"It's an indisputable fact that the Barclays Center has one of the best veggie burgers in Brooklyn, somehow." - Joey Arak

""Thank you Jay-Z... Crazy Horse!". - Neil Young's final words on stage at the Barclays Center tonight." - BrooklynVegan

Crazy Horse (more by Gretchen Robinette)

As you know, Neil Young and Crazy Horse aren't really switching up the setlists on this tour. In fact, though some cities get a different song in the encore, the setlist at Barclays Center in Brooklyn last night was exactly the same as the one they played at MSG. Regardless, it was a great Brooklyn show, especially for those who were seeing it for the first time. If you missed both area shows, you can still always head to Atlantic City this week.

Patti Smith and band (Lenny Kaye included) however did mix it up during her powerful 8pm opening set. She ended with "Gloria" like she did at MSG, but we also got her moving cover of Neil Young's "It's a Dream" and hit "Because the Night."

Full setlists for Neil and Patti and some videos below...

Continue reading "Neil Young & Crazy Horse & Patti Smith played Barclays Center (setlist, videos)"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

"Not even kidding. lou reed watched @dasracist perform tonight & flipped the fuck out. at carnegie hall. how was your night?" - El-P

"The night wrapped up with Lenny Kaye leading the Patti Smith band through a brief tribute to the garage-rock compilation Nuggets, which is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, and Lou Reed, who performed three songs. Reed conducted the string quartet and the drummer to improvise with him at moments, which felt awkward in the beginning; the ending, however--as the string quartet jammed in tandem with Smith's guitarists and Reed himself--was pretty impressive. At the very end Laurie Anderson and the whole evening's cast returned to the stage for a curtain call, during which the room sang "Happy Birthday" to Philip Glass." [Village Voice]

Continue reading "2012 Tibet House benefit pics (Philip Glass, Das Racist, James Blake, Antony, Lou Reed, Stephin Merritt, Rahzel & more)"

Lenny Kaye with Patti Smith at E2NY 2011 (more by Dana (distortion) Yavin)

The Continental, which no longer hosts shows, but is still a bar located on 25 3rd Ave in Manhattan, is hosting their Annual Reunion this Sunday (1/15). The lineup includes The Waldos (with Walter lure), Lenny Kaye (of Patti Smith Group), CJ Ramone, Murphy's Law (who are headlining the afternoon matinee portion), Electric Frankenstein, The Independents, Heap, and more. The full lineup with set times is listed below...

Continue reading "Continental reunion show this Sunday"

Happy New Year! (artskooldamage)

Michael Stipe joined his friend Patti Smith at Bowery Ballroom on New Year's Eve for what was also the end of her final year at the venue...

On New Year's Eve, Patti Smith announced from the stage at the Bowery Ballroom that the concert was her last -- at the Bowery Ballroom.

For 14 years, the three-pack of shows by Patti Smith and Her Band in the final week of December has proved to be a reliably exhilarating way to usher out the old and ring in the new. If it's not the Allmans at the Beacon Theater, it's in the same area code. It's cozy: the smallish Ballroom accommodates fewer than 600. It's egalitarian: tickets are general admission, mostly standing room and reasonably priced. And it's personal: the shows always include one on Dec. 30, to celebrate Ms. Smith's birthday (she turned 65 on Friday).

After the last show -- an excellent night, with many special touches, including Michael Stipe singing "Wichita Lineman" -- Lenny Kaye, Ms. Smith's lead guitarist and general rock subversive, confirmed that the band would still perform, but at some other location. "It's just time to move on," he said. [NY Times]

Check out video of Patti & Michael at Bowery below...

Continue reading "Patti Smith played her final Bowery Ballroom New Year's Eve run (with help from Michael Stipe)"

Don Hill RIP (photo by Julian Ungano)

Steve Lewis: Don Hill has passed, and a lot of people are getting together to celebrate his life. Since Don Hill went down, there's not as many places where we can all gather. And let's face it, Don Hill owned the place. He booked it, he answered the phones, and, we suppose, at the end of the night swept up the place...Michael T, tell me why you're involved in this event, and what did Don Hill mean to you?

Michael T: I met Don back in the eighties at Cat Club when I was very young. He opened Don Hill's in the early nineties, and I was one of the first persons to perform there. Later, in the second run of Don Hill's, I started to do my party, Rated X, there. It was really the first time that Don and I had worked together on a regular basis. It was super easy. Don was always the same. He was Don. It's so rare in the business to have someone that's just steady, where you know what you're going to get out of him. We had a great working relationship, and a comfortable personal relationship. He was a straight shooter.

At 1am the party turns into Squeezebox. Tickets are still available. Flyer below...

Continue reading "Don Hill tribute happening at Irving Plaza"

photos by Dana (distortion) Yavin

Patti Smith @ Escape to NY

Patti Smith is playing a free show at Webster Hall on September 8 in commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11. France Inter, the French National Public Radio Channel, is hosting the free event. Email concertbooking@radiofrance.com to RSVP (required). The show is at 8 PM. Check Webster Hall's website for more details.

Patti headlined the first night of the three-turned-two day festival Escape to NY in the Hamptons on Friday. A full set of pictures from the shortened weekend is coming soon, but here are the shots of Patti and band who also recently played a NY show at Castle Clinton.. They continue below...

Continue reading "Patti Smith played E2NY (pics), playing free show to commemorate 9/11 @ Webster Hall "

by Jacob Blickenstaff

On Saturday (7/30), Lincoln Center Out of Doors in partnership with the Ponderosa Stomp, put on a remarkable day of music and music history under the name of "She's Got The Power, a Girl Group Extravaganza." Within its 10 (free) hours, the event included a 3-part, 4-hour panel of "Girl Talk" that presented Lesley Gore, members of the Angels and the Exciters, Seymour Stein (co-founder of Sire Records) and many studio musicians who worked closely with (r'n'r hall of famer) Ellie Greenwich.

The concert was organized into 3 parts covering 5 hours. First was a revue of girl group singers. Arlene Smith, of the Chantels, performed magnificently from her motorized wheelchair, commanding the stage by zipping back and forth. Then there were extended sets from headliners La La Brooks of the Crystals, Lesley Gore and Ronnie Spector (the Ronettes), and finally a tribute by the evening's artists to girl-group-godmother Ellie Greenwich.

This was not your father's PBS Doo-Wop special. Although the passing of Amy Winehouse was noted by Ronnie Spector, who performed part of 'Back to Black', it was more of a (tragic) footnote to the larger spirit of survival, brilliance, toughness and female chutzpah on parade. Many performers commented both publicly and privately that the spirit of Ellie Greenwich was the guiding force of the day. As stellar performance after performance dredged up tingly globs of our collective memory, the realization grew of just how much we owe to these artists, producers and songwriters who had just as much influence on the Beatles, Stones and other British Invasion bands as did the blues.

More about the show with lots of pictures, below...

Continue reading "it was all about the girls @ Lincoln Center's 2011 Ponderosa Stomp (pics & review)"

photos by Tamara Porras

"Patti Smith was amazing. Excellent crowd. Great energy. Full moon. Fantastic weather. Castle Clinton's 200th anniversary. River 2 River. Ah!" - J.M.F.

Godmother of Punk Patti Smith concluded the free Castle Clinton 2011 season last night (7/14) when she played the outdoor Manhattan venue filled to capacity. Her two hour set opened with the bombastic 1978 single "Because The Night," but dove into a fair amount of her earlier, more adventurous work including favorites like "Ghost Dance," "Pissing in a River," "Land," "Aint It Strange," and a few others. She also played a number of notable covers, including Neil Young's "Helpless," which she recorded for her cover album Twelve, and fellow NYC's alt-scene vet Lou Reed's "Perfect Day," which showed up on the album's accompanying EP. She also tackled Jim Carroll's "People Who Died," and the much more modern Adele's "Rolling in the Deep."

Catch Patti again when she comes to Southampton, NY for Escape to New York.

Patti Smith Group guitarist Lenny Kaye, who was scheduled to also make an appearance at the Johnny Thunders birthday celebration at Bowery Electric after the Castle Clinton show, will be a special guest on Saturday (7/16) at Mercury Lounge with The Fleshtones and The Insomniacs. Tickets are available.

More pictures and setlist from the Castle Clinton show below...

Continue reading "Patti Smith played Castle Clinton (pics & setlist)"

Johnny Thunders would turn 59 Friday (7/15) and his birthday is being celebrated tonight (7/14) at D-Generationer Jesse Malin's LES club Bowery Electric. There will be a number of artists performing including Heartbreaker Walter Lure's The Waldos, Oddball Alison Gordy, Pillbox who are apparently reuniting, and many others that are listed below. There will also reportedly be some special guests including ex-Dead Boy Jeff Magnum (NOT TO BE CONFUSED WITH JEFF MANGUM OF NEUTRAL MILK HOTEL), Jesse Malin, Andy Shernoff of The Dictators, Lenny Kaye and many others.

Many of those playing appeared on the 2009 "Skykrebs Records"-released "Born To Lose" tribute 3CD Boxed set. That includes Krebs & The Maynard G's, The Waldos and Alison Gordy.

Trouser Press writes of Pillbox:

Before there was a Strokes to make it safe as milk, the snarly glam punk spirit of the Stooges, New York Dolls and Dead Boys lived for a time in the skinnyassed tattooed bodies of Pillbox, a New York quartet which offered a skankier, more menacing and less theatrical alternative to the likeminded and better-known D Generation.

D Generation plays reunion shows in September at bigger venues.

Lenny Kaye, who will supposedly be a special guest at the show tonight, is a longtime member of the Patti Smith Group. Patti Smith plays a free show at Castle Clinton tonight (7/15). Don't forget that, "FREE TICKETS AVAILABLE FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED AT THE GATE STARTING AT 5PM. DOORS OPEN AT 6PM." People are already in line as of 2pm. It would be cool of Patti ended up at the Johnny Thunders party afterwards too.

Full Bowery Electric lineup and the Pillbox video below...

Continue reading "Johnny Thunders birthday being celebrated @ Bowery Electric, Pillbox reuniting, Patti Smith playing Castle Clinton today"

More details below...

Continue reading "2A hosting acoustic shows, free show w/ Lenny Kaye & friends happening Sunday night (tonight)"

photos by Greg Cristman

Yoko Ono's Secret Piece (1953)
throughout Central Park from 5AM - 8AM on June 21, 2011.
Celebrate the summer solstice with Yoko Ono's meditative Secret Piece, at sunrise in Central Park.

We will meet at Columbus Circle starting at 5AM. Bring any musical instrument or just your voice, and we will send you to a secluded part of the park to play the note of your choice to the accompaniment of birds.

At 8AM we will all return to Columbus Circle for hot green tea.

UPDATE: Apparently Yoko didn't even go to her own event. ZINGARA says "I woke up really early this morning thinking that different musicians where going to get together and play a Yoko Ono tone. instead i got there and everybody was on their own wandering around the park like a homeless person. There was someone there but as soon you sign your name they send you away." Lori Zimmer adds, "woke @ 330 to go to central pk... was handed a map with little explanation. very disappointed, not much explanation, no yoko, green tea from starbucks out of styrofoam cups after 3 hours...."

The other pictures in this post are from that Japan benefit that Yoko Ono threw at Le Poisson Rouge in March. You already saw the Cibo Matto pics from the same event. Here are the rest with Yoko, Sean Lennon, Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Antony, Lou Reed and more included. They continue below...

Continue reading "spend Tuesday morning with Yoko Ono in Central Park (check out some Japan Benefit pics in this post)"

today in NYC
* Nir Felder @ Barbes
* Spooky Ghost @ The Stone
* David Wax Museum @ Joe's Pub
* Martial Canterel @ Home Sweet Home
* Mandingo Ambassadors @ Barbes
* Greg Giraldo benefit @ Beacon Theatre
* Soldiers of Fortune, Water Fai @ Zebulon
* Henry Rollins spoken word @ Joe's Pub
* Hannis Brown, Dead Cat Bounce @ Sycamore
* Huey Lewis and the News @ Gramercy Theatre
* Arms, Hospitality, Radical Dads, Translations @ Pianos
* Soft Black, The Vacant Lots, Will Cam, J'ac @ Maxwell's
* The Loom, Pearl and the Beard, Team B @ Brooklyn Bowl
* Nicole Atkins, The Gay Blades, Mon Khmer @ Bowery Ballroom
* Anna Ternheim, Sonya Kitchell, Nigel Hall @ Rockwood Music Hall
* Patti Smith, Lenny Kaye, Janet Hamill (poetty) @ St. Marks's Church
* Rhys Chatham Brass Trio, Tony Conrad, Face the Music @ Le Poisson Rouge
* Consortium Musicum w/ Sean Lennon & Greg Saunier of Deerhoof @ The Stone
* Larry Campbell (The Music of Neil Young Live Rehearsal show) @ City Winery
* Bouncing Souls, Anti-Flag, Full Speed Ahead, The Great Explainer @ Stone Pony
* Cubic Zirconia, the Popo, Machinedrum, Party Supplies, Anika (DJ) @ Mercury Lounge
* The Big Terrific Comedy Show w/ Max Silvestri, Gabe Liedman and Jenny Slate @ Cameo Gallery

Check out This Week in Indie.

The National (who played the Studio @ Webster Hall last night) are playing a private fashion week show tonight.

Deerhoof drummer Greg Saunier (who played Europa last night) is playing with Sean Lennon at the Stone tonight.

Lou Reed and Laurie Anderson are responsible for the programming at the Stone this month.

Patti Smith & Lenny Kaye are doing poetry at St. Mark's Church (no advanced tickets).

Grimes have a new (unofficial but band approved) video that you can watch below...

Fellow Canadians Braids have a new video too. Also below...

What else?

Continue reading "What's going on Wednesday?"

"Basketball Diaries author Carroll's slightly rough posthumous novel about a famous painter's breakdown begins as painter Billy Wolfram has a psychotic episode, wanders about the Central Park petting zoo, threatens strangers, and is picked up and committed to a mental hospital for observation. Upon his release, Billy returns home and goes into "reclusion," brooding on events in his past (such as his mother's death), watching old TV shows, and receiving visits from a Central Park zoo raven who talks to Billy about the flood (the raven was on Noah's ark), art, and the emptiness in Billy's life. Other than his assistant, Marta, Billy's only real visitor is his childhood friend, rock star Denny, leaving him plenty of time for introspection that leads back to Kennedy's assassination, which coincided with Billy's mother catching him masturbating. Since then, Billy has frozen out his sexual feelings, and, as it turns out, Marta would love to thaw them. Although Carroll's prose is uneven--clever and profound sentences jostle awkwardly with lumbering, bathos-soaked platitudes--and the narrative tension is rather slack, this is a heartfelt portrait of a New York original by a New York original."

Meanwhile you can catch Patti and Lenny at an event happening at Southpaw in Brooklyn TONIGHT (11/11), which strangely still has tickets available, unlike Patti's three shows coming up at Bowery Ballroom.

Lenny Kaye recently appeared at City Winery with Bob Mould who played a show at the Rock Shop right after. Video of Jim Carroll playing with Lenny Kaye years ago, below...

Continue reading "a new Jim Carroll book, another Patti Smith appearance "

Patti Smith at Carnegie Hall (more by Chris La Putt)

Park Slope venue Southpaw will host Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, Outernational, and Patti Smith & Lenny Kaye on November 11th. Tickets for this 21+ acoustic Fortnight Journal Benefit are on sale. The show is one of four upcming dates for Patti Smith, who will also play a trio of sold-out dates at Bowery Ballroom leading up to the new year (12/29, 12/30, 12/31).

The Southpaw show is one of two lined up for Shilpa Ray & Her Happy Hookers, who will play Pianos three days prior with Zambri and Arpline as part of a residency for Hooray for Earth who are also on the bill. A few weeks later, they'll hit the road with a reunited Cornershop to play a string of dates, but will not be on board when the band plays Irving Plaza (on 11/19, tickets).

All Shilpa Ray dates and some video from their appearance at Knitting Factory during CMJ is below...

Continue reading "Patti Smith & Lenny Kaye playing benefit @ Southpaw w/ Shilpa Ray, all 3 Bowery shows sold out "

DOWNLOAD: Mark Sultan - The Wind (Nolan Strong cover) (MP3)

Mark Sultan at Bowery Ballroom in 2009 (more by Tim Griffin)

With King Khan and BBQ apparently going their separate ways, BBQ (aka Mark Sultan) has scheduled a one-man-band tour of his own.

King Khan and BBQ were originally scheduled to play shows this month, including one at the Bell House, but those were all cancelled and an October King Khan and the Shrines tour quickly showed up instead.

Now Mark 'BBQ' Sultan, who released his new LP $ via Last Gang Records (Metric's label) earlier this year, has an October tour of his own including an October 16th early show at Mercury Lounge in NYC. Tickets for that show are on sale now. The tour ends with Mark opening a bunch of dates for Deer Tick.

Mark also has a track on a new Nolan Strong tribute album. Nolan was a 50's R&B singer, and his fans (other artists who contributed songs to the album) include Lenny Kaye, Reigning Sound, Gentleman Jesse, A-Bones, and the Dirtbombs. Order the album at The Wind Records. Grab Mark's track for free above.

Full comp tracklist, Mark's new NSFW video for "Status", and all tour dates below...

Continue reading "Mark 'BBQ' Sultan plans a tour (dates), makes NSFW video, contributes to Nolan Strong tribute comp (MP3)"

"Did anyone record the Bob Mould or the Dinosaur Jr. sets?"
- Anonymous | September 23, 2008 12:09 PM

"Bob Mould Band performance at ATP NY Festival on September 21st, 2008. Originally recorded for live broadcast on WFMU, this is the first time that this exceptional recording of a seminal performance has been made available since it aired live on air.

This is a limited edition cd so get your before they are gone!"

Continue reading "upcoming Bob Mould shows & 'live from ATP' on CD "

Sean Lennon & Irina Lazareanu @ Milk Studios

...according to Sean Lennon and model/musician/birthday-girl Irina Lazareanu who brought up their sadness at Pete not being at the party multiple times throughout the night. Sean said that Pete made it as far as JFK, but was met by cops who forced him to turn around and fly home.

Irina Lazareanu, Adam Green & Charlotte Kemp Muhl

The party was hosted by Irina Lazareanu (both Pete and Sean's ex girlfriend) (she was even engaged to Pete). Irina, in addition to chain smoking, performed with Sean, Sean's current girlfriend and bandmate Charlotte Kemp Muhl and Adam Green (and Adam's girlfriend (?) Cory Kennedy who played tambourine on a song). Pete was supposed to be a part of the supergroup too. They said they rehearsed with him in mind (at which point Sean said he could now get metal and they played a Sabbathy tune). They also played an Adam Green song, a Bob Dylan song, the Twist, and some other stuff.

Sean, BP Fallon & Lenny Kaye

BP Fallon opened the show both as DJ and then as frontman of his own band that included Lenny Kaye on guitar and Sean Lennon on drums. Not counting the photo of Leigh Lezark on the wall, that they were supposedly selling for charity, I didn't see any Misshapes there (they were also on the flyer). Paul Simon and Yoko Ono, both rumored as unannounced guests, were nowhere to be found either. Someone told me Bruce Willis was there, but I didn't see him. Oh yeah, and Adam Green had a black eye. More pics and stuff coming later.

UPDATE: Two videos below...

Continue reading "Pete Doherty never made it out of the airport.."

"Joey Ramone (May 19, 1951 - April 15, 2001), born as Jeffrey Ross Hyman, was a vocalist and songwriter best known for his work in the punk rock group the Ramones. Joey Ramone's image, voice and tenure as frontman of the Ramones made him a countercultural icon." [Wikipedia]

The event will also be the unveiling of new tracks from the forthcoming posthumous Joey Ramone solo record. In other Joey Ramone news, the singer's induction award to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was re-presented to his estate at the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Annex in NYC, and accepted by Mickey Leigh and Tommy Ramone, on Thursday, May 14th, after mistakenly being left off the program in the original 2002 ceremony.

Coming up, Tommy Ramone and Handsome Dick Manitoba, who will be at the birthday bash, are speaking with Lenny Kaye (of the Patti Smith Group and more) and Chris Stein (of Blondie) at "LOUD FAST JEWS! A Summit with Four Jewish Fathers of Punk" on Thursday, June 11th at the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research (15 West 16th St). Tickets to that event are on sale. More info below.

Catch Chris Stein this summer with Blondie, as the band tours alone and with Pat Benatar and The Donnas. All three will play the tour's NYC stop, a free show on August 13th at Coney Island's Asher Levy Park.

Also coming to NYC is Gods and Monsters' 20th anniversary show, scheduled for NYC's Gramercy Theatre on June 11th. The band, helmed by guitarist Gary Lucas, will be joined by guests that include Lenny Kaye. Tickets are still on sale.

Uncle Monk, Tommy Ramone's indie-bluegrass band, has scattered shows in NYC and elsewhere coming up. The band plays June 10th at Banjo Jim's and June 21st at Local 269. More dates below.

Joey Ramone's B-Day bash poster, Loud Fast Jew info, and a video of the Ramones' initial induction ceremony, also below...

Continue reading "Joey Ramone would be 58 today, party in NYC tonight ++ other Ramones / Blondie / Manitoba / Kaye appearances "

Guitarist Gary Lucas is well-known for his collaborations, which include a five-year stint with Captain Beefheart and the Magic Band (playing on Doc at the Radar Station and Ice Cream for Crow), co-writing songs on Jeff Buckley's Grace and many, many more.

Lucas is currently in the midst a three-day run of NYC shows (May 10th-12th). He performed his original guitar score to film Paint What You Remember at the Jewish Museum on the 10th. On the 11th, he performed the music of Tom Waits at the release party of book Lowside of the Road: A Life of Tom Waits at the Center. And his last gig is tonight, May 12th, at the Gershwin Hotel where Gary is playing the music of John Lennon at the Give Peace a Song Cabaret.

The guitarist's next big appearance is the 20th anniversary show for his psych-rock group Gods and Monsters which takes place on Thursday, June 11th at the Gramercy Theatre "with Ernie Brooks (Modern Lovers) bass, Billy Ficca (Television) drums, Jason Candler (Hungry March Band) alto sax, and Joe Hendel (The Latest Show on Earth) keyboards and trombone, with special guests including Alan Vega, Lenny Kaye, Peter Stampfel, Jon Spencer, and Dean Bowman". Tickets are on sale.

Lucas' YouTube channel is massively stocked with well-shot live footage of the guitarist in a number of musical settings. Clips of Lucas with Gods with Monsters at the Bowery Poetry Club in June 2008 are posted, along with all dates, below....

Continue reading "Gods & Monsters' 20th anniversary @ The Gramercy w/ guests ++ other Gary Lucas tour dates"

The Amygdaloids

The Rock-It Science Festival will bring together eight outstanding--and noted--scientists and academics who share a second career as musicians, along with six additional performers with international exposure and a great appreciation for science.

Dr. Joseph LeDoux conceived the idea for this unique event, which serves as the closing event for the Sensation to Emotion Conference on March 2 and 3. LeDoux is a professor of neuroscience at New York University who not only has pioneered study of the brain's mechanisms for emotion and memory and is the author of The Emotional Brain and The Synaptic Self, but is also guitarist and lead vocalists of rock band The Amygdaloids, who will be performing at Rock-It Science. The Amygdaloids line-up also includes three other NYU scientists: neuroscientist Daniela Schiller, PhD candidate Nina Galbraith Curley, and Environmental Sciences professor and author Tyler Volk.

The Rock-It Science Festival will start rockin' at 6:30 p.m. on March 3 at the Highline Ballroom, 431 W. 16th Street in New York. Australian Go-Go dancer and variety show star Anna Copa Cabanna will emcee the event, promising an interesting and humorous evening. Rufus Wainwright will highlight an evening that will also include musician, writer and record producer Lenny Kaye, who is the long-time collaborator of poet-rocker Patti Smith.

Other guest artists at Rock-It Science include Grammy-nominated songwriter and international recording artist Gary Lucas, and Peter Holsapple, an acclaimed musician, songwriter and side man who is co-leader of the legendary dBs, and has performed extensively with R.E.M. and Hootie & The Blowfish. American folk-rock duo The Kennedys, jazz/cabaret performer Pamela Luss, acclaimed songwriter Steve Wynn (of the Dream Syndicate and the Miracle Three), and Stuart Chatwood, previously the bassist and keyboard player for platinum rock band The Tea Party, also make the Rock-It Science lineup.

Rufus Wainwright performed in NJ on Friday, and has another NYC show coming up on March 4th.

Dee Snider was Santa this past Christmas.

The Db's are playing the R.E.M. tribute at Carnegie Hall in March.

More info on the Rock-It Science Festival below...

Continue reading "Rufus Wainwright, Dee Snider, NYU academics & others playing for science @ Highline Ballroom"

photos by Fresh Bread

Steve Earle and Allison Moorer played one of the first shows at the newly-opened City Winery in NYC on Thursday night (1/8). It wasn't just any show though. It was a "pairing"...

"Pairings is a unique 'blend' at City Winery: an intimate concert series served with fine wine that will take place on City Winery's main stage every Thursday evening, starting in January 2009. Each concert will be preceded by an optional tasting or private dinner, followed by personal performances from some of today's most respected musicians."

Venue owner Michael Dorf (of Knitting Factory fame) made an introduction, and then Steve Earle's set kicked off with "Christmas In Washington" which included a multiple minute story about Obama and the upcoming inauguration followed by "My Old Friend the Blues." The rest of his 90-or-so minute set was spattered with old ("Copperhead Road", "Jerusalem", "Guitar Town") and new ("Down Here Below", "Tennessee Blues", "Days Aren't Hard Enough").

Allison Moorer opened and then later joined her husband Steve on stage for some songs. Her set ended with a cover of Sam Cooke's "A Change Is Gonna Come" which had everyone cheering, when she said during the intro, "It is nice to have a new president that can...talk."

Earle also mentioned his next CD will be an album of all covers by his friend Townes Van Zandt (RIP) who his oldest son, Justin Townes Earle (also a musician), is named after.

More pictures of the performers and the venue below...

Continue reading "Steve Earle & Allison Moorer @ City Winery, NYC - pics"

"The movie has obligatory interviews with Thurston Moore (keeping his promise to be in every documentary ever), Mike Watt, Brian Poole (giving Athens bootleg lords a shout out!) and a coterie of other luminaries including....Noam Chomsky (!?!?!)." [Chunklet]

Continue reading "I Need That Record: The Death (or Possible Survival) of the Independent Record Store -documentary (videos)"