwards of seven years and its good to see it pay off for them. You can download album-opener "Higher Palms" at the top of this post and you can stream "Cracking Eggs" (which features Light Asylum's Shannon Fuchness) further down.

The Glasslands show also features duo Bikini who make unapologetic four-on-the-floor dancefloor fodder, and Bear in Heaven will be DJing between sets, hopefully not playing all the records at 400,000% slower than normal.

Guy Harvey

And finally we have Florida's Guy Harvey, which is a band and not a solo artist and should not to be confused with Elbow frontman Guy Garvey which I did for half a second. The band are on tour with Gainsville residents Averkiou and hit NYC this weekend for two shows: Friday (1/27) at Cake Shop and Saturday (1/28) at Death by Audio. All GH/Averkiou dates are at the bottom of this post.

You may recognize Guy Harvey frontman Adam Perry from his moonlighting gig as an auxiliary member of Surfer Blood. There's not a lot of Guy Harvey music out there to listen to, but both sides of a 2010 7" (streamable below) are ace, with a strong Flying Nun influence. If you liked the Twerps album from last year, give Guy Harvey a listen. Averkiou, meanwhile, make fuzzy, shoegazy pop not too far from early Teenage Fanclub. Check out a few streaming tracks at the bottom of this post.

Friday's Cake Shop show is with Byrdsy locals Slow Country whose new album is a name-your-price download at their Bandcamp and is quite nice. Saturday's show at Death by Audio also has underrated Brooklyn bands I'm Turning Into and Bright Lights. Either show is worth checking out. Or go to both!

That's the main stuff for this week. Below are a few more picks, day-by-day, of shows not covered otherwise.

The Hairs

TUESDAY, JANUARY 24

There's a TWII-approved line-up at East Village mainstay Lit Lounge -- that is now booking bands I've heard of again -- with The Hairs (new single out next month), Pigeons, and Gross Relations.

Friends have shown up on most of the "Bands to Watch in 2012" lists. Go watch them in 2012, tonight, at Cameo as part of a very solid bill with Phonetag and Spanish Prisoners.

continued below...

Continue reading "Nada Surf, Cloud Nothings, Hundred in the Hands, My Best Fiend, Guy Harvey, Averkiou & more in This Week in Indie"

Ava Luna at BV Holiday Party last month/year (more by Jessica Amaya)

Wintersleep are going on a short North American tour this month which ends in 2 NYC dates happening on January 24 at Mercury Lounge with Pretty & Nice and January 25 at Glasslands with ARMS and Writer. Tickets for the Mercury show and the Glasslands show are on sale now. All Wintersleep dates are listed below.

Speaking of ARMS, their frontman, Todd Goldstein, is opening for John Roderick (of the Long Winters) at his Mercury Lounge show (1/28), which is three days after ARMS play Glasslands and one day after John Roderick opens for Aimee Mann at her sold out MHOW show. Tickets for the Mercury Lounge show are still available.

In other Glasslands/Mercury Lounge news, Har Mar Superstar has a few shows announced including Glasslands on March 7 with Rewards. Tickets are on sale now.

Rewards were also just announced as the opener for the second School of Seven Bells show at Mercury Lounge (3/1). Their record release show (happening at the same venue on 2/28) sold out and Tickets for the new show go on sale Friday (1/6) at noon.

Both Rewards and School of Seven Bells also DJ in Brooklyn next Friday (1/13) at Cameo Gallery with CREEP, who is also DJing. Doors are at midnight for this late show, which takes place after Radical Dads play the same venue a few hours earlier. Radical Dads recently played a great set at our Brooklyn Bazaar Holiday Party.

The day before that Cameo Gallery show, NewVillager and Avan Lava play Mercury Lounge (1/12). Tickets are available.

Avan Lava is not to be confused with Ava Luna, who just played a BV Holiday Party with Widowspeak and Twin Sister, the latter of which they're heading out on tour with later this month. That tour doesn't include any NYC dates but Ava Luna just announced their own NYC show happening shortly after the tour ends at Mercury Lounge on February 24 with Celestial Shore, Darlings, and Cindy Lou Gooden. Tickets for that show go on sale Friday (1/13) at noon with an AmEx presale starting Wednesday (1/11) at noon.

You can catch Darlings in NYC even sooner when they headline Glasslands on Thursday (1/12) with The Suzan, Fabric, and DAYTONA (mems. of Harlem and Wild Yaks). Tickets for that show are available.

Friends play Cameo on January 24th.

Faris (of the Horrors) and Honor (of Cerebral Ballzy) both DJ cameo this Friday night (tomorrow, 1/6).

More Wintersleep & Har Mar dates below...

Continue reading "Wintersleep, ARMS, Ava Luna, Avan Lava, Radical Dads, Har Mar Superstar, NewVillager, Friends & other upcoming shows"

photos by Andrew St. Clair

Trippple Nippples @ 285 Kent

For those who felt that one New Year's Eve wasn't quite enough, Todd P offered a second chance to fulfill your New Year's wishes with a late show at 285 Kent that counted down to 3AM. Headlined by DIVE (who played earlier that night too), the Friends-filled show included a set by Trippple Nippples, the Japan art-rock crew who closes their NYC run with a show TONIGHT. The band will team with Guardian Alien, Hard Nips, Bad Credit/No Credit and a suprise guest for the show at Shea Stadium tonight (1/3). $7 gets you in.

More (slightly NSFW) (are pasties NSFW?) pictures from that late night DIVE/Trippple Nippples show on (technically) New Year's Day are below....

Continue reading "DIVE & Trippple Nippples played a LATE show @ 285 Kent on New Year's Eve (pics)"

Friends (more by Amanda Hatfield)

The BBC's list of 15 bands who will make up the "Sound of 2012" is below...

Continue reading "BBC lists the 'Sound of 2012' (Friends included)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

Oh Land @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Savoir Adore (playing with a full band) and Friends (who are heavily featured in a NY Magazine piece called "Style Tribes Vol. 2: The DIY Music Scene of Bushwick's Market Hotel") opened two NYC shows in a row for Oh Land last week. Pictures in this post are from the first show which was at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

The second show was at Bowery Ballroom on 12/12 which was the same night The National were playing their first of six shows at Beacon Theater. Oh Land's setlist included a cover she does of National song "Bloodbuzz Ohio". An audio stream of the cover, along with video of Oh Land performing it on 12/16 at the El Rey in LA, with more pictures from the Brooklyn show, below...

Continue reading "Oh Land played shows w/ Savoir Adore & Friends @ Music Hall (pics), covers The National (video & stream)"

photos by Chris La Putt

Friends @ BV-CMJ @ Public Aseembly

Much like Dive (who they have played with), Brooklyn band Friends, who recently hit Mercury Lounge with Ganglians, aren't ones to make themselves rare around here and that will be proven four times in the next week. Catch them at Glasslands tonight (12/8) with Zambri, Royal Baths, Doldrums, Xray Eyeballs (that's some lineup), and then opening for Oh Land at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday (12/11), at 285 Kent with !!! that same night, and then again with Oh Land at Bowery Ballroom on Monday. And then that's it for them (for now) until they tour Europe in February.

Friends were one of the many bands who played a BrooklynVegan CMJ day party at Public Assembly in October. Here are some pictures from that show. More of them below...

Continue reading "Friends dates & live pics ----- big party @ Glasslands tonight"

photos by Bryan Bruchman

new Friends @ Mercury Lounge

Advance tickets are now available for the previously discussed !!! show at 285 Kent Ave on 12/11, a Showpaper benefit also featuring an appearance from Friends and a DJ set from MNDR. Tickets are also available in person at Other Music and Co-op 87. In addition, tickets are still available for the previously discussed 12/12 Maxwell's date.

Friends recently played Mercury Lounge on 11/19 with Ganglians as part of the pair's dates together. The remainder of their tour schedule and more pictures from Mercury Lounge are below...

Continue reading "Friends played Merc w/ Ganglians (pics), playing 285 Kent w/ !!! (tickets now on sale)"

STAGE 1 (front room)
12:00 Street Chant
01:00 Memoryhouse
01:45 Purity Ring
02:30 Friends
03:15 Peelander-Z
04:00 Vockah Redu (New Oreleans bounce)
05:00 Idle Warship

STAGE 2 (back room)
12:00 We Barbarians
12:40 Polica
01:25 We are Augustines
02:10 The Stepkids
03:00 Born Gold
03:40 Electric Guest
04:30 Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs
05:15 Fidlar

This Saturday show is going to be non-stop action starting right at noon with New Zealand's Street Chant on the main stage (and We Barbarians in the other room). I'm excited for everyone, but the over the top antics of both Peelander-Z (after the dance pop party that is Brooklyn's Friends) and bounce artist Vockah Redu (who will warm up the crowd for Idle Warship) should make for a very memorable afternoon in more ways than one.

In addition to free music, here are some more reasons to stop by Saturday. We will have FREE SNACKS courtesy of popchips and Raw Revolution and FREE DRINKS courtesy of Sailor Jerry and our official CMJ wine partner HobNob Wines. Check out HobNob's Facebook page for free music downloads and go to Sailor Jerry's website to read more about all of their CMJ events.

We'll also have FREE BrooklynVegan t-shirts for the first 25 people in the door (not many of these exist - we sold them for charity at CMJ last year).

As mentioned in our Thursday Day Party announcement, we've also partnered with Spotify who are offering 48 hour free Premium trials (playlist for this party coming soon) and Sony Bloggie (stay tuned for our post-CMJ video series) for all BV CMJ/not-CMJ events including this one.

Thanks to Zach Jaeger (Tonally Dude) for the flyer you see above.

See you Saturday!

DOWNLOAD: Dive - "Sometime" (MP3)

photos by Erez Avissar

Last Friday (10/7) at 285 Kent saw the busy-body Brooklyn band Dive support Friends with Night Manager, Heaven's Gate, Kevinz Gate and DJ Cassie Ramone. If you missed the show, check out a live audio stream of Friends and Dive below and check out the pictures from the show in this post.

Dive recently posted a new track from their debut 7", the flip of the previously released "Sometime". Stream "Corvalis" below.

Dive will join with member Cole Smith's other project, Beach Fossils, for a show at 285 Kent TONIGHT (10/14) when they team with MINKS and Heavenly Beat. $10 gets you into this all ages jam.

Tonight (10/14) will see Cassie Romone at Music Hall of Williamsburg as a member of The Babies. They open for Yuck and Porcelain Raft. Monday (10/17) The Babies play at Bruar Falls with White Fence and three more bands TBA. $8 gets you into this 21+ event.

Audio streams from the show, the song stream of "Corvalis" and more pictures from 285 Kent are below.

Continue reading "Dive played 285 Kent w/ Friends, Heaven's Gate & more (pics), do again tonight w/ Beach Fossils, MINKS & more"