words & photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

Himalayas / Elvis Perkins

Having played the night before with Bowerbirds and with everyone seemingly headed to the Friendly Fires/XX show at Webster Hall, the deck may have appeared stacked against Elvis Perkins on a bitterly cold Saturday night at the Music Hall of Williamsburg (12/5). The night before may have been the sexier lineup and for a moment it seemed that opener Himalayas, and their marching band madness, were going to pull a Merrill Garbus and upstage the headliner. But for all their sound and 30-plus people on the stage, it was the nuance and subtleties of Perkins and his smart use of his supporting act that ultimately won out.

Probably nowhere was that more apparent than in his choice of set opener, "While You Were Sleeping", Perkins opting to counter the earlier chaos with just himself and his acoustic guitar. His band took the stage as needed and filled in as the song grew. Members of Himalayas, including band leader Kenny Wollesen (who sat in on drums for a couple songs), provided extra horns. The highlight of the intermittent collaboration coming late in the set during the acoustic Chains, Chains, Chains, as they popped up mid-song in the balcony to provide the musical bridge. Earlier on Perkins enlisted the crowd as his gospel choir as he introduced "Slow Doomsday" from his new Doomsday EP. "This next song requires a gospel choir," said Perkins, "but there's not enough room on this stage for one... so that means you." Throw in a good-natured Brooklyn vs New York competition and Perkins had his choir. "You're already winning, Brooklyn," claimed Perkins, as the crowd sang shaky but credible "ahhs" to augment the slow, brassy waltz.

More pictures from Saturday night, including one of the setlist, below...

Continue reading "Elvis Perkins & Himalayas @ Music Hall of Williamsburg - pics"

by Andrew Frisicano

Elvis Perkins in Dearland outside Bowery Ballroom (jamayaphoto)

Elvis Perkins in Dearland played the Bowery Ballroom in NYC Wednesday night (3/25, review below). The show was not long after he got back from SXSW, and he will next visit Europe before touring North America in April & May. That tour ends with a May 20th show at Brooklyn's Bell House. Tickets are still on sale.

Perkins and band are also on the just-announced bill for the annual Clearwater Festival, June 20th and 21st at Croton Point Park in Croton-on Hudson, NY. Other performers include Arlo Guthrie, Old Crow Medicine Show, Susan Tedeschi, Alejandro Escovedo, Pete Seeger, AC Newman, and Dr. Dog. Tickets are on sale now - they cost (until May 20th when prices go up) $50 for a single day, $75 for a weekend pass, and $115 for the weekend with camping included. Full lineup below.

The Festival is a fundraiser for the Hudson Valley environmental group Clearwater, who is also hosting Pete Seeger's 90th birthday concert happening at MSG on May 3rd (where I'm told, Pete will play a one-song set that "everybody knows the words to"). Tickets for that event are on AmEx presale, and go on sale to the general public on Monday, March 30th at 9am.

To get back to Elvis Perkins, the Bowery Ballroom show began with avant-street-band Himalayas descending from the venue's balcony and ended with Perkins and friends emerging from the soapy depths of the Bowery JMZ station. It all started with...

Continue reading "ELVIS PERKINS played Bowery Ballroom, playing the CLEARWATER Festival (initial line-up)"