Deadmau5 & missing piece of ceiling @ Wellmont Theatre (via Baristanet)

Wellmont Theatre is temporarily closed -- and its scheduled show of Interpol Wednesday night [is definitely] canceled -- after a piece of the ceiling fell from the upper balcony during the Deadmau5 last week.

Louis Litvin, a Wellmont partner, confirmed that Robert McLoughlin of the Montclair buildings department had closed the Wellmont following the incident. Litvin added that one concertgoer was taken from the theater in an ambulance, but that the injury appeared to be minor and the victim was able to walk after being struck.

Litvin said that an engineering team with thermal imaging equipment is currently inspecting the entire building, ceiling and walls, and that management will do "whatever we need to do to protect the public."

"Once we do that and Bob McLoughlin is comfortable, the show will go on," Litvin said. The Wellmont hopes that all the repairs are done in time for the Lyle Lovett concert scheduled for August 15." [Baristanet]

...while performing onstage at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C., electronic music performer DEADMAU5 (pronounced "dead mouse") collapsed, suffering from exhaustion. Medics at the venue took him directly to hospital where he is now under supervision.

DEADMAU5 is sad to inform his fans that on the strict advice of the doctors, he now has no choice but to cancel the next nine shows of his summer tour schedule to allow for his recovery. The dates affected are listed below. Meanwhile, his North American dates for October which include appearances at Austin City Limits, the Treasure Island Music Festival, Voodoo Music Festival and three nights at Roseland Ballroom in New York City are still on course.

Video of Deadmau5 collapsing, with the cancelled dates, below...

Continue reading "ceiling collapsed, Deadmau5 collapsed then cancelled, Interpol cancelled, Wellmont closed (for now)"

photos by Brian Kip

"I can't change how I'm received by people. And I can't change how fast or how slow things happened," he said. "It happened this way. It makes me a little anxious, but I feel like I'm pretty hungry for it. It's happened really fast and I feel like it was a shock at first kind of. But this time around I feel a lot more ready and excited, ready for it." [WAVVES]

Continue reading "WAVVES played the Meatlocker in Montclair - pics & video"

DOWNLOAD: Ted Leo & The Pharmacists - Even Heroes Have To Die (MP3)

Ted Leo @ Bowery Ballroom on December 6th (Arambulo)

Ted Leo played the Bowery Ballroom on December 6th with Stupid Party and JEFF the Brotherhood (who have another show coming up at the same venue). A recording of the gig, which spanned 23 songs, is currently up on NYCTaper. Setlist also below.

Ted's new record The Brutalist Bricks is coming out March 9th on Matador.

"It certainly sounds like guys of a certain age who used to be in hardcore bands," Leo says. "The older I get, the more I go back to primary sources in my listening. For better or for worse, I really don't get mellower politically -- it winds up leaving me sometimes to just want to play hardcore. I'm ultimately a better singer than I am a screamer."

Over the years, Leo's work has often been overly political in scope; while the music leans more towards '70s pop-punk in the vein of Elvis Costello, on Bricks he's still exploring common Leo lyrical themes. "It veers more towards the personal side of things. 'Even Heroes Have To Die' is about how to grow old with dignity. There are songs that are specific in being about veganism, to songs that are broad, personal perseverance in the face of a world that drags you down." [Rolling Stone]

Ted is currently on a solo tour of England and will play one more North American show before the end of 2009. That takes place in his home state of NJ at the Meatlocker in Montclair one day after Christmas (the same day Danzig plays in Sayreville). It's also solo. The flyer and more details and all dates, below...

Continue reading "Ted Leo played Bowery Ballroom (recording) - playing the Meatlocker (solo) + Irving Plaza & other 2010 tour dates "

photos by Tim Griffin

"I can't help but say the word CUTE when it comes to seeing these guys live. They're super smiley and with Richard Butler's jumping and hip shaking and swirls, you can't go wrong. The saxophone player, Mars Williams, was AMAZING. They didn't have him play when I saw them back in 2005(i think?). This guy may be a little short, but he has a lot of energy to belt out the solos that he did. I was a little upset not to see guitarist John Ashton, but the new guitar player was great. The keyboardist wasn't really needed on most songs in my opinion, I'm sure she's awesome and really sweet! Tim Butler will always be cool with his shades and bass lines. It was also cool to see the drummer from Love Spit Love, Frank Ferrer, too." [WHATTITW]

Continue reading "The Psychedelic Furs @ Wellmont Theater in NJ - pics, video"

photos by Tim Griffin

"Besides their dedication to their art, most [of those participating in Dark Was The Night are] successful -- but one senses that fame wasn't their primary engine for choosing a career in music. There was no hierarchy in this group -- everyone was treated as an equal, and participated with everyone else where they could. Many were already acquaintances or friends. Times have changed. No one was drunk, on drugs or two hours late for rehearsal. There was no "rock star" behavior. That could sound boring -- but such rebellious, clichéd behavior hasn't always guaranteed good music. When great music would surface from a personal or professional mess, it often seemed like a rare but happy accident, unlikely to be repeated." [David Byrne]

Last night (6/3), David Byrne brought his Eno-show to the Wellmont Theater in Montclair, NJ. Now on a 2nd-leg of his 2009 U.S. tour (the first leg included two shows at Radio City) , Byrne will bring the show to Prospect Park in Brooklyn, NY on Monday June 8th. That 'Celebrate Brooklyn' show is FREE.

All tour dates, more pictures from the Wellmont show, and three videos Fader made of David Byrne giving a guided tour of his office, below...

Continue reading "David Byrne - Wellmont Theater pics, tour dates, video office tour, free show reminder & a Dark Was the Night blog post..."

photos by Tim Griffin

"Ryan Adams was born on November 5, 1974 in Jacksonville, North Carolina to Susan and Robert Adams. His father left home when he was nine years old. His mother, an English teacher, encouraged Adams to read and as a child he became familiar with the works of authors including Jack Kerouac, Edgar Allan Poe, Sylvia Plath and Henry Miller.

Adams' grandmother played a modest role in his childhood, serving as his babysitter after school while his mother worked. When he was eight years old, Adams began writing short stories and poetry on his grandmother's typewriter. He is quoted as saying, "I started writing short stories when I was really into Edgar Allan Poe. Then later, when I was a teenager, I got really hard into cult fiction: Hubert Selby, Jr., Henry Miller, Jack Kerouac." At the age of 14 Adams began learning to play the electric guitar that his mom and stepdad had bought him, and shortly afterwards joined a local band named Blank Label. Although Blank Label did not stay together long, a three-track 7" record exists, dated 1991 and lasting less than seven minutes in total." [Wikipedia]

Continue reading "the Cardinals (Ryan Adams) @ Wellmont Theater -pics,setlist"

photos by Tim Griffin

"For Rufus Wainwright, being gay can be a bit of a distraction.

Wainwright, who has been open about his homosexuality since the release of his eponymous debut album in 1998, acknowledges that he isn't the only gay pop star, but believes he is the first to begin his career totally out of the closet.

Though his personal life has resulted in tons of press in the past decade, it has also been a liability, Wainwright told The Times.

"It's an exciting prospect, and always has been, but on the other hand, you know, it has diminished at times my success," he said. "But I can't really - there's no sort of skirting the issue, because it is just a plain fact."" [The Montclair Times]

More pictures from NJ below...

Continue reading "Rufus & Lucy Wainwright @ Wellmont Theater in NJ - pics"

photos by Eric M. Townsend

Since the May 27 release of his chart-topping and critically lauded Blue Note Records album, Lay It Down, it has been a whirlwind year for legendary soul and R&B icon, Al Green. With Lay It Down, Green has delivered the highest debuting record of his accomplished career since his 1972 classic, I'm Still In Love With You.

Continue reading "Al Green @ the Wellmont Theater, Montclair, NJ - pics"

An hour before show time, a battalion of security officers was directing a convoy of concertgoers in S.U.V.'s, and traffic was flowing smoothly in an area known to wear down would-be diners and moviegoers seeking a coveted parking space.

Back in September, Joseph Hartnett, chief executive of the municipality, said, "Keeping all of these people moving is going to be a challenge in an already parking-challenged town." As it turned out, concertgoers said parking was less an issue than other factors, at least on a Tuesday evening when the theater was not filled to capacity.

"There's ample parking on the street -- I had no problem at all," said Chris Kunstadter, 53, of Bloomfield. Mr. Kunstadter received e-mail notification of the postponement in time to avoid heading out on Monday, but when he made it inside on Tuesday, he had a different concern.

"They should have seating on the lower level," he said, referring to the capacious open space near the main stage, where clumps of concertgoers convened. For this concert, seats were available only on the Wellmont's upper tier. [NY Times]

The Wellmont Theatre is not the only venue in Montclair, NJ holding interesting concerts. "Outpost in the Burbs" holds shows at religious and educational institutions. Tonight's Steve Earle show at The First Congregational Church is sold out (Sept 5), though the Graham Parker show on September 26th still has tickets available

"Earlier that evening, one of the architects handling the restoration of the Wellmont Theater at 5 Seymour St., slated to reopen at the end of October or in early November as a live music and performance venue, also appeared before the commission.

The Rosen Group, a Manhattan-based real estate development company, bought the theater about a year ago and is in the process of refurbishing it.

Michael Costantin, the architect-of-record for the project, said the building, dating to 1922, is one of the largest halls in the nation. Now that many of the remnants of the movie triplex that previously occupied the space have been removed, the view of the house from the stage is "completely awesome," Costantin told The Times. The interior is rife with ornamental plasterwork, with many of the surfaces decorated with relief sculptures.

Work crews are now in the process of transforming the floor, which angles downward toward the stage, into two tiers that descend to the orchestra level. That main floor could be rented out for banquets and other functions, or provide space for about 800 removable, reserved seats for shows, Costantin said. But, more frequently, that area will provide standing room for concerts, while about 1,000 fixed seats will be up in the balcony.

The architects had been hoping they might be able to convert one of the rooms housing an 8-foot-high cast-iron fan, among the building's original exhaust fans, into a VIP lounge, with the huge fan as its centerpiece.

The tenants of the revamped theater, who include Montclair resident and promoter Andy Feltz and the principals of the Bowery Presents, who own the Bowery Ballroom in New York City, have signed a 49-year lease for the theater. The exact dates of the first shows, and who the first acts will be, had not been established as of The Times' deadline, but the lineup was expected to be announced soon." [The Montclair Times] (thx Danielle)

Continue reading "Wellmont Theatre opening 'end of October', initial schedule"

The historic 2,000-capacity Wellmont Theater in Montclair, N.J., will re-open its doors this fall under a recently formed partnership between the principals of New York-based independent concert promoter the Bowery Presents and longtime promoter Andy Feltz.

The new promotion company, Montclair Entertainment, was formed in September 2007 by the principals of the Bowery Presents and Feltz, who previously oversaw operations at New York's Beacon Theater and booked concerts into the city's United Palace Theater. The re-opening of Wellmont Theater, which will undergo a multi-million renovation, will be the first New Jersey venue to be managed and operated in part by the Bowery Presents...........

.........The Wellmont Theater opened in 1922 and was later converted into a motion picture theater. It then became a triplex before closing in 2006. Part of the theater's renovation includes the removal of seating from the main floor. Once fully renovated, the live music space will feature state-of-the-art sound, lighting and recording systems, which will have the capability to be used for Internet, television and radio broadcasts..... [Billboard] (thx all)