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 & photos by Benjamin Lozovsky

ZZ Top

While many designers tagged trendier (see younger) performers to appear at their Fashion Week soirees, many of which happened the day before for Fashion's Night Out, John Varvatos and show curator/drummer Matt Sorum (Velvet Revolver, Guns N' Roses) stayed true to the spirit of the Bowery store located where CBGB once stood, picking a lineup that would make Wayne and Garth tremble with a lack of self worth (Mike Meyers sitting on the side of the stage with a giddy grin would seem to confirm that).

Alejandro Escovedo performed first on Saturday night (9/11), churning out garage crunch with no less than 4 guitarists blazing on the Varvatos store's small stage. Ian Hunter (lead singer of Mott the Hopple) followed and was joined by Escovedo for a performance of glam cornerstone anthem "All The Young Dudes."

To break up the boys club, former Runaways singer Cherie Currie, one of rock's more underappreciated female frontwomen, came on next. Currie performed "Cherry Bomb," the Runaways' ode to young female rebellion, with a still palpable sense of angst, proving at the same time you're never too old to stop flaunting sex appeal (and to fit into leather corsets).

The Darling Stilettos

Taking a cue from the icon that preceded them, the night's youngest performers, The Darling Stilettos (think rock's answer to the Pussycat Dolls), danced and felt each other up in all the right places while screaming classic rock covers (and one original tune) like over-sexualized banshees.

There were new groups from established rockers as well. New York icon Jessie Malin performed with his latest musical collective The St. Marks Social, and recently formed rock super group Black Country Communion, consisting of former Deep Purple frontman/bassist Glenn Hughes, blues guitar god Joe Bonamassa, and prodigal son Jason Bonham (Led Zeppelin, Foreigner) gave a sneak preview of some of the heavy tracks from their upcoming self-titled debut.

After a brief pause, Los Angeles superstar cover band Camp Freddy settled in as the house band for the remainder of the show, welcoming on stage a revolving door of Rock and Roll Hall of Fame alumni as the evening catapulted upward in intensity. Some played covers, like ZZ Top (who were in town to play two nights at Beacon Theatre) evoking the spirit of Hendrix with "Foxy Lady" and Perry Farrell aggressively launching into the audience during "Sympathy for the Devil." Others did their own songs, like MC5's outspoken guitarist Wayne Kramer urging the crowd on during "Kick Out the Jams" with help from Handsome Dick Manitoba, or Alice Cooper being diabolically stylish while performing "I'm 18" and "School's Out."

By the time Farrell ended the night with Jane's Addiction's "Mountain Song," the Varvatos store crowd had finally reached the feverish level of turbulence one would expect for such a night. In fact the performers throughout the night consistently displayed more energy than the predominantly younger audience. For an event full of aging rockers, it really just felt like a riotous gathering of all the young dudes.

The crowd was full of familiar faces as well. Chris Brown, Jimmy Kimmel, Rachael Ray, and Matt Pinfield were among those getting their picture taken on the red carpet and mingling with the fashioned-out crowd. Iggy Pop (who played Don Hill's the night before) and Robert Plant (who played Bowery Ballroom the next day) were nowhere in sight though. More pictures and some videos from the whole night below...

Continue reading "ZZ Top, Perry Farrell, Alice Cooper & many more played John Varvatos' 10th Anniversary @ the Bowery store (pics & video) "

Black Rebel Motorcycle Club played the Fashion Week party at Don Hill's on Thursday. Iggy Pop and The Stooges played there Friday, and according to the above Tweet by Eli Mizrahi, Courtney Love is playing there tonight.

Eli's Tweet also reminds us that tonight is the John Varvatos's 10th Anniversary party in the store previously known as CBGB. There will be a concert from: 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. Supposedly confirmed performers include Alejandro Escovedo, Alice Cooper, Wayne Kramer, Ian Hunter, ZZ Top, Black Country Communion, Camp Freddy, Cherie Currie, Darling Stillettos, Handsome Dick Manitoba, Jesse Malin & The St. Marks Social, and Perry Farrell . Rumored performers include Iggy Pop and (thanks John) Robert Plant (who plays Bowery Ballroom Sunday).

Who else is playing fashion week parties tonight?

DOWNLOAD: Alejandro Escovedo - Silver Cloud (MP3)

photos by Chris La Putt, words by Andrew Frisicano

Alejandro Escovedo just played two nights at City Winery with Bobby Bare Jr. opening. Special guests on the first night (6/29) included Mott the Hoople's Ian Hunter, who joined Alejandro for a verse-trading encore of Mott's "I Wish I Was Your Mother." The second night (6/30) Alejandro's producer Tony Visconti sat in with the band for songs that included a cover of the Bowie-penned Mott the Hoople song "All the Young Dudes." Singer Tift Merritt was there too; videos of those songs are below.

Alejandro Escovedo plays again at City Winery on Friday (tickets still available), and he's at Vintage Vinyl tonight (7/1) in Jersey. More info and all tour dates are here.

Grab "Silver Cloud," the hard-rocking second track from his new record, Street Songs of Love, posted above. More pictures and videos are below...

Continue reading "Alejandro Escovedo & guests played City Winery - pics, videos and a new MP3"

Neko Case @ the 2009 Newport Folk Festival (more by Jim Brueckner)

"During the weekend of October 16th through October 18th, The New Yorker will present its tenth annual Festival, a three-day series of events that brings together some of the world's most talented and distinguished people in the fields of literature, art, film, music, humor, business, food, politics, design, and science....

...Pop-music offerings will include interviews with and performances by Neko Case, Bon Iver, Steve Earle, and Loudon Wainwright III; a pub-rock reunion with Ian Hunter, of Mott the Hoople, and Graham Parker, of Graham Parker and the Rumour; and a panel discussion about the music industry with Jace Clayton, Josh Deutsch, Melvin Gibbs, Danny Goldberg, and Livia Tortella. In addition, a special Brooklyn Playlist concert at Brooklyn's Bell House, curated by Sasha Frere-Jones and Kelefa Sanneh, will feature Dirty Projectors, House of Ladosha, Jubilee, and Liturgy."

This is a full three months before Bon Iver's other upcoming NYC show. More New Yorker announcements soon. "Tickets will go on sale on Friday, September 18th, at 12 noon, and may be purchased at newyorker.com/festival"

last night (April 17, 2008) in NYC....

More than a few special guests (and I don't mean the protesters) showed up to the opening party/benefit inside the John Varvatos store (aka CBGB) on the Bowery last night (April 17, 2008). All photos by Randy Haecker, and there's more where they came from at his Flickr.

A lot of these guys were in town to play a different benefit show the night before.