Tamaryn is DJing at New York's Museum of Modern Art on Sunday evening (4/7) as part of a PopRally event called "Abstract Currents." Against projections of one-minute videos submitted by the public, Tamryn will provide a "hypnotic soundtrack to the collectively built abstract videoscape." It's in conjunction with MoMA's Abstraction, 1910-1925 and Abstract Generation: Now in Print exhibition and tickets are still available.

Later this month, Tamaryn will be in Texas' state capital for Austin Psych Fest (Apr. 26 - 28), which features a pretty amazing line-up that runs the gammut of "psychedelic," including Deerhunter, Spectrum, Black Mountain, OS Mutantes, The Moving Sidewalks, Clinic, Besnard Lakes, Elephant Stone, Roky Erickson, Sweden's GOAT and a bunch more. The fest just announced the day-by-day line-ups which are listed below.

Continue reading "Tamaryn DJing MoMA; Austin Psych Fest finalizes lineup"

Solange at Bowery Ballroom in 2012 (more by Amanda Hatfield)

As mentioned, Solange, who is on the cover of the next FADER, will be going on a tour this year which comes to NYC for two shows at Webster Hall, both of which are sold out. The Webster Hall shows happen on February 20 and February 25 (not 2/20 and 2/18, as initially announced).

Since we last spoke, Solange's tour has been expanded and now includes international club dates and festivals stretching into August, including The Roots Picnic in Philly, Sweetlife in Maryland, Sasquatch! in Washington State, and Primavera Sound in Barcelona. It also includes another appearance in NYC at the 2013 Armory Party at MoMA on March 6, the same part that Neon Indian played last year. The Armory Show, founded in 1994, is the "largest art fair in New York" and will return to Piers 92 and 94 this year from March 7-10. Tickets to the preview party which Solange is playing, and which benefits the Armory Show, are on sale now, starting at $150.

Solange also just teamed up with collaborator Dev Hynes to perform an acoustic version of "Bad Girls" from Solange's album, True, for a Black Cab Session. That video and an updated list of Solange dates are below...

Continue reading "Solange expands tour, playing MoMA's Armory Party, filmed a Black Cab Session w/ Dev Hynes (updated dates, video)"

Led Zeppelin at MoMA - 10/9/12

Speaking of Led Zeppelin, they (Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, John Paul Jones, and the late John Bonham's son, Jason) were also in NYC yesterday (10/9) for a press conference at MoMA, hours before their new film, Celebration Day, made its world premiere in Manhattan's Ziegfeld Theater. Rolling Stone was at the press conference and noted that Robert Plant seemed pretty uncomfortable for much of it (most likely due to dreaded questions of another reunion):

Minutes later, a radio host praised the film but added, "I don't know if it's going to quench the thirst of those who wished to see you in the flesh." Again, the band was silent until Plant said simply: "Sorry!"

Later, Plant clarified himself. "We were so happy we were getting it right and taking it beyond what we thought we were about that night," he said of the O2 gig. "There were moments where we took off ... But the responsibility of doing that four nights a week for the rest of time is a different thing. We're pretty good at what we do but the tail should never wag the dog, really. If we're capable of doing something, in our own time, that will be what will happen. So any inane questions from people who are from syndicated outlets, you should just really think about what it takes to answer a question like that in one second. We know what we've got, you know."

...

Page explained he felt the band still had unfinished business after previous reunions at Live Aid and Atlantic Records' 40th Anniversary concert. "I think if we had the opportunity to get back together again, which is what we had there to do the O2, things had left us a little uncomfortable like Live Aid and the Atlantic 40th, etc. We just really wanted to get it right and go out and play to people who maybe never heard us, who had heard about this reputation and what we were about, and basically stand up and be counted for what we were. That's my feeling, anyway."

After the premiere last night, the members of the band made their way over to Monkey Bar for an afterparty. Other guests at the party included Joan Jett, her producer Kenny Laguna, Metallica's Kirk Hammett, rock photographer Ross Halfin, Patty Griffin, and others. Meanwhile, the actual film screening was attended by Kiss's Paul Stanley and RHCP's Chad Smith.

Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience is taking their tour to the NYC area for two shows in November.

A video from the Led Zeppelin press conference is below.

Continue reading "Led Zeppelin came to NYC for a press conference, film premiere, and after-party (video)"

a still from 'Gimme Shelter'

The Rolling Stones are celebrating their 50th anniversary this year, and already have some things planned, like their greatest hits album, GRRR!, which is due out on November 13 via ABKCO/Universal. The amazing cover art for that album is below.

Still no word on those Barclays Center shows, which are rumored to happen this November, but a film exhibition chronicling The Stones' career, The Rolling Stones: 50 Years on Film, will open at MoMA on November 15 and run through December 2. THe exhibition will feature screenings of multiple "documentaries, fiction features, concert films, music videos, experimental shorts, and archival footage" of the band from their early days in the '60s through present time. Head below to find out what they'll be showing.

Continue reading "Rolling Stones film exhibition opening at MoMA"

Led Zeppelin are releasing their new concert film/album, Celebration Day, which documents their show at London's O2 Arena (12/10/07) from their 2007 reunion tour. The film gets its theatrical release on October 17 and comes out on November 19 on CD/DVD/Blu-Ray via Swan Song/Atlantic and there will also be a deluxe edition with bonus material. It will screen in NYC at 6:30 PM and 9:00 PM at Sunshine Cinema. Tickets for those screenings are on sale now. A list of all theaters that the film will screen at can be found at Zeppelin's site. The film trailer and tracklist are below.

But you won't have to wait that long to see it because Celebration Day will make its US/world premiere in NYC on October 9 at Ziegfeld Theater in Manhattan. There will also be a press conference earlier that day at MoMA with the three surviving members of Led Zeppelin -- Robert Plant, Jimmy Page, and John Paul Jones -- and the late John Bonham's son, Jason Bonham. All premiere dates (London, Berlin, and Tokyo included) are listed below.

In related news, Jason Bonham's Led Zeppelin Experience is going on tour and hitting the NYC area for shows on November 14 at Capitol Theatre and November 15 at Wellmont Theatre. Tickets for the Cap show and the Wellmont show are on sale now.

A list of all dates and the Celebration Day trailer are below, plus some classic videos so you can get the led out.

Continue reading "Led Zeppelin releasing concert film, 'Celebration Day,' giving press conference at MoMA before the film's premiere in NYC"

Real flyer on Grand Ave. 'HIPSTERS ONLY Please!' (via @adelaloconte)

Guy Fieri, Smashmouth frontman Steve Harwell and Sammy Hagar are teaming for what is likely to be the most exclamation-point-filled cookbook of all time. Also, maybe the worst.

Those of a certain age may have fond, fuzzy memories of MTV's sock puppet hosts Sifl & Olly. Well they're back! Reviewing video games? Sort of. Check out a video below.

Speaking of fond MTV memories, you can catch Kurt Loder in the flesh at at the Bell House in Brooklyn tonight (9/20) (with Julie Klausner who has other upcoming gigs too).

Bruce Springsteen plays again in NJ tonight tomorrow. Meanwhile check out his setlist from last night.

Fiona Apple got busted for hash possession at the same Texas checkpoint that got Snoop Dogg and Willie Nelson. She's out on bail, but tonight's ACL Live show is canceled (which means no pictures tonight on the BVAustin Instagram).

Speaking of Austin, Ume is funding a new record via Kickstarter.

Speaking of Kickstarter, Gawker discusses their accountability problem, Amanda Palmer included.

That said, we're sure Owen Pallett, like many others, was happy to hear that Amanda is now paying all musicians.

Meanwhile, if you're looking for backers for your Kickstarter, Forbes listed the 400 richest Americans, Oprah Winfrey, David Geffen, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas included.

Speaking of money, Iggy Pop, Wayne Coyne, Ben Folds, Black Keys drummer Patrick Carney and more will appear as guests on Ke$ha's new album, Warrior.

Speaking of Patrick Carney, congrats to him and his now-wife Emily Ward on their recent wedding. Will Forte officiated. Shaun White was arrested.

The first track from Neurosis's new LP Honor Found in Decay has slipped out. Stream "At The Well" at NPR now.

more stuff below...

Continue reading "ALSO: Sifl & Olly are back, Smashmouth/Guy Fieri cookbook, Little Pete vs Lindsay Lohan, Patrick Carney, Neurosis & more"

My Brightest Diamond at BAM in May (more by David Andrako)

My Brightest Diamond (aka Shara Worden) will be performing solo in NYC TONIGHT (8/23) at MoMA in the Sculpture Garden as part of MoMA Nights. The event runs from 5:30 - 8:00 PM and Shara plays form 6:30 - 7:30. The concert is included with the price of admission to the museum.

My Brightest Diamond will also be playing "Soundcheck" on WNYC with host John Schaefer on Friday (8/24) at 2:30. She'll be performing with Brian Wolfe on drums, Chris Tarry on bass, and the yMusic ensemble, who she's worked with many times.

MBD has other dates coming up including a few more in NYC, like a free show at Segal Theatre Center CUNY on October 4 as part of "Kings of Macedonia" with Andrew Ondrejak, and another on October 25 at Zankel Hall for Gabriel Kahane's program which combines selections from Come on All You Ghosts, Where are the Arms, and the premiere of a new work commissioned by Carnegie Hall with songs by Ives, Schumann, Sufjan Stevens, Andrew Norman, Cee Lo Green, and others.

A list of all upcoming dates including a show at Chicago's new City Winery is below.

Continue reading "My Brightest Diamond playing MoMA tonight (& other dates)"

Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto

Colombian traditional cumbia group Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto have been touring North America and they've got a couple upcoming NYC shows this summer including one at Le Poisson Rouge TONIGHT (7/26) with Geko Jones and special guests, and another for the MoMA Nights music series at MoMA on August 2. Tickets for the LPR show are available and the flier for that show is below.

The group have been around since 1940 and released their first album of recorded music, Un Fuego de Sangre Pura, in 2006. NY Daily News profiled them when they were in NYC for a show at Queens Theatre in the Park in 2008. They wrote:

Their music, a tradition dating back to the early 19th century, is the precursor of cumbia, one of Colombia's most exportable rhythms. In recent years, Colombian folk music has resurged thanks to young rock-infused musicians like Carlos Vives and Juanes. "It's different," says Fernández about modern cumbia, but adds, "we have taught many of them -- we've been their masters." Now, thanks to their Latin Grammy win and hip-hop friendships, these gray-haired men can boast as much hipness as any of their disciples.

Bomba Estereo at ACL 2011 (more by Tim Griffin)

In other Colombian music news, Bomba Estereo are on tour and will play NYC tonight (7/26) at Webster Hall with Il Abanico. Tickets for tonight's show are still available.

Bomba are currently at work on their new album, Elegancia Tropical, which they will self release on their own label this September. You can watch a video of them performing a new song, "Caribbean Power," recently on 'Last Call with Carson Daly' and another new one, "Pa Respirar," in Bogota for La Blogotheque, below. All tour dates are listed below as well.

Mallu

Speaking of MoMA Nights, Los Gaiteros and Bomba Estereo's neighbor from Brazil, Mallu will be performing at the series TONIGHT (7/26), doing a set of solo guitar and voice.

Lists of dates, videos, and flier for tonight's LPR show below...

Continue reading "Los Gaiteros de San Jacinto and Bomba Estereo touring (separately); Mallu also playing NYC tonight"

Genesis P-Orridge

MoMA PS1 Summer School returns this August for its second year in a row. MoMA describes it as, "An annual series of workshops, lectures, and discussions, Summer School brings students together for a focused conversation on contemporary practice with artists, authors, musicians, curators, theorists, and scholars who have made significant contributions in their respective fields." This year's classes will be taught by Throbbing Gristle's Genesis Breyer P-Orridge, Marina Abramovic, and Steve Paxton. The deadline to apply for classes is today (7/20), but all three of those teachers, including Genesis P-Orridge, will give a presentation open to the public at MoMA PS1 on September 9.

Genesis P-Orridge is also reissuing What's History for the first time on vinyl this month on Dais Records. The album was recorded in 1981 with filmmaker Dan Landin and originally came out on cassette in 1983. Only 500 copies are being pressed and you can pre-order it at the Dais webstore.

Speaking of MoMA PS1, the 2012 Warm Up series continues there this Saturday (7/21) with Matthew Dear (DJ), Sepalcure, Le1f, MikeQ, and JDH & Dave P. Tickets for that show are still available. You can stream MikeQ's Fader/MoMA PS1 Warm Up mix for this week, which includes Azealia Banks, Brenmar, and more below.

Continue reading "Throbbing Gristle's Genesis P-Orridge teaching 'Summer School' at MoMA PS1, where Warm Up continues this week"

photos by Amanda Hatfield

"DJ @Nguzunguzu spinning live is a revelation" - John Won
"@NGUZUNGUZU thank for this ‪#PS1‬ set. Kids be wylin" - Taye Digg$

Light Asylum/Nguzunguzu

MoMA PS1's 2012 Warm Up series kicked off this past Saturday (7/7) with sets from Arca ft. HBA, TRUST, Nguzunguzu, Light Asylum, and Todd Terry. It was super hot and the art installations made for less shade than last year's did, but that didn't stop the crowd from dancing throughout the show. Nguzunguzu got a great reaction from the crowd and Todd Terry had the place going pretty crazy too. If you were there, what do you think?

For Light Asylum and TRUST, the MoMA PS1 show was part of a tour that the two dark duos are on together, which also came to Brooklyn for a show at Music Hall of Williamsburg on Sunday (7/8).

Warm Up continues this Saturday (7/14) with Terrence Parker, D3, Ron Morelli, Jeremie Delon, and Steve Summers. Tickets for all upcoming Warm Ups are available. More pictures from this past Saturday below...

Continue reading "'Warm Up' began at MoMA PS1 w/ Nguzunguzu, Light Asylum, TRUST, Todd Terry, & Arca ft. HBA (pics)"

Warm Up 2011 (more by Erez Avissar)

The 2012 Warm Up at MoMA PS1 summer concert series kicks off Saturday (7/7) at 3 PM in the Long Island City museum courtyard. This week's Warm Up is with Light Asylum and TRUST (who also play MHOW together on Sunday [7/8]), along with Nguzunguzu, Todd Terry and Arca ft. HBA. Advance tickets for the show are still available.

The series continues every Saturday at MoMA PS1 through September 8 and tickets for each show are available. You can stream a FADER/MoMA PS1 mix that Arca made for today's show, along with some Nguzunguzu tracks below...

Continue reading "Warm Up 2012 at MoMA PS1 begins Saturday"

Warm Up 2011 at MoMA PS1 (more by Erez Avissar)

The Warm Up summer concert series is returning to MoMA PS1 this summer for another run of dance parties from forward thinking electronic musicians every Saturday from July 7 through September 8 in PS1's outdoor courtyard. For the first time, advance tickets for Warm Up will be available this year. They go on sale June 18.

The 2012 schedule includes Thom Yorke's Atoms for Peace (DJ), Jamie xx, Danny Brown, Just Blaze, Maria Minerva, Shlohmo, Evian Christ, Howse, Nguzunguzu, Baio, Holy Other, Rustie, Matthew Dear (DJ), Lemonade, Slava, TRUST, Light Asylum, Sepalcure, Floating Points, Jacques Greene and many more.

More info and the full schedule below...

Continue reading "PS1's 2012 'Warm Up' lineup announced (Thom Yorke, Jamie xx, Danny Brown, Maria Minerva, Evian Christ, Trust & more)"

Santigold at MHoW in January (more by Bao Nguyen)

Santigold, who recently played Irving Plaza with guests Andy Samberg and Pharrell Williams (videos below), will be the performer at MoMA's annual Party in the Garden benefit afterparty on Tuesday, May 22. Solange Knowles will DJ as well. Tickets are still available and proceeds benefit "the Museum's general operating fund, supporting our award-winning educational programs and the care, study, and exhibition of the collection." Tickets start at $150 for basic afterparty entry and go up to $100,000 if you want to sponsor a dinner table for ten.

Last year, Kanye West was the afterparty performer, and M.I.A., James Murphy, Estelle, and Karen O & Nick Zinner have all performed in the past. The flyer for the Party in the Garden and videos from Irving Plaza below...

Continue reading "Santigold playing MoMA's 'Party in the Garden' afterparty, played Irving w/ Andy Samberg and Pharrell (videos)"

Ralf, who also showed up as the surprise special guest on Sunday at PS1, hasn't tweeted yet today, but if and when he does, it will probably say "Tonight, Tour de France." And when that's over, so is the entire 8-night MoMA run, but then there's an afterparty. Flyer below...

Continue reading "Tonight, Tour de France @ MoMA; afterparty @ Bowery Hotel"

photos by Greg Cristman

"Just saw Francois K DJ all Kraftwerk set in the MoMAPS1 dome for 90 minutes with 360 degree visuals. Sound by Jim Toth. I love NY." - DFA Records

"Only non-Kraftwerk song that both Juan Atkins and Francois K. played: Yaz's "Situation."" - Sasha Frere-Jones

Ralf Hutter of Kraftwerk & Francois K @ PS1

Being that Kraftwerk began their 8-night, 8-album run of performances at MoMA back on April 10, and today is only the 16th, as of this writing there are still two chances to see them perform a full album in 3-D at the modern art museum. However, your chance to participate in "Kraftwerk Fest" at MoMA's PS1 has come and gone and featured two special Kraftwerk sets by DJs Juan Atkins (Saturday) and Francois K (Sunday).

Sunday, which we have pictures from in this post, was made even more special with a guest appearance by uncle Ralf Hutter who stopped by before performing Techno Pop" with his band at MoMA later in the night. Tonight he and his band will do "The Mix", and they finish it off Tuesday with "Tour de France."

The "fest", part of a month-long installation at PS1 (that runs until May 12), was was three hours long each day, with the DJs playing Kraftwerk remixes to a packed crowd. Francois K performs again TONIGHT (4/16) at Cielo with Four Tet (who is also DJing). Check out more pictures from Sunday at PS1, shots of 5Ptz across the street included, below...

Continue reading "Ralf Hutter of Kraftwerk joined Francois K @ MoMA PS1 (pics); Four Tet plays with him tonight @ Cielo"

by Greg Cristman

Museum of Modern Art - 4/11/2012

There is absolutely no way any photo or video could ever come close to capturing the full effect of the modern day Kraftwerk live spectacle. The extremely intimate venue conspired with the crystal clear surround sound and breathtakingly stunning 3D effects to make this an absolute must see experience (unfortunately tickets happen to be hard to come by). This is live music/visuals taken to an unprecedented new level. The visual effects were so convincing and stunning they actually made you flinch as arms reached out, numbers pulsed, autobahn pavement unfolded, and ohm signs enveloped the line of musicians as it passed around them.

Those words come courtesy of photographer Greg Cristman who witnessed Kraftwerk play close to a two hour set at MoMA last night (4/12). As advertised, the setlist included all of the band's 1975 LP Radio-Activity, but also much more. The show was part of the ongoing Volkswagen-sponsored eight night celebration of the band's catalog which continues tonight with 1977's Trans Europe Express.

Pictures and the setlist from the first night are HERE, More from night two, setlist included, below...

Continue reading "Kraftwerk played 'Radio-Activity' at MoMA (pics, setlist)"

by Ryan Muir

"Sell-out rock shows usually mean a lot of shouting, some sweating, maybe a few drunken pass-outs. Kraftwerk inspired none of that on Tuesday night. The first of its eight consecutive sold-out performances at the Museum of Modern Art had reverence and stylistic weight; even for a New York museum crowd, there was a lot of black. Artfully swept hair, uncomfortable-looking shoes, architectural glasses: check, check and check. The high-design audience was rewarded with an equally aesthetically tuned concert, with the band, a foursome in graphic black-and-white unitards, playing neon-lighted synths. Behind them, a video screen offered a parade of simple 3-D images, like stick figure robots and spinning numbers, a retro-future in an MS-DOS font." [NY Times]

Kraftwerk are groundbreaking in their music and legendary in their influence, but can arguably be a difficult band to enjoy in a live setting. With historically minimal stage-activity from each of the four members of the band, it was unclear what to expect from these exclusive museum installation-performances.

True to reputation, apart from the occasional foot pumping and minute hip thrusts, there wasn't much thrilling about the physical performance of the four modern-day members of Kraftwerk and the nature of their instruments is somewhat obscured - possibly even more than usual, due to the setup designed for these shows.

But this wasn't just a concert. It was a simple yet engrossing multimedia experience in the clean and otherwise austere setting of MoMA's Marron Atrium, a space that was both ideal and impractical. The stage was trimmed with blacklight, and a 4-projector, 3-D lighting rig projected images on a movie theater sized screen behind the group. Among swirls of floating musical notes, matrix-green digital sin waves, and radioactive hazard warnings, the audience enjoyed the show in 3-D glasses which were provided by the venue. The retrospective is further flattered by the custom white stage construction, and the unusually airy and artwork-free environment.

After playing Autobahn in full, the remainder of the set included familiar songs from various stages of the band's discography. Many songs received a polish beyond that of the recent "Minimum-Maximum" live release, and possibly a hint at what the new "Catalogue" re-releases has in-store.

It seems these shows in particular have been designed to be scrutinized and documented-- from a personal perspective it seemed essential to experience the show from several perspectives, however, the 3-D effect is certainly designed to be experienced head on.

Tickets to the shows were not easy to come by and in huge demand for the group who doesn't play that often let alone a full album in a museum, though show sponsor Volkswagen made some more available to contest winners recently. Regardless, it goes without saying that there were less tickets than people wanting to get in, and that will hold true for the next seven nights as well. If you still can't find one, a consolation prize is that PS1 is hosting a related installation and party which has tickets still available.

More pictures from 'Autobahn' night, and the setlist, below...

Continue reading "Kraftwerk played 'Autobahn' @ MoMA (pics, review, setlist)"

Kraftwerk begin their eight-show run at MoMA tonight (4/10), and MoMA is now selling a limited edition Kraftwerk boxset, but, as you know, there's more! MoMA PS1 in Long Island City is also doing this thing...

Kraftwerk - Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
On view April 12, 2012--May 14, 2012

In conjunction with Kraftwerk - Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 at The Museum of Modern Art, an eight-channel video and sound installation especially developed for the exhibition is now on display in the MoMA PS1 Performance Dome.

Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider founded Kraftwerk In Düsseldorf in 1970 and set up the pioneering Kling Klang studio, where all Kraftwerk's albums have been conceived and composed. By the mid-1970s, Kraftwerk had achieved international recognition for its revolutionary experimentation with sound and imagery. Its compositions, which feature distant melodies, multilingual vocals, robotic Beats, custom-made vocoders, and computer speech, anticipated the impact technology would have on art and everyday life, capturing the human condition in an age of mobility and telecommunication. Kraftwerk's innovative looping techniques and mechanized rhythms, which had a major influence on the early development of hip-hop and electronic dance music, remain among the most commonly sampled sounds across a wide range of musical genres. Kraftwerk uses robotics and other technical innovations in its live performances, illustrating the belief that humans and machines make equal contributions in the creation of art.

Continue reading "Kraftwerk stuff happening @ PS1 too (installation & fest)"

In celebration of the MoMA shows that start TONIGHT (4/10) (maybe you won a ticket?) (or are going to the tribute show at Littlefield instead), here's this entire press release about the boxset (that became available today):

Continue reading "Kraftwerk begin MoMA run TONIGHT, new limited edition boxset now available"

You probably didn't get a ticket, but Volkswagen is giving you another chance to get into one of the eight Kraftwerk shows at MoMA!

Over eight consecutive nights from April 10 to 17, MoMA presents a chronological exploration of the sonic and visual experiments of Kraftwerk. Each evening consists of a live performance and 3-D visualization of one of their studio albums. Volkswagen has reserved 50 pairs of tickets to each night's Kraftwerk performance at MoMA, and 500 pairs of tickets to attend a temporary Kraftwerk exhibition at MoMA PS1 from April 12 to May 14*. Fans who enter are eligible for both events. Posting an animated GIF counts as an additional entry to the Kraftwerk performances at MoMA.

Neon Indian @ Fun Fun Fun Fest (more by Tim Griffin)

Neon Indian, who has a label and is throwing a showcase at SXSW this year, announced a tour a while back with a mysterious Museum of Modern Art show on the schedule. That museum show is TONIGHT (3/7), and here's the latest info:

THE ARMORY PARTY
MARCH 7, 2012
Performance by NEON INDIAN

Thank you for your interest in purchasing tickets to the MoMA Armory Party. Tickets are no longer being sold online. You may purchase tickets on March 7th in person at The Armory Show (Pier 94 or Pier 92) or at the door of the event at MoMA starting at 8:00PM. Tickets may sell out and are first come first serve.

Neon Indian's Alan Palomo recently hooked up with Rostam Batmanglij (Vampire Weekend), Vijay Iyer (Vijay Iyer Trio), Ashok Kondabolu (Das Racist), Alan Palomo (Neon Indian), Amrit Singh (Stereogum), Himanshu Suri (Das Racist), and Anand Wilder (Yeasayer) to go on a hunt for good South Indian food in NYC. Their "Dosa Hunt" has been made into a film produced by Amrit. You can watch the trailer below....

Continue reading "Neon Indian plays MoMA's Armory Party tonight, headed to SXSW, hunted for dosas w/ members of Das Racist & others"

Dear Kraftwerk fans,

Sorry it took me a day to write this, but it was important for me to first understand all of the facts so they could be properly communicated. First and foremost, we are deeply sorry for the frustration and massive inconvenience that yesterday's on-sale for Kraftwerk caused for many of their great fans around the world. I recognize that so many of you spent hours in front of your computer watching a spinning wheel--or watching the page go blank. Please allow me to explain what happened and what we'll do to correct this for the future:

MoMA has been a really great partner of ShowClix for over a year now, and we've worked with them to move tens of thousands of tickets successfully. They leaned on us to help them with this on-sale, which was a special event for them, and we let them (and you) down. ShowClix has successfully executed many very large, high-demand on-sales over the past five years that we've been in business. Most of these on-sales have a high demand, with a great deal of inventory to sell. Kraftwerk's eight-night performance on-sale was a very unique situation. While we're not able to disclose the number of tickets that were available for these performances, what I will say is that of the tens and tens of thousands of die-hard Kraftwerk fans from around the world that logged on at exactly noon EST yesterday to get these tickets, the venue capacity restrictions would only ever allow approximately 1.20% of them to actually be reserved. As you might imagine, this is an extremely large technical hurdle, particularly because of the tiny fraction of supply versus the demand.

Still, this is no excuse. We should have never advised MoMA to allow the tickets to be sold in the fashion in which they were, because in the end--even if everything were to go smoothly--many people would have been very disappointed. ShowClix didn't set the proper expectations from the beginning, nor did we properly prepare our load balancing servers in order to prevent the queue from timing out. Ultimately, we failed many of you.

Since yesterday, we have discovered that a single setting within one of the lower levels of our queuing system's middleware bubbled-up under the heavy load and caused frequent timeouts. There were also some issues with the broadcast system which allows us to communicate with ticket buyers while they're waiting in the queue. We should have both of these problems resolved by the end of this week. However, even with these problems resolved, it is my belief moving forward that we should not perform an on-sale all at once for an event or venue that has such small capacity restrictions versus potential demand. Instead, we will advise our clients on various alternative methods to fairly sell tickets to an event that has such a small fraction of inventory available versus the potential demand.

There were certainly technical problems around this event. Contrary to some reports, however, our servers never crashed or went offline, and none of our other clients or their events experienced a problem during the Kraftwerk on-sale. We always keep high-demand on-sales separate from all of the other activity happening on our server. It's also important to note that there were online sales successfully processing the entire time, and all eight of the events sold-out in approximately 60 minutes.

In closing, regardless of what the technical problem was--or how we plan to solve it in the future--we haven't overlooked the incredible amount of frustration many people felt from the on-sale. We take full responsibility. This company was founded and continues to be run by a big team of live entertainment and technology addicts. We feel for you, the fans, and our partner, MoMA, and vow to work hard to prevent such a debacle from happening again in the future.

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

Joshua Dziabiak
CEO
ShowClix, Inc.

Bummed you didn't get Kraftwerk tickets? Maybe this video, as seen in the comments, if it doesn't bring back painful memories, will cheer you up. Watch below...

Continue reading "Kraftwerk Tickets Blues (the video)"

Tickets for Kraftwerk's eight shows at MoMA went on sale at noon today, and not surprisingly, it doesn't look pretty.

Kraftwerk will kick off a "Kraftwerk-Restrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7" residency at The Museum of Modern Art from April 10-17, playing an album in full each night. They'll play 1974's Autobahn on 4/10, 1975's Radio-Activity on 4/11, 1977's Trans Europe Express on 4/12, 1978's The Man-Machine on 4/13, 1981's Computer World on 4/14, 1986's Techno Pop (aka Electric Cafe) on 4/15, 1991's The Mix on 4/16, and 2003's Tour de France Soundtracks on 4/17. According to a press release:

Each evening will consist of a live performance, in the Museum's Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron Atrium, of works from one of the group's eight albums, created over four decades, followed by a selection of original compositions from their catalogue adapted specifically for this exhibition's format, to showcase both Kraftwerk's historical contributions and contemporary influences on sound and image culture.

The press release also notes that "presentation of Kraftwerk's historical audio and visual material" will be on view at The Performance Dome at MoMA PS1 from April 10 - May - 14 in Long Island City, Queens.

Kraftwerk are also playing Ultra Music Festival in Miami this March. All dates and some videos below...

Continue reading "Kraftwerk playing eight full albums at MoMA"