Tickets are on sale (@ noon) for the recently-added Charlotte Gainsbourg show at Hiro Ballroom. Tickets are also still on sale for the two shows at the Bell House.

Laura Veirs is playing Mercury Lounge on February 15th. Tickets are on sale.

Megafaun are playing Mercury Lounge on April 2nd. Tickets are now on AmEx presale.

Ulrich Schnauss plays the Bell House on February 25th. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets for the Murder City Devils show at Nokia are still on sale.

Cursive/Alkaline Trio tickets are on pre-sale.

More Wilco tickets are going on presale at noon.

Dam-Funk, Nada Surf, xx, jj, Xiu Xiu, Tune-Yards, Japandroids & other tickets are on sale too.

As previously mentioned, Lady Gaga added two NYC shows at Radio City Music Hall making her grand total a crazy four nights in a row at the prestigious venue. Kid Cudi opens all of them. Tickets for the two new ones (1/23 & 1/24) are on sale (@ 10am).

Tickets are also on sale (@ 10am) for the upcoming Slayer, Megadeth and Testament show at the Izod Center in NJ - part of the "American Carnage Tour".

In somewhat related news, Paul Di'Anno (the original Iron Maiden vocalist) is playing BB King's on January 27th. Tickets are on sale.

Tickets are now on sale for the two upcoming Tinariwen shows in NYC: Highline Ballroom & The Bell House.

Tickets are also still on sale for the David Johansen show coming up at Highline Ballroom.

Popo played Le Poisson Rouge with Sleigh Bells last night. Popo has been added as opener on the December 13th Lee Scratch Perry show at Highline Ballroom. Tickets are still on sale.

Tickets are also still on sale for the Slits show happening at Highline Ballroom one day later.

Tickets are also still on sale for the Life of Agony show happening at the same venue one day after the Slits.

Blind Pilot and Laura Veirs play Friday night (tonight - 11/20) at the Bell House. Tickets are still on sale.

A video of Maiden performing "Phantom of the Opera" when Paul was still in the band, and the audio of Paul covering Megadeth, below...

Continue reading "Lady Gaga, Slayer/Megadeth/Testament, Tinariwen, and other tickets on sale"

photos by Tim Griffin

"@colinmeloy just asked me to MC the Decemberists show tonight in NYC. Finally, something to dress up for! I know just what to wear...." - John Wesley Harding

"When the spotlight glared down on the tinsel-bedecked stage-left podium at Terminal 5 [Saturday] night, the crowd got very excited. It could only mean that The Decemberists were about to hit the stage and get their first set of randomly selected songs to perform in an unusual lottery concert.

For those in the audience who know Wesley Stace (better known to many by his stage name of John Wesley Harding), we recognized that we were in for a rare treat -- a collision of sharp wits. And although Wes said he got the call to play MC for last night's show just hours before he went on, giving him no time to put any material together, he managed to wing it just fine...

...song titles were pulled from a basket, bingo-style and the band had to play them right away, with no cheating...

It was a superb mix of songs old and new -- one so very new that the band's mastermind, Colin Meloy, wrote it on the spot, referencing NYC Miracle on the Hudson plane crash and ending with an admission that on his first visit to New York he stole something from the Empire State Building gift shop. We also got The Tain, all 20 minutes of it." [Will You Miss Me When You're Gone]

Feathers from Friday night's Of Montreal show could still be found on the ground at Terminal 5 one night later when the Decemberists took the stage for their special Saturday night lottery event.

From Terminal 5, The Decemberists embarked on their latest tour which also brought them to The Wellmont Theatre in Montclair, NJ on Monday. Laura Veirs opened both NYC-area shows and is also on the tour. Terminal 5's lottery-generated setlist, and lots more pictures from the show, below...

Continue reading "The Decemberists & Laura Veirs w/ lotto master John Wesley Harding @ Terminal 5 in NYC - pics & setlist"

Decemberists @ Newport Folk Festival 8/1 (more by Jim Brueckner)

"The Decemberists have gotten muscular lately, too. The onetime bookish Smiths acolytes have lately discovered the wonders of prog. On [the first day of Lollapalooza 2009] they performed their concept record The Hazards of Love in order, frontman Colin Meloy decked out in a suit and suspenders and co-vocalist Becky Stark -- playing the role of Margaret -- donning a wedding dress. Their set felt more like a theater piece than a concert, each number composed of varying movements. Their compositions bore traces of familiar folk tropes, but time and time again the group upended them. And isn't that the spirit of Lollapalooza? It's like pop music, only different." [Rolling Stone]

The Decemberists' "A Short Fazed Hovel" tour, which visited Radio City in June, will continue into the fall. As part of that, the band will play a show at NJ's Wellmont Theatre on September 21st. Tickets are still on sale.

While most of the shows on the tour, Wellmont included, feature a full performance of their latest record The Hazards of Love, the band has added a "By Request" evening "special lottery show" to take place September 19th show at NYC's Terminal 5. "The evening's selist will be 'by request', as selected by Decemberists fans. Voting instructions will be sent out to ticketholders soon."

"In homage to that totally awesome scene in Dragon Slayer, we Decemberists will perform a set that will be entirely left to the hands of fate -- we will draw songs from a lottery and dutifully play them, regardless of their quality or presence in our memory. Decemberists songs, naturally, but you do never know what bizarre cover songs or strange commands may end up in the pile."

Tickets for Terminal 5 are now on presale via MusicToday and go on AmEx presale today (Aug 19th) at 11am. General sale starts Friday, August 21st at noon.

Both shows, and many others on the tour, will feature special guest Laura Veirs & The Hall of Flames. All dates below...

Continue reading "Decemberists playing 'By Lottery' in NYC & other new dates "

Colin Meloy @ Town Hall, NYC - Jan 26, 2006 (MORE)

On April 8th, Kill Rock Stars will release Colin Meloy Sings Live! – a 14-song set documenting The Decemberists’ lead singer/songwriter’s 2006 solo tour. Meloy’s two-week trek across the U.S. coincided with the release of Colin Meloy Sings Shirley Collins, his six-song EP paying homage to the revered British folksinger. While the latter collection (and its predecessor, Colin Meloy Sings Morrissey) were only sold on tour, Colin Meloy Sings Live! will be available at retail in both CD and double-gatefold LP configurations.

I also hear that Colin will be supporting the new album with another solo tour sometime around the release date, which I guess also means that the cancelled Decemberists tour won't be rescheduled for any time soon. The Decemberists only have four currently scheduled dates - 2 in Oregon, and 2 in Washington. (those kick off tonight, dates below).

Laura Veirs opened for Colin back on that 2006 tour, and she was supposed to open for the Decemberists on some of those cancelled dates. In the future she's playing Union Hall in Brooklyn on January 27th, and then touring Europe. All dates below....

Continue reading "Colin Meloy, Laura Veirs, a live album, Tour Dates"