by BBG

Glass Candy @ House of Vans

Man Man brought their own big top into town last night (8/4) at House of Vans, complete with balloons, neon, kazoos, $40 long-underwear, and over the top outfits as part of a one-off with Glass Candy and Crystal Antlers. Man Man's live show, which pretty much hasn't changed for as far back as I can remember, is basically a schtick-y circus on stage. And just like a five-year old coming off a cotton candy sugar-high at the circus, I was bored almost instantaneously. All of the members of Man Man are highly capable musicians (especially drummer Pow Pow), but their vaudevillian polka-funk is hardly enough to stick in the brain longer than the moment you walk out of the venue doors.

Supporting acts fared much better. Glass Candy, despite a live show that consisted of vocalist Ida No doing an impression that I'd equate with Karen O in a Jazzercise class, were definitely more interesting. The sugar-y electro-pop jems were fun and though the House of Vans sound system can be unforgiving, sounded great. First band Crystal Antlers' psych-pop was also rewarding, with the band performing their organ-heavy space-jams to a relatively modest crowd. Glass Candy was my favorite of the three, mostly due to my incoming familiarity with Crystal Antlers.

Catch Crystal Antlers at Glasslands on Saturday night (8/6), with Gary War, Team Robespierre, and Balkans. Tickets are still available. Tickets are also now on sale for the show Crystal Antlers are playing with WU LYF at Music Hall of Williamsburg.

More pictures from House of Vans are below.

Continue reading "Man Man, Glass Candy & Crystal Antlers played House of Vans (pics)"

If you don't want to go all the way out to Long Island and spend 200 dollars in the process to see soulful R&B (Jill Scott at Jones Beach), you can get your fix for free right here in NYC. As mentioned in What's Going on Thursday, Chrisette Michele (who Jill Scott has interviewed) plays a free show tonight (7/28) in Springfield Park.

For some more venerable musicians, who may have very well influenced artists like Chrisette and Jill, blues guitarist/singer Taj Majal plays a free show tonight (7/28) at World Financial Center and Motown vets Mary Wilson of The Supremes and The Spinners play for free at Seaside Summer Concert Series in Coney Island tonight (7/28).

As mentioned multiple times, including This Week in Indie, Metronomy play Hudson River Rocks tonight (7/28) with Class Actress and American Royalty.

Some pretty major free shows are also happening on Friday (7/29). And I'm not even talking about the free 3 Doors Down show or Journey show. They Might Be Giants are playing a free Williamsburg Waterfront show with Eugene Mirman and Kristen Schaal. Their show is one of few this summer before they head out on tour in support of their recently released album Join Us. You can also head over to House of Vans for the unreal lineup of Fucked Up, Cro-Mags, Screaming Females, and Pissed Jeans. We're also giving away VIP tickets to the show. Contest details HERE.

If you're trying to see free music on Saturday (7/30), I can't imagine why you would want to be anywhere other than the Mad Decent Block Party at South Street Seaport. The party will be headlined by Gang Gang Dance and also feature Zeds Dead, Claude VonStroke, BAIO (Vampire Weekend DJ set), The Hood Internet, Bosco Delrey, and PO PO. If you're into the block party, and specifically Chris Baio of Vampire Weekend's DJ set, you've got time afterwards to head over to Brooklyn Bowl and see a DJ set by another NYC indie band member Albert Hammond Jr. (of The Strokes). Doors are at 11 PM.

On Sunday (7/31), head back to the Seaport for the great lineup of The Raveonettes and Eternal Summers at Beekman Beer Garden .

If you don't make it to that show, you could check out the equally great JEFF the Brotherhood, Kingdom, and Friends free show at Rockaway Beach Boardwalk. RSVP required.

On Monday (8/1) , Surfer Blood play a free late show at Mercury Lounge.

On Tuesday (8/2), you can check out the oldest of old school hip hop at Summerstage with Sugarhill Gang. If you prefer reggae over hip hop, you might be in luck by heading over to City Winery for the Hudson Square Music and Wine Festival with CCB Reggae All-Stars.

On Wednesday (8/3), The Budos Band plays a free Summerstage show in Staten Island. You can also catch them tonight (7/28) at a not-free Rocks Off Concert Cruise. A-Trak also DJs on Wednesday (8/3) at the new Fool's Gold Store in Brooklyn. Summerscreen in McCarren Park is screening Clueless, and Zambri is performing.

Things in the free concert world pick up again on Thursday (8/4). It's been revealed that Mystery Night at Seaside Summer Concert Series will be 'The Queen of Soul' Aretha Franklin who just played Jones Beach (and who cancelled last time she was scheduled to play Coney Island). As awesome as that show will probably be, if something modern is more your style, House of Vans, who continue to bang out killer lineups, has Man Man, Glass Candy, and Crystal Antlers on the bill for Thursday's (8/4) show.

Also, don't forget that Summerstage and Celebrate Brooklyn are continuing to present free shows throughout the summer, including many this week.

Man Man at Metro (more by Grant Macallister)

As promised the July 29th free House of Vans show will feature sets by Fucked Up & Cro-Mags (who just played Bowery), but that has also expanded to include both Screaming Females and Pissed Jeans. RSVP is open for this mindblowing FREE show. Screaming Females also play a FREE show with Ted Leo this weekend.

The August 4th lineup has also been revealed and it is Man Man, Glass Candy, and Crystal Antlers. RSVP is also open for that free Brooklyn show.

Details on the final two shows at House of Vans, August 18th and 25th, are still forthcoming, but we hear Big Freedia is a strong possibility for one of them. Meanwhile catch Superchunk, Off! and Lemuria there on Thursday, July 14.

The new flyer and more Man Man, Glass Candy & Screaming Females dates below...

Continue reading "House of Vans announces more lineups (Man Man, Screaming Females, Pissed Jeans & Glass Candy included)"

photos by Grant Macallister

Man Man @ Metro, Chicago, IL - 5/24/2011

The Man Man / Shilpa Ray tour has been crossing the country thoughout May, and finally reaches Brooklyn for two shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg starting tonight (Tuesday, 5/31). Tickets are still available for the Wednesday show.

Man Man hit B.O.M.B. Fest over the weekend and are on the lineup of the Roots Picnic happening this upcoming weekend in Philly. A set of Man Man pictures from the Chicago show last week at Metro continues below...

Continue reading "Man Man & Shilpa Ray tour now in NYC, hit Chicago (pics)"

photos by Tim Griffin

Shilpa Ray and her Happy Hookers are now out on tour with Acid Mothers Temple and the Melting Paraiso UFO. That tour hits Knitting Factory in Brooklyn this evening (4/12), and tickets are actually still on sale. The tour ends at Red 7 in Austin later this month, but that doesn't mean a break for Shilpa who will continue on tour for a week before meeting up with Man Man who she'll then stay on the road with until June 3rd, two Brooklyn shows at Music Hall of Williamsburg included. Tickets for both of those are still on sale too.

Speaking of Austin, that's where Shilpa wowed a packed crowd on Barbarella's inside stage on Friday, March 18th at the free BV/KF/PR day party. An unpublished set of pictures from that show are in this post. They continue, with all dates, and a video, below...

Continue reading "Shilpa Ray on tour now w/ Acid Mothers Temple, touring w/ Man Man next (dates), played a BV party @ SXSW (pics)"

Man Man at Terminal 5 (more by Chris Gersbeck)

Man Man have announced more details about their new LP, Life Fantastic, out May 10 via Anti-. And the previously discussed tour in support of of their first album in 2+ years has expanded as well, with the band adding June 1 at Music Hall of Williamsburg. As previously discussed, they also play the same venue one day earlier (tickets are still on sale). Tickets for 6/1 go on AmEx presale at noon Wednesday (3/16) and regular sale on Friday.

Meanwhile Mister Heavenly, the band that features the incomparable Honus Honus of Man Man (and notable others) are down at SXSW, and they'll perform at the BrooklynVegan day party at Emo's on Wednesday (3/16) (noon - 6PM). Full lineup for the show with set times, as well as info on all NINE BrooklynVegan SXSW 2011 events, is HERE.

Man Man also have a SXSW show scheduled. All Man man tour dates and the Life Fantastic LP cover art and tracklist are below.

Continue reading "Man Man announce more LP details, add 2nd Brooklyn show (Mister Heavenly are down at SXSW NOW)"

Man Man at Terminal 5 in January (more by Chris Gersbeck )

Man Man have a checklist to share:

Checklist:
1) album recorded - check
2) album mixed - check
3) album mastered - check
4) album sequenced - check
5) rad artwork completed - check
6) vinyl artwork - check
7) artwork/music sent to production - pending
8) your hands and ears - pending

Coming along!!!

While we wait for that album, Man Man will hit the road. Not counting a one-off appearance at SXSW this month, they tour from the end of April through the beginning of June. Kicking off in North Carolina, the band will see California before looping back to the East Coast to play Music Hall of Williamsburg on May 31. Tickets go on AmEx presale Wednesday at noon, and regular sale on Friday. All tour dates and some recent video is below.

Continue reading "Man Man readying new album, touring (2011 dates)"

Full press release below...

Continue reading "Roots Picnic 2011 lineup announced"

Bonnaroo (June 9-12 in Manchester Tennessee) has announced the 2011 lineup (slightly early), and like the rumored Lollapalooza lineup, Eminem is among the headliners. Bonnaroo also has Grammy winners Arcade Fire and the Black Keys, in addition to Lil Wayne, Mumford & Sons, the Strokes, The Decemberists, Florence & the Machine, Girl Talk, Beirut (haven't seen them in a while), and many more. Full list below...

Continue reading "Bonnaroo 2011 lineup is here"

photos by Graeme Flegenheimer

Nick Thorburn & Michael Cera @ Lincoln Hall in Chicago

"Mister Heavenly, the newly formed band of Honus Honus, Joe Plummer, Nick Thorburn, and Michael Cera, took part in Tommorow Never Knows at Lincoln Hall [in Chicago on Friday night]... Mister Heavenly played around an hour, digging up songs nobody has ever heard, playing a few covers, including "Bad Man" by the Oblivians. For it being one of their first shows, it was really tight. A lot of these songs are really strong. The sound was great. The energy was there. They had fun, and it showed. A strong set for a young band of seasoned artists, with Michael Cera tipping up on one leg in his red hat. slapping a pick-less bass. They joked about cheese, told a few beginning to stories about snipers, got shit thrown at them." [Gonzo Chicago]

As mentioned, both Mister Heavenly's label (Sub Pop) and the venue they're playing in NYC tonight/Sunday (Bowery Ballroom) told me that Michael Cera would most likely not be there. Now that I know he played with them Friday night at Lincoln Hall in Chicago, I'm having trouble believing he won't be at the NYC show too. And considering Michael's name is not in any of the press materials or in the band's promo pictures, it just seems like some kind of big cover-up to downplay the biggest celebrity in the band which also contains members of Modest Mouse, Man Man and Islands. We'll find out soon enough (update: Bowery has since changed their story).

Tickets are still available for tonight's show. Sun Airway and Little Shalimar open and the show starts around 9pm, so Mister Heavenly will probably go on around 11pm. That gives you enough time to download (or stream) the two songs they're giving away (learn them before the show). Those songs and more pictures from Chicago below...

Continue reading "Mister Heavenly played Chicago (Michael Cera included), giving away 2 songs (MP3s, pics & a NYC show tonight)"

by Bill Pearis

DOWNLOAD: Fergus & Geronimo - Powerful Lovin' (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Final Club - Tragic World (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Final Club - Hot Gaze (MEDIAFIRE LINK - ZIP)
DOWNLOAD: Tyvek - Underwater To (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Tyvek - 4312 (MP3)

Gruff

Welcome to the first This Week in Indie of 2011. We are 12 days into this year and I have yet to see a show. If you add in the time before Christmas...this might be the longest I've gone without seeing live music in a long time. That drought will end for me this week, maybe tonight, but certainly tomorrow (1/13) as Gruff Rhys plays Rockwood Music Hall. I was a little worried this snow was to cancel his flight today, but he is currently on route to NYC as I write this.

Still no word as to who'll be releasing his new solo album, Hotel Shampoo, in the US but it seems likely someone will. Hopefully we'll get to hear a lot it live. As anyone whose seen him before -- either with Super Furry Animals or solo -- know, Gruff is an entertaining guy, who always puts extra effort into his shows. Highly recommended. Eleanor Friedberger of Fiery Furnaces opens. Show starts early -- 7:30.

I also just watched Separado!, the musical travelogue documentary about Gruff's quest to track down distant relative (and '70s caped troubadour) Rene Griffiths in Patagonia. Like Rhys himself, the film is charming, scruffy, funny and full of good songs. Still not released in America but you can order the UK DVD (if you have a region-free player or watch on a computer) or, if you live in Williamsburg, rent it from Videology.

Fergus & Geronimo

Fergus & Geronimo release their debut album, Unlearn, on Hardly Art next week, and are playing three shows this weekend in celebration: Friday (1/14) at Death By Audio (official official release party) with Final Club, Easter Vomit (ex Beets), new Captured Tracks signees Widowspeak, and Philadelphia's premiere surf band Dry Feet; Saturday (1/15) at Columbia University hangout The Ding Dong Lounge with Final Club; and Sunday (1/16) at Mercury Lounge with Tyvek. Xray Eyeballs and The Gaming Commission.

While it suffers from a slight case of identity crisis (droney psych, garagey rave-ups, organ-fueled soul), track-by-track Unlearn is a pretty solid record. Fergus & Geronimo are good at all the styles they dabble in. Check out "Powerful Lovin'" at the top of this post -- that shows off their soulful side. And while I haven't seen them play live in a year and a half, they were good then so I can only imagine they've gotten better.

Final Club

If your eyes didn't glaze over at the list of bands two paragraphs up, you may have noticed Final Club are playing with F&G twice this weekend. The two bands were Denton, TX neighbors before Fergus & Geronimo moved to Brooklyn late last summer. Final Club are here just for these shows. They are worth seeing in their own right: sneery, melodic indie rock with a tendency to lean on the tremolo bar which gives them a little Swervedriver vibe. Confident and loud.

You can check out "Tragic World" at the top of this post. And if you like that, you can download their Hot Gaze EP as well. Look out for their excellent debut album, Blank Entertainment, later this year. In addition to the two shows with Fergus & Geronimo, Final Club play a headlining gig at Death By Audio tomorrow night (1/13) with Bogan Dust, Clinical Trials and Laserdisc.

Tyvek @ BV-SXSW 2010 (more by Tim Griffin)

Also as mentioned above, Tyvek are in town this weekend. While many of their peers have moved on to mid-fi production, the Detroit band keep it live and murky on their new album, Nothing Fits. It also sounds as anxious, angry and alive as the rest of their material. In addition to the Mercury Lounge show on Sunday mentioned above, they play Saturday night (1/15) at Glasslands with The Beets, Eternal Summers, and Sweet Bulbs. That is a good show. Do note it starts early, 8PM for real, as the Soul Clap dance party starts at midnight. I'll be there.

I should mention that openers The Beets have a new album Stay Home that's just out on Captured Tracks. After last year's swell, cleanly produced "Locomotion" single, they too (like Tyvek) are back to the same intentionally shitty "production" of their first album. (Maybe slightly less shitty.) Which, again, doesn't hurt them at all. The Beets are good songwriters I think, and especially good lyricists. And maybe if they can ever get a drummer to stick around for more than a month they might go places. Or just stay home. There's also a new Beets single, "Time Brought Age," and both the LP and 7" feature the bands signature comic artwork courtesy Matt Volz.

Mister Heavenly

What else? Oh yeah, Mister Heavenly play Bowery Ballroom on Sunday (1/16) with Sun Airway and Little Shalimar. This extra super group just signed to Sub Pop, and the label would like you to know the band features Nick Diamonds (Islands/Unicorns), Honus Honus (Man Man) and Joe Plummer (Modest Mouse). Of course most of the press so far has been about the group's sometimes bassist who you may know from his non-musical day job. I don't mean the banana stand.

Going to see a band because there's a famous actor in it is usually a dumb reason to go (see Dogstar, 30 Seconds to Mars , 30 Odd Foot of Grunts, etc)... plus Mr. Cera is not an "official" member of the band and he may or may not be playing with them on Sunday (note that both the label and the venue told us they don't think Michael will be there). Luckily the rest of the band is known in their own right, so mabye you should go for that reason. Unfortunately there's no recorded music to hear yet, but their few shows so far have been well-documented on YouTube.

That's the main stuff. Here's a few shows, day-by-day, not covered above.

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 12

Nashville-via-Ohio band Mona -- one of the BBC's picks for Sound of 2011 -- invade NYC this weekend, starting tonight at Rock Shop. They also play Mercury Lounge on Thursday (1/13) (with Devin Therriault) and Union Pool on Saturday (1/15).

Given the abbreviation of this column you're reading, I would be remiss not to mention that The Twees play The Studio @ Webster Hall, a record release show for their just-released EP. They actually don't sound twee at all. I would say Strokes-esque pop would get you closer to a description.

Quirky, occasionally proggy, pop band Steel Phantoms at Bruar Falls.

more below...

Continue reading "Mister Heavenly, Gruff Rhys, Fergus & Geronimo, Final Club, Tyvek, The Beets & more in This Week in Indie "

DOWNLOAD: Middle Brother - Me Me Me (MP3)

As previously mentioned, Middle Brother is the alt-country supergroup consisting of Taylor Goldsmith of Dawes, John McCauley of Deer Tick, and Matthew Vasquez of Delta Spirit (each the frontman of their respective bands). As also mentioned, that group is releasing a self-titled album on March 1st. And now the first tour dates in support of that album have appeared.

Middle Brother AND Deer Tick AND Dawes (but not Delta Spirit even though Matt will be there as a member of Middle Brother) will each play a set at Music Hall of Williamsburg on March 5th, Bowery Ballroom on March 6th, and Theatre of Living Arts in Philly on March 9th. All three shows go on sale Friday at noon (worth noting: Deer Tick, Dawes and Delta Spirit have all headlined their own shows at Webster Hall already).

Middle Brother will also play the Ground Control Touring SXSW showcase at Auditorium Shores in Austin on Saturday, March 19th with Bright Eyes, the Felice Brothers and Man Man. Stay tuned for more dates.

MEANWHILE, catch John McCauley on his solo tour with The Shivers that kicks off January 14th in Boston, and catch Middle Brother contributor Jonny Corndawg at one of his upcoming shows too. Some of those Corndawg dates are with Dawes this month. All Dawes dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Middle Brother touring w/ Deer Tick & Dawes (select dates announced - NYC & SXSW included)"

photos by Chris Gersbeck

Eugene Hutz has restless continent syndrome. The Ukrainian Gypsy musician, whose Gogol Bordello played the first of two sold-out nights at the 9:30 Club on Thursday, arrived in New York in the 1990s but just couldn't stay. He now lives in Brazil and is usually on the road with his voraciously eclectic band...

The group opened with one of several internationalist anthems, "Tribal Connection,'' a folkie rabble-rouser with a reggae beat, a hip-hop interlude and Slavic violin and accordion accents. As the 95-minute show continued, stylistic shifts occurred roughly as often as the musicians switched instruments or rushed to another part of the stage... Gogol Bordello's style is descended from the Clash's "Sandinista'' and Franco-Spanish cult band Mano Negra, and shares those predecessors' political outlook. -[The Washington Post]

Gogol Bordello and Man Man played two nights at 9:30 Club in Washington DC, Dec 30th and Dec 31st, before scooting to NYC to team up with Endless Boogie to play the first show of 2011 at Terminal 5. The celebration continued at an afterparty at Studio 21 in Chelsea later Saturday night.

The show was the second of three in a row for Endless Boogie, who spent their New Year's Eve at Lit Lounge, and last night (1/2) at the LES bar Max Fish which is scheduled to close down at the end of January. More pictures from Terminal 5, as well as some video and Gogol's setlist, are below. ..

Continue reading "Gogol Bordello, Man Man & Endless Boogie kicked off the new year @ Terminal 5 (pics, video, setlist)"

Passion Pit @ Wellmont Theater - 12/30/10 (el_jong)

Man Man have replaced Slick Rick as the Passion Pit opener at Wellmont Theater tonight (New Years Eve). Titus Andronicus opened the show for Passion Pit at the same venue last night, and will headline their own New Years Eve show tonight, but not at Ridgewood Masonic Temple:

====| NEW YEARS EVE @ 285 KENT AVE |====

:: TITUS ANDRONICUS
:::: REAL ESTATE
:::::: Andrew Cedermark
:::::::: Julian Lynch

| 285 KENT AVE | -------- note: NEW VENUE!
285 Kent Ave @ S 1st St | Williamsburg, Brooklyn L-Bedford, JM-Marcy | 8pm | all ages | $15 adv, $16 @ door | no phone

ADVANCE TICKETS ON SALE NOW - just a few left!
@ DESERT ISLAND BOOKS UPDATE: Sold out
540 Metropolitan Ave @ Union Ave | 718.388.5087 Mon-Sat 12-9pm, Sun 12-7pm | $1 service charge

Man Man also open for Gogol Bordello at Terminal 5 on New Years Day. Julian Lynch also headlines Music Hall of Williamsburg on January 7th.

A shaky video from last night's Passion Pit show, below...

Continue reading "Titus Andronicus at a new venue for New Years Eve, opened for Passion Pit at Wellmont (like Man Man now does tonight)"

photos by Tim Griffin

The Dwarves

Appreciative crowds turned up at all four [Fun Fun Fun Fest] stages [this past weekend], and the festival's vaunted circus atmosphere was out in force -- with plenty of traffic at the mechanical bull, the Eurobungy, the skate ramps and the arcade games set to free play. After a few weeks with unexpected, last-minute cancellations and other problems, Moody said the organizers were able to breathe a sigh of relief.

"All the snafus [like Devo cancelling] happened before the fest. We don't have a record of great luck, you know? Whether it be weather or bands or whatever," said Moody. "So when that kind of thing starts happening you start to wonder, 'Oh (expletive), is this gonna be another year with some weird curveball?' We were just hoping it wasn't a run of bad luck and it wasn't. We got a little bad luck before the festival but all kinds of good luck at the festival."

Even the dust cloud had a silver lining.

"We love the dust this year, because at least it's not raining," Moody said. "We hated the dust when it first happened a few years ago, but after it rained last year we were like 'Bring on the dust!'" [Austin 360]

The 2010 edition of Fun Fun Fun Fest, complete with constant dust in the air (a few smart people wore masks or bandanas over their face), is now over (and it's true, the dust is a bit uncomfortable, but the mud and rain last year was worse).

You saw pictures from Friday night, and the first half of Tim's shots from Saturday (11/6). Here are the rest of that day (with more coming soon). They continue below...

Continue reading "Fun Fun Fun Fest 2010 - Day Two in pics (part 2) - Cap'n Jazz, Dwarves, MGMT, Dirty Projectors, GWAR, Delorean & more"

by BBG

Gogol Bordello at Williamsburg Waterfront (more by Benjamin Lozovsky)

I don't know about you, but a good number of my New Year's Days are spent crouching over the porcelain throne or zombified in front of the tube. If you're not an idiot like I am, or want to make advance plans to curb said party tendencies, Terminal 5 will throw a circus of sorts to get you into the spirit on the first day of the new year. The gypsy punks of Gogol Bordello will team up with wildmen in Man Man for a show on 1/1/11 at the NYC venue. Tickets go on sale Friday (10/29) at noon, or you can nab them during the AMEX presale which kicks off Wednesday (10/27) at 11AM. Tickets on fan presale now.

The show is one of two on the sked for Man Man, who will also appear at Fun Fun Fun Fest in Austin next weekend (Nov 5th - 7th) with Devo, Municipal Waste, Deerhunter, Dirty Projectors, RJD2, Snapcase, and countless others. Tickets are still available.

Gogol Bordello are currently touring through the midwest, and will take a couple weeks off to jet to Europe for a month around Thanksgiving. The NYC show is one of only three east coast dates scheduled for the band at the moment, and nothing has been announced for New Years Eve (which is the date they played T5 in 2007. Last year they played multiple pre-New Years Eve shows at Webster Hall) Their current tour also included a recent stop to Jay Leno. Video from that and all tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Gogol Bordello announces New Years Day show & other dates"

photos by Angelina Castillo, words by Andrew Frisicano

Man Man

Yeasayer, Man Man and The Antlers played a free show at Ithaca College on Friday, May 7th. The show was on a field in the middle of campus, and was advertised as students only but ending up being open to anyone. The opener was Zgress and Snack Attack, a local spazzy piano-pop group who previously won a battle of the bands.

Thanks to Angelina Castillo, who took these pictures and writes: Man Man played mostly new songs, and they all sounded totally nuts and awesome. Yeasayer and Antlers both killed it as well, and you could tell Antlers made a lot of converts. Yeasayer split the set pretty even between All Hour Cymbals and Odd Blood, but the AHC songs were definitely the crowd pleasers. Except for "Ambling Alp." People went fucking nuts for "Ambling Alp." Great singalong song. The whole shebang was put on by IC (more specifically the Bureau of Concerts) for an end-of year festival. BOC also brought Dan Deacon, Mountain Goats, Black Joe Lewis and others this year. Most all the bands went out into the field and ate/talked with the crowd afterwards. Ryan Kattner of Man Man [aka Honus Honus] was a total doll, and was seen sweeping many a college chick into his arms for photo ops.

The Antlers tour Europe this May and play with Phantogram and the National in North America afterwards (including the National's Radio City show). They also play NYC's Pier 54-Hudson River Park on July 22nd

Yeasayer just played NYC - they'll be back for a Governors Island show on June 5th. Man Man's short tour runs through the week, but doesn't visit NYC.

More pictures are below...

Continue reading "Yeasayer, Man Man & The Antlers played a free show in Ithaca, NY (pics)"

Man Man @ Rothbury Fest '09 (more by Graeme Flegenheimer)

NYU's E&L Auditorium will host Atlas Sound, Neon Indian and Sister tonight (2/4). The very cheap show sold out to students in advance. A video from the Atlas Sound (aka Bradford Cox) show last night (2/3) at at the Bell House is below.

Other upcoming shows at NYU include the previously mentioned March 11th Shrinebuilder gig, and a not-yet-mentioned Man Man, Javelin and Born Ruffians show one week earlier, on Thursday March 4th. Tickets for that and Shrinebuilder are still to come.

For Born Ruffians the NYU show is a NYC pitstop before they continue on to SXSW, and it's one of only a few shows on Man Man's schedule - they go on to play Philly the next night and Lancaster, PA, after that.

Javelin (not to be confused with Javelina) on the other hand have many upcoming dates including a bunch of shows with Yeasayer. That includes the sold out February 9th show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. Sleigh Bells pick up opening duties in the spring.

Javelin's debut LP, "No Mas", will be released by Luaka Bop on April 20th. Tracklising with all dates and that video below...

Continue reading "Javelin releasing album on Luaka Bop, touring w/ Yeasayer, playing NYU w/ Man Man & Born Ruffians (2010 dates)"

Brent at work (at Pop Montreal) (run comrade)

Pop Montreal kicked off last night (9/30). It's not too late to drop everything and take a car over the border. I haven't been in a few years, but non-stop show hopping in a great foreign (but so close) city was a great experience. Plus, if you get there by tonight (10/1), you can check out the BrooklynVegan showcase featuring Micachu & The Shapes, Clues & Slim Twig! Other highlights of tonight include Think About Life, Fever Ray (who just completed a two-night run at Webster Hall), Mono (who also just played two NYC shows), Screaming Females (who are on tour and played Death by Audio Saturday), Loudon Wainwright III (who just had his family join him for a show at Highline Ballroom), Butthole Surfers (also on tour), The Intelligence (recently in NYC), and Sister Suvi (played Sycamore on Tuesday).

Last night's Pop Montreal schedule highlights included sets by Amy Millan (touring to NYC soon), Matt & Kim (playing a Halloween show with Weezer), The Phenomenal Handclap Band, and Jay Reatard...

"Usually arriving 20 minutes late to a Pop Montreal show makes you right on time. But I biked up to La Sala Rossa near 1 a.m. Thursday morning to find a crowd spilling into the street. Not a good sign. "Is it over?" I asked some friends, referring to Memphis punk upstart Jay Reatard's 12:30 set. Yup, came the reply. "Did he start early?" Nope. "But it was proper," said Ninja Tune's Jeff Waye. "Twenty-minute set - there's not many bands I want to see for more than 20 minutes."" [The Gazette]

To be more specific, last night's Jay Reatard show in Canada was the third stop on Jay's Shattered Records tour. The fourth stop on the tour is TONIGHT (10/1) at Le Poisson Rouge in NYC (11pm doors). Also on the bill (last night and tonight) are Shattered Records artists Nobunny, Hunx & His Punx, Box Elders, and Useless Eaters. All dates and the tour poster below.

The Phenomenal Handclap Band (pictured to the right) were set to play with Man Man and Brazilian Girls at The Beach on Governors Island Friday night (10/2), but that show has been canceled.

Shows in NY and Boston cancelled!!
This is really sad for us to announce, but the shows in NY and in Boston, OCt 2nd and 6th had to be cancelled, due to immigration issues. its a real drag, but we promise we'll play there soon, trying to make it before the end of the year.

we'll keep you posted. - Brazilian Girls

Immigration issues?

The Phenomenal Handclap Band are still opening for Chromeo at Irving Plaza on October 16th though, and they just announced their first big headlining show. It's December 11th at Bowery Ballroom, and tickets are now on AmEx presale with general sale beginning Friday at noon. No openers are listed yet. All dates below.

Meanwhile, Bruce Springsteen kicked off his five-night run at Giants Stadium last night. It was one of two shows that he'll perform the entire "Born to Run" album at.

A good night of Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band for the first of five shows at Giants Stadium on Wednesday night. A 29-song show that lasted 3 hours and 14 minutes, one of the longest shows timewise of this tour.

It was nice to have the show start off with a new song. I believe it's the first time Bruce has played a unreleased song (not including Working On A Dream which he played at a political rally last year) since debuting "Long Walk Home" with the Sessions Band in London in November of 2006.

Of course the highlight of the evening was hearing the entire "Born To Run" album from start to finish as well as a classic 1978-style story in the middle of "Growin' Up." [Star Ledger]

Willie Nile came out and joined the band for a few songs during the encore. The tour continues Friday night when the E Street Band will play all of "Darkness on the Edge of Town". If you're going consider all transportation options. Video of the now-60 Bruce Springsteen discussing the birthday-related story (nightmare) in the middle of "Growin' Up", and other videos, below...

Continue reading "Pop Montreal (now), Bruce Springsteen (setlist), Man Man (canceled), Phenomenal Handclap Band, Jay Reatard (tonight)"

view coming back from Governors Island (more by Chris La Putt)

Man Man's last NYC show was free and near water. Man Man's next show will also be near water. They open, along with The Phenomenal Handclap Band, for Brazilian Girls at the Beach on Governors Island on October 2nd. Tickets go on sale Friday at noon.

Erykah Badu and Janelle Monae played Governors Island on August 4th. N.E.R.D and Mos Def also have shows coming up there in the future.

Man Man has no other upcoming shows scheduled at the moment, but the Handclap Band can also be found opening for Friendly Fires at Le Poisson Rouge tonight (August 12th). Friendly Fires also play MHOW in Brooklyn tomorrow (August 13) with the xx. FF played Lollapalooza over the weekend...

"While their set inspired the crowd to dance, the band left behind the electronics and opted for a jazz backing, which included trumpet and sax. It was far from what I expected, but in the best way possible. Vocalist Ed Macfarlane danced until he looked close to passing out. He ran along the fence, ramped up fans, jumped until his legs seemed ready to give out and poured his heart and body into a set that quite honestly, it was entirely too hot to be performing. Friendly Fires were a brilliant start to the closing day of Lolla, and I was eager for the remainder of the afternoon and evening." [Chicagoist]

More FF dates HERE. Videos from Lollapalooza, and some of the Handclap Band playing inside the Diesel store, below...

Continue reading "Man Man, Phenomenal Handclap Band, Brazilian Girls, Governors Island, Friendly Fires, Lolla, Diesel & more "

Alec Ounsworth to Pitchfork: That's precisely the confusion with this [ANTI solo] record. I actually have another project right now called Flashy Python that's more about me trying to erect some grand statement [laughs]. Not to say the Alec Ounsworth record or Clap Your Hands aren't personal statements. But the Alec Ounsworth record was me going down to New Orleans for a short period of time and trying to piece something together based on a collection of mostly old songs. I figured this would be a good opportunity to purge myself of those songs in a very precise and particular setting.

Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Alec Ounsworth is releasing a solo album on ANTI-Records on October 20th. That was to be his solo debut until this even newer one came along which is available as an instant download now, although maybe since it's actually considered a Flashy Python (his long-time alter ego) record, and not an Alec Ounsworth one, it doesn't count.

The Flashy Python record includes contributions from members of the Walkmen (Matt Barrick the drummer), Dr. Dog (Toby Leaman and Scott McMicken), and Man Man (Billy Dufala). Alec's wife also plays some trumpet. He plays just about everything. Grab one track below...

Continue reading "an Alec Ounsworth solo record is out NOW (not the ANTI one)"

photos by Graeme Flegenheimer

"It took Patricia Mudnich and Joshua Garcia two weeks, driving their RV about 3,100 miles in a winding route from Santa Cruz, Calif., to arrive at the Rothbury music festival in West Michigan.

Cool weather and a short wait in line after the campground opened Thursday morning didn't faze them in the least. The diehard fans of The String Cheese Incident -- the popular jam band which plays its only reunion show of the summer at the second-year festival Friday -- were all smiles.

"The lineup was so impressive, we could not turn it down," said Mudnich, 41, a high school English teacher who estimated the couple spent more than $2,100 on the long trip, including festival tickets, gasoline and side trips to tourist spots such as Yellowstone National Park and Mount Rushmore. "I used to go to these festivals all the time, but now I can only fit it into the summer."

For devoted rock fans flocking this week to the remote Double JJ Ranch from far-flung places across the United States and beyond, Rothbury has become THE summer destination.

Drawing an estimated 30,000-plus people again this year, many of the festival's devotees have logged impressive road and air miles to see their favorite bands -- from The Dead to STS9 -- with clusters of enthusiastic, colorfully adorned fans making the journey from Vermont, Florida, Texas, Nevada, Colorado and all points between in everything from compact cars and pickups to dilapidated Volkwagen vans and old school buses." [Mlive.com]

Rothbury happened July 2-5. Here are some (NSFW) pictures & videos...

Continue reading "pictures from the 2009 Rothbury Festival (NSFW)"

Man Man in the band shell along the East River in NYC - 7/16/09 (photo by Blind Billy)

"hahah, the people there WERE hilarious. hippies indeed.

man man were fucking savage though. what an incredible live act. who needs to even listen to their recorded stuff when their live show trumps it that hard." [Anonymous | July 17, 2009 12:42]

Man Man played a free show in East River Park (the Manhattan one) last night (7/16). Video from the show below...

Continue reading "Man Man played a free show in East River Park - pics & video"

Man Man @ ACL 2008 (more by Kyle Dean Reinford)

free shows @ East River Park in 2009
At the Band Shell along the East River in NYC
Between Grand & Jackson Sts.

Thursday, July 16th: Man Man
Thursday, July 23rd: Slick Rick
Thursday, July 30th: Ismael Miranda

All Man Man tour dates below...

Continue reading "free shows in East River Park & other MAN MAN tour dates"

photos by Zach Dilgard

Cursive went ahead and announced a whole bunch more tour dates since last week - many with Man Man. They also played Bowery Ballroom in NYC last week. Pictures from that show and all dates below...

Continue reading "Cursive Bowery Ballroom pics, updated 2009 Tour Dates"