photos by Amanda Hatfield

"Just back from seeing Mark Eitzel at The Knitting Factory.
Intimate. Intense. Inspiring. - The Rockdoves

Mark Eitzel / Kathryn Calder

Mark Eitzel played between tour-mates Kathryn Calder and Himalayan Bear at Knitting Factory on Tuesday (12/6). Here are some pictures. They continue below...

Continue reading "Mark Eitzel, Kathryn Calder & Himalayan Bear @ Knitting Factory (pics)"

Mark Eitzel

"For The People Who Wonder if AMC is Touring

We are not.

During the reunion in 2005 it was good to play with these guys again - though we had changed a lot in a decade. We made a great record - still we didn't have a Bruce Kaphan or a Tom Mallon to keep the music focused and cohesive (I'm certainly not the one to do that when my own songs are involved.) We toured a bit, played one show in 2006 (at a Gap store) then I wanted to work more with Vudi and we put together a band in Los Angeles.

Fans want to see a band frozen in that time when the music meant something to them. A particular record, or a particular show that really knocked them out at the time. I do it too. I knew during the reunion AMC would not be the same group we were in 1991 - and that was tough. You want to give fans what they want (or at least I do) and its a bitch when things aren't the same. You just keep going - you just move on..."
[Mark Eitzel]

While American Music Club may be no more for now (they did tour in recent years though), you CAN catch frontman Mark Eitzel TWICE in the next couple days. TONIGHT (12/6) Eitzel will bless Knitting Factory with Kathryn Calder of The New Pornographers and Himalayan Bear. Tickets are still available. Tomorrow (12/7) he plays at Joe's Pub as part of the Happy Ending Music and Reading Series with Amanda Stern, Jesse Browner, and Walter Kirn.

Mark Eitzel's appearance at Joe's Pub is the early show at the venue, with The Barr Brothers headlining the later show, one of two scheduled for the band in NYC this week. They also play Union Pool on 12/8. All of their dates are listed below.

Kathryn Calder is currently on the road with Himalayan Bear in celebration of her new LP Bright and Vivid (out now). Check out a video for "Who Are You?" from Bright and Vivid below, alongside all tour dates...

Continue reading "(no American Music Club, but) Mark Eitzel is here, Kathryn Calder touring, Barr Brothers too"

photos by Chris La Putt

Blood Red Shoes @ MHOW

After Chris left the BV Loft Party all the way back on Friday, October 22nd, he headed over to Music Hall of Williamsburg for the Blue Flowers-presented CMJ showcase for a lineup of mostly UK bands including Chapel Club, Everything Everything, and Blood Red Shoes (who toured North America with Sky Larkin in October). Pictures from that show are in this post.

The occasion (to post these belated pics)? SXSW has already announced an initial lineup of bands playing in Austin from March 16-20, 2011, and Chapel Club is on that list (and I wouldn't be surprised of the other 2 mentioned bands end up coming too). Also on the list: Lia Ices, Braids, Asobi Seksu, Wye Oak, Suuns, Sun Airway, A Place to Bury Strangers and more. Full list under the rest of the MHOW pictures, below...

Continue reading "Chapel Club played CMJ w/ Everything Everything & Blood Red Shoes (pics), playing SXSW 2011 (intial lineup)"

by Andrew Frisicano

Mac and Britt embrace (Triangle Music)

The much anticipated XX Merge Festival took place last week in North Carolina with a five-day (July 22-July 26), Wednesday to Sunday run of shows. Last night (Sunday)'s show with She & Him, American Music Club and Wye Oak was the only fully announced lineup. The other four nights (and one day) were a grab bag of any number of Merge bands past and present. Did you go? What were the highlights?

Conor Oberst & the Mystic Valley Band, who recently played a pair of big NY shows, headlined the fest's first night (which also included Magnetic Fields). Superchunk, which features Merge founders Laura Ballance and Mac McCaughan, topped the bill of the second night. The third night included the reformed/reunited lineups of Spent, Polvo and Pipe.

Mac McCaughan came out on stage before [Pipe] instead of the night's emcee and announced that there was a lone protester outside. He invited him up on stage and it was Jon Wurster decked out in Phillies gear as Philly Boy Roy. He was holding a sign that said "Boycot MERGE." He complained that Merge didn't have any Philly bands on their roster and Mac said that they have bands from Jersey, which is close to Philly. You never compare Jersey to Philly in front of Philly Boy Roy. It was hilarious.

All of this led to the introduction of New Jersey punks Pipe. As soon as they kicked into their first song, beer cans and plastic bottles started flying. Frontman Ron Liberti ate it up and even put himself in the line of fire, headbutting some of the cans while kicking some back into the crowd. Liberti bounded around the stage, essentially taunting the crowd. The crowd loved the band's antics as did I (but that may have been different if I hadn't managed to stay dry). [triangle music]

You can see the partial setlist from Spoon, who headlined that night, below.

In addition to the Cat's Cradle shows (the venue for 4/5 of the night shows), Saturday featured a day show that included Julian Koster solo as Music Tapes and Mac McCaughan with violin accompaniment as Portastatic. A few videos from that set, below.

M. Ward, who's playing the Central Park Summerstage this Saturday (August 1st), played at the fest's Saturday night showcase. Zooey Deschanel joined him for a cover of the Beatles' "Birthday." Not too big of a surprise considering She & Him headlined the Sunday night show.

Other XX Merge artists who recently stopped in NYC include The Clientele and Richard Buckner (they played Music Hall of Williamsburg last Sunday), Versus and Superchunk (they played South Street Seaport last Friday), and Spent (they played Coco 66). Spoon didn't play a NYC show, but they were spotted in the audience of Paul McCartney's third of three shows at Citi Field in Queens. Destroyer is on his way up. He plays Bowery Ballroom on Thursday. Mark Eitzel (as American Music Club) played Le Poisson Rouge and Maxwell's before XX Merge, and now he's on his way back for a show at The Bell House.

Lineups for each night of XX Merge, with videos, and a bunch of setlists, below...

Continue reading "Merge celebrated their 20th w/ 5 days of shows in North Carolina (lineups, reviews, pics, video setlists...)"

Spent was an American Indie Rock band from Jersey City, New Jersey consisting of singer/guitarist John King, guitarist/occasional vocalist/keyboardist Annie Hayden, bassist/occasional vocalist Joe Weston and drummer Ed Radich.

Spent formed in the early 1990's in Jersey City, New Jersey. After releasing several EP's under various independent labels the band released their first full album. Songs of Drinking and Rebellion was released in March of 1995 on Merge Records, a indie label formed by Superchunk's Mac McCaughan and Laura Ballance and a band that Spent toured with extensively throughout their career. In September of 1996 the band released an Ep entitled Umbrella Wars, which included a cover of Joe Walsh's A Life of Illusion. Umbrella Wars served as a teaser for their next album released a month later in October of 1996 entitled A Seat Beneath the Chairs. In 1997 John King joined Superchunk lead guitarist Joe Wilbur in a side project called Humidifier releasing the album Nothing Changes on Link Records. On July 21, 1997 the band officially split. In 1999 their last song "(I'll Clean Up) The Mess That You Are" appeared on the 10 year anniversary album of Merge Records called Oh, Merge. The band never received much attention outside of the 90's indie rock world. [Wiki]

As previously noted, Spent are reuniting for the XX Merge Records festival happening in North Carolina in July, but first the band will play a single show, presumably as a warm-up for the festival, and it will take place at Coco66 in Brooklyn on June 29th. Also on the bill at that show is Heather Duby, whose credits include albums released by Sub Pop, Suicide Squeeze, and Sonic Boom.

Coco66 is killing it with the reunion booking lately. The Van Pelt just played a show there too.

Other bands playing XX Merge with upcoming NYC shows include Richard Buckner, The Clientele, Versus, Destroyer, Conor Oberst, Polvo, M Ward, and Mark Eitzel (as American Music Club).

Speaking of Mark Eitzel, his tour dates have actually been updated some since we last spoke. You can check them out below...

Continue reading "Spent playing NYC b4 XX Merge ++ updated Mark Eitzel dates "

XX Merge, the label's 20th anniversary festival taking place in Carrboro and Chapel Hill, NC from July 22nd to 26th, is nearly sold out. The only show with tickets still available is the July 26th closing gig with She & Him, American Music Club and Wye Oak.

Before and after that fest, American Music Club's Mark Eitzel has scheduled NYC-area shows billed as "Mark Eitzel plays American Music Club." He comes to Maxwell's Monday, July 20th and the Bell House on Wednesday, July 29th. Tickets to the Bell House, and tickets to the Maxwell's show are both now on sale.

UPDATE: Mark is also doing this same show on July 18th at Le Poisson Rouge, and tickets are also on sale for that.

A video of Eitzel performing AMC song "The Decibels & The Little Pills" at Noise Pop 2009, which took place earlier this year in his hometown of San Francisco, below...

Continue reading "Mark Eitzel as American Music Club twice in NYC + XX Merge"