Tommy Ramone / Glen Matlock

Glen Matlock (of The Sex Pistols) and Tommy Ramone (of Ramones, duh) were supposed to play The Cutting Room (44 E 32nd St) in Manhattan last week (11/7) but that show was postponed due to effects of Hurricane Sandy and it is now instead happening on November 14. Tickets for the new date are on sale now. According to Punk News, "Both musicians will be performing acoustic takes on classics from their respective bands."

A video of Glen Matlock joining Marky Ramone for "Blitzkrieg Bop" in Finland recently is below.

Continue reading "Glen Matlock & Tommy Ramone reschedule NYC show"

Founding Sex Pistols member/bassist Glen Matlock, who was soon kicked out of the band and replaced by Sid Vicious, but not before co-writing and recording a portion of Never Mind the Bollocks, Here's the Sex Pistols, will be kick off a North American acoustic tour this week. THe tour hits NYC on November 7 at The Cutting Room (44 East 32nd St). No advance tickets for this show at the moment.

Glen released his most recent album, Born Running, in 2010 with his band The Philistines, and you can watch the video for that album's title track below. But if you'd like to get a better idea of what this tour, you can check out a live acoustic video of Glen playing "God Save the Queen" below as well.

Meanwhile, Glen's onetime bandmate (with whom he's toured in Sex Pistols reunions) John Lydon is currently in the US on tour with his band Public Image Ltd.. That tour hit Music Hall of Williamsburg earlier this week (check out pics and setlist HERE) and will hit Hammerstein Ballroom on Saturday (10/13). Tickets for that show are still available.

A list of all Glen Matlock dates and those videos are below.

Continue reading "former Sex Pistol Glen Matlock going on acoustic tour (dates)"

photos by Chris La Putt; words by Bill Pearis

While it may not have actually hit triple digits on Saturday (7/7), in the easy-bake oven of asphalt, concrete and steel that is Times Square, it felt like 110 -- especially at 1PM when I arrived there for CBGB Festival's all-day free show. The heat kept attendance on the low side (I should add there was also no line at Shake Shack either on Saturday) but everybody seemed to be having a good time, bands included, for what is the very rare occasion to see live bands in such an iconic NYC setting.

The festival had two stages set up on Saturday with one on 51st, and then one on 47th St right below the TKTS booth and bleachers -- which is where Duff McKagan's Loaded were already playing as I got out of the subway. I was never much of a Guns N' Roses fan and had never listened to Loaded band before but always thought of him as the "punk" member of GN'R. Definitely Loaded swing that way and their set was a mix of Foo Fighters-ish originals and choice covers, including The Damned's "New Rose" and The Stooges' "I Wanna Be Your Dog," the latter of which featured special guest Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols (who played his own CBGB Fest show at the Living Room with CBGB Fest keynote speaker Krist Novoselic in attendance).They also did GN'R's debut single "It's So Easy" which got some fists pumping.

With no downtime between bands, I hightailed it up Broadway which was closed to traffic and served as a merch area and food truck court. I got there right as Superchunk launched into their first song and new single "This Summer" which continues their hit streak since relaunching the band two years ago. (Not that they ever went away, really.) It was too hot for the crowd to do much beyond nod enthusiastically and sing along to the band's favorites-packed set, but it didn't stop Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance from pogoing through most of the set, and Mac got off a couple of his signature jumps which could be seen from a block away. (Even when a failed launch had him tumble off the drum riser, Mac kept playing. That's how it's done.) As I said, Superchunk loaded their set with classics, including "Hyper Enough," "Driveway to Driveway," and "Slack Motherfucker," the latter of which was a treat to hear loud in Disneyfied Times Square.

I didn't stick around for the later bands which included The Hold Steady and Clap Your Hands Say Yeah (who also played a secret show later that night at Cake Shop), nor did our photographer who headed up to Summerstage for Guided by Voices, but there are pictures of openers Upper West and Zulu Wave below along with more pictures of Superchunk (including setlist) and Duff McKagan's Loaded.

Continue reading "Superchunk and Duff McKagan's Loaded played Times Square as part of CBGB Fest (pics, review)"

Cheetah Chrome w/ RFTT at Maxwell's in 2011 (more by Greg Cristman)

The CBGB Festival kicks off on Thursday (7/5) and continues through Sunday (7/8). We've mentioned a bunch of the festival's shows like the free Central Park show with Guided by Voices, The Pains of Being Pure At Heart, Cloud Nothings, and the War on Drugs, the Webster Hall show with Agnostic Front, Madball, and Murphy's Law (who also play a Rocks Off Cruise), Fishbone at Brooklyn Bowl, the Webster Hall show with Cro-Mags and Sick of it All, and many others. However, if you're looking for others artists that helped define punk and/or make CBGB the legendary venue it is, there are plenty of options for that too.

On Thursday (7/5), The Bowery Electric is hosting a huge show with Tommy Ramone (who drummed on and co-produced the first three Ramones albums), Cheetah Chrome (of Dead Boys/Rocket from the Tombs), The Waldos (ft. Walter Lure of Johnny Thunders' Heartbreakers), Bear 54 (ft. Ernie Brooks of The Modern Lovers), Andy Shernoff (of The Dictators), Richard Lloyd (of Television), The Miamis, The Sic Fucks, and many more. Tickets for that show are available.

That same day (7/5), David Johansen (of New York Dolls) will be playing Sullivan Hall with Daddy Long Legs, Liza Colby & The Sound Machine, Andy & the Rattles, and a late night set by Strawberry Jam. Tickets for that show are available.

Also on Thursday (7/5), you can catch Glen Matlock (of The Sex Pistols) at, wait for it... singer-songwrter mainstay The Living Room with California, Jaymay, Lou-is, and Aurical.

Check the CBGB Festival site for more.

Hilly Kristal entering CBGB on its final night (more)

The CBGB Festival isn't the only place to catch CBGB legends though. Like they've done in the past, Bowery Electric (a venue very close to where CBGB was) will host Johnny Thunders Birthday Bash, a celebration of the late musician, on July 15, when he would have turned 60 (he passed away in 1991). That show features Walter Lure, Alison Gordy, Andy Shernoff, and many more. Tickets are on sale.

Patti Smith will be touring with Neil Young later this year, which hits NYC for two shows (MSG on 11/27 and Barclays Center on 12/3). Patti also plays a sold out show at the Met, on September 28 (a tribute to Andy Warhol).

Blondie will be touring with Devo later this year. Unfortunately, that tour does not come to NYC.

But enough about NYC punks -- California's late 70s/early 80s hardcore scene is getting some pretty solid representation in NYC this summer too. The current version of Dead Kennedys (who no longer count frontman Jello Biafra as a member) will be playing a show at Santos Party House on July 31 with Cerebral Ballzy. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

Cali punks Agent Orange will be heading out on an east coast tour with The Queers, which comes to NYC for a Rocks Off Cruise on August 18. Tickets for that show are available. All dates on this tour are listed below.

Greg Ginn at Issue Project Room in 2010 (more by Lori Bally)

Black Flag founder/guitarist and SST Records founder Greg Ginn will be in NYC for two shows (early and late) with his new project Greg Ginn and the Royal We at The Iridium on July 29, and two more shows at the venue the next night (7/30) with the Les Paul Trio. Tickets for all four Iridium shows are on sale now.

Long-running Black Flag frontman Henry Rollins is heading out on a spoken word tour which hits the capitals of all 50 states. That means the NY show is in Albany and not too close to NYC, but you might have better luck checking out the Trenton, NJ show. The Trenton show is at the Jersey State Museum Auditorium and unfortunately not City Gardens, which is now closed, but during its existence had seen tons of great tours come through including multiple Henry Rollins appearances. A City Gardens documentary is in the works and due in 2013. The other tri-state area date on Henry's tour is Hartford, CT's Webster Theater.

Meanwhile, Keith Morris, who was a Black Flag frontman before Rollins joined, will be in NYC with his band OFF!, when their tour with Refused comes to Williamsburg Park on July 18. Tickets for that show are still available.

While we're on the topic of punk shows in Williamsburg Park, as mentioned, Riot Fest Brooklyn goes down at the outdoor venue on September 8 with Descendents, Hot Water Music, Gogol Bordello, The Bronx, Screaming Females, The Menzingers, and Larry and His Flask. Tickets for Riot Fest Brooklyn are still available.

Speaking of The Menzingers, they have a new live acoustic video for "Ava House" off their 2012 LP, On the Impossible Past, which you can check out below. You can catch them on their tour with The Bouncing Souls, which hits NYC for a show at Brooklyn Bowl on August 5. Tickets for that show are still available.

In other punk news, as mentioned, H2O, 7 Seconds, and Tournament play House of Vans on July 12. 7 Seconds frontman Kevin Seconds is working on a new album which is due out this year. You can check out the album's closing track, "Oh, Rhonda," at the bottom of this post. The entire 2012 House of Vans schedule was also just announced, Turbonegro included. UPDATE: you can also now RSVP for the 7 Seconds show.

Street Dogs will be in NYC for a show at Highline Ballroom on September 15 with Koffin Kats and special guests. Tickets for that show are on sale now.

As mentioned, the Fat Wreck/Rocks Off CMJ showcase happens on October 19 at Music Hall of Williamsburg with Lagwagon, Dead To Me, Flatliners, and Useless ID. Tickets for that show are still available. That same lineup also plays a Rocks Off Cruise the next day (10/20). Tickets for the boat show are available. And Lagwagon are also one of the bands currently announced for this year's Fun Fun Fun Fest.

As mentioned, Leftover Crack plays Warsaw on Sunday (7/8) with Crackbox and more TBA. That show appears to now be sold out (though we are waiting on confirmation of that). UPDATE: this is CANCELLED.

Another anarcho-punk option for Williamsburg this weekend is NYHC band Reagan Youth who are playing The Grand Victory (245 Grand St.) on Friday (7/6) with Dust Angel (ft. Reagan Youth guitarist Paul Cripple), Geek Skull, Lords of Death, and Empty Vessel.

As mentioned, crossover thrashers D.R.I. and Mucky Pup are teaming up for a tour which hits NYC on December 8 at The Studio at Webster Hall with support from No Redeeming Social Value, Undivided, and Blackout Shoppers. TIckets for that show are still available.

There's also a number of punk shows at Acheron this week.

Before we wrap this up, a bit more about classic UK punk making its way to NYC this summer/early fall. In addition to Sex Pistol Glen Matlock, who's here this week for CBGB Fest, The Vibrators will be in NYC for a show at The Bowery Electric on September 29. Tickets for that are on sale now.

Wreckless Eric, who veers a bit more on the new wave/power pop side of punk, will play Bowery Electric on September 7 as part of a duo with his wife Amy Rigby. They also play September 13 at The Saint in Asbury Park, NJ. If the name doesn't ring a bell, his song "(I'd Go) The Whole Wide World" probably does. It's seen some revived popularity in recent years due to Will Ferrell singing it in Stranger than Fiction. Tickets for both NYC area shows are on sale now.

Did we miss anything good?

Videos and lists of tour dates below...

Continue reading "punk roundup: CBGB Fest, Greg Ginn, Rollins, Off!, Dead Kennedys, Menzingers, Vibrators, Wreckless Eric & more"

photo by Chris La Putt

today in NYC
* Asssscat 3000 @ UCB
* Keith Rowe @ The Stone
* Stephane Wrembel @ Barbes
* Wetlands reunion @ Brooklyn Bowl
* 9/11 concert @ Avery Fisher Hall
* Radu Malfatti, Taku Unami @ The Stone
* Xalam Project, House of Waters @ Zebulon
* Barn Owl, Helado Negro, Jonti @ Glasslands
* Sheer Terror, Supertouch, Suburban Scum @ Bowery Electric
* Laurie Anderson, Nicole Atkins & MANY more @ Joyce SoHo
* Bachelorette, Erika Spring of Au Revoir Simone @ The Rock Shop
* Unstoppable Death Machines, Dead Puppies, Japanther @ 285 Kent Ave
* Wasted Life, Social Decay, Dysfunctional Youth, Wound @ The Acheron
* Taylor Ho Bynum Sextet, Defunkt Millenium, Tyshawn Sorey @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Strange Shapes, Thin Hymns, Distractions, Cloud Becomes Your Hand @ Cake Shop
* Don Fleming & Folding Men, Brute Force, Gladshot, Minq Vaadka @ Mercury Lounge
* Glen Matlock & the Philistines, the Pioneers of Seduction, Highteen Boogie @ Europa
* Despise You, Magrudergrind, Backslider, The Communion, Defeatist @ Shea Stadium
* Talibam, Weasel Walter & Mark Edwards Group, The Library Is On Fire, Toucher @ Death By Audio
* William Basinski (Maxim Moston's live orchestration of Basinski's "The Disintegration Loops") @ Metropolitan Museum of Art
* Suzzy & Maggie Roche, Richard Barone, James Maddock, Teddy Thompson, Julie Gold, Rich Pagano, Jesse Harris, Marshall Crenshaw, Vernon Reid, Rich Ferguson, Jesse Smith & more @ City Winery

Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols plays Europa tonight.

If you go to Death By Audio tonight, ask Talibam!'s Kevin Shea how his eye is.

Don Fleming at Mercury Lounge:

For this one-of-a-kind show Don has assembled a heavy ensemble of stellar NYC musicians to mark the 10th anniversary of September 11th. Centered on the John Lennon song "Remember, " the band will forge a soundscape to reflect on the collective experience of that day.

The Folding Men line-up includes Don Fleming, Mark Morgan (Sightings), Bob Bert (Sonic Youth, Pussy Galore), Dee Pop (Bush Tetras), Kim Rancourt (When People Where Shorter), Sally Be (Lydia Lunch, Egoslavia), Matt Madly, and Chris Grier (Ultimate VAG, To Live And Shave in L.A.), with more musicians to be announced.

What else?

Dr. Dog @ Prospect Park in the Summer (more by Tim Griffin)

tonight in NYC
* Shadowbox @ Coco66
* Dr. Dog @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Mucky Pup @ Mexicali Live
* .357 Lover, Sxip Shirey @ Galapagos
* Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols @ Nublu
* Sebastien Schuller, The Present @ Sycamore
* The Gaslight Anthem @ Wellmont Theater
* Mountain Man & Alex Beeker @ Lutheran Church
* Arctic Monkeys, Screaming Females @ Terminal 5
* Das Racist, Popo, Gordon Voidwell @ Glasslands
* The Whigs, The Features, Mean Creek @ Irving Plaza
* forgetters, Humanbeast, Chastity Wig @ Market Hotel
* The Cliks, Hunter Valentine @ Knitting Factory Brookln
* The Beets, The Wowz, Great Lakes @ Brooklyn Tea Party
* Tyvek, Yellow Fever, Air Waves, Noveller @ Bruar Falls
* Knight School, Old Books, Order, Alphabet @ Silent Barn
* Curtis Harvey, The Glorytellers, Chris Brokaw @ Cake Shop
* A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keillor @ Town Hall
* The Woes, Previously on Lost, Zongo Junction, Height @ Death By Audio
* Holly Golightly & The Broke-Offs, T Model Ford, Tough Shits @ Maxwell's
* The Phenomenal Handclap Band, Javelin, The Eclectic Method @ Bowery Ballroom
* Gunfight, Bottle Up & Go, Beach Fossils, The Toothaches, The Vultures @ Live at the Pyramids
* The Fiery Furnaces, Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, Private Income @ Music Hall of Williamsburg

Nice Jewish Girls Gone Bad are at Bleeker Street Theater.

Arctic Monkeys play with Screaming Females again at Terminal 5. Pictures from last night HERE.

Dr. Dog plays Brooklyn Bowl tonight and will be back later to play Terminal 5.

Glen Matlock of the Sex Pistols plays Sex Pistols songs acoustic at Nublu tonight. Flyer below.

Shilpa Ray opens for the Fiery Furnaces tonight at MHOW and then again tomorrow at Bowery Ballroom.

Yellow Fever play with Tyvek tonight and then with Vivian Girls and Happy Birthday tomorrow. Noveller is also on the Bruar Falls bill tonight. Check out a live video below...

Bonnie Baxter is Shadowbox

forgetters featuring Blake from Jawbreaker is at Market Hotel tonight.

Glorytellers featuring Geoff Farina from Karate is at Cake Shop tonight.

Small Black play Cake Shop Saturday (with Tickley Feather).

Gwar is in the area and touches down in NYC on Sunday.

Yo La Tengo is not playing playing a show tonight.

What else?

Continue reading "Whats going on Friday? (Hanukkah night 1) "