photos by Bryan Bruchman

DOWNLOAD: Local Natives - Sun Hands (MP3)

""Sometimes - like tonight, this place is sold-out - I get in awe," Kelcey admits. Yet it's only when you delve into Local Natives' background, particularly their astonishing emergence over the last 12 months, that you can fully appreciate why they seem so unfamiliar with and bewildered by the overwhelming support they've encountered so far on the tour. "Last year we did a national tour [in the U.S.] with two other LA bands. We did shitty venues, drawing in 10-30 people a night."

It's no surprise then that the thought of a headline tour would have been originally daunting to them, let alone a headline tour on this side of the Atlantic (they've only visited the UK on one other occasion). This feeling still lingers, Andy declares ominously: "We don't know the venues. We don't know the cities. We don't even know if people are going to show up. I'm still really nervous about that." But their label and tour manager will tell them not to be: across the 12 cities they'll visit, sold-out crowds are set to become the norm for Local Natives." [LeedsMusicScene]

Local Natives already have two NYC shows at Bowery Ballroom set for May 6th and 7th. Both of those shows, part of their tour with Suckers, are sold out. The good news is they added another NYC show. The bad news is it's not at Bowery Ballroom and not in May. Like Passion Pit & Tokyo Police Club, Local Natives will play a show at The Beach @ Governors Island this summer. Tickets for the Saturday, August 7th show go on AmEx presale at 11am. General sale starts Friday (4/9) at noon.

In Austin for SXSW, one of Local Natives' shows was BrooklynVegan/M For Montreal day party at the Galaxy Room on Saturday, March 20th. A second set of pictures (first ones are here), and a video from that show, continue below...

Continue reading "Local Natives selling out shows, add Governors Island show ++ more pics from Austin, an MP3"

words by Bill Pearis & (most of the) photos by Tim Griffin

Will Sheff & Roky Erickson

"Welcome to Montreal -- how do you like the Weather?" - Martin Cesar, Think About Life.

After three lovely days of sunny, mild weather, the skies went grey and cold for the last day of SXSW, Saturday, March 20th, with temperatures dropping to around 45 degrees. Almost no one seemed prepared for it, judging by the throngs of under-dressed shivering all over town. With a lot of the Austin venues being outdoor, it especially hurt.  Our final party of a very busy week of parties was a free badge-less official SXSW event that we did with the M for Montreal folks, at the two-stage Galaxy Room (formerly Radio Room & Bourbon Rocks). The main stage was outside -- under a tent, which helped just a little -- and while temperatures were low, spirits were high and it was maybe the most fun I had all week.

My favorite set of the day came early. Think About Life are so much fun live, so much genuine positivity, it's hard to be in a bad mood with them on stage. An instant hangover cure. I think this was the first time a lot of the audience had ever seen them play, if the number of people who asked me who they were was any indication. At one point singer Martin Cesar left the stage as if their set was over, only to appear in the middle of the crowd dancing, hyping people up. That they didn't do "Johanna" is my only complaint. NYers can see them on April 27 when Think About Life play Mercury Lounge. It's part of a fairly extensive U.S. tour, do go see them.

I was also super-pumped to see The Besnard Lakes whose new album The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night is pretty fantastic. Specifically, I wanted to hear its epic opener, "Like the Ocean, Like the Innocent," and have it knock me back. Like a lot of Montreal bands, The Besnard Lakes' line-up ebbs and flows. Theirs does so around the core of Jace Lasek and Olga Goreas. I've seen them seven strong before, but here they were a lean mean quartet and did not disappoint. They're on tour in May, including a 5/28 show at Bowery Ballroom.

Duchess Says

Another set I knew would be fun was Montreal's Duchess Says who played one of our CMJ day parties last year. While their more aggressive take on Devo-style protopunk is fun, it's all about singer Annie Claude who looks very cute and innocent... until the music starts. She shrieks, jumps in the audience, tackles people, pulls them to the floor,  and causes general mayhem. It's more mischief than menace though. There are lots of other singers who do similar things, but never anything quite like her. After you've seen them once, part of the fun is watching other people experience them for the first time. The inside room was packed to the gills (it was warmer there). My favorite part of the show had her sitting down in the middle of the audience, methodically pulling people down with her, draping their arms over her into a giant pile of people. There's video at the bottom of this post.

The other major highlight for me was Roky Erickson with Okkervill River. I'd never seen him before and this was certainly a great live introduction to someone whose music I've loved for a long time. Will Sheff produced Roky's new album (first in 14 years) and Okkervill was his backing band on it, so the set was tight, rocking and just sounded fantastic. Roky was in great form too, and we got a few 13th Floor Elevators nuggets in there, as well as "Starry Eyes," one of my favorites of his solo material. They tour in May including a show at Webster Hall.

And there was lots more: the great Wye Oak kicked off the party with a lovely set despite cold fingers; Jason Collett was a class act with superbly-crafted country-pop (see video of his set below); Crystal Antlers filled in for BEAST who couldn't make it; Andrew WK was in full Meatloaf mode with a set of piano ballads; Plants and Animals were lush and harmony-laden; metal legends Voivod showed they've still got it; and a percussion-heavy set from L.A.'s Local Natives was probably the biggest draw of the day -- they were excellent.

Local Natives

Somehow I entirely missed sets by Holy Fuck (who I heard were great) and Suckers (who I've seen before many times here in NYC). A last minute addition, Nardwuar was there too, providing funny, heavily-researched band introductions as only he can. It was a great, if cold, day. Stay tuned for his video interview of Will and Roky.

Thanks to everyone who helped put this all together, and to our sponsors. More pictures and videos from the whole day below...

Continue reading "Roky Erickson/Okkervil River, Local Natives, Think About Life, Duchess Says, others @ Galaxy Room (BV/MfM day party) - pics"

photos by Tim Griffin

DOWNLOAD: The Besnard Lakes - Albatross (MP3)

The Besnard Lakes' new album The Besnard Lakes Are the Roaring Night was released earlier this month by Jagjaguwar. Grab an MP3 from that album above.

As previously mentioned, the Canadian band is headlining Bowery Ballroom on May 28th, a show that fellow Canadians Land of Talk will be opening (tickets are on sale). The show is one date of a much larger tour (which Land of Talk is opening just part of). All dates, and some pictures from our BV/M For Montreal day party at SXSW, below...

Continue reading "The Besnard Lakes - new album out now (MP3), 2010 Tour Dates w/ Land of Talk, pics from Galaxy Room"

I've been announcing individual bands on this party before now. Finally we have the full exciting lineup!

You know M For Montreal as the Canadian festival we've visited for two years in a row. Their yearly festival showcases bands from their home city in their home city, and they take that show on the road each year to both CMJ in NYC and SXSW in Austin (we already announced their official 2010 night showcase).

Being that we are such huge fans of so many Montreal bands, I thought it would be a great idea see if they wanted do a party together... and here we are. The lineup mixes some of our favorite Montreal bands with some or our other favorite Canadian (like Jason Collett of Broken Social Scene) and non-Canadian bands (like Andrew WK).

We have 13 bands total, a DJ set by another band, free ice cream from the Ice Cream Man (some of which is vegan), free vegan food courtesy of Austin's own Daily Juice and other surprises (drink specials on this particular party are pending). We're also proud to announce that KEXP is the official radio sponsor of all BV day parties this year. You'll find them, video cameras in hand, at many of our day parties throughout the week including this one. Those in attendance at this show will also have a chance to check out and win a pair of Nudie Jeans (another one of our kind sponsors).

Also unlike any other BV day party, this one is officially part of SXSW. That does NOT mean you need a badge. NO BADGES REQUIRED for this free show, but you will find the party listed on SXSW.com (and you can add it to your schedule on there). Full lineup with set times below...

Continue reading "BrooklynVegan & M for Montreal free SXSW day party lineup (Roky Erickson, Andrew WK, Voivod, Holy Fuck, Local Natives, other bands, free food & more)"