Nada Surf @ REBEL NYC (pre-CMJ) (more by David Andrako)

I've said it before, I'll say it again. Where there is a cause, there is Nada Surf. In addition to the acoustic set they're playing at The Rock Shop on December 14th to benefit Little Kids Rock (tickets are on sale), you can catch Nada Surf back at Mercury Lounge on December 15th to benefit Transportation Alternatives. Bambi Kino (who also play the annual Maxwell's Holiday Party on December 13th) and "Musicband" are also playing the Manhattan show which goes on sale today, 11/3, at noon.

Nada Surf's only other upcoming date(s) is aboard The Rock Boat which is probably not a boat you want to be on, though the organizers claim, "Sailing January 6-10, 2011 from Tampa on the Carnival Inspiration, The Rock Boat XI will go down in history as the greatest musical adventure of all time."

During CMJ, Nada Surf made three live appearances. One was an acoustic performance at "Levi's Workshop", one was the pre-CMJ Syndicate party (pictured above), and one was their main CMJ showcase which took place that Friday night at Mercury Lounge (one of the harder official CMJ shows to get into unless you had an advanced ticket- lines were down the block). We didn't have anyone at Mercury Lounge to review or take pictures, though Chris did stop by the same show earlier in the evening to catch Ume.

Two videos from the Levi's thing, below...

Continue reading "Nada Surf played Mercury Lounge, playing Mercury Lounge"

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Rachel Kowal

Frank Bruno & John Darnielle (the Extra Lens)

By the time I got to the Extra Lens show at the Mercury Lounge, I had missed John Vaderslice (luckily NYC Taper taped it) and the room was so packed that I had to stand a few inches away from the door. The view may have been terrible, but the sound was anything but. Finally. After the show at The Woods, it was a nice change of pace to see a band who was actually completely comfortable and confident with performing. I must confess I never got into the Mountain Goats (sorry to offend), but I was taken by the Extra Lens and in particular, by John Darnielle. What a charming man. I'm pretty sure he could have instructed the room to do calisthenics, and they would have obliged him. Darnielle and Bruno were so personable between songs. To the delight of the crowd, Darnielle stepped off stage and marched all the way to the back of the room to sing for their pseudo-encore. It seemed kind of odd that they were playing in such a small space, but I guess those Merge bands just likes to keep things intimate, and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

John Vanderslice's only other CMJ show was our Friday day party at Public Assembly. The Extra Lens only also played a KEXP session. More pictures from Mercury Lounge, where Dan Mangan who also played our loft party also played, below...

Continue reading "The Extra Lens, John Vanderslice & Dan Mangan played Mercury Lounge (CMJ pics) "

photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

""Hello. How is everybody?" Van Etten asked, shyly. "I'm excited to play these songs with my band, but first I'm going to play one by myself." She picked up her guitar and began her set with "A Crime," the first song off her latest album. When she had finished, she quickly welcomed three musicians to the stage. "This is my new band." She stood in silence, tuning her guitar for a few moments, but upon realizing how quiet the room was, she nervously admitted that she sill didn't quite have a handle on the impromptu stage banter." [Sonic Smorgasbord]

If you missed both Friday and Saturday's shows, then make sure and check out Van Etten in Ithaca Saturday (10/16), at Bruar Falls during CMJ for the Chouette day party (10/20), or at any of her upcoming dates in a city near you.

More pictures of Sharon Van Etten and Kyp Malone are below...

Continue reading "Sharon Van Etten & Kyp Malone played Mercury Lounge (pics) "

Friday night in NYC (pic by feralcatpro)

Nylon says that the "Yeah Yeah Yeahs after party at 75 Clarkson = best dance party in months. Spotted: Karen O, Mary Kate, Lissie Trullie, Charlotte Ronson". 75 Clarkson Street is the address of the Mystique Gentleman's Club by the West Side Highway. "Franco V" was the DJ. Liz Feralcat took the above picture at the Friday night after-party which was a continuation of the Brooklyn band's 10th anniversary celebration that started two days earlier at Monster Island. There was a "Happy Birthday" banner on the stage of the private show that happened at Mercury Lounge earlier, before the after party...

Continue reading "Yeah Yeah Yeahs partied at a strip club after Mercury Lounge"

Nick Zinner @ Monster Island - Sept 22, 2010 (by Jenn Pelly)

As NME reports:

Following the finale of 'Y Control' [at Monster Island Basement last night], the [Yeah Yeah Yeahs] returned with a rare run through 'Modern Romance'. The singer also added to the celebratory feel of the evening by showering the front row with confetti, before saluting the crowd by declaring: "It's fucked up how sweet you guys are!"

This show follows another secret performance at Manhattan's Don Hills venue last week - Yeah Yeah Yeahs are due to continue their low-key tour of their hometown's smallest venues with a strongly rumoured show for friends and family, believed to be taking place at the Mercury Lounge on Friday (September 24).

Continue reading "Yeah Yeah Yeahs playing a private show @ Mercury Lounge (and here are some videos from last night)"

photos by Gabi Porter

"Came home soaked in beer glitter sweat and smelling like Tim Harringtons arm pit the girl thought strip club nope Les Savy Fav record launch" -JasonFerguson

"glitter & purple spandex & the sweat descends & awesomeness. les savy fav nails it every time." -madeleinepascal

"Thanks to @IAMBEARDO I am covered in glitter for my commute. Another excellent Les Savy Fav experience". -TimDuffy

Tim, Syd & Harrison @ Mercury Lounge Wednesday night

If I didn't head to Brooklyn Masonic Temple last night (9/8) to catch Sleep, without a doubt I would have been at Mercury Lounge to catch the great Les Savy Fav. The show, a release party for the band's new LP Root for Ruin (out now on digital, and avail in hard formats on Tues, 9/14), featured the (anything but) normal antics of vocalist Tim Harrington (who recently played the last-ever(?) pool party) and from the looks of it, the OMGs and ROFLs were bountiful. The band focused heavily on the new record, but threw in old classics like 'Who Rocks the Party' & 'The Sweat Descends' as well. -BBG

Speaking of ROFLs, comedian Matt McCarthy opened the show which just made it a funny past week in general for LSF guitarist and Frenchkiss label-boss Syd Butler who also curated the lineup of comedians that played ATP NY Friday night.

Oh and speaking of comedians, Stereogum sister-site Videogum is hosting the festivities at The Bell House in Brooklyn TONIGHT (9/9). Laugh your way into the Jewish New Year with free comedy by Max Silvestri, Joe Mande, Gabe Liedman, John Mulaney, Jon Glaser & more (8pm doors).

Speaking of Frenchkiss, one of their new signings, Young Man, who are opening the BrooklynVegan CMJ showcase this year, released a Daytrotter session you can grab today.

More pictures and video from the Mercury Lounge show are below....

Continue reading "Les Savy Fav played Mercury Lounge (pics & video), Young Man did Daytrotter (MP3s), Videogum in Brooklyn (tonight)"

photos by Ryan Barkan, words by Bill Pearis

Twin Sister @ Mercury Lounge

Twin Sister have had a pretty good 2010 so far: a critically-lauded EP, tours with Bear in Heaven and MemoryHouse. The band will be hitting the road again soon. After playing the 2010 Pop Montreal fest, Twin Sister will head out for an extensive tour with The Morning Benders. At different points along the way,  Cults, Oberhoferand Holiday Shores will also be joining the tour. It hits Webster Hall on November 18. Tickets are still on sale.

Oberhofer, who also opened for Twin Sister at Mercury Lounge recently, opens the Webster Hall show. We posted pictures of Oberhofer from that show, but not the Twin Sister ones. Here they are.

But before that Twin Sister are playing this Friday (9/10) at Bruar Falls as part of a pretty great bill that includes soon-to-be tourmates Holiday Shores, plus Ava Luna and Chicago's Distractions. You might want to get there early for that one.

New videos for Twin Sister's "Galaxy Plateau" and Morning Benders' "All Day Daylight"  are below, along with all Twin Sister tour dates and more pictures from Mercury Lounge...

Continue reading "Twin Sister playing Bruar Falls before touring w/ Morning Benders (tour dates, new videos, live pics & more) "

photos by Amanda Hatfield, words by Rachel Kowal

Lost in the Tree's Ari Picker

The stage at the Mercury Lounge may be modestly sized, but that didn't stop the venue from packing in the performers. Between the two bands that played at the early show Monday night, 13 people performed, many wielding large instruments.

First up was the folk/Americana six-piece, The Loom. Though the band hails from New York, they sound nothing like your typical Brooklyn band - and that's not a bad thing. Absent are any signs of distortion, reverb, or prefab beats. Much like the headlining act, The Loom is characterized by complementary male/female vocals, lush instrumentation, and well-placed hand claps.

With so many people in the band and such a wide array of instruments (banjo, trumpet, keyboard, French horn, ukulele), The Loom's musical interludes were a bit hectic at times, but eventually, everything would come together to create a rich tapestry of sound that showcased both the individual musicians and their project as a whole.

Soon after The Loom had concluded their set with a couple of newer songs, the members of Lost In The Trees began scrambling around on the stage and stringing around chords in preparation for their show. Then, suddenly, music began to cut through the din of the crowd. The band members onstage stood at the ready and looked into the crowd expectantly. I turned around and pinpointed the source of the music - the tuba and French horn players were working their way to the stage from the back of the room.

The band kicked off their set with the first two songs from their recently released album, All Alone in an Empty House. In contrast to The Loom's largely hopeful lyrics, Lost in the Trees specializes in creating hauntingly beautiful orchestral pieces that feature lyrics about going crazy, burying babies, making mistakes, and feeling lonely.

Considering the fact that they had driven all the way from their home of North Carolina just that morning, the seven members of Lost in the Trees had a surprising amount of energy. Thanks to the jaunty, haunted house-esque string introduction and major tonal shift, the song "Tall Trees" was particularly moving - if not a bit creepy.

"I started listening to classical music in 2005. It was an interesting experience. I started getting a feeling like I was in church or something. It was a mind-opening experience," singer/composer Ari Picker confessed by way of explaining his intense emotional investment in his band's music. Throughout the set, Picker danced on tiptoes as he played, pausing every now and then to kneel on the ground, his head bowed in concentration.

As he introduced their final song, Picker turned to the crowd. "Do you guys want to do a sing-a-long song? I'll teach it to you and you'll sing it. It will be like a Flaming Lips concert," he joked. "And we'll play it on the ground for you."

The band unplugged their instruments, hopped off the stage, and played a stirring rendition of "Time Taunts Me." From his spot in the middle of the floor, Ari lead the crowd in a beautiful sing-a-long with the ardor of a street corner evangelist desperate to save souls. I, for one, left the room a convert.

More pictures from the Mercury Lounge show, below...

Continue reading "Lost in the Trees & The Loom played Mercury Lounge (pics)"

photos by Andrew Frisicano

Les Savy Fav's new album "Root For Ruin" is out now, but only via iTunes (more about that from Tim Harrington in the video below). Want to listen before you buy? You can do that over at Spinner. On August 24th you can buy the MP3s at all other fine digital establishments, and the record's physical CD/LP release date is September 14th via Frenchkiss Records. Cover art above.

Six days before that, September 8th, the band will play an intimate release show at Mercury Lounge in NYC (Doors: 9:30). Tickets will cost you $15 (on sale on Ticketmaster Friday), but you can also get a free ticket if you pre-order "Root For Ruins" at Other Music (for a limited time and while tickets last). We also have two pair you can try to win.

Contest details, a set of pictures from NXNE where Les Savy Fav played a late-night Scion-sponsored show at Wrongbar with Best Coast, and more, below...

Continue reading "Les Savy Fav playing intimate NY release show (win tix, stream album, buy @ iTunes, check out some NXNE pics, more)"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

"The Love Language put on a hell of a show at Mercury Lounge. Looking forward to seeing them again sometime." - Joe Saturday

DOWNLOAD: ARMS - Heat & Hot Water (Pepper Rabbit redux) (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: The Love Language - Heart to Tell (MP3)

The Love Language @ Mercury Lounge

The Love Language headlined what was their record release show at Mercury Lounge in NYC last night (7/15). "Libraries" is out on Merge Records now. Opening for the North Carolina band were current Brooklyn resident (ex-North Carolina resident) Nightdogs (being billed as Tim Poovy), Silver Lake's Pepper Rabbit (Amanda's surprise hit act of the night), and ARMS (who you should know fairly well by now).

ARMS and Pepper Rabbit may have seemed randomly placed on the same bill, but in fact they go way back. Well, maybe not way back but Pepper Rabbit remixed ARMS' song "Heat and Hot Water" sometime before last night, and you can grab it for free for the first time ever right now above.

Pepper Rabbit are currently on tour with Candy Claws who they played Glasslands with one night earlier. More pictures from the Mercury Lounge show below...

Continue reading "The Love Language played an album release show @ Mercury Lounge (pics), Pepper Rabbit remixed Arms (MP3)"

Genghis Tron @ Coachella 2009 (more by Darren Kim)

All My Children video at Gawker. Genghis Tron video below...

Continue reading "WTF: ditzy girl knows Genghis Tron (?!) who gets boy gigs @ Mercury Lounge & Knitting Factory (today on All My Children)"

"One top-floor resident said he was fixing a window in his apartment about 5:30 p.m. when he looked outside and saw people on the sidewalk pointing toward the roof.

The man, who identified himself only as a bar owner named Trigger, said he ran out into the hall and saw the doorway leading to the roof consumed by flames. There are about four other apartments on the top floor.

"I was pounding on the doors," he said. "I don't know what I lost, but I'm just happy to be alive."" [NY TIMES]

Continue reading "Trigger (and everyone) safe after East Village fire"

photos by David Andrako

Eli "Paperboy" Reed has been busy touring through most of May and June (in support of his new album). On June 3rd he played a NYC show at Mercury Lounge. Tonight, June 19th, he plays another NYC show - this time at the Bell House in Brooklyn. Tickets are still on sale. More pictures and (a picture of) the setlist from Mercury Lounge, with a few more dates, below...

Continue reading "Eli Paperboy Reed played Mercury Lounge (pics & setlist), plays the Bell House tonight (Saturday) & other dates"

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Active Child & harp @ Mercury Lounge

Active Child played their first NYC show last night (6/7) at Mercury Lounge. They totally killed it according to Wes Martin.

Active Child will play their second NYC show later this month when they open for Islands at Music Hall of Williamsburg on June 27th. The previously announced Northside Festival show (which is still on sale) also added Steel Phantoms and TV Carnage to the bill, AND is actually just the first date of a larger tour for Islands, Active Child and Steel Phantoms. All of those dates, and more pictures from Mercury Lounge, are below...

Continue reading "Active Child played Mercury Lounge w/ Blair (pics), touring & playing MHOW w/ Islands (dates)"

words & photos by Dominick Mastrangelo

The Middle East

The exhaustive stateside touring schedule for The Middle East landed in New York this week. Their two opening sets for Mumford and Sons (MHOW & Webster Hall) were followed by a BrooklynVegan-presented, sold-out headlining spot at the Mercury Lounge on Wednesday. Much praise been written (here and elsewhere) about the collective from Townsville, Australia since their first shows back in March (including the BV showcase the first night of SXSW) and all of it has been fully deserved.

Mountain Man

Opening were the the female trio, Mountain Man (Molly, Amelia and Alex) who were making their first NYC appearance since announcing that they signed to both Bella Union and Partisan Records. Their sparse, rustic songs, most sung acapella (the final three songs without any microphones) were enchanting and brought to mind other folksy singers like Caitlin Cary or Sera Cahoone with the heart-breaking lilt of Sharon Van Etten. The crowd, which included Amelia's dad (his first time seeing her sing she said) was both silent and attentive. The dad theme continued as they closed their set with "Dad Song" followed by "Holy Father". Their entire setlist (and video of "Dad Song") is below.

Catch Mountain Man next time they're in town. More pictures, some videos, and both setlists below...

Continue reading "Mountain Man & the Middle East @ Mercury Lounge - pics, videos & setlist"

DOWNLOAD: Keepaway - Yellow Wings (MP3)
DOWNLOAD: Dom - Jesus (MP3)

by Andrew Frisicano

Dom

Worcester, MA trio DOM played just over 20-minutes of music, with a laptop backing track to support their guitar and drums. The band's youthful lead singer alternately played his salmon pink guitar and bounced around through the surf-rock riffs of "Crazy Gurl", the "La Bamba"-eque chorus of "Boichica" and the summer-ready synth-pop jam "Living in America." The band also tore through a faithful rendition of Polaris' "Hey Sandy" (the theme song of Pete & Pete).

DOM have three more NYC shows coming up, the first of which is a May 22nd Popfest unofficial after party at Glasslands. After that, a June 24th show at Knitting Factory with Wavves and Cloud Nothings (tix), and our own June 26th Northside Festival show at Music Hall of Williamsburg. That last show also includes Memory Tapes, Twin Sister and ZAZA on the bill.

The between-sets music, provided by Cool Places Soundsystem (so says the flier), was not your typical between band filler but a string of room-shaking world-music mashups. Cool Places Soundsystem hosts regular monthly nights at Zebulon and are on the schedule for June 1st at Pianos.

For Brooklyn trio Keepaway, the show was also a release party for their debut EP, Baby Style, out now on Lefse Records. The tracks on the record hew towards complex, dubby pop, and are well put together, but hard to keep from falling apart live, which is what happened during their enthusiastic but not so in-tune set.

Rewards (Aaron Pfenning who used to be in Chairlift) and the Tony Castles opened the show, but I missed them. More pictures and tour dates are below...

Continue reading "DOM & Keepaway played Mercury Lounge - pics, more dates "

photos by Chris La Putt

Though I'm personally having trouble getting excited about the UK band, a wave of sudden hype (much of it from friends) got me out to Mercury Lounge last night to check out The Joy Formidable who were playing their second sold out show at the NYC venue in a week. People, many from the music industry and a bunch with accents similar to the band's, were packed into the club that the three-piece rocked for less than an hour. And they do rock, especially animated front-woman Ritzy Bryan who simultaneously handles vocal duty, guitar and a large board of pedals. She/they were tight, loud and fun to watch. Many people around me were feeling more than that too. I expect to see them play somewhere at least as large as Bowery Ballroom for one or even two nights in a row next time they visit (which they promised was soon).

Their eight-song EP entitled A Balloon Called Moaning is out now in the USA on Black Bell Records (it was released in 2009 in the UK and before that in Japan). More pictures, including one of the setlist, from the Merc show (that She Keeps Bees also played), and a video, below...

Continue reading "The Joy Formidable & She Keeps Bees @ Mercury Lounge in NYC - pics & video"

photos by Chris La Putt

DOWNLOAD: Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti - Round & Round (MP3)

"Ariel Pink completely obliterating to the max at mercury lounge! and being wasted on top of that is a plus plus pus." - Neon Indian

"How long does it take for an indie rocker to become a musical granddaddy? About five years.

In 2004 the Brooklyn band Animal Collective -- nearly granddaddies themselves at that time -- introduced a musical prankster from Los Angeles called ARIEL PINK (real name: Ariel Rosenberg). His albums, credited to Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti, were a hazy mess, from the layers of cruddy tape hiss to the way the songs seemed to absorb chunks from other songs, like a radio tuning in random stations. Somewhere beneath all this interference shone nuggets of nostalgic pop.

Flash forward to 2009, as music blogs alighted with a wave of new acts like Neon Indian, Washed Out and Memory Tapes that used clouds of reverb to distort 1980s-esque electronic pop. (Think Depeche Mode, underwater.) These bands were alternately identified as chillwave or glo-fi, but they were following a trail first laid by Ariel Pink." [NY Times]

The always-interesting R Stevie Moore ("one of Mr. Pink's personal heroes") opened the Mercury Lounge show where Billy Jones reports that "Bright Lit Blues Skies was great but Ariel Pink didn't play the last chorus, outro to Round and Round. Kind of a dick move."

If you want to see Ariel, actual touring kicks off June 8th in Paris, and then again on July 9th in LA. The next NYC show is at the much larger Irving Plaza on July 24th and tickets are on sale (on a related note, Memory Tapes play MHOW this summer, and Washed out play The Bell House tonight).

More pictures and a video from the Mercury Lounge show, and a video of Ariel Pink sort of performing "Round & Round" recently for Viva Radio, below...

Continue reading "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti played Mercury Lounge with R. Stevie Moore (pics & video) & Viva Radio (video) "

photos by Bao Nguyen

Twin Sister

Tickets to the June 26th BrooklynVegan Memory Tapes / Twin Sister / Dom / ZAZA show at Music Hall of Williamsburg go on sale Saturday at noon (not today at noon as originally advertised). The four bands are four of many that were just announced as part of this year's Northside Festival.

You don't have to wait until June to see Twin Sister though. As previously mentioned, they'll be at Rooftop Films Opening Night on May 14th and a release show for their Color Your Life EP at Glasslands on May 28th. I also since noticed that the band is booked to play the "Art Directors Club Annual Awards After-Party" at ADC Gallery, 106 West 29th Street on Wednesday, May 19th. That show will set you back a mere $125.

Wednesday night Twin Sister shared a bill with fellow twin band Twin Shadow (twins are the new caves?). NYC Taper taped Twin Sister. Go over there to get the free MP3s (or FLAC).

Both twin bands were the openers for the Morning Benders who were playing (to Jason Schwartzman at) their third sold out NYC show in a short amount of time. The first was also at Mercury Lounge. The second was the BV show at Music Hall with Holiday Shores and The Luyas.

More pictures from Wednesday night below...

Continue reading "Twin Sister played Mercury Lounge w/ Twin Shadow & Morning Benders (pics, audio), more shows coming (one expensive)"

by Andrew Frisciano

DOWNLOAD: Light Pollution - Good Feelings (MP3)

Think About Life made a tour stop at Mercury Lounge on Tuesday, April 27th. A few days before that they played an early set at WBAR-B-Q (they had to make a show in Philly later that night), which I missed, so I can't speak to the quality of their performance. But at Mercury Lounge, they were just as amazing as at at the BrooklynVegan/M For Montreal SXSW day party the month before (and at CMJ before that). The disco-inspired jams on last year's Family are catchy and iPod-worthy, but the band is a sumpremely energetic spectacle live. The songs also take a different sheen with new members (since the record) Caila Thompson-Hannant on bass and vocals and drummer Greg Napier, who adds a human touch to the 404-heavy beats. They did a new song, and frontman Martin Cesar dedicated one tune to all the pretty girls of Manhattan.

Light Pollution, from Chicago, opened with effects-driven, shoegazey rock. Their barefoot guitar player tapped away at an array of pedals that swirled under frontman James Cicero's emotive vocals. "Good Feelings" is a good starting point, but not totally representative of their sound, which changes a bit with every song. The onstage banter too was endearingly awkward. They have NYC shows Friday and Saturday too.

More pictures are below...

Continue reading "Think About Life & Light Pollution played Mercury (pics) "

photos by Kyle Dean Reinford

Oh No Ono @ Mercury Lounge

To quote Bill Pearis, "Bear in Heaven were pretty great...insane drummer. Impressed. On No Ono were good. They did a radical cover of Radiohead's 'Weird Fishes' - the singer's vocals will be a dealbreaker for some." His review is from last night's show at Mercury Lounge that ArpLine (formerly The Kiss Off) also played (1/27).

Oh No Ono, in town from Denmark, continue on to Union Hall tonight (1/28) with The Depreciation Guild and Hooray for Earth.

Bear in Heaven were joined on stage by Zambri. More pictures from Mercury Lounge below...

Continue reading "Bear in Heaven, Oh No Ono & ArpLine @ Mercury Lounge in NYC - pics "

photos by Chris La Putt

Though they wouldn't let her decorate Mercury Lounge with hay (she still had a little on stage, and some untouched bails of it in the corner), Dawn Landes and the Hounds put on a great record release show Friday early-night at the packed NYC venue. As one quirky New York chick put it,

There were special guests, Josh Ritter. There were hula hoops and birthdays, Landes friend Erin, sorry if I've gotten your name wrong, but Happy Birthday! There were even giant standing chandeliers. And, in the middle of it all was the smiling, quirky, sweet as sugar Dawn Landes.

Landes took the stage and instantly, things became a party. She rocked her way through a rollicking set charming the enthusiastic crowd the whole time. Landes is one of those performers that you can't help but like. She has this sweet charming quality that beckons you to have fun, smile and cheer her on.

The equally charming "indie-acoustic duo" Uncle Monk, Tommy Ramone and Claudia Tienan, opened the show. Highlights of their set included a cover of "I Fought the Law" and "I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend" which Tommy introduced by saying it was a song he wrote when he was just a young kid.

More pictures and videos from the show below...

Continue reading "Dawn Landes (and Josh Ritter) & Uncle Monk (starring Tommy Ramone) played Mercury Lounge in NYC - pics "

words by BBG, photos by Meghan McInnis

Spoon you rock rocked Mercury Lounge tonite and I thank you for it - [noise64]

Spoon is scheduled to play one slightly less intimate show in NYC at Radio City Music Hall with Deerhunter ON 3/26 (tix), but Spoon frontman Britt Daniel will do double time this weekend by playing Sound Fix on Saturday (1/23) during day before hitting MHOW later that night with a star-studded lineup. That show, featuring appearances from Justin Vernon (Bon Iver), St. Vincent, Zach Galifianakis, Janeeane Garofalo, Wyatt Senac, John Shade, host Bobby Tisdale (just added) and others as part of a benefit for Haiti. Tickets go on sale at noon for $35, and $40 at the door (if there are any left). 100% of the proceeds to go to Haiti.

Spoon is also on board to play Coachella along with Pavement, Faith No More, Jay-Z and a host of others.

More pics from Mercury Lounge, the setlist, and video from their appearance on The Tonight Show are all below....

Continue reading "Spoon played Mercury Lounge (pics, setlist) & Conan (video) "

"Spoon didn't play a single song I wanted to hear tonight, and they still rocked their El Cid secret show. Sure sign of a GREAT band" - Marc Brunswick

Spoon @ El Cid in LA - 1/18/2010 (starbright31)

Spoon just added a 1/21 (THURSDAY) show at Mercury Lounge which sold out faster than you can say Twitter. The venue is much, much, much smaller than Radio City Music Hall where they're headlining in March (as part of their tour with Deerhunter), and they probably only put less than half the tickets on sale (also, I'm told to stay tuned regarding more chances to get in). The occasion for the last minute gig is their new record Transference (currently streaming at AOL) which was released today (1/19). Britt Daniel can also be found causing people to wait on line at Sound Fix on 1/23.

In April, Spoon (and many others) are playing Coachella. Last night (1/18), the band played a promotional show at the small El Cid in LA. Videos and the setlist from that show below...

Continue reading "Spoon (new album out now) played El Cid in LA, playing Mercury Lounge in NYC... and it's sold out"

photos by Zach Stern

Hello friends. First of all, let me thank everyone who came out to our New Year's Eve show with the So So Glos at the Mercury Lounge - it was a lot of fun! Whee! I want to send a special message to one person in particular though. It was some sort of burly-ish gentleman in the front row who wore a big winter coat and scarf. We were playing "Where Eagles Dare" by the Misfits because that song rocks, and during the last verse, I saw this guy singing along, and so I decided to stick the microphone in his face to sing with him, because that is the thing to do when you are playing a song like "Where Eagles Dare." Imagine my delight to hear that this guy had a great voice! Really, I have put microphones in people's faces many times before during that part of that song, and I can honestly say, this guy was the best singer of them all. My thought processes were a bit of a blur at this point, being New Year's Eve and all, so I made a pretty lame attempt at mounting this guy's shoulders so that I could ride him around during the last chorus. I don't know - at the time, it seemed like the thing to do. It didn't really work out, and my girlfriend chided me later for sticking my crotch in this guy's face. Hey, guy - if you disliked that event as much as my girlfriend thought you probably did, I am really sorry! I was acting crazy because I was so excited about yr great voice. You did a good job. I was trying to do a good job too - if I didn't, many apologies. If you ever see me on the street, tell me who you are, and I will let you stick yr crotch in my face for a minute or so, and we'll be even Stephens. [Patrick]

Continue reading "Titus Andronicus & the So So Glos played a late show @ Mercury Lounge on New Years Eve - pics"