photos by Graeme Flegenheimer

Joanna Newsom in Michigan

"At Town Hall on Thursday night, in a sold-out 90-minute show mostly drawn from her new album, "Have One on Me," (Drag City) she played the harp with precision but always with a little swing and bounce in the picking and damping. (She generates her own bass lines, too.) Her backing quintet had a drummer, Neal Morgan, but almost for color alone; he had far less rhythmic work to do than what she'd assigned to herself. Ryan Francesconi, the electric guitarist/banjoist/player of the Bulgarian tambura and kaval -- and also the arranger of the new album's songs -- came in a distant second for most notes played, but he made them within the tightest parameters." [NY Times]

Joanna Newsom's Thursday show at Town Hall was probably the one NYC show last week that I most wish didn't coincide with SXSW. Luckily NPR is streaming the similar one that happened five nights later (aka last night) in DC (her 2nd night in a row at the same venue). More dates HERE.

The pictures in this post are from the first date of the tour (3/12) at Calvin College in Michigan where Bowerbirds opened. More pictures from that show, videos from Town Hall and the DC setlist below...

Continue reading "Joanna Newsom played Grand Rapids Michigan w/ Bowerbirds (pics), Town Hall in NYC & DC (listen @ NPR.com)"

photos by Vincent Cornelli, words by Andrew Frisicano

Sufjan Stevens played his second night at the Bowery Ballroom on Monday (10/5). Today (10/6) and Wednesday (10/7) at Music Hall of Williamsburg will be the final two shows of his current tour.

After wading through the lines of confused people outside and the waterlogged Bowery basement floor, I managed to settle in for the quiet opening song, "The Mistress Witch from McClure," executed with Sufjan on banjo and french horn accompaniment. Someone nearby got shushed a minute in, but things loosened up as the show progressed. Sufjan's on stage demeanor did a lot to liven things up; he cracked self-deprecating jokes throughout (a few times with post-song IDs of "That was [name of song] by Sufjan Stevens").

Like others, I spent the better part of 2005 and 2006 listening to Illinois - and those were the songs that got the most reaction. Unfortunately, "Come on! Feel the Illinoise!" (an "old one" according to Sufjan) was also the most unpolished. It was nice to hear, but the execution suffered due to a poor mix (too many vocals, not enough of the four horns, which never really lived up to their potential). Afterwards he admitted that they hadn't played it in a while, and apologized with a clean, majestic version of "Casimir Pulaski Day."

One thing I didn't expect was just how in your face the new material is. It brushes up against the rest of the stage show in a stark but not totally unwelcome way. The new tunes are broad psych-rockish opuses that expand elements of Sufjan's usual light-rock shuffle with proggy guitar solos, jazz fusion-y improv passages, drum and bass style beats and glitch-pop blips. They seem made for a live setting (opposed to his complex woodwind-oriented arrangements) and loaded with plenty of testosterone (or at least some, which is a big jump). After the first encore, "Chicago," Sufjan quipped that the tune was "a little boring" and closed with new track "There's Too Much Love," a synth-driven indie-pop gem at first that descends into psychedelic anarchy over its seven plus minutes.

Sufjan's band expanded and contracted throughout the night, maxing out at eleven members with added horns. Bryce Dessner played guitar on some songs, while backing vocals were provided by opener Cryptacize's Nedelle Torrisi and Rosie Thomas, who came out between the set and encore as Sheila Saputo, her dorky, stand-up comedian alter-ego, to read a fangirl ode to the dreaminess of Sufjan.

Speaking of Rosie, she appears at John Wesley Harding's Cabinet of Wonders show on October 7th at (Le) Poisson Rouge (after the Sufjan MHOW show I guess?). She'll also be at 92YTribeca on Saturday, October 10th to do an acoustic performance and Q&A after a screening of All the Way from Michigan Not Mars, a documentary that features her as well as "intimate live performances with fellow songwriters Sufjan Stevens and Denison Witmer...the film is a lyrical examination of Thomas' quest for an expression of truth and her unique brand of performance." Tickets are on sale. 92YTribeca also hosts three of the four upcoming NYC Osso Quartet/BQE screenings later in October.

All photos, the set list and all Rosie Thomas tour dates are below...

Continue reading "Sufjan Stevens played Bowery Ballroom again (pics, setlist), Rosie Thomas was there (and will be at LPR & 92Y)"

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)"