by Bill Pearis

Mumford & Sons at Pier A Park 8/1/2012 (via @coreymanicone)

Mumford & Sons kicked off a monthlong American tour on Wednesday night with an outdoor concert in Hoboken, N.J., providing thrills for more than 15,000 people who crowded into Pier A Park to hear these English folk rockers.

It was the first time a major rock concert had been held in the park, which was built on an old pier near the Path Station and has views of the Manhattan skyline, city officials said. The skyscrapers across the river were bathed in rosy light and a rainbow appeared in the stormy sky just before the band took the stage and launched into "Lover's Eyes," an anthemic song off their long-anticipated second studio album, "Babel," (Glassnote) which is scheduled to be released next month.

"We are very, very happy to be playing our first ever gig in New Jersey," the band's lead singer, Marcus Mumford, said when the cheering for the opening number had died down. "That was quite a sunset." [NY Times}

15,000 people! If there was any doubt, Mumford & Sons are officially huge now. Weird to think they played Cameo just three years ago. The band are playing unconventional venues (and smaller cities) this whole tour (with opener Dawes), it seems to be working out ok for them. Mumford's next stop is Portland, ME on Saturday (8/4).

Also last night, at Williamsburg's Glasslands was Canadian artist Cold Specks whose album is one of this year's Polaris Prize shortlist nominees. If you missed them, Cold Specks were just announced as one of two special guests at tonight's monthly Communion party (8/2) at Union Hall (the series recently relocated from Public Assembly).

As you may know, the Communion is partly run by Mumford & Sons' Ben Lovett. The second special guest at tonight's show -- which is sold out, by the way (maybe there will be tickets at the door) -- is being kept a mystery. And while you could make guesses on who that might be, we can say that Mumford is definitely NOT it. (And no, we are not "protesting too much.") So don't start freaking out, Mumford fans. Or if you already had started freaking out, you can stop.

Cold Specks tour dates are listed below.

Continue reading "Mumford & Sons played Hoboken's Pier A Park; Cold Specks played Glasslands and playing Union Hall tonight"

The Macy's fireworks may be viewed from any area with an unobstructed view of the sky above the Hudson River. For the best views, head to 12th Avenue below W. 59th Street at the following access points along 11th Avenue:

Access Points
24th-26th Streets
27th-29th Streets
33rd-34th Streets
40th-42nd Streets
44th-50th Streets
52nd-54th Streets
56th-57th Streets

The following are NOT viewing areas for the 2012 show:
East River
Battery Park
Battery Park City
All Hudson River Piers (except limited access to Pier 84)
Hudson River Park promenade between W. Houston and 59th Street
Hudson River Park Bike Path between W. Houston and 59th Street

Another option: get on a boat. Rocks Off presents a Fourth of July Cruise aboard The Half Moon with DJ Buffalo Bill. it's $99 a person, but gives you a prime view complete with food and 3 hours of open bar, and it's probably more fun than Circle Line's "Private Pier Party." What other good spots do you know about?

You can also of course just stay home watch the fireworks on TV, complete with "performances" by Katy Perry and Kenny Chesney. Or not at all.

Meanwhile check out some fireworks in Coney Island tonight and every Friday. They rule and you can watch them from the beach.

Hoboken Arts & Music Festival
Sunday, May 6, 2012
11am to 6pm

takes place on Washington St. between Observer Highway to 7th St.

Over 300 Artists, Crafters, Photographers, Sculptors, Local Businesses, Restaurants, Food Vendors, local non-profits & more
Rain or shine - Admission is Free

Continue reading "2012 Hoboken Arts & Music Festival is Sunday (schedule)"

DOWNLOAD: Surfer Blood - "Miranda" School of Seven Bells remix (MP3)

The Walkmen at Williamsburg Waterfront recently (more by Toby Tenenbaum)

The Walkmen will join School of Seven Bells, The Kick Drums, Wormburner and many others THIS SUNDAY (10/16) for a rescheduled-due-to-Hurrican-Irene FREE show on Hoboken's Pier A from noon until 10PM. Entry to the hMAG Music Fest 2011 (presented by H Lifestyle Magazine) requires RSVP and set times are below. The show is one of two Northeastern dates for The Walkmen (who play Bloktoberfest in Philly the day before) as they prep for Australian dates on November.

In related news, School of Seven Bells recently remixed a Surfer Blood track for their forthcoming EP, Tarot Classics, due on October 25 via Kanine. SoSB joins names like Speculator, Allen Blickle (Baroness) and Totally Sincere (Peggy of The Pains of Being Pure at Heart and Connor of The Drums). Check out "Miranda" downloadable above and streaming below, and order a copy of the EP at Surfer Blood's site. Reminder, Surfer Blood is on the road with the Pixies, and will play Wellmont Theatre on 10/27 and Asbury Park Convention Hall in NJ on 10/28.

All tour dates, set times, and some recent live video from Austin City Limits 2011 is below.

Continue reading "The Walkmen play free show in Hoboken Sunday w/ School of Seven Bells (who remixed Surfer Blood)"

Didn't get a ticket to Louis CK? Live in Jersey and want to not pay a toll before seeing a show for once? As previously mentioned, the awesome Brian Posehn headlines Starland Ballroom TONIGHT (9/30) and tickets are still available.

But that's not all. The laughs continue this weekend in Hoboken when the Hoboken Comedy Festival takes over Maxwell's on both Saturday and Sunday. Hannibal Buress, Todd Barry, and many more will grace the rock club's stage over the two days. Godfrey and others also play the fest's first night at Clearview Cinemas tonight.

For more comedy, and in NY, check out the post we posted last night.

On one of the sunniest day of the year so far, Hobokenites came out in droves to eat, see local art and hear live music at the Hoboken Arts and Music Festival on Sunday afternoon...

The Baseball Project... proceeded to rip a hole through the afternoon with the sheer power of their rocking and songwriting prowess. Highlights (and there were many) included Wynn's ode to Detroit Tiger's pitcher Mark Fidrych entitled '1976', McCaughey's wordtastic 'Panda and The Freak,' and the ridiculously talented rhythm section of Buck and Pitmon.

Craig Finn (of the Hold Steady) made a truly electric guest appearance on a tune for which he penned the lyrics called, 'Please Don't Call Them Twinkies.'" He was entirely captivating and having never heard/seen him sing live before, I think I fully understand now why his band is so popular. -[Patch]

And with those triumphant dates in their rearview, The Baseball Project has announced their return to NYC with a date at City Winery on June 5th. Tickets are on sale. The NYC date is part of a larger string of mostly Northeastern dates that will also include a stop in Baseball Hall of Fame home Cooperstown on June 3rd (they play a brewery there).

All of this touring is in support of their second album, Volume Two: High and Inside, which was released March 1 on Yep Roc and includes guest appearances from Craig Finn, Ben Gibbard of Death Cab for Cutie, Steve Berlin of Los Lobos, Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan, and Chris Funk and John Moen of The Decemberists.

All tour dates, a video of the band on "Extra" (where they play "Fair Weather Fan" and talk about being accepted by the baseball community), and the above-mentioned videos, below....

Continue reading "The Baseball Project played Hoboken & Brooklyn w/ Craig Finn (and Drew's House too), announce more dates (City Winery)"

The Baseball Project

Like he recently did with the Mountain Goats, Twins fan Craig Finn will reportedly make a guest appearance with The Baseball Project at the Bell House in Brooklyn tonight (4/29). As Wikipiedia puts it, "The Baseball Project is a supergroup composed of Peter Buck, Scott McCaughey, Steve Wynn and Linda Pitmon formed in 2007." Also playing tonight's show is Baseball Project member Steve Wynn's band Steve Wynn & The Miracle Three.

Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan probably won't make it to collaborate or see the Brooklyn show because he'll be busy playing with Marshall Crenshaw over at City Winery. Ira did recently play with a bunch of R.E.M. members though, at a show whose focus was Big Star.

if you miss the Brooklyn show, you have a couple more chances to catch the Baseball Project this weekend, especially if you know Drew (they play at his house in Ringwood, NK on April 30th), and if you don't mind heading to Hoboken for the annual and FREE Hoboken Arts & Music Festival on Sunday (5/1) with Ian Hunter and more on three stages (I bet Ira is at that one). Full fest schedule, a video of Craig Finn playing a new song, and all tour dates bleow...

Continue reading "the Baseball Project is here (Craig Finn will join them), Hoboken Arts Fest this weekend (they play that too)"

words and photos by Chris Gersbeck

Yo La Tengo played their third of eight Hanukkah shows at Maxwell's on Friday night (12/3), and this was probably the most anticipated due to strong rumors of Jeff Tweedy opening which turned out to be true.

Each Yo La Tengo Hanukkah show has an associated charity, and this night's was the Elsyian Charter School of Hoboken, so the show started with twenty or so children taking the stage to perform some Yo La classics. I almost felt bad laughing (as did everyone else) when they began singing "Stockholm Syndrome", but only because it was just so adorable. After performing "Sugarcube" and "Mr. Tough", the children parted the crowd to make their exit (they really did sound great by the way), and shortly after we were treated to an intimate and absolutely beautiful set from Jeff Tweedy.

Playing Wilco classics like "I Am Trying to Break Your Heart", and rotating through Uncle Tupelo songs and covers, Tweedy's voice sounded as great as ever. The crowd was clearly filled with his fans as well; many of them were singing along throughout. After closing with a stellar and, well I'll just say it, mind-blowing rendition of "A Shot in the Arm", Tweedy thanked the crowd and promised we would see him later. And that would definitely happen...

Eugene Mirman, who has always been one of my favorite standup comics, was the comedian guest of the night. The highlight of his set included revealing his fascination with the Tea Party, his subsequent registering on a Tea Party social networking site, and his printouts of legitimate Tea Party members profile pictures from that site. My favorite being simply a photo of a machine gun laying on a carpeted floor, the owner's toes only barely visible on the bottom of the photo. Wow. Eugene's reading of his favorite tweets, accompanied with a theremin, was also a great and hilarious way to end his set.

Eugene didn't join Yo La Tengo on the stage during the show like Tweedy would, but I'm not sure many people were expecting that anyway. Tweedy in fact performed nearly the entire initial set with Yo La, pleasing the crowd with a version of Wilco's "Jesus, Etc.", Bob Dylan's "One Of Us Must Know (Sooner or Later)" and quite a few of my favorite songs from Yo La Tengo's prolific catalogue such as "Can't Forget", "The Race Is On Again", and "I Should Have Known Better". For such a small room, they really get quite a big sound.

Yo La Tengo's encore was mostly a tribute to the late Alex Chilton, who has joined them on Hanukkah in the past. After Ira Kaplan stated that some of Chilton's most notable work was with legendary punk band the Cramps, he invited Cramps' guitarist Kid Congo Powers for a couple covers of his band. Ending the night on a particularly loud note, though I probably should stop standing right next to those gigantic speakers, Yo La Tengo said "we'll see you tomorrow!" and left the stage through the crowd.

Jeff Tweedy headlined Bowery Ballroom one night later, and Yo La Tengo continue playing Hanukkah shows at Maxwell's through 12/8 (the final night of Hanukkah). More pictures and some videos from the third night, below...

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo, Jeff Tweedy, Eugene Mirman & Kid Congo Powers @ Maxwell's (Hanukkah night 3 pics & video)"

"Maxwell's, come on! Don't let me down, LCs!" - Anonymous

"As ash continues to belch into the atmosphere from Iceland's now world-famous Eyjafjallajokull volcano, stranding thousands of travelers around the globe, two main questions are: How long will the eruption last, and could it eventually affect the world's climate?

Unfortunately, scientists appear uniform in their uncertainty.

"We don't know how long this eruption will go on," says Stefan Wastegard, a geologist who studies ancient ash falls from Icelandic volcanoes at Stockholm University in Sweden. "That's the problem with volcanic eruptions, you really don't know how they're going to go.""
[USA Today]

Luckily they have some free time in their schedule though (LC! are scheduled to play Toronto on April 20th and Irving Plaza in NYC on April 22nd), because they're going to make up the NJ show on Wednesday, April 21st. All tickets from Saturday will be honored, and I assume there will be refunds and new tickets opening up as well.

Their tour is with NYC's Cymbals Eat Guitars who are still scheduled to appear, earlier in the day, at Generation Records this Saturday (unlike Walter Schreifels who was forced to cancel because of the volcano). (thx Adam & Chris & Chris)

Stay tuned for more Volcano updates as we hear about them.

Alex Chilton @ Hoboken Arts & Music Fest 2009

This year's Hoboken Arts & Music Festival will happen on Sunday, May 2nd, 11am to 6pm, on Washington Street (b/w Observer Highway and 7th St). The musical offerings include pop-rock hit-makers Fountains of Wayne (who play a sold-out show at Maxwell's the night before), songwriter Freedy Johnston, NJ roadhouse blues The Doughboys and others plus "over 300 artists, sculptors, photographers and craftspeople."

Last year's fest featured members of The Feelies (who are playing July 4th weekend shows in Hoboken) and '60s group The Box Tops (Alex Chilton RIP).

More info with the current music lineup, and videos from last year, below...

Continue reading "Hoboken Arts & Music Fest 2010 lineup includes Fountains of Wayne & Freedy Johnston (the Box Tops played last year)"

by Anna Scialli

Apparently, in Hoboken, St Patrick's Day is on March 6th. I did not know this when I headed to Maxwell's on Saturday night to see Sondre Lerche finish up his most recent tour to a sold out audience. As a result of the premature Hoboken celebration, the PATH train took over an hour and a half to show up and getting to the venue was nearly impossible due to the hordes of drunks swarming Washington Street. Finally, after a very long commute, I arrived at Maxwell's - Only to find out that Sondre Lerche had four songs left.

Those four songs were great though. I've seen Sondre Lerche a few times but this is the first time I've heard him play "I'm A Boy" by the Who. His acoustic, poppy rendition was fun and catchy - a very interesting adaptation for his solo show. For his last song, Sondre played "Modern Nature" encouraging the audience to sing along in place of the female vocals from the recorded version.

After the show, I explained to Sondre my PATH dilemma. He generously offered to do an interview after he gave autographs and talked to all his fans at the show. Of all the musicians I've seen, Sondre Lerche has always been the most gracious and friendly. So, I quickly scrambled to jot down some interview questions and thanks to my iPhone, the interview happened.

That interview, a few pics from the show and the setlist, below...

Continue reading "an interview w/ Sondre Lerche @ Maxwell's (pics, setlist too) "

Hoboken Arts & Music Festival, Spring 2006 (David Pfeffer)

The annual Hoboken Spring Arts & Music Festival is taking place this year on Sunday, May 3rd. Bands scheduled to perform include East of Venus, Yung Wu and Wild Carnation -- all of which feature members of The Feelies -- plus reunited '60s group The Box Tops.

The Box Tops were a Memphis pop music group of the late 1960s. They are best known for the hits "The Letter," "Neon Rainbow", "Soul Deep" and "Cry Like A Baby," and are considered a major blue-eyed soul group of the period...Vocalist Alex Chilton went on to front the power-pop band Big Star and to launch a career as a solo artist.... [Wikipedia]

Feelies bassist Brenda Sauter plays with Wild Carnation, East of Venus has Glenn Mercer and drummer Stan Demeski, and Yung Wu includes Dave Weckerman, Mercer and others (basically the whole band has gigged with Yung Wu at times).

The Feelies have performances together coming up, too. The band is playing an acoustic set at The Whitney on Friday, June 26th, and has a pair of July 4th-weekend shows at Maxwell's in Hoboken. The band plays ATP NY in September.

Catch a video of The Box Tops playing their most well known tune, "The Letter" -- plus a strangely intense clip of the song on American Bandstand -- with the Hoboken fest's full schedule and directions, below...

Continue reading "2009 Hoboken Spring Arts & Music Festival lineup - The Box Tops, three Feelies-related bands & more"

by Andrew Frisicano

The Music Tapes @ a CMJ show (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

The Music Tapes played Maxwell's in Hoboken on Sunday (3/1), and for those who missed the criminally under attended show (maybe something to do with the weather), you're in luck - they'll be back in town on Tuesday (tonight, 3/3) playing the Bell House with the same lineup of opening acts: musical mad scientist Brian Dewan and upbeat Elephant 6-ers Nana Grizol. Tickets are still available, and we're giving away a pair of tickets. Details below.

For the show at Maxwell's, I trekked through the blowing snow to arrive in Hoboken, a place that seems to have frozen in time the most picturesque parts of every U.S. small town. Inside the show space, hidden past the club's front restaurant-bar area, 40-50 brave concertgoer gathered around the stage, where second-act Nana Grizol rocked with warming exuberance. (I missed opener Brian Dewan - more on him later, though.)

Nana Grizol's eight-strong lineup crammed the stage, which was crowded with 7-Foot Tall Metronome and Static the Singing TV standing at attention for the upcoming Music Tapes set. But first, the Athens, GA, band shared songs and swapped instruments, which included guitar, bass, and two drum sets. One member switched from clarinet to trumpet to melodica with ease. The horn section expanded into three trumpet harmonies, then contracted to a single euphonium. The bulk of the songs were fronted by Theo Hilton, who sang with a kind of Promise Ring innocence in his voice. The roaring, clanking sound convinced me to shell out for a copy of their 2008 Orange Twin recording, Love It Love It.

Between bands, opener Brian Dewan set up a projector and screened a short film so good it made me wish I trudged out sooner to catch his solo set. The hand-drawn animated slides that populated the film told a short history of civic pride, coyly poking fun at the structures of society by connecting scenes of Aztec ritual sacrifice, paying taxes, and odious parking meters into a modern parable that paid homage to archaic public service videos. Each frame change was announced with a studious "plonk."

Shortly after, The Music Tapes took the stage, borrowing most of Nana Grizol's members (or maybe vice-versa). Julian Koster, as always, fronted the band with a banjo and saw. Elephant 6-regular Nesey Gallons also played banjo - in all, a lot of the Elephant 6 holiday tour seemed to be on board. On "Aliens," Dewan even joined the band, playing one of his homemade Melody Gins, a knob-covered oscillator contraption.

Koster played many of the same songs he did at the band's Mercury Lounge CMJ show: "Freeing Song for Reindeer," "Majesty," "Song for Oceans Falling," "Orchestra's Orchestration" and "What the Television Tells Us" (the latter two with props). A number of the songs started with just Koster and ended in double-drums, double-distorted banjo noise. On "Song for the Death of Parents," Koster played percussion by bouncing a kickball on a soup kettle with a microphone hidden underneath in a perfect melding of theme and medium.

Julian came into the crowd to play a singing-saw version of "The First Noel" and a song on his tiny electric organ, before returning to the stage and closing the show with "Manifest Destiny." (He also promised to play a crowd game with bells on Tuesday at the Bell House.)

Live, The Music Tapes continue to be one of the most consistently entertaining bands around. The scratchy, distorted sound of its recordings (can a singing saw's sound actually be recorded?), while interesting, drastically understates the buoyant joy and enigmatic energy of Koster and Co. in person.

Besides at tonight's Bell House show, New Yorkers can catch Brian Dewan when he performs a free set with his homemade-instrument project, Dewanatron (with cousin Leon), at the opening of Pierogi Gallery (177 N 9th St, Brooklyn) on Saturday, March 7, 9pm.

Video and contest details below...

Continue reading "The Music Tapes, Brian Dewan & Nana Grizol played Maxwell's (review) -- Bell House TONIGHT (win tix)"

photos by Natasha Ryan

As I write this, we're only hours away from sundown on Hanukkah night four, otherwise known as the fourth night in a row Yo La Tengo will play a show at Maxwell's in Hoboken. You already heard all about night two (12/22). The Magnetic Fields opened. Here are the rest of the pictures from that one...

Continue reading "Yo La Tengo, John Hodgman, Doug Gillard & Ira's mom @ Maxwell's in Hoboken (Hanukkah night 2) - pics"

Sunday, Sept. 28th, 2008 - 11am to 6pm along Washington St. in Hoboken - Observer Highway to 7th St. Featuring three stages of live music & over 300 artists, sculptors, photographers & craftspeople

Continue reading "2008 Hoboken Arts & Music Festival - full lineup & schedule"